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Books > Science & Mathematics
This book is intended as an introduction to the philosophical
problems of space and time, suitable for any reader who has an
interest in the nature of the universe and who has a
secondary-school knowledge of physics and mathematics. In
particular, it is hoped that the book may find a use in philosophy
departments and physics departments within universities and other
tertiary institutions. The attempt is always to introduce the
problems from a twentieth-century point of view. It is preferable
to introduce the history of the topic if and when that history
becomes relevant to the development and solution of the problems,
rather than to introduce a problem that was of importance in some
previous age and to trace the development of it down the years.
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.
This guidebook introduces the reader to the visible memorabilia of
science and scientists in Budapest - statues, busts, plaques,
buildings, and other artefacts. According to the Hungarian-American
Nobel laureate Albert Szent-Gyoergyi, this metropolis at the
crossroads of Europe has a special atmosphere of respect for
science. It has been the venue of numerous scientific achievements
and the cradle, literally, of many individuals who in Hungary, and
even more beyond its borders, became world-renowned contributors to
science and culture. Six of the eight chapters of the book cover
the Hungarian Nobel laureates, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences,
the university, the medical school, agricultural sciences, and
technology and engineering. One chapter is about selected secondary
schools from which seven Nobel laureates (Szent-Gyoergyi, de
Hevesy, Wigner, Gabor, Harsanyi, Olah, and Kertesz) and the five
"Martians of Science" (von Karman, Szilard, Wigner, von Neumann,
and Teller) had graduated. The concluding chapter is devoted to
scientist martyrs of the Holocaust. A special feature in surveying
Hungarian science is the contributions of scientists that left
their homeland before their careers blossomed and made their
seminal discoveries elsewhere, especially in Great Britain and the
United States. The book covers the memorabilia referring to both
emigre scientists and those that remained in Hungary. The
discussion is informative and entertaining. The coverage is based
on the visible memorabilia, which are not necessarily proportional
with achievements. Therefore, there is a caveat that one could not
compile a history of science relying solely on the presence of the
memorabilia.
Contemporary bioethics, now roughly 40 years old as a discipline,
originated in the United States with a primarily Anglo-American
cultural ethos. It continues to be professionalized and
institutionalized as a maturing discipline at the intersections of
philosophy, medicine, law, social sciences, and humanities.
Increasingly bioethics - along with its foundational values,
concepts and principals - has been exported to other countries, not
only in the developed West, but also in developing and/or Eastern
countries. Bioethics thus continues to undergo intriguing
transformations as it is globalized and adapted to local cultures.
These processes have occurred rapidly in the last two decades, with
relatively little reflection and examination.
This volume brings together contributors from a wide variety of
disciplines to take a critical, empirical look at bioethics around
the globe, examining how it is being transformed - at both local
and global levels - in this process of cross-cultural exporting and
importing. One concern is to identify sociocultural forces and
consequences which may positively or negatively affect ethics and
social justice goals. This book thereby offers the first
comparative anthropology and sociology of globalizing bioethics in
the field, exploring the global dissemination, local adaptations,
cultural meanings and social functions of bioethics theories,
practices and institutions and comparing developed and developing
countries.
The volume considers a full range of countries on every inhabited
continent, including: Africa, Asia, Australia, Central and South
America, Europe, the Middle East, and North America. Topics include
government agendas such as nationalism and nation building; agendas
of powerful, associated professions (e.g., medicine, law);
theological and political agendas such as 'culture wars'; agendas
of entrepreneurial economies of profit; and other cultural and
ideological agendas consciously or unconsciously advanced or
contested by bioethics work in particular countries based on their
unique history, politics and culture. This cross-cultural
exploration of globalizing bioethics will be of great interest to a
field that is increasingly introspective about its underlying
sociocultural assumptions and biases.
"At last-an unabashedly sociological and anthropological look at
the globalization of bioethics, a really fresh approach to a
maturing discipline. The chapters speak from the perspective of
sophisticated Western-developed exporters of the bioethical
paradigm and equally sophisticated] Eastern-developing and
third-world and interdisciplinary critics suspicious of the
canonical view. Trained in the dominant school of American,
mainstream philosophy, Myser draws on her long-standing commitment
to a social and cultural approach to bioethics to take a fresh look
at bioethics globally. She grasps the globalization of bioethics
and the skepticism about analytical philosophy's Americanized
consensus. The book sets the stage for a new era in bioethics
theory and practice {debating] whether a universal common morality
underlies the rich variation in national and cultural bioethics
traditions."
- Robert Veatch, Georgetown University
"This path-breaking volume is the first to explore the global
export of Western bioethics to a variety of non-Western settings.
