Society, in its quest for order in an inherently chaotic natural setting, tends to think about technological innovation much too narrowly. Innovation is necessary for economic growth, yet this narrow attitude limits its possibilities and focuses on achieving a single goal without acknowledging its effect on other aspects of society. By thinking out of the box, this book encourages thoughtful innovation while remaining conscious of its positive and negative consequences for society. It presents a method for contextual analysis that enables assessment of the disruption that any innovation could induce, and puts ideas into contexts so that innovators may anticipate consequences, minimize resistance, and enhance acceptance. Drawing on Anglophone and Francophone literatures in business, economics, history, and sociology, this book reminds us that progress is often achieved at some sacrifice of well-being. It allows academics and practitioners from these traditions to engage in systematic communication and enrich one another with new ideas.

The superhero Wolverine time travels and changes storylines. On Torchwood, there's a pill popped to alter the past. The narrative technique of retroactive continuity seems rife lately, given all the world-building in comics. Andrew J. Friedenthal deems retroactive continuity, or "retconning," as a force with many implications forhow Americans view history and culture. Friedenthal examines this phenomenon in a range of media, from its beginnings in comic books and now its widespread shift into television, film, and digital media. Retconning has reached its present form as a result of the complicated workings of superhero comics. In comic books and other narratives, retconning often seems utilized to literally rewrite some aspect of a character's past, either to keep that character more contemporary, to erase storiesfrom continuity that no longer fit, or to create future story potential. From comics, retconning has spread extensively, to long-form, continuity-rich dramas on television, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost, and beyond. Friedenthal explains that in a culture saturated by editable media, where interest groups argue over Wikipedia pages and politicians can immediately delete questionable tweets, the retcon serves as a perfect metaphor for the ways in which history, and our access to information overall, has become endlessly malleable. In the first book to focus on this subject, Friedenthal regards the editable Internet hyperlink, rather than the stable printed footnote, as the de facto source of information in America today. To embrace retroactive continuity in fictional media means accepting that the past itself is not a stable element, but rather something constantly in contentious flux. Due to retconning's ubiquity within our media, we have grown familiar with narratives as inherentlyunstable, a realization that deeply affects how we understand the world.

The advent of the Information Society is marked by the explosive penetration of information technologies in all aspects of life and by a related fundamental transofmation in every form of the organization. Researchers, business people and policy makers have recognized the importance of addressing technological, economic and social impacts in conjunction. For example, the rise and fall of the dot-com hype depended a lot on the strenght of the business model, on the technological capabilities avalable to firms and on the readiness of the socity and economy at large sustain a new breed of business activity. However, it is notoriously difficult to examine the cross-impacts of social, economic and technological aspects of the Information Socity. This kind of work requires multidisciplinary work and collaboration on a wide range of skills. Social and Economic Transformation in the Digital Era addresses this challenge by assembling the latest thinking of leading researchers and policy makers. The book covers all key subject areas of the Information Society an presents innovative business models, case studies, normative theories and social explanations.

How are the new electronic technologies transforming business here and abroad -- indeed, the entire world economy -- and what new strategies must business develop to meet the challenges of this transformation? Economist, writer, and communications executive Maurice Estabrooks provides a readable, comprehensive survey of how businesses are using microchips, computers, and telecommunications to reshape the entire world of work -- its cultures, organization, and economic systems. With insight and impeccable scholarship he provides concrete evidence of the emergence of artificially intelligent, cybernetic, network-based entities that are creating new linkages between businesses, markets, and technology itself -- linkages that will profoundly affect the way businesses create and implement their corporate survival and growth strategies in the future.

Drawing on the work of economic theorist Joseph Schumpeter, Estabrooks shows how Schumpeterian dynamics have played a key role in the breakup of AT&T and the Bell System, and in the deregulation of telecommunications, broadcasting, banking, finance, and other economically critical industries. What has emerged, he maintains, is an increasingly integrated, global information- and software-based services economy. Optical fibers, satellites, and wireless communications systems have already made possible the development of electronic superhighways, but in doing so they have also initiated a massive redistribution of economic power and wealth throughout the world, the implications of which are only now being understood. Historical, analytical, descriptive, Estabrooks' book will speak not only to academics and others who observe world transformations from relatively theoretical perspectives, but also to corporate and other executives whose organizations, and certainly their personal work lives, will be changed dramatically by the developments he describes in practical day-to-day situations.

