Ithiel de Sola Pool was a pioneering social scientist, a distinguished scholar of the political process, and one of the most original thinkers in the development of the social sciences. Passionately engaged in politics, he continued his role of leadership throughout his life, building the MIT Political Science Department into an outstanding group. He organized international teams of social scientists and collaborated widely to develop the understanding of social change. He was a frequent adviser to governments as consultant and in-house critic, and a successful advocate of limits on government regulation. "Politics in Wired Nations" presents his writings on the social and political impact of different communication systems and new telecommunications technology. Included in this volume is the first study of trends in a global information society, and the first study of social networks and the "small world" phenomenon that creates new relationships and routes of informal influence and political power, both domestic and international. Pool's essays on the politics of foreign trade, the influence of American businessmen on Congress, and changeable "unnatural" institutions of the modern world (e.g., bureaucracies, mega-cities, and nation-states) are herein contained. Pool describes a nonviolent revolution in freedom and political control that is possible as the world changes from the era of one-way mass communications--targeted to national audiences--to a new era of abundant, high-capacity, low-cost, interactive, and user-controlled communications on a global scale. He discusses policy choices for freedom, the battlegrounds ahead, and the risks of government involvement in the regulation of new telecommunication technologies.

For a decade, Ecco has published the most outstanding science writing in America, collected in highly acclaimed annual volumes edited by some of the most impressive and most important names in science and science writing today: James Gleick, Timothy Ferris, Matt Ridley, Oliver Sacks, Dava Sobel, Alan Lightman, Atul Gawande, Gina Kolata, Sylvia Nasar, and Natalie Angier.

Now series editor Jesse Cohen invites the previous guest editors to select their favorite essays for this one-of-a-kind anthology. The result is an outstanding compendium--the best science writing of the new millennium, featuring an introduction by the series' 2010 editor and "New York Times" bestselling author of "How Doctors Think," Jerome Groopman.

What do we see? We are visually conscious of colors and shapes, but are we also visually conscious of complex properties such as being John Malkovich? In this book, Susanna Siegel develops a framework for understanding the contents of visual experience, and argues that these contents involve all sorts of complex properties. Siegel starts by analyzing the notion of the contents of experience, and by arguing that theorists of all stripes should accept that experiences have contents. She then introduces a method for discovering the contents of experience: the method of phenomenal contrast. This method relies only minimally on introspection, and allows rigorous support for claims about experience. She then applies the method to make the case that we are conscious of many kinds of properties, of all sorts of causal properties, and of many other complex properties. She goes on to use the method to help analyze difficult questions about our consciousness of objects and their role in the contents of experience, and to reconceptualize the distinction between perception and sensation. Siegel's results are important for many areas of philosophy, including the philosophy of mind, epistemology, and the philosophy of science. They are also important for the psychology and cognitive neuroscience of vision.

The interactions of microbes with surfaces are important to many natural and engineered processes, affecting a wide range of applications from decontamination of surfaces or drinking water, prevention of microbial colonization of biomaterials, and bacterial processes in the environment. Therefore, there is great interest in understanding the fundamental behavior of microbes at surfaces. Topics are included that address interactions of cells with a number of surfaces for antifouling and microbial cell-based sensor applications; mechanistic studies of antimicrobial peptides and quorum sensing; exploration of experimental and theoretical models of a cell surface; cell surface display of peptides and enzymes as biofabrication techniques; the fate and transport of bacteria in the natural environment, as well as new experimental tools or modeling techniques to study interactions at the microbial surface.
While most of the papers are geared towards a specific application, they all contain fundamental information regarding bacterial behavior at interfaces that allows their contents to translate to other problems, as well. For example, many parallels are noted between the way bacteria interact with proteins-coated polymers on a catheter and bacterial-peptide interactions in a cellular detection assay. An overlying theme of all the manuscripts is that they represent studies of microbial interfaces using the most sophisticated experimental and modeling tools available, and many feature interdisciplinary approaches to tackling the given problems.

