Das Fortschrittsmuster der Industriegesellschaft kollidiert zunehmend mit den Grenzen, die uns von der Natur auf der Erde vorgegeben sind. Die Gesellschaft muss umsteuern auf einen Pfad dauerhafter Entwicklung innerhalb dieser Grenzen. Der Glaube, diese Entwicklung fest in den Griff zu bekommen allein durch die Anhaufung von nochmehr spezifischem Fachwissen, die Bereitstellung neuer Techniken und die Gewinnung einer "neuen Ethik" wird in dem vorliegenden Buch in Zweifel gezogen. Denn unser Wissen uber das komplex vernetzte System Natur und die Entwicklungsdynamik der modernen Gesellschaft ist prinzipiell luckenhaft und vorlaufig. Das ist das Ergebnis eines interdisziplinaren Gesprachs zwischen Okonomen, Natur- und Ingenieurwissenschaftlern, Rechtswissenschaftlern und Politologen, Psychologen und Philosophen. An die Stelle der Fiktion wissenschaftlich definierbarer Belastungsgrenzen der Natur muss die Minimierung der Eingriffe in die okologischen Systeme als Handlungsmaxime treten. Darin liegt keine Bedrohung okonomischer Wohlfahrt, sondern die Chance fur eine neue Qualitat des Lebens, die sich durch den behutsamen Umgang miteinander und mit der Natur auszeichnet.

Current Biblical interpretation is in a muddle state. Can the historicity of Scripture be placed in question but its authority and significance still be upheld? Can we be truly Christian while calling the reliability of biblical revelation into doubt? Gerhard Maier provides a Christian understanding of the science of biblical hermeneutics: the inspiration and authority of Scripture, the role of the canon, the historical nature of Scripture, current discussion of revelation and criticism, etc.

Citing the importance of the subject Maier says, "Against long-standing and still virulent tendencies of modernity we must speak confidently of the history of God's dealings with mankind." He adds, "A communicative hermeneutic, a hermeneutic of encounter, seems essential at the present time. Yet this encounter with God will flourish only where the Bible is permitted to be no less than what God intends: namely, the Word of God."

An outstanding work of biblical scholarship that will prove invaluable for all who desire a better grasp of the Bible in the modern world and especially for those in classes on biblical interpretation.

From 1907 to 1931 at Tendaguru, a remote site in present-day Tanzania, teams of German (and later British) paleontologists unearthed 220 tons of fossils, including the bones of a new dinosaur, one of the largest then known. For decades the mounted skeleton of this giant, Brachiosaurus, was the largest skeleton of a land animal on exhibit in the world. The dinosaur and other animal fossils found at Tendaguru form one of the cornerstones of our understanding of life in the Mesozoic era. Visited sporadically during the 30s and 40s, Tendaguru again became the site of scientific interest late in the 20th century. African Dinosaurs Unearthed tells the story of driven scientific adventurers working under difficult conditions and often paying the price with their health and sometimes with their lives. Set against the background of a troubled century, the book reveals how scientific endeavors were carried on through war and political turmoil, and continue into the present day."