Explicitly critical, the book also points to the liberating
potential of bioethics to achieve social justice and improve the
lives of patients around the world. The book is a must-read for all
medical anthropologists interested in bioethics." - Marcia Inhorn,
Yale University
"Bioethics Around the Globe should change the way bioethics is
conceived and practiced in the U.S. and elsewhere. Its rich and
wide-ranging comparative examination opens new possibilities for
bioethical reflection. I enthusiastically recommend this wonderful
book." - James F. Childress, University of Virginia
"The past 40 years have seen a remarkable spread of bioethics to
every part of the world. Dr. Myser's collection is a wonderful and
rich exploration of its international impact, revealing important
similarities and differences from country to country. It will have
an important impact." - Daniel Callahan, The Hastings Center
After the chicken, the House Sparrow is the most widely distributed
bird species in the world, occurring on all continents except
Antarctica and on most human-inhabited islands. Although its Latin
name is Passer domesticus, it is certainly not domesticated. In
fact, it is widely regarded as a pest species and is consequently
not protected in most of its extensive range. This combination of
ubiquity and minimal legal protection has contributed to its wide
use in studies by avian biologists throughout the world.
The purpose of this book is to review and summarize the results of
these global studies on House Sparrows, and to provide a
springboard for future studies on the species. House Sparrows have
been used to study natural selection in introduced species,
circadian rhythms, and the neuroendocrine control of the avian
annual cycle. One current question of considerable interest
concerns the catastrophic House Sparrow population declines in
several urban centers in Europe. Is the House Sparrow a
contemporary canary in the mine? Other topics of broad interest
include the reproductive and flock-foraging strategies of sparrows,
and sexual selection and the function of the male badge in the
species. Anderson also explores the role of the House Sparrow in
disease transmission to humans and their domesticated animals.
Available for the first time in Achieve, the definitive reference
text for biochemistry Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry, 8e
helps students focus on the most important aspects of biochemistry-
the principles! Dave Nelson, Michael Cox, and new co-author Aaron
Hoskins identify the most important principles of biochemistry and
direct student attention to these with icons and resources targeted
to each principle. The 8th edition has been fully updated for
focus, approachability, and up-to-date content. New and updated
end-of-chapter questions -all available in the Achieve problem
library with error-specific feedback and thorough solutions. These
questions went through a rigorous development process to ensure
they were robust, engaging and accurate. Lehninger Principles of
Biochemistry, 8e continues to help students navigate the complex
discipline of biochemistry with a clear and coherent presentation.
Renowned authors David Nelson, Michael Cox, and new co-author Aaron
Hoskins have focused this eighth edition around the fundamental
principles to help students understand and navigate the most
important aspects of biochemistry. Text features and digital
resources in the new Achieve platform emphasize this focus on the
principles, while coverage of recent discoveries and the most
up-to-date research provide fascinating context for learning the
dynamic discipline of biochemistry. Achieve supports educators and
students throughout the full range of instruction, including assets
suitable for pre-class preparation, in-class active learning, and
post-class study and assessment. The pairing of a powerful new
platform with outstanding biochemistry content provides an
unrivaled learning experience.
Thomas' Calculus: Early Transcendentals goes beyond memorizing
formulas and routine procedures to help you develop deeper
understanding. It guides you to a level of mathematical
proficiency, with additional support if needed through its clear
and intuitive explanations, current applications and generalized
concepts. Technology exercises in every section use the calculator
or computer for solving problems, and Computer Explorations offer
exercises requiring a computer algebra system like Maple or
Mathematica. The 15th Edition adds exercises, revises figures and
language for clarity, and updates many applications.
Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful
introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law,
expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be
accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of
the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject
areas. This cutting edge book introduces the origins and
consequences of digital platforms, examining how artificial
intelligence-enabled digital platforms collect and process data
from and about users by providing social media and e-commerce
services. Robin Mansell and W. Edward Steinmueller compare and
contrast neoclassical, institutional and critical political economy
approaches. They show how uneven power relationships between
platform operators and their users are analysed in different
economic traditions. Key features include: analysis of economic and
public values provides a foundation for platform regulation
examines the impacts of platforms on the media industry challenges
claims of the inevitability of platform dominance discusses key
challenges, including: artificial intelligence, data sharing and
competition in the digital economy. This concise book will be
indispensable for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students
of media and communication studies, innovation studies and
economics, particularly those focusing on platform economics.
In The Power of Habit , award-winning New York Times business
reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific
discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed.
With penetrating intelligence and an ability to distill vast amounts of
information into engrossing narratives, Duhigg brings to life a whole
new understanding of human nature and its potential for transformation.
Along the way we learn why some people and companies struggle to
change, despite years of trying, while others seem to remake themselves
overnight.
We visit laboratories where neuroscientists explore how habits work and
where, exactly, they reside in our brains. We discover how the right
habits were crucial to the success of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps,
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, and civil-rights hero Martin Luther King,
Jr.
We go inside Procter & Gamble, Target superstores, Rick
Warren's Saddleback Church, NFL locker rooms, and the nation's largest
hospitals and see how implementing so-called keystone habits can earn
billions and mean the difference between failure and success, life and
death.
At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating
argument: the key to exercising regularly, losing weight, raising
exceptional children, becoming more productive, building revolutionary
companies and social movements, and achieving success is understanding
how habits work. Habits aren't destiny. As Charles Duhigg shows, by
harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our
communities, and our lives.
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