This book makes significant advances in analysing the relationship between technology and society. It highlights both the policy implications of this relationship and new possibilities for intervention by government, policymakers, managers and the public. Shaping Technology, Guiding Policy examines and utilises a variety of recently emerging concepts which highlight the scope for local discretion and choice in the way that technologies are designed and used as well as the broader structures and systems that may serve to restrict choice. By applying these concepts to an analysis of case studies of various social and technical settings, the book explores their utility for understanding the ways in which contemporary technologies are developed and applied and how they are made to influence society. Academics and researchers from a wide variety of perspectives will find this new book fascinating reading, including scholars from science and technology studies, technology policy and the management of technology. Technology policymakers and practitioners would also find the book of interest.

To properly understand the nature of the digital economy we need to investigate the phenomenon of a "ubiquitous computing system" (UCS). As defined by Robin Milner, this notion implies the following characteristics: (i) it will continually make decisions hitherto made by us; (ii) it will be vast, maybe 100 times today's systems; (iii) it must continually adapt, on-line, to new requirements; and, (iv) individual UCSs will interact with one another. This book argues that neoclassical approaches to modelling economic behaviour based on optimal control by "representative-agents" are ill-suited to a world typified by concurrency, decentralized control, and interaction. To this end, it argues for the development of new, process-based approaches to analysis, modelling, and simulation. The book provides the context-both philosophical and mathematical-for the construction and application of new, rigorous, and meaningful analytical tools. In terms of social theory, it adopts a Post-Cognitivist approach, the elements of which include the nature philosophy of Schelling, Marx's critique of political economy, Peircean Pragmatism, Whitehead's process philosophy, and Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of the flesh, along with cognitive scientific notions of embodied cognition and neural Darwinism, as well as more questionable notions of artificial intelligence that are encompassed by the rubric of "perception-and-action-without-intelligence".

This book attacks the conventional history of the press as a story of progress; offers a critical defence and history of public service broadcasting; provides a myth-busting account of the internet; a subtle account of the impact of social media and explores key debates about the role and politics of the media. It has become a standard book on media and other courses: but it has also gone beyond an academic audience to reach a wider public. Hailed as 'a classic of media history and analysis' by the Irish Times and a book that has 'cracked the canon' by the Times Higher, it has been translated into five languages. This edition contains six new chapters. These include the press and the remaking of Britain, the rise of the neo-liberal Establishment, the moral decline of journalism, the impact of social media and a history of attempts to reform the press. It contains new research on the relationship between programmes, institutions and society. It places key UK institutions in the wider context of international affairs and their impact. The book has been updated to take account of new developments like Brexit and the rise of Jeremy Corbyn and the shift in authority and legitimacy prompted by social media. It does this with a clear explanation of how policy can shape media outcomes.

We tell stories about who we are. Through telling these stories, we connect with others and affirm our own sense of self. Spaces, be they online or offline; private or public; physical, augmented or virtual; or of a hybrid nature, present the performative realms upon which our stories unfold. This volume focuses on how digital platforms support, enhance, or confine the networked self. Contributors examine a range of issues relating to storytelling, platforms, and the self, including the live-reporting of events, the curation of information, emerging modalities of journalism, collaboratively formed memories, and the instant historification of the present.

First published in 1932, this book, based on an address delivered in 1931, presents a concise and lucid summary of the philosophy of the author of The Decline of the West, Oswald Spengler. It was his conviction that the technical age - the culture of the machine age - which man had created in virtue of his unique capacity for individual as well as racial technique, had already reached its peak, and that the future held only catastrophe. He argued it lacked progressive cultural life and instead was dominated by a lust for power and possession. The triumph of the machine led to mass regimentation rather than fewer workers and less work - spelling the doom of Western civilization.

Isaac's Fear is a wide-ranging study of a Hebrew encyclopedia of Judaism by Isaac Lampronti, a rabbi and physician from eighteenth-century Ferrara, in Italy; this is the first encyclopedia of Judaism, with entries on thought and praxis. The book's eight chapters are previously published studies. Isaac's Fear represents the attempt to synthesize modern science and religious tradition, a fundamental issue then and in our own day. Encyclopedia entries illuminate the society and culture of early modern Italy, its Jewish community and the intellectual life of the author and his contemporaries.