When we think of yoga today, we envision spandex-clad, perspiring, toned people brought together in a room filled with yoga mats and engaged in a fitness ritual set apart from day-to-day life. Their aim is to enhance something they all deem sacred: their bodies. In Selling Yoga, Andrea Jain looks at the development of modern, popular yoga and suggests that its practitioners are strategic participants in the contemporary global market for self-developmental products and services. Pre-colonial and early modern yoga systems comprise esoteric techniques that aim at transcendent states of detachment from ordinary and conventional life. In contrast, contemporary popularized yoga aims at immediate self-development through the enhancement of the mind-body complex according to dominant health and fitness paradigms. Postural yoga is prescribed not as an all-encompassing worldview or system of practice, but as one part of self-development that provides increased beauty and flexibility as well as reduced stress; it can be combined with various other worldviews and practices available in the global marketplace. However, Jain argues that yoga systems cannot be reduced to mere commodities-that yoga is, in fact, a religion of consumer culture. It functions as a social ritual that removes individuals from everyday life for the sake of self-development. Yoga brands destabilize the basic utility of yoga commodities and assign to them new meanings that represent the fulfillment of self-developmental needs deemed sacred in contemporary consumer culture.

Something Old, Something New: Contemporary Entanglements of Religion and Secularity offers a fresh perspective on debates surrounding a significant if underappreciated relationship between religious and secular interests. In entanglement, secularity competes with religion, but neither side achieves simple dominance by displacing the other. As secular ideas and practices entangle with their religious counterparts, they interact and alter each other in a contentious but oddly intimate relationship. In each chapter, Wayne Glausser focuses on a topic of contemporary relevance in which something old-e. g., the sacrament of extreme unction, Greek rhetorical tropes, scholastic theology-entangles with something new: psilocybin therapy for the dying, new atheism, cognitive science. As traditional religious knowledge and values come into conflict with their secular counterparts, the old ideas undergo stress and adaptation, but the influence works in both directions. Those with primary allegiance to secular interests find themselves entangled with aspects of religious thinking. Whether they do it intentionally or without knowing, entangled secularists engage with and sometimes borrow from older paradigms they believe they have surpassed. Glausser's approach offers a new perspective in the conversation between believers and secularists. Something Old, Something New is a book that theists, atheists, agnostics, and everyone still searching for the right label will find respectful but provocative.

THE SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A SPECTATOR AND FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2022 'If you read just one book about how the modern world is driving us crazy, read this one' TELEGRAPH 'This book is exactly what the world needs right now' OPRAH WINFREY 'A beautifully researched and argued exploration of the breakdown of humankind's ability to pay attention' STEPHEN FRY 'A really important book . . . Everyone should read it' PHILIPPA PERRY Why have we lost our ability to focus? What are the causes? And, most importantly, how do we get it back? For Stolen Focus, internationally bestselling author Johann Hari went on a three-year journey to uncover the reasons behind our shortening attention spans. He interviewed the leading experts in the world on attention, and learned that everything we think about this subject is wrong. We think our inability to focus is a personal failing - a flaw in each one of us. It is not. This has been done to all of us by powerful external forces. Our focus has been stolen. Johann discovered there are twelve deep causes of this crisis, all of which have robbed some of our attention. He shows us how in a thrilling journey that ranges from Silicon Valley dissidents, to a favela in Rio where attention vanished, to an office in New Zealand that found a remarkable way to restore our attention. Crucially, he learned how - as individuals, and as a society - we can get our focus back, if we are determined to fight for it.

When Sir Cyril Burt died in 1971, he was widely recognized as Britain's most eminent educational psychologist whose studies of gifted and delinquent children, contributions to the development of factor analysis, and research on the inheritance of intelligence brought widespread acclaim. Within five years of his death, however, he was publicly denounced as a fraud who had fabricated data to conclude that intelligence is genetically determined. Examiners of the published data found serious inconsistencies that raised questions about their authenticity; the case has divided the scientific community ever since. Were the charges justified, or was he a victim of critics fearful of validating such a politically unacceptable scientific theory? This is an up-to-date and unbiased analysis of one of the most notorious scandals in science, now more timely and widely discussed than ever with the publication of The Bell Curve, the best-selling polemic that raises arguments comparable to Burt's. The distinguished contributors examine the controversial areas of Burt's work and argue that his defenders have sometimes, but by no means always, been correct, and that his critics have often jumped to hasty conclusions. In their haste, however, these critics have missed crucial evidence that is not easily reconciled with Burt's total innocence, leaving the perception that both cases are seriously flawed. An introductory chapter lays the background to the case, followed by an examination of Burt's work that relates to the controversy. The book concludes with a chapter on Burt's character, other cases of apparent scientific fraud, and the impact of Burt's alleged fabrications. These findings have profound implications not only for the study of psychology, but for the wider issues relating to integrity in scientific research, and the impact of intelligence testing on social policy.

