Every month, groups of people from all over the United Kingdom decide what kind of research should be carried out on patients within the NHS. These groups - Research Ethics Committees (RECs) - made up of doctors, nurses, researchers, and members of the general public - help shape the future of medicine, and play a crucial role in the regulation of a wide range of research from social science to epidemiology, vaccine and drugs trials to surgery. Based on extensive observations, interviews, and archival research, this book provides an in-depth insight into RECs, one of the most crucial forms of regulation around medical research. In providing one of the first empirical examinations of this kind of regulation, this book challenges the impersonal, de-socialised, and mechanical models of REC decision-making. -- .

The series Religion and Society (RS) contributes to the exploration of religions as social systems- both in Western and non-Western societies; in particular, it examines religions in their differentiation from, and intersection with, other cultural systems, such as art, economy, law and politics. Due attention is given to paradigmatic case or comparative studies that exhibit a clear theoretical orientation with the empirical and historical data of religion and such aspects of religion as ritual, the religious imagination, constructions of tradition, iconography, or media. In addition, the formation of religious communities, their construction of identity, and their relation to society and the wider public are key issues of this series.

Humanity's physical design flaws have long been apparent--we get hemorrhoids and impacted wisdom teeth, for instance--but do the imperfections extend down to the level of our genes? Inside the Human Genome is the first book to examine the philosophical question of why, from the perspectives of biochemistry and molecular genetics, flaws exist in the biological world. Distinguished evolutionary geneticist John Avise offers a panoramic yet penetrating exploration of the many gross deficiencies in human DNA--ranging from mutational defects to built-in design faults--while at the same time offering a comprehensive treatment of recent findings about the human genome. The author shows that the overwhelming scientific evidence for genomic imperfection provides a compelling counterargument to intelligent design. He also develops a case that theologians should welcome rather than disavow these discoveries. The evolutionary sciences can help mainstream religions escape the shackles of Intelligent Design, and thereby return religion to its rightful realm--not as the secular interpreter of the biological minutiae of our physical existence, but rather as a respectable philosophical counselor on grander matters of ultimate concern.

Pandemics, Science and Policy analyses the World Health Organisation's (WHO) management of the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic. Abeysinghe illustrates the ways in which the WHO's account was vulnerable to contestation, and ultimately how uncertain risks can affect policy and action on the global level.

Drawing on a wealth of new evidence, pioneering research psychologist David DeSteno shows why religious practices and rituals are so beneficial to those who follow them-and to anyone, regardless of their faith (or lack thereof). Scientists are beginning to discover what believers have known for a long time: the rewards that a religious life can provide. For millennia, people have turned to priests, rabbis, imams, shamans, and others to help them deal with issues of grief and loss, birth and death, morality and meaning. In this absorbing work, DeSteno reveals how numerous religious practices from around the world improve emotional and physical well-being. With empathy and rigor, DeSteno chronicles religious rites and traditions from cradle to grave. He explains how the Japanese rituals surrounding childbirth help strengthen parental bonds with children. He describes how the Apache Sunrise Ceremony makes teenage girls better able to face the rigors of womanhood. He shows how Buddhist meditation reduces hostility and increases compassion. He demonstrates how the Jewish practice of sitting shiva comforts the bereaved. And much more. DeSteno details how belief itself enhances physical and mental health. But you don't need to be religious to benefit from the trove of wisdom that religion has to offer. Many items in religion's "toolbox" can help the body and mind whether or not one believes. How God Works offers advice on how to incorporate many of these practices to help all of us live more meaningful, successful, and satisfying lives.

This book was originally published in 1971. Discoveries in modern biology can radically change human life as we know it. As our understanding of living processes, such as inheritance, grows, so do the possibilities of applying these results for good and evil, such as the treatment of disease, the control of ageing, behaviour and genetic engineering. These discoveries and their implications are discussed by some of the world's leading biologists

The series Religion and Society (RS) contributes to the exploration of religions as social systems- both in Western and non-Western societies; in particular, it examines religions in their differentiation from, and intersection with, other cultural systems, such as art, economy, law and politics. Due attention is given to paradigmatic case or comparative studies that exhibit a clear theoretical orientation with the empirical and historical data of religion and such aspects of religion as ritual, the religious imagination, constructions of tradition, iconography, or media. In addition, the formation of religious communities, their construction of identity, and their relation to society and the wider public are key issues of this series.