How did pious medieval Muslims experience health and disease? Rooted in the prophet's experiences with medicine and healing, Muslim pietistic literature developed cosmologies in which physical suffering and medical interventions interacted with religious obligations and spiritual health. This book traces the development of prophetic medical literature and religious writings around health and disease to give a new perspective on how patienthood was conditioned by the intersection of medicine and Islam. The author investigates the early and foundational writings on prophetic medicine and related pietistic writings on health and disease produced during the Islamic Classical Age. Looking at attitudes from and towards clerics, physicians and patients, sickness and health are gradually revealed as a social, gendered, religious, and cultural experience. Patients are shown to experience certain sensoria that are conditioned not only by medical knowledge, but also by religious and pietistic attitudes. This is a fascinating insight into the development of Muslim pieties and the traditions of medical practice. It will be of great interest to scholars interested in Islamic Studies, history of religion, history of medicine, science and religion and the history of embodied religious practice, particularly in matters of health and medicine.

Welcome, dear visitor, to a proud and storied nation. When you put down this guidebook, look around you. A nation isn't land. A nation is people.

Equal parts speculative and satirical, the stories in Matthew Baker's collection portray a world within touching distance of our own. This is an America riven by dilemmas confronting so many of us, turned on its head by one of the most innovative voices of the moment.

Read together, these parallel-universe stories create a composite portrait of our true nature and a dark reflection of the world we live in.

This book, first published in 1977, aims to present a Muslim view of development and highlights some of the related issues that were being debated in the Muslim world. The author outlines the parameters of the Muslim world as well as the Muslim world-view, and provides an analysis of science, science policy and Muslim culture. This title will be of interest to students of economic and social policy, as well as students of Middle Eastern studies.

Although the Information Age is often described as a new era, its conceptual roots stretch back to the profound changes that occurred during the Age of Reason and Revolution. When Information Came of Age argues that the key to the present era lies in understanding the systems developed in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries to gather, store, transform, display, and communicate information.

Discover the extraordinary role of plants in modern forensics, from their use as evidence in the trials of high profile murderers such as Ted Bundy to high value botanical trafficking and poaching. We are all familliar with the role of blood splatters or fingerprints in solving crimes, from stories in the media of DNA testing or other biological evidence being used as the clinching evidence to incriminate a killer. This book lifts the lid on the equally important evidence from plants at a crime scene, from the incriminating presence of freshwater plants in the lungs of a drowning victim, to rare botanical poisons in the evening gin and tonic, to exotic trafficked flowers and drugs. In Planting Clues, David Gibson explores how plants can help to solve crimes, as well as how plant crimes are themselves solved. He discusses the botanical evidence that proved important in bringing a number of high-profile murderers such as Ian Huntley (the 2002 Shoham Murders), and Bruno Hauptman (the 1932 Baby Lindbergh kidnapping) to trial, from leaf fragments and wood anatomy to pollen and spores. Throughout he traces the evolution of forensic botany, and shares the fascinating stories that advanced its progress.

Computing technology is an indispensable feature of modern life. Our rapid-paced world seems more and more remote from the world narrated in sacred scriptures. However, despite its pervasiveness, there remains a dearth of theological reflection about computer technology and what it means to live as a faithful individual in a digitally - saturated society. The Web and Faith provides a brief theology of technology, rooted in the Islamic tradition and oriented around the grand themes of creation, redemption and new creation. The book combines a concise, accessible style with penetrating cultural and theological analysis. Building on the work of Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman, and drawing from a wide range of enlightened Islamic thinkers, the book situates computer technology within the big picture of the story of creation. Technology is not neutral, but neither is there an exclusively ''faith-based'' form of technological production and use. Instead, this book guides us to see the digital world as part of a larger creation, which is redeemable according to the law of faith. Responsibly used, technology can become an integral part of religious wisdom world-wide.

The Biotechnology Act in Norway, one of the most restrictive in Europe, forbids egg donation and surrogacy and has rescinded the anonymity clause with respect to donor insemination. Thus, it limits people's choice as to how they can procreate within the boundaries of the nation state. The author pursues this significant datum ethnographically and addresses the issues surrounding contemporary biopolitics in Norway. This involves investigating such fundamental questions as the relation between individual and society, meanings of kinship and relatedness, the moral status of the embryo and the role of science, religion and ethics in state policies. Even though the book takes reproductive technologies as its focus, it reveals much about vital processes that are central to contemporary Norwegian society.