For nearly 20 years, the author, Mary Virginia Orna has led Science History tours to Europe and other parts of the world. Given the broad popularity of her tours among those in the scientific community, the ACS initiated a symposium on the topic as well as this book. The goals of both the Orna-led tours and this book include learning science through travel to sites where the science actually happened and describing how such travel can interface with the professional goals of chemists in academe, industry, and other areas of endeavor. This book makes it possible to plan a scientifically-oriented visit to well-known scientific sites armed with information not necessarily available on the internet or in guidebooks.

"More than anything else technology creates our world. It creates our wealth, our economy, our very way of being," says W. Brian Arthur. Yet despite technology's irrefutable importance in our daily lives, until now its major questions have gone unanswered. Where do new technologies come from? What constitutes innovation, and how is it achieved? Does technology, like biological life, evolve? In this groundbreaking work, pioneering technology thinker and economist W. Brian Arthur answers these questions and more, setting forth a boldly original way of thinking about technology.
"The Nature of Technology "is an elegant and powerful theory of technology's origins and evolution. Achieving for the development of technology what Thomas Kuhn's "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions "did for scientific progress, Arthur explains how transformative new technologies arise and how innovation really works. Drawing on a wealth of examples, from historical inventions to the high-tech wonders of today, Arthur takes us on a mind-opening journey that will change the way we think about technology and how it structures our lives. "The Nature of Technology "is a classic for our times.

It is time to learn about living things! Can you spot which things are living? Can you tell which things are nonliving? With images that are easy to identify and clear, simple sentence structures, this science reader simplifies scientific concepts for young readers. A fun and easy science experiment and Your Turn! activity provide more in-depth opportunities for additional learning. Nonfiction text features include a glossary and an index. Engage young learners with this dynamic text!

Spark scientific curiosity from a young age with this six-level course through an enquiry-based approach and active learning. Collins International Primary Science fully meets the requirements of the Cambridge Primary Science Curriculum Framework from 2020 and has been carefully developed for a range of international contexts. The course is organised into four main strands: Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Earth and Space and the skills detailed under the ‘Thinking and Working Scientifically’ strand are introduced and taught in the context of those areas. For each Workbook at Stages 1 to 6, we offer: A write-in Workbook linked to the Student’s Book New language development activities help build science vocabulary Earth and Space content covers the new curriculum framework Thinking and Working Scientifically deepens and enhances the delivery of Science skills Actively learn through practical activities that don’t require specialist equipment or labs Scaffolding allows students of varying abilities to work with common content and meet learning objectives Supports Cambridge Global Perspectives™ with activities that develop and practise key skills Provides learner support as part of a set of resources for the Cambridge Primary Science curriculum framework (0097) from 2020 This series is endorsed by Cambridge Assessment International Education to support the new curriculum framework 0097 from 2020.

In 1996, the Argentine government authorized the use of genetically modified (GM), herbicide-resistance soybean seeds. By the mid-2000s, GM soybeans were cultivated on more than half of the arable land in Argentina and represented one-fourth of the country's exports. While this agricultural boom has benefitted agribusiness companies and fed tax revenues, it also has a dark side: it has accelerated the deforestation of native forests, prompted the eviction of indigenous and peasant families, and spurred episodes of contamination. In Soybeans and Power, Pablo Lapegna investigates the ways in which rural populations have coped with GM soybean expansion in Argentina. Based on over a decade of ethnographic research, Lapegna reveals that many communities initially resisted, yet ultimately adapted to the new agricultural technologies forced upon them by public officials. However, rather than painting the decline of the protests in an exclusively negative light, Lapegna argues that the farmers played an active role in their own demobilization, switching to tactics of negotiation and accommodation in order to maneuver the situation to their advantage. Lapegna offers a rare, on the ground glimpse into the life cycle of a social movement, from mobilization and protest to demobilization and resigned acceptance. Through the case study of Argentina, a major player in the use and export of GM crops, Soybeans and Power gives voice to the communities most adversely affected by GM technology, as well as the strategies that they have enacted in order to survive.

