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Et al
Et al

Et al: Because not all research deserves a Nobel Prize

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Profile Icon B McGraw
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£9.99 per month
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5 (31 Ratings)
Paperback Aug 2023 230 pages 1st Edition
eBook
£11.99
Paperback
£14.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at £9.99p/m
Arrow left icon
Profile Icon B McGraw
Arrow right icon
£9.99 per month
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5 (31 Ratings)
Paperback Aug 2023 230 pages 1st Edition
eBook
£11.99
Paperback
£14.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at £9.99p/m
eBook
£11.99
Paperback
£14.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at £9.99p/m

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Key benefits

  • Conducts satirical research on topics ranging from quantum computing to clingy robot dog algorithms
  • Answers questions like “Can a computer understand a Scotsman?” and “Is Sarah Palin real?”
  • Secures the power grid and your home from the prying eyes of government drones a.k.a. birds
  • Expands science by studying cow-based atmospheres, and the flavortown center of the brain
  • Solves climate change and saves the world by proposing a banana-based fission reactor
  • Nullifies the possibility of getting lost at the fair with a mirror-house escape algorithm

Description

Tired of the same old math, science, statistics, and programming memes people post online and want something a little more elaborate? This is the book for you. Tremble as we make up all our own facts and data, hand-draw diagrams in MS Paint, and quote from fictional studies and journals. Cower as authors write in the first person because their study is just a little too personal for them. Recoil from the sheer mass of oversimplified methodology, distilling someone's entire thesis into a paragraph of jokes crude enough to make it into a Mike Myers movie. Over the last few years, we have taken arguments that you would normally have after four Jack and cokes at game night and turned them into properly formatted research papers with a writing tone serious enough to confuse the uninitiated. These papers are high-effort jokes by researchers and scientists for researchers and scientists. They cover a range of topics such as the consequences of re-releasing tourists back into Yellowstone National Park after COVID-19, how to play StarCraft competitively online on a quantum computer, and most importantly, how trees around the globe are becoming increasingly radicalized.

Who is this book for?

This book is for researchers and those who love science mingled with humor. It's for those who are a little too tired of the talking heads and futurists of the science world and would like something more entertaining in the form of absurd speculative studies by researchers as unbelievable as their work. Anyone who has experienced academic writing, or the tribulations of any research institution will enjoy the wide range of bizarre, yet real-world topics compiled in this book. Even if you don't know much about the subject, we usually have a background section.

What you will learn

  • How to draw a graph using MS Paint, maybe
  • Whether Sarah Palin is a figment of your imagination
  • How one pirate cat brought about the extinction of the beloved dodo
  • Why rabbits used to be jerks back in the day
  • If you actually learn anything from these articles, get your memory erased immediately

Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Aug 31, 2023
Length: 230 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781837632572
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What do you get with a Packt Subscription?

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Product feature icon Unlimited ad-free access to the largest independent learning library in tech. Access this title and thousands more!
Product feature icon 50+ new titles added per month, including many first-to-market concepts and exclusive early access to books as they are being written.
Product feature icon Innovative learning tools, including AI book assistants, code context explainers, and text-to-speech.
Product feature icon Thousands of reference materials covering every tech concept you need to stay up to date.
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Product Details

Publication date : Aug 31, 2023
Length: 230 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781837632572
Category :
Languages :
Tools :

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Frequently bought together


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Total £ 93.97
Causal Inference and Discovery in Python
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50 Algorithms Every Programmer Should Know
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Et al
£14.99
Total £ 93.97 Stars icon
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Customer reviews

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Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
(31 Ratings)
5 star 96.8%
4 star 3.2%
3 star 0%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
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Spencer Sep 16, 2023
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I loved this book! McGraw uses meticulous detail to entertain the audience. A must read for any academic or researcher who understands both technical writing and technical humor.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Joey Sep 07, 2023
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Now I need to preface this by saying, you need to have an appreciation for research paper or study in a field that often do research paper, I'm a chemistry bachelor's, and these get a chuckle out of me, I'll probably buy the real book (bought the ebook, small library) when I buy my own flat, but I'm glad I was told about this.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Lori J. Upson Sep 03, 2023
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Wow. A genre I didn’t know existed until I picked up this book, and now can’t get enough of. STEM geeks will get a kick out of all the Easter eggs throughout, and get serious flashbacks to lab reports from college. But the best part is a super approachable writing that people of any background will find hilarious. Perfect for a coffee table, each entry can be read in a quick sitting and will have your whole house howling!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
F. P. Nov 28, 2023
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Hey folks, forget OpenAI's weekend updates – if you need a good laugh in the context of AI and research, "Et al." is all you need. This masterpiece is so humorous and absurd that I almost spilled my hot tea while reading.This book consists of several satirical research papers within the fictional genre, using a humorous approach to scientific topics. The focus is on the creation of a fictional world of research papers, journals, and authors. It is so imaginative and creative that it totally captures my attention.The intended audience? Well, if you find humor in scientific shenanigans, this book is for you. The author proudly admits to mixing real and made-up concepts, so whether you're into "Trans-Dimensional Time Travel Discovery Device (TDTTDD)" or exploring "The Sarah Palin Mandela Effect," "Et al." got you covered.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Matthew Emerick Sep 12, 2023
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This is a unique book from Packt's library and a welcome one. Rather than directly teaching you logic and critical thinking, it accidentally does it through the use of satire. This book is definitely not for everyone.So who is it for? I see three major requirements on the part of the reader. First, you probably want to be fairly smart and deep. The second helpful requirement is having a STEM background. Finally, you will want a developed sense of humor. Combining these three things isn't easy or 100% required, but they help.So if you think you're smart, educated, or funny, read this book all the way through.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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