It is often said that quantum technologies are poised to change the world as we know it, but cutting through the hype, what will quantum technologies actually mean for countries and their citizens? In Law and Policy for the Quantum Age, Chris Jay Hoofnagle and Simson L. Garfinkel explain the genesis of quantum information science (QIS) and the resulting quantum technologies that are most exciting: quantum sensing, computing, and communication. This groundbreaking, timely text explains how quantum technologies work, how countries will likely employ QIS for future national defense and what the legal landscapes will be for these nations, and how companies might (or might not) profit from the technology. Hoofnagle and Garfinkel argue that the consequences of QIS are so profound that we must begin planning for them today. This title is available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Originally published in 1993, this book contains 3 studies from Finland, Greece and Japan. These countries were chosen because they experienced their technological transformation mainly during the 20th Century and it was considered that their experience would have some relevant lessons for the countries of the third world. Special attention is paid to Japan as its example has great relevance both for development theory and practical strategies.

This book, originally published in 1984, established the need for a strategic managerial response to the new technology, which relies on an understanding of the real effects of technology - on organisational structure, manageemnt style and employee relations. It assesses the impact of the new information technology on manufacturing systems, employment levels and types, industrial relations and finally on marketing and external relationships.

With contributions from founders of the field, including Justin Barrett, E. Thomas Lawson, Robert N. McCauley, Paschal Boyer, Armin Geertz and Harvey Whitehouse, as well as from younger scholars from successive stages in the field's development, this is an important survey of the first twenty-five years of the cognitive science of religion. Each chapter provides the author's views on the contributions the cognitive science of religion has made to the academic study of religion, as well as any shortcomings in the field and challenges for the future. Religion Explained? The Cognitive Science of Religion after Twenty-five Years calls attention to the field whilst providing an accessible and diverse survey of approaches from key voices, as well as offering suggestions for further research within the field. This book is essential reading for anyone in religious studies, anthropology, and the scientific study of religion.

Until Karl Jansky's 1933 discovery of radio noise from the Milky Way, astronomy was limited to observation by visible light. Radio astronomy opened a new window on the Universe, leading to the discovery of quasars, pulsars, the cosmic microwave background, electrical storms on Jupiter, the first extrasolar planets, and many other unexpected and unanticipated phenomena. Theory generally played little or no role – or even pointed in the wrong direction. Some discoveries came as a result of military or industrial activities, some from academic research intended for other purposes, some from simply looking with a new technique. Often it was the right person, in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing – or sometimes the wrong thing. Star Noise tells the story of these discoveries, the men and women who made them, the circumstances which enabled them, and the surprising ways in which real-life scientific research works.

The cognitive science of religion is a new discipline that looks at the roots of religious belief in the cognitive architecture of the human mind. The Roots of Religion deals with the philosophical and theological implications of the cognitive science of religion which grounds religious belief in human cognitive structures: religious belief is 'natural', in a way that even scientific thought is not. Does this new discipline support religious belief, undermine it, or is it, despite many claims, perhaps eventually neutral? This subject is of immense importance, particularly given the rise of the 'new atheism'. Philosophers and theologians from North America, UK and Australia, explore the alleged conflict between truth claims and examine the roots of religion in human nature. Is it less 'natural' to be an atheist than to believe in God, or gods? On the other hand, if we can explain theism psychologically, have we explained it away. Can it still claim any truth? This book debates these and related issues.

Using a lens of mindfulness, this book explores how digital dependencies can displace attention and undermine attentional control, leading to experiences of stress and mindless involvement with digital technology. Using qualitative interviews with teachers and students of mindfulness programmes, the book explores the challenges and opportunities for reconciling digital interactions with mindful practice. A phenomenological analysis of participants' digital experiences shows three different imperatives (relating to digital capabilities, hyper-reality and algorithms), that can drive unconscious forms of interaction and encourage a delegation of attentional control that draws users away from the present moment. The book concludes by exploring the implications of these (extra-conscious) imperatives for understanding digital addiction. It also provides a set of guidelines for a digital approach to mindfulness practice that can encourage beneficial relationships with digital technology into the future.

“Worth a read for anyone who cares about making change happen.”—Barack Obama A powerful new blueprint for how governments and nonprofits can harness the power of digital technology to help solve the most serious problems of the twenty-first century As the speed and complexity of the world increases, governments and nonprofit organizations need new ways to effectively tackle the critical challenges of our time—from pandemics and global warming to social media warfare. In Power to the Public, Tara Dawson McGuinness and Hana Schank describe a revolutionary new approach—public interest technology—that has the potential to transform the way governments and nonprofits around the world solve problems. Through inspiring stories about successful projects ranging from a texting service for teenagers in crisis to a streamlined foster care system, the authors show how public interest technology can make the delivery of services to the public more effective and efficient. At its heart, public interest technology means putting users at the center of the policymaking process, using data and metrics in a smart way, and running small experiments and pilot programs before scaling up. And while this approach may well involve the innovative use of digital technology, technology alone is no panacea—and some of the best solutions may even be decidedly low-tech. Clear-eyed yet profoundly optimistic, Power to the Public presents a powerful blueprint for how government and nonprofits can help solve society’s most serious problems.