Why are some countries better than others at science and technology (S&T)? Written in an approachable style, The Politics of Innovation provides readers from all backgrounds and levels of expertise a comprehensive introduction to the debates over national S&T competitiveness. It synthesizes over fifty years of theory and research on national innovation rates, bringing together the current political and economic wisdom, and latest findings, about how nations become S&T leaders. Many experts mistakenly believe that domestic institutions and policies determine national innovation rates. However, after decades of research, there is still no agreement on precisely how this happens, exactly which institutions matter, and little aggregate evidence has been produced to support any particular explanation. Yet, despite these problems, a core faith in a relationship between domestic institutions and national innovation rates remains widely held and little challenged. The Politics of Innovation confronts head-on this contradiction between theory, evidence, and the popularity of the institutions-innovation hypothesis. It presents extensive evidence to show that domestic institutions and policies do not determine innovation rates. Instead, it argues that social networks are as important as institutions in determining national innovation rates. The Politics of Innovation also introduces a new theory of "creative insecurity" which explains how institutions, policies, and networks are all subservient to politics. It argues that, ultimately, each country's balance of domestic rivalries vs. external threats, and the ensuing political fights, are what drive S&T competitiveness. In making its case, The Politics of Innovation draws upon statistical analysis and comparative case studies of the United States, Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Turkey, Israel, Russia and a dozen countries across Western Europe.

Chemistry is intimately involved in the development of the oldest known civilizations, resulting in a range of chemical technologies that not only continue to be part of modern civilized societies, but are so commonplace that it would be hard to imagine life without them. Such chemical technology has a very long and rich history, in some cases dating back to as early as 20,000 BCE. Chemistry Technology in Antiquity aims to present the discovery, development, and early history of a range of such chemical technologies, with the added goal of including a number of smaller subjects often ignored in the presentation of early chemical technology. While the book does not aim to be a comprehensive coverage of the full range of chemical technologies practiced during antiquity, it provides a feel and appreciation for both the deep history involved with these topics, as well as the complexity of the chemical processes that were being utilized at such a very early time period.

Well-structured and adopting a pedagogical approach, this self-contained monograph covers the fundamentals of scanning probe microscopy, showing how to use the techniques for investigating physical and chemical properties on the nanoscale and how they can be used for a wide range of soft materials. It concludes with a section on the latest techniques in nanomanipulation and patterning. This first book to focus on the applications is a must-have for both newcomers and established researchers using scanning probe microscopy in soft matter research. From the contents: * Atomic Force Microscopy and Other Advanced Imaging Modes * Probing of Mechanical, Thermal Chemical and Electrical Properties * Amorphous, Poorly Ordered and Organized Polymeric Materials * Langmuir-Blodgett and Layer-by-Layer Structures * Multi-Component Polymer Systems and Fibers * Colloids and Microcapsules * Biomaterials and Biological Structures * Nanolithography with Intrusive AFM Tipand Dip-Pen Nanolithography * Microcantilever-Based Sensors

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE CASE AGAINST SUGAR Conventional weight-loss advice is failing millions of people. For years we've heard the mantra eat less, lose more. And yet, doctors treating diabetes and obesity are experiencing results among patients by taking a different approach: not by counting calories, but by eating a low-carb, high-fat diet. In this explosive, groundbreaking book, Gary Taubes breaks down the nutritional dogma that has led us to the current diabetes and obesity crisis and sets out the case for this ''ketogenic'' approach to eating. Full of eureka moments and essential practical advice, The Case for Keto establishes how many of us can achieve and maintain a healthy weight - for life.

Ultimate quick reference guide for any earthling's questions about our solar system, whether a student, lover of all things space, or stargazing and night sky enthusiasts. Beautifully designed with images from NASA and expertly written by science author, consultant and professor John Roch, PhD who includes more facts per page than any book or website. This 6 page laminated guide will last a lifetime so you will always know what the surface temperature of Mercury is, how many known satellites Neptune has, what the Kuiper Belt is, or what other dwarf planets there are besides Pluto? 6-page laminated guide includes: Solar System Breakdown Essential Terms Space Missions Listed for Each Object & Planet Below Sun Mercury Venus Earth Moon Mars Asteroid Belt Ceres Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Kuiper Belt Pluto Haumea Makemake Eris More Solar System Facts

Digital transformation continues to accelerate change in all aspects of modern life. This book examines when, where, how, and why artificial intelligence and digital change can boost innovation and transform the economy, society and democracy. It provides a holistic approach to the promotion of the knowledge economy, knowledge society and knowledge democracy. The book is developed based on the Cyber-D4 nexus, which is a conceptual framework of Cyber-Defense, Cyber-Development, Cyber-Democracy, and Cyber-Diplomacy, and it adopts a Quadruple/Quintuple Innovation Helix (Q2IH) approach. This nexus ties new national and industrial cyber strategies, including business strategies for smart cities and the Internet of Things, with the local, national, regional, and global security and economic objectives. Academics, policy makers, practitioners, researchers and students in combined fields of science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, digital transformation, artificial intelligence and the future of industry will appreciate the lens through which the chapter authors explore both the minutiae and expansive influence of digital transformation.