Does the Information Age promise egalitarianism and democracy, or will it simply reinforce long-standing social and economic inequalities? This collection of essays analyzes the emerging role of African-Americans in post-industrial society from a variety of communications research perspectives. Accepting W.J. Wilson's theory of a socially and economically isolated African-American underclass, Barber and Tait ask the logical question: what next? "The Information Society and the Black Community "is a critical examination of the prospects and pitfalls of a historically disadvantaged group in a period of rapid technological advances and economic growth.

Adopting Frank Websters theory of the Information Society as a framework for organization and development, the book is divided into five sections that look at technological, economic, occupational, spatial, and cultural aspects of the relationship between the African-American community and the Information Society. Part One analyzes data on African-American use of information technology, and examines how the new flow of information might effect African-American social and cultural images. Part Two focuses on African-American participation in the ownership and control of information industries. Part Three treats professional training and employment patterns affecting African-Americans in the Information Age. Part Four centers around the potential uses of information technology in solving social, political, and economic problems. Part Five addresses the growing connections of the African-American community to Africa and the rest of the world via information technology.

In secular Europe the veracity of modern science is almost always taken for granted. Whether they think of the evolutionary proofs of Darwin or of spectacular investigation into the boundaries of physics conducted by CERN's Large Hadron Collider, most people assume that scientific enquiry goes to the heart of fundamental truths about the universe. Yet elsewhere, science is under siege. In the USA, Christian fundamentalists contest whether evolution should be taught in schools at all. And in Muslim countries like Tunisia, Egypt, Pakistan and Malaysia, a mere 15 per cent of those recently surveyed believed Darwin's theory to be 'true' or 'probably true'. This thoughtful and passionately argued book contends absolutely to the contrary: not only that evolutionary theory does not contradict core Muslim beliefs, but that many scholars, from Islam's golden age to the present, adopted a worldview that accepted evolution as a given. Guessoum suggests that the Islamic world, just like the Christian, needs to take scientific questions - 'quantum questions' - with the utmost seriousness if it is to recover its true heritage and integrity. In its application of a specifically Muslim perspective to important topics like cosmology, divine action and evolution, the book makes a vital contribution to debate in the disputed field of 'science and religion'.

Sinceits founding by Jacques Waardenburg in 1971, Religion and Reason has been a leading forum for contributions on theories, theoretical issues and agendas related to the phenomenon and the study of religion. Topics include (among others) category formation, comparison, ethnophilosophy, hermeneutics, methodology, myth, phenomenology, philosophy of science, scientific atheism, structuralism, and theories of religion. From time to time the series publishes volumes that map the state of the art and the history of the discipline.

Hardbound. This volume of Research in Philosophy and Technology is guest edited by Marina Banchetti-Robino in association with Don E. Marietta Jr. and Lester Embree. In her introduction to the 10 major theme papers that deal with Philosophies of the Environment and Technology, Banchetti-Robino gives an account of the origin of this original collection, of the importance of the theme, and of the interrelated arguments advanced relative to the theme. This set of papers by a number of well-known figures in philosophical studies both on the environment and on technology - namely J. Baird Callicott, Don Ihde, Larry Hickman, Don E. Marietta Jr., Lester Embree, Frederick Ferre, and Holmes Rolston III - together with a few younger scholars - Tim Casey, Marina Banchetti-Robino and Robert Frodeman - opens new pathways in both environmental philosophy and the philosophy of technology.

A powerful and urgent call to action: to improve our lives and our societies, we must demand open access to data for all. Information is power, and the time is now for digital liberation. Access Rules mounts a strong and hopeful argument for how informational tools at present in the hands of a few could instead become empowering machines for everyone. By forcing data-hoarding companies to open access to their data, we can reinvigorate both our economy and our society. Authors Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger and Thomas Ramge contend that if we disrupt monopoly power and create a level playing field, digital innovations can emerge to benefit us all. Over the past twenty years, Big Tech has managed to centralize the most relevant data on their servers, as data has become the most important raw material for innovation. However, dominant oligopolists like Facebook, Amazon, and Google, in contrast with their reputation as digital pioneers, are actually slowing down innovation and progress by withholding data for the benefit of their shareholders--at the expense of customers, the economy, and society. As Access Rules compellingly argues, ultimately it is up to us to force information giants, wherever they are located, to open their treasure troves of data to others. In order for us to limit global warming, contain a virus like COVID-19, or successfully fight poverty, everyone-including citizens and scientists, start-ups and established companies, as well as the public sector and NGOs-must have access to data. When everyone has access to the informational riches of the data age, the nature of digital power will change. Information technology will find its way back to its original purpose: empowering all of us to use information so we can thrive as individuals and as societies.