More than one hundred of the world's leading thinkers write about things they believe in, despite the absence of concrete proof

Scientific theory, more often than not, is born of bold assumption, disparate bits of unconnected evidence, and educated leaps of faith. Some of the most potent beliefs among brilliant minds are based on supposition alone -- yet that is enough to push those minds toward making the theory viable.

Eminent cultural impresario, editor, and publisher of "Edge" (www.edge.org), John Brockman asked a group of leading scientists and thinkers to answer the question: What do you believe to be true even though you cannot prove it? This book brings together the very best answers from the most distinguished contributors.

Thought-provoking and hugely compelling, this collection of bite-size thought-experiments is a fascinating insight into the instinctive beliefs of some of the most brilliant minds today.

This volume situates itself within the context of the rapidly growing interdisciplinary field that is dedicated to the study of the complex interactions between science and religion. It presents an innovative approach insofar as it addresses the Eurocentrism that is still prevalent in this field. At the same time it reveals how science develops in the space that emerges between the 'local' and the 'global'. The volume examines a range of themes central to the interaction between science and religion: 'Eastern' thought within 'Western' science and religion and vice versa, and revisits thinkers who sought to integrate 'Eastern' and 'Western' thinking. It studies Zen Buddhism and its relation to psychotherapy, Islamic science, Vedantic science, atheism in India, and Darwinism, offering in turn new perspectives on a variety of approaches to nature. Part of the Science and Technology Studies series, this volume brings together original perspectives from major scholars from across disciplines and will be of great interest to scholars and students of science and technology studies, history of science, philosophy of science, religious studies, and sociology.

An extraordinarily brave and moving memoir from one of the world's most famous transparency activists and trans women. In 2010, Chelsea Manning was working as an intelligence analyst for the US Army in Iraq. She disclosed 720,000 classified military documents that she had smuggled out via the memory card of her digital camera. By far the largest leak in history, these documents revealed a huge number of diplomatic cables and footage of atrocities. She was sentenced to 35 years in military prison. The day after her conviction, Chelsea declared her gender identity as a woman and began to transition. She was sent to a male prison, spent much of that time in appalling conditions in solitary confinement and attempted suicide multiple times. In 2017, after a lengthy legal challenge and an outpouring of support, President Obama commuted her sentence. README.txt is a story of personal revolt, resilience and survival. Chelsea details the challenges of her childhood and adolescence in Oklahoma and in her mother's native Wales. She writes revealingly and movingly about a period of homelessness in Chicago, living under 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' in the US Army, and the experience of coming to terms with her gender identity and undergoing hormone therapy in prison. We witness her Kafkaesque trial and heroic quest for release. This powerful, courageous and observant memoir sheds light on the big themes of today - identity, authenticity, technology, the authoritarian state - and will stand as one of the definitive testaments of our digital, information-driven age. 'Chelsea Manning is the biggest hero that ever lived' Vivienne Westwood 'Searing ... uplifting ... redemptive' The New York Times 'Electrifying ... an insider confessional turned inside out for the 21st century' Washington Post

Are the Jewish arguments against belief in Jesus as mankind's Savior any good? Is Jesus Christ the promised Messiah of the Old Testament's prophecies? Is Christianity derived from ancient Roman or Greek pagan mystery religions? Is the New Testament historically reliable? Was Jesus of Nazareth God according to the New Testament? Did Gnosticism influence Christianity? Since some 185,000 Americans have converted to Judaism according to a 1990 survey, the arguments of such groups as Jews for Judaism against Christianity can't be dismissed lightly. Using solid scholarship and rigorous logic, A Zeal For God Not According to Knowledge defends Christianity against the arguments of its Jewish critics, such as Samuel Levine, Michoel Drazin, Tovia Singer, and Hyam Maccoby. This book demonstrates that the New Testament is historically reliable, denies that Christian doctrines and sacraments can be derived from pagan beliefs and practices, shows that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah based on the Old Testament's prophecies, and proves that the New Testament teaches the Deity of Christ. Jewish friends, coworkers, and relatives, and Jews interested in objectively considering the claims of Christianity while searching for spiritual truth about whether Jesus is their Messiah also.