Written in an accessible style with comprehensive coverage, the Handbook of Gender and Technology provides an excellent foundation examining gender equity in technology fields. Covering the state of the art, chapters consider three key influences - environmental, identity and individual - to highlight interventions to address the gender gap in technology. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, the expert contributors seek to understand the subjective reality of those experiencing gender barriers and provide the reader with both theory and research results into gender diversity in technology. This Handbook provides a comprehensive review of issues faced by women and gender minorities in technology fields. It is global in perspective, including chapters about Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America. It is intersectional in approach, including the standpoint of racial and ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Providing a unified look at the challenges faced, this insightful Handbook will be an excellent resource for scholars interested in gender and social inclusion in technology fields. It will also provide an informative guide for policymakers and managers in global organisations tasked with developing interventions using data-driven practices to address the gender gap.

THE NO.1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'A beautiful little book by a brilliant mind' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Effortlessly instructive, absorbing, up to the minute and - where it matters - witty' GUARDIAN The world-famous cosmologist and #1 bestselling author of A Brief History of Time leaves us with his final thoughts on the universe's biggest questions in this brilliant posthumous work. Is there a God? How did it all begin? Can we predict the future? What is inside a black hole? Is there other intelligent life in the universe? Will artificial intelligence outsmart us? How do we shape the future? Will we survive on Earth? Should we colonise space? Is time travel possible? Throughout his extraordinary career, Stephen Hawking expanded our understanding of the universe and unravelled some of its greatest mysteries. But even as his theoretical work on black holes, imaginary time and multiple histories took his mind to the furthest reaches of space, Hawking always believed that science could also be used to fix the problems on our planet. And now, as we face potentially catastrophic changes here on Earth - from climate change to dwindling natural resources to the threat of artificial super-intelligence - Stephen Hawking turns his attention to the most urgent issues for humankind. Wide-ranging, intellectually stimulating, passionately argued, and infused with his characteristic humour, Brief Answers to the Big Questions, the final book from one of the greatest minds in history, is a personal view on the challenges we face as a human race, and where we, as a planet, are heading next. A percentage of all royalties will go to charity.

There is nothing more essential to our health and wellbeing than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat 25,000 times a day. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences.

In Breath, journalist James Nestor travels the world to discover the hidden science behind ancient breathing practices to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it.

Modern research is showing us that making even slight adjustments to the way we inhale and exhale can:

• improve our exercise techniques
• restore healthy sleep patterns and minimise snoring
• halt allergies, asthma and even autoimmune disease

Drawing on thousands of years of ancient wisdom and cutting-edge studies, Breath is full of revelations, turning what we thought we knew about our most basic biological function on its head.

You will never breathe the same again.

Spark scientific curiosity from a young age with this six-level course through an enquiry-based approach and active learning. Collins International Primary Science fully meets the requirements of the Cambridge Primary Science Curriculum Framework from 2020 and has been carefully developed for a range of international contexts. The course is organised into four main strands: Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Earth and Space and the skills detailed under the ‘Thinking and Working Scientifically’ strand are introduced and taught in the context of those areas. For each Workbook at Stages 1 to 6, we offer: A write-in Workbook linked to the Student’s Book New language development activities help build science vocabulary Earth and Space content covers the new curriculum framework Thinking and Working Scientifically deepens and enhances the delivery of Science skills Actively learn through practical activities that don’t require specialist equipment or labs Scaffolding allows students of varying abilities to work with common content and meet learning objectives Supports Cambridge Global Perspectives™ with activities that develop and practise key skills Provides learner support as part of a set of resources for the Cambridge Primary Science curriculum framework (0097) from 2020 This series is endorsed by Cambridge Assessment International Education to support the new curriculum framework 0097 from 2020.