In this timely and provocative book, Nancey Murphy sets out to dispel skepticism regarding Christian belief. She argues for the rationality of Christian belief by showing that theological reasoning is similar to scientific reasoning as described by contemporary philosophy of science. Murphy draws on new historicist accounts of science, particularly that of lmre Lakatos. According to Lakatos, scientists work within a "research program" consisting of a fixed core theory and a series of changing auxiliary hypotheses that allow for prediction and explanation of novel facts: Murphy argues that strikingly similar patterns of reasoning can be used to justify theological assertions. She provides an original characterization of theological data and explores the consequences for theology and philosophy of religion of adopting such an approach.

Even as you read these words, a tiny portion of your brain is physically changing. New connections are being sprouted--a circuit that will create a jab of recognition if you encounter the words again. That is one of the theories of memory presented in this intriguing and splendidly readable book, which distills three researchers' inquiries into the processes that enable us to recognize a face that has aged ten years or remember a melody for decades.

In this book, Cuban scholar, journalist and author Gonzalez-Manet demystifies the information age. With his unique vision on technology, global politics, and social change, he provides readers with a critical analysis of new communications technologies and their largely unavoidable consequences. Whether the dazzling array of high-tech hardware and software are to benefit humanity or serve the needs of transnational corporations depends upon the social character of their application and the adoption of coherent policies concerning communications, culture and education. The author forcefully argues that much of the Third World lacks such policies and the results are devastating. Among other areas of exploration, he outlines the major characteristics of informatics in an age of global markets and transnational networks and, in the process, reflects on the politics of data flows, cultural integrity, and national sovereignty. Special attention is paid to the impact of computers on teaching and learning, as well as related trends in worldwide publishing. Several chapters focus specifically on Cuba's policies with regard to new communications technologies such as video and trends in Cuban film. This book builds on the author's previous work, expands the scope of reflection, and provides the reader with a lucid Third World perspective enriched by the urgency of the analysis and the substantial documentation of the argument.

In the vein of The Soul of a New Machine, a dramatic chronicle of a new revolution in brain-mind science comes this accessible book on the scientists who are creating startling new theories of how the mind works as the forge a new kind of artificial intelligence called neural networks--or, the first thinking machines

From the author of "Perceiving Ordinary Magic, " this book proposes that both science and Buddhism offer powerful insights into human nature that can help to bring about profound changes in our lives and our society.
Jeremy Hayward argues that a radical uprooting of our beliefs about reality is necessary if we are to resolve our confusion about our world and ourselves. Only a profound examination of human perception--a process by which worlds and selves are created and re-created ever moment--will provide the clarity and confidence we seek.
"Shifting Worlds, Changing Minds " is an in-depth, non-technical analysis of the perceptual process, drawing on the latest data from cognitive science--the "new science of mind." Added to these are insights gained from the Buddhist practice of mindfulness-awareness meditation. The results of this analysis and practice can free us from dependence on belief systems. We are presented with a genuine revolution in the understanding of consciousness, and the possibilities for awareness and compassion are revealed.

This brilliant work heralds the new age of nanotechnology, which will give us thorough and inexpensive control of the structure of matter.  Drexler examines the enormous implications of these developments for medicine, the economy, and the environment, and makes astounding yet well-founded projections for the future.

Shared knowledge is indispensable to the practice of science, and the scientific paper-whether published in a journal or collation volume-is the chief means by which scientists communicate ideas and results to their colleagues. Mastering the genre is thus an essential element in every scientist's training. Using a published paper as a guide, Michael J. Katz takes the reader through every step of the writing process, including the use of standard formats (abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, acknowledgments, and references), language (style and word usage), and publication (choosing the appropriate journal, the review process, and revising). Other chapters discuss figures (photographs, schematic diagrams, and graphs), writing with a computer, and numbers (algorithms and statistics). Nine appendices provide a handy reference to commonly needed information such as scientific abbreviations, non-technical words, and mathematic formulae. While recognizing that the scientific paper is constrained within a well-defined form, the book also stresses that the genre is narrative prose requiring a lucid, precise, and careful style. The elements of composition-gestation, diction, revision, and rewriting-are discussed in detail. Elements of the Scientific Paper is a useful handbook for young scientists and graduate students beginning their publishing careers, as well as for anyone wishing a review of or introduction to the elements of scientific style.

Tries to combine the biblical and scientific views of the universe's creation, and looks at how perception of the world has changed from biblical times to the present.

