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Hear a fascinating slice of history from the Big Apple this coming Thursday, August 12, 7:30pm, at Magers & Quinn Booksellers, when Joe Flood discusses The Fires: How a Computer Formula, Big Ideas, and the Best of Intentions Burned Down New York City--and Determined the Future of Cities.

In the late 1960s, the RAND Corporation--a California-based military think tank--had an alluring proposal for New York City mayor John Lindsay: using their computer modeling techniques, which had been developed for, and successfully implemented in high-level military operations, the city could save millions of desperately-needed dollars by establishing more efficient public services, planned by the new science of “computer modeling.” A deal was struck: RAND would begin their first major civilian effort with New York City. The result was the worst fire epidemic in modern urban history.

Details are here.--David E