In today's globalized world, modern society is characterized by rapid transitions in space that are in part the result of technological developments of previous decades. This unique book deals with the complex issues raised by these transformations, focusing particularly on the impacts on regional development, technological innovation, and the flows and mobility of ideas, knowledge, people and firms. Societies in Motion examines the dynamic forces of technological and institutional change that are affecting the design of society, the economy and the environment, and provides a base for policy makers to develop new systems for a better, more sustainable future. The leading contributors adopt a systems approach to mobility exploring knowledge, ideas, flows of information and creativity, human capital and transportation. Authoritative and detailed, this book is an ideal source of analysis and debate for research scholars and students of regional science, economics and geography. Policy makers will also find plenty of invaluable information in this original volume. Contributors include: P. Aroca, H. Aviram, G. Avnimelech, D. Banister, R. Bar-El Hillel Bar-Gera, D. Boyce, D. Constantin, J. Corcoran, H.L.F. de Groot, A. Faggian, D. Felsenstein, A. Frenkel, M. Givoni, Z. Goschin, D.A. Griffith, S. Hazam, G.J.D. Hewings, J. Knoben, M. Malul, P. McCann, P. Monkkonen, P. Nijkamp, R. Patuelli, P.H. Pellenbarg, J.M. Quigley, M.M. Ridhwan, P. Rietveld, D. Schwartz, D. Shefer, Y. Shiftan, M. Sonis, M. Tiefelsdorf

As e-government policies and procedures become widely practiced and implemented, it is apparent that the success of technology in e-government hangs on its consistentency with human practices. Human-Centered System Design for Electronic Governance provides special attention to the most successful practices for implementing e-government technologies. This highly regarded publication highlights the benefits of well designed systems in this field, while investigating the implications of poor practices and designs. This book is beneficial for academics, researchers, government officials, and graduate students interested and involved in design of information systems within the context of e-government.

This book attempts to rethink the concept of technological literacy in a modern context, not only in terms of a subject area taught in schools, but also as an important general concept that all citizens should engage with. As this book will illustrate, the concept of technological literacy has no universally agreed definition.

This book presents the conclusions of a psychologist seeking to make sense of contemporary particle physics as described in a number of popular science texts and media articles, written by physicists, seeking to explain the workings of the sub-atomic world. The accounts, it is argued, are mutually exclusive and contradictory, and metaphysical or magical in essence.

'In this compelling and thoroughly researched book, Benjamin Huskinson demonstrates that just as there is broad diversity within evangelicalism, so too there is broad diversity among "creationists." His work on the Intelligent Design movement is superb, and he prompts me to rethink my long held conviction that Intelligent Design is merely the most recent evolutionary form of creationism. This is a very fine book.' -Randall Balmer, Author of Evangelicalism in America and writer-host of "In the Beginning": The Creationist Controversy 'Benjamin Huskinson's study of American creationism will be an eye-opener for those who sit on the opposite side of the evolution debate. He shows that far from being a unified assault on Darwinism, the campaign was actually a sequence of separate movements launched by rival evangelical groups competing for influence within their own community.' -Peter Bowler, Author of Monkey Trials and Gorilla Sermons: Evolution and Christianity from Darwin to Intelligent Design 'A thoughtful and careful analysis that throws as much light on the diversity of American evangelicalism as it does on Christian attitudes to evolutionary theory. Huskinson offers a smart analysis of religious anti-evolution movements which neither demonises nor ridicules but seeks to understand the tenets and beliefs of a movement far more complex and multivalent than most of us appreciate. A must-read for science communicators.' -Philippa Levine, Walter Prescott Webb Chair in History and Ideas, University of Texas at Austin, USA This book explores the cultural history of anti-evolution efforts in the United States from 1960 to the present, refuting several popular narratives about creation science in evangelical America. Separating theological terms like "creationism" from cultural movements such as "creation science" and "intelligent design" in an evangelical marketplace of ideas, it contests assumptions that evangelical movements against evolution are homogeneous, and it argues that intelligent design is not an off-shoot of the creation-science movement. It demonstrates that the rationale of creationist groups is relational as well as ideological, showing that the social function of American creationism, which is to establish the boundaries of 'orthodox' religion, is key to understanding the competing strategies of creation-science organisations.