Science/Technoscience has moved to center stage in debates over change, power and justice in twenty-first century societies. This text provides a general framework for understanding, combining and applying the rich range of approaches that exist within sociology about science: in particular, the role (and limitations) of science in generating knowledge, and the relationship between scientific knowledge and social progress. Drawing on case studies such as the genetics and computing "revolutions," this is a clear, even-handed and comprehensive introduction to the field.

Spaceships travel through time at lightspeed, piloted by human clones and talking animals. Serious injuries are healed with the wave of a medical gizmo. The media makes it all look easy. Can scientists hope to accomplish such amazing feats in the real world, or are they merely flights of fancy? This book is a fun look at what can, and can't, be achieved with current technology in today's laboratory experiments.

Fans of the "Jetsons," "Star Trek," and "Star Wars" will learn the facts behind the fiction through entires that describe the scientific inventions and procedures on the screen, and how they differ from the reality. Van Riper shows us who innovators like Charles Darwin, Benjamin Franklin, and Isaac Newton really were before they were mythologized. He discusses how animals such as chimpanzees, dolphins, and elephants are portrayed in books and films, and what we really know about animal intelligence. This book lifts the curtain on science fiction, revealing how and where scientific laws have been discarded for the sake of a good plot.

Franco Ferrarotti examines the ways in which we have come to cope with the problems unforeseen by the early idealists of the industrial age. Beginning with a detailed critique of the Enlightenment concept of the individual and how it compares to present day values, beliefs, and attitudes, he proceeds to demonstrate how current technology influences the lives of individuals in the work place and in the community at large. The influence of science and industrial progress on our development as human beings is critically analyzed. Finally, Ferrarotti gives some suggestions as to how we may find a way out of the dilemmas facing modern society and speculates on the fates of those societies currently in transition. While many writers have dealt with specific aspects of the modern industrial age, Ferrarotti faces squarely the general problem of the social and political impact of technologically based life.

The project of science has been to provide answers to questions about the world and how it works. Often, this lofty role has been characterised by a narrow and dogmatic scientific training, an unwillingness to communicate to differing stakeholder needs, a refusal to accept and to manage uncertainty, complexity and value commitments, and the reduction of knowledge assessment to colleague peer review on narrowly technical issues. Times have changed. As the world faces increasingly disparate challenges, science is subjected to increasingly vehement demands from a society calling for transparency, openness and public participation in science policy. Science is going through an evolutionary process. Perhaps the most painful process it has ever encountered. Research on the interfaces between science and society is a burgeoning area. A new conception of knowledge now appears to be emerging, based on the awareness of complexity, uncertainty and a plurality of legitimate perspectives and interests. Democracy is extending into the previously quite exclusive scientific realm, and science must now submit to public scrutiny and participation in the governance of knowledge. This book provides much-needed reflections on the methods and tools for knowledge quality assurance, particularly on its inputs to extended policy and decision-making processes. The overall aim is to improve the relationship between science and society. The discussion involves six themes: communicating between plural perspectives; accepting and learning how to manage uncertainty, complexity and value commitments; acknowledging new conceptions of knowledge; implementing transparency, openness and participation in science policy; valuing community-based research; and exploring how new ICT can support inclusive governance. Taken together, these themes provide both a framework and vision on how to conceive, discuss and evaluate the changes that are occurring. The chapters cover theory, practice, approaches, experiences, ideas and suggestions for a move beyond "talking the talk" to "walking the walk". Science and policy interfaces are dynamic processes needing to permanently redefine themselves and their roles. This book contributes to the enrichment and deepening of our understanding of these important new trends in the social relations of science, which are fundamental to our understanding of the prospects for further progress. The book will be essential reading for scientists, policy-makers, managers and the public.