In 1500 few Europeans considered nature an object worthy of study, yet within fifty years the first museums of natural history had appeared, chiefly in Italy. Vast collections of natural curiosities - including living human dwarves, "toad-stones", and unicorn horns - were gathered by Italian patricians as a means of knowing their world. The museums built around these collections became the center of a scientific culture that over the next century and a half served as a microcosm of Italian society and as the crossroads where the old and new sciences met. In Possessing Nature, Paula Findlen vividly recreates the lost world of late Renaissance and Baroque Italian museums and demonstrates its significance in the history of science and culture. Based on exhaustive research into natural histories, letters, travel journals, memoirs, and pleas for patronage, Findlen describes collections and collectors great and small, beginning with Ulisse Aldrovandi, professor of natural history at the University of Bologna. Aldrovandi, whose museum was known as the "eighth wonder" of the world, was a great popularizer of collecting among the upper classes. From the universities, Findlen traces the spread of natural history in the seventeenth century to other learned sectors of society: religious orders, scientific societies, and princely courts. There was, as Findlen shows, no separation between scientific culture and general political culture in Renaissance and Baroque Italy. The community of these early naturalists was, in many ways, a mirror of the humanist "republic of letters". Archival documents point to the currying of patrons and the hierarchical nature of the scientific professions, characteristicscommon to the larger world around them. Examining anew the society and accomplishments of the first collectors of nature, Findlen argues that the accepted distinction between the "old" Aristotelian, text-based science and the "new" empirical science during the period is false. Rather, natural history as a discipline blurred the border between the ancients and the moderns, between collecting in order to recover ancient wisdom and collecting in order to develop new scholarship. In this way, as in others, the Scientific Revolution grew from the constant mediation between the old form of knowledge and the new. Possessing Nature is a unique cross-disciplinary study. Not only does its detailed description of the earliest natural history collections make an important contribution to museum studies and cultural history, but by placing these museums in a continuum of scientific inquiry, it also adds to our understanding of the history of science.

In a fast-moving world, the necessity of making decisions, and preferably good ones, has become even more difficult. One reason is the variety and number of choices perhaps available which often are not presented or understood. Alternatives are often unclear and complex paths to them confusing and misleading. Thus the process of decision making itself requires analysis on an ongoing basis. Decision making is often made based on cultural factors whereas the best alternative might be quite different. The subject touches ethical aspects as well as psychological considerations. This book presents important research on the psychology of decision making related to law and law enforcement, health care and science.

Agricultural trade barriers and producer subsidies inflict real costs, both on the countries that use these policies and on their trade partners. Trade barriers lower demand for trade partners' products, domestic subsidies can induce an oversupply of agricultural products which depresses world prices, and export subsidies create increased competition for producers in other countries. Eliminating global agricultural policy distortions would result in an annual world welfare gain of $56 billion. High protection for agricultural commodities in the form of tariffs continues to be the major factor restricting world trade. In 2000, World Trade Organisation (WTO) members continued global negotiations on agricultural policy reform. To help policymakers and others realise what is at stake in the global agricultural negotiations, this book quantifies the costs of global agricultural distortions and the potential benefits of their full elimination. It also analyses the effects on US and world agriculture if only partial reform is achieved in liberalising tariffs, tariff-rate quotas (limits on imported goods), domestic support, and export subsidies.

Reputed to have performed miraculous feats in New England-restoring the hair and teeth to an aged lady, bringing a withered peach tree to fruit-Eirenaeus Philalethes was also rumored to be an adept possessor of the alchemical philosophers' stone. That the man was merely a mythical creation didn't diminish his reputation a whit-his writings were spectacularly successful, read by Leibniz, esteemed by Newton and Boyle, voraciously consumed by countless readers. Gehennical Fire is the story of the man behind the myth, George Starkey. Though virtually unknown today and little noted in history, Starkey was America's most widely read and celebrated scientist before Benjamin Franklin. Born in Bermuda, he received his A.B. from Harvard in 1646 and four years later emigrated to London, where he quickly gained prominence as a "chymist." Thanks in large part to the scholarly detective work of William Newman, we now know that this is only a small part of an extraordinary story, that in fact George Starkey led two lives. Not content simply to publish his alchemical works under the name Eirenaeus Philalethes, "A Peaceful Lover of Truth," Starkey spread elaborate tales about his alter ego, in effect giving him a life of his own.

Provided here is a simple introduction to writing scientific programs using the OS/2 presentation manager. This book shows you how to write programs in the C language and is the first to illustrate how to plot data on hard copy devices such as dot matrix printers and pen plotters. Since the C language may be somewhat hard to read for some beginners, a chapter has been included which introduces the C language and includes simple definitions to make C more readable. Discussions comprehensively cover all important areas, including: how to display images such as those obtained from scanning microscopy techniques, frame grabbers, and image capture devices; how multiple thread of execution can be used within your program so that several tasks can run at the same time; the methods of communicating between these threads; how to acquire data from acquisition cards; an introduction to the Intel 80286 assembly language; and how to make calls to OS/2's serial device driver showing how to send and receive characters simply. In addition, all program examples are complete working programs which are fully discussed so that novices can easily understand their purpose.