In this fascinating follow-up to the bestselling Information is Beautiful and Knowledge is Beautiful, the king of infographics David McCandless uses spectacular visuals to give us all a bit of good news. We are living in the Information Age, in which we are constantly bombarded with data - on television, in print and online. How can we relate to this mind-numbing overload? Enter David McCandless and his amazing infographics: simple, elegant ways to understand information too complex or abstract to grasp any way but visually. In his unique signature style, he creates dazzling displays that blend facts with their connections, contexts and relationships, making information meaningful, entertaining - and beautiful. In his highly anticipated third book, McCandless illustrates positive news from around the world, for an informative, engaging and uplifting collection of new infographic art.

Scientific research is often influenced by financial interests, political interests, or personal career interests of the scientists involved. For instance, the pharmaceutical giant Merck manipulated clinical trial data in order to make sure that data confirmed the safety of one of its products, Vioxx, in order to serve the company's short-term commercial interests. This case is obviously unacceptable. But why exactly is it unacceptable? One way to account for this judgment is on the basis of the ideal of purity. According to this ideal, scientific decision-making should be pure- that is, unaffected by financial interests, political interests, career interests, and so on. Although this ideal is questionable, many people (including philosophers of science) still hold on to it. In Interests and Epistemic Integrity in Science: A New Framework to Assess Interest Influences in Scientific Research Processes, Jan De Winter first argues that it is better to fully abandon the ideal of purity, then proposes an alternative ideal to assess interest influences in science: the ideal of epistemic integrity. He spells out and systematically defends a new concept of epistemic integrity, using it not only to analyze the Vioxx debacle, but also to identify unacceptable interest influences in aerospace science, climate science, and biology, and to explain exactly why these interest influences are unacceptable. These analyses make a compelling case for the new concept of epistemic integrity which will be interesting and useful for philosophers of science, scientists, engineers, science policymakers, and anyone else concerned about the integrity of science.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. This book defines 'nanowares' as the ideas and products arising out of nanotechnology. Koepsell argues that these rapidly developing new technologies demand a new approach to scientific discovery and innovation in our society. He takes established ideas from social philosophy and applies them to the nanoparticle world. In doing so he breaks down the subject into its elemental form and from there we are better able to understand how these elements fit into the construction of a more complex system of products, rules and regulations about these products. Where existing research in the field has tended to focus on potential social harm, Koepsell takes a different approach by looking at ways in which developments in distributed design and fabrication can be harnessed to enable wealth creation by those with good ideas but no access to capital. He argues that the key challenge facing us is the error implicit in current intellectual property regimes and presents new modes of relating inventors to artifacts in this new context. In conclusion he offers contractual models which he believes encourage innovation in nano-media by embracing open source and alternative means of protection for innovators.

For much of recorded history, China was a leading science and technology power. But just as the West rose, China turned in on itself, and missed the Industrial Revolution. The result was the 'Hundred Years of Humiliation', and a long struggle for a modern, yet distinctly Chinese, civilisational identity. Today, technological innovation has returned to the core of national pride and ambition. Since the 1980s, reforms have transformed China into the world's second largest economy and a major global power. Cyber space and other advanced technologies have become a battleground for international dominance; but today's world relies on global supply chains and interstate collaboration-at least, for now. Growing tension between the USA and China could result in the two superpowers decoupling their technology-with significant consequences for humanity's future. The Great Decoupling shows that this technology contest, and how it plays out, will shape the geopolitics of the twenty-first century.