This book is for people who work in the tech industry-computer and data scientists, software developers and engineers, designers, and people in business, marketing or management roles. It is also for people who are involved in the procurement and deployment of advanced applications, algorithms, and AI systems, and in policy making. Together, they create the digital products, services, and systems that shape our societies and daily lives. The book's aim is to empower people to take responsibility, to 'upgrade' their skills for ethical reflection, inquiry, and deliberation. It introduces ethics in an accessible manner with practical examples, outlines of different ethical traditions, and practice-oriented methods. Additional online resources are available at: ethicsforpeoplewhoworkintech.com.

Communication Technology and Social Change is a distinctive collection that provides current theoretical, empirical, and legal analyses for a broader understanding of the dynamic influences of communication technology on social change. With a distinguished panel of contributors, the volume presents a systematic discussion of the role communication technology plays in shaping social, political, and economic influences in society within specific domains and settings. Its integrated focus expands and complements the scope of existing literature on this subject. Each chapter is organized around a specific structure, covering: *Background-offering an introduction of relevant communication technology that outlines its technical capabilities, diffusion, and uses; *Theory-featuring a discussion of relevant theories used to study the social impacts of the communication technology in question; *Empirical Findings-providing an analysis of recent academic and relevant practical work that explains the impact of the communication technology on social change; and *Social Change Implications-proposing a summary of the real world implications for social change that stems from synthesizing the relevant theories and empirical findings presented throughout the book. Communication Technology and Social Change will serve scholars, researchers, upper-division undergraduate students, and graduate students examining the relationship between communication and technology and its implications for society.

This book is intended to mark the turn of the first century of the information age. The purpose of the book is to denote the transition from past to current to future investigations of the relationships and interactions among four major components: information systems (IS), information technology (IT), organizations, and society. These investigations share a primary focus on the interrelationships, not on the components themselves. The contributions to the book deal with the history of IS theory and technology, with the directions faced by those sharing the concerns of the field in its future research, and with attempts to draw these two views together. Five discourses collectively answer the key question: What is the status of IS, as related to organizations and society, now that we stand at the juncture of the new century?' These discourses deal with the fundamental concepts, the classical and novel challenges, the conceptualization processes, automation, and new technology. What is our story as we turn the first century of the information age? We believe that IT is even more critical in social interaction in organizations, that human language barriers form fundamental roadblocks to IT implementation, that newer forms of IS integrate horizontally rather than vertically, and that the mix of skills and knowledge is changing. We also find that we lack integrated approaches to risk management, that new social costs are being unleashed on people by the wiring of society, and we are rushing headlong into globalized systems with our eyes closed. We reveal how the old end-user tension between central control and innovation has reappeared in the intranet world, how IT has been converted into acultural commodity, and explore how the video screen has become the central means for discovering our relevance to our universe. We explore the surprising ways that machines have acquired human status, not through robotics, but rather through social construction. We discover new norms for defining the relationships and exchanges between human beings and computers. For example, gender defines IS success and web design defines social relationships. Consequently, we show how systems must now be developed interpretively, rather than through rational&endash;technical IS design principles used in the last century.

First Published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This book shows how social impact assessment (SIA), which emerged barely five decades ago, as a way to anticipate and manage potentially negative social impacts of building dams, power stations, urban infrastructure, highways, industries, mining and other development projects, is now widely in use as a planning tool, especially in developed countries. Although SIA has still not gained much acceptance among development planners in Asia, the situation is gradually changing. In India, SIA initially mandated as a policy guideline in 2007 is now a legal requirement. SIA in China has also recently become obligatory for certain types of development projects. Bangladesh, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are other Asian countries that provide examples from a variety of externally funded projects illustrating the use of social impact analysis in project planning to improve development outcomes. With contributions from an array of leading experts, this book is a valuable resource on SIA, indispensable for policymakers, planners, and practitioners in government, international development agencies, private-sector industry, private banks, consultants, teachers, researchers and students of social sciences and development studies, also NGOs everywhere, not in Asia alone.

This book examines the most recent and contentious issues in relation to cybercrime facing the world today, and how best to address them. The contributors show how Eastern and Western nations are responding to the challenges of cybercrime, and the latest trends and issues in cybercrime prevention and control.