"Partly the report of a development project, partly an ethnography, and partly a discourse on development anthropology, this book] is a fascinating and significant work...an informative and thought-provoking book. Its nuanced discussions of electrification's effects on Uroans are a valuable empirical contribution to studies of technological change." . American Anthropologist

"Tanja Winther's excellent study clearly shows the insights anthropological analysis brings to understanding development investments, even ones which might be thought to be purely technical in nature. Anyone responsible for designing, implementing or managing rural electrification programs in Africa, is strongly advised to read this book" . Howard White, Executive Director, 3ie

How does everyday life change when electricity becomes available to a group of people for the first time? Why do some groups tend to embrace this icon of development while other groups actively fight against it? This book examines the effects of electricity's arrival in an African, rural community. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Zanzibar at different points in time, the author provides a compelling account of the social implications in question. The rhythm of life changes and life is speeding up. Sexuality and marriage patterns are affected. And a range of social relations, e.g. between generations and genders, as well as relations between human beings and spirits, become modified. Despite men and women's general appreciation of the new services electricity provides, new dilemmas emerge. By using electricity as a guide through the social landscape, the particularities of social and cultural life in this region emerge. Simultaneously, the book invites readers to understand the ways that electricity affects and becomes implicated in our everyday life.

Tanja Winther has a Masters in Power Engineering and a Doctorate in Social Anthropology. She is at the Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM) at the University of Oslo."

This book systematically summarizes China Internet development over the past 25 years, highlighting its strong impact on China's economy and society, and discussing the Chinese people's transition from beneficiaries and participants to builders, contributors and joint maintainers of cyberspace development. It describes the development achievements, status and development and trends in China Internet in 2019, systematically summarizes the main lessons learned during development, and analyzes China's strategic planning and policy actions. Further, it discusses topics such as development outcomes, future trends in information infrastructure, network information technology, digital economy, e-government, construction and management of network contents, cyberspace security, the legal construction of cyberspace, and international cyberspace governance. In addition, the book suggests improvements to the index system for China Internet development and offers an overall assessment of cyberspace security and informatization work throughout China in order to comprehensively and accurately demonstrate the level of China Internet development.

Drawing together interview material, medical publications, and first-hand accounts, this book shows that what is being remade in the burgeoning medical field of face transplantation is not only the lives of patients, but also the very ways that state institutions, surgeons, and families make sense of rights, claims for inclusion, and life itself.

This book is useful to understand and write alongside non-human agents, examine the impact of algorithms and AI on writing, and accommodate relationships with autonomous agents. This ground-breaking future-driven framework prepares scholars and practitioners to investigate and plan for the social, digital literacy, and civic implications arising from emerging technologies. This book prepares researchers, students, practitioners, and citizens to work with AI writers, virtual humans, and social robots. This book explores prompts to envision how fields and professions will change. The book's unique integration with Fabric of Digital Life, a database and structured content repository for conducting social and cultural analysis of emerging technologies, provides concrete examples throughout. Readers gain imperative direction for collaborative, algorithmic, and autonomous writing futures.

Engineering the Climate: The Ethics of Solar Radiation Management discusses the ethical issues associated with deliberately engineering a cooler climate to combat global warming. Climate engineering (also known as geoengineering) has recently experienced a surge of interest given the growing likelihood that the global community will fail to limit the temperature increases associated with greenhouse gases to safe levels. Deliberate manipulation of solar radiation to combat climate change is an exciting and hopeful technical prospect, promising great benefits to those who are in line to suffer most through climate change. At the same time, the prospect of geoengineering creates huge controversy. Taking intentional control of earth s climate would be an unprecedented step in environmental management, raising a number of difficult ethical questions. One particular form of geoengineering, solar radiation management (SRM), is known to be relatively cheap and capable of bringing down global temperatures very rapidly. However, the complexity of the climate system creates considerable uncertainty about the precise nature of SRM s effects in different regions. The ethical issues raised by the prospect of SRM are both complex and thorny. They include: 1) the uncertainty of SRM s effects on precipitation patterns, 2) the challenge of proper global participation in decision-making, 3) the legitimacy of intentionally manipulating the global climate system in the first place, 4) the potential to sidestep the issue of dealing with greenhouse gas emissions, and, 5) the lasting effects on future generations. It has been widely acknowledged that a sustained and scholarly treatment of the ethics of SRM is necessary before it will be possible to make fair and just decisions about whether (or how) to proceed. This book, including essays by 13 experts in the field of ethics of geoengineering, is intended to go some distance towards providing that treatment."