7908 results for "Science"

The ideas industry

Drezner, Daniel W.
" The public intellectual, as a person and ideal, has a long and storied mythology. Writing in venues like the New Republic and Foreign Affairs, they are expected to opine on a broad array of topics, from foreign policy to literature to economics. Yet in recent years a new kind of thinker has supplanted that archetype: the thought leader. Equipped with one big idea, thought leaders focus their energies on TED talks more than highbrow periodicals. How did this shift happen? In The Ideas Industry, Daniel W. Drezner points to the roles of political polarization, heightened inequality, and eroding trust in authority as ushering in the change. In contrast to public intellectuals, thought leaders gain fame as single-idea merchants. Their ideas are often laudable and highly ambitious: ending global poverty by 2025, for example. But instead of a class composed of university professors and freelance intellectuals debating in highbrow magazines, thought leaders can bypass traditional gatekeepers to directly influence policymakers and the public. They are more immune to criticism--and in this century, the criticism of public intellectuals also counts for less. Three factors have reshaped the world of ideas: waning trust in expertise, increasing political polarization and rising levels of plutocracy. The erosion of trust has lowered the barriers to entry in the marketplace of ideas. Thought leaders don't need doctorates or fellowships to advance their arguments. Polarization is hardly a new phenomenon, but in contrast to their predecessors, today's intellectuals are more likely to enjoy the support of ideologically friendly private funders and be housed in ideologically-driven think tanks. Increasing inequality is a key driver: more than ever before, contemporary plutocrats fund intellectuals and policy shops that generate arguments that align with their own. There are downsides to the contemporary ideas industry, but Drezner argues that it is very good at broadcasting ideas widely and reaching large audiences of people hungry for new thinking. Both fair-minded and trenchant, The Ideas Industry will reshape our understanding of contemporary public intellectual life in America and the West."--
Oxford University Press 2017 344 pages

Worse Than War

Daniel Jonah Goldhagen
Daniel Jonah Goldhagen's books are events. They stir passionate public debate among political and civic leaders, scholars, and the general public because they compel people to rethink the most powerful conventional wisdoms and stubborn moral problems of the day. Worse Than War gets to the heart of the phenomenon, genocide, that has caused more deaths in the modern world than military conflict. In doing so, it challenges fundamental things we thought we knew about human beings, society, and politics. Drawing on extensive field work and research from around the world, Goldhagen explores the anatomy of genocide explaining why genocides begin, are sustained, and end; why societies support them, why they happen so frequently and how the international community should and can successfully stop them. As a great book should, Worse than War seeks to change the way we think and to offer new possibilities for a better world. It tells us how we might at last begin to eradicate this greatest scourge of humankind.
ReadHowYouWant.com, Limited 2011-03-21 610 pages

Wild thought: a new translation of La pensée sauvage

Lévi-Strauss, Claude
"Through a fertile mixture of insights gleaned from linguistics and from sociology and ethnology, Lévi-Strauss elaborated his theory of structural unity in culture and became the preeminent representative of structural anthropology. La Pensée sauvage, published in French in 1962, was his crowning achievement. Ranging over philosophies, historical periods, and human societies, it challenged the prevailing assumption of the superiority of modern Western culture and sought to explain the unity of human intellection. Fatefully titled The Savage Mind in English, the original translation nevertheless sparked a fascination with Lévi-Strauss's work among generations of Anglophone readers. Wild Thought: A New Translation of "La Pensée sauvage" rekindles that spark. An indispensable addition to any philosophical and anthropological library, this new translation, with critical annotations for the contemporary reader, restores the accuracy and integrity of the book that changed the course of twentieth-century thought"--
The University of Chicago Press 2021-02-22 357 pages

Gringo A Coming of Age in Latin America

Chesa Boudin
"In Gringo , Chesa Boudin takes us on a delightfully engaging trip through Latin America, in an ingenious combination of memoir and commentary" (Howard Zinn). Gringo charts two journeys, both of which began a decade ago. The first is the sweeping transformation of Latin American politics that started with Hugo Chávez's inauguration as president of Venezuela in 1999. In that same year, an eighteen-year-old Chesa Boudin leaves his middle-class Chicago life -- which is punctuated by prison visits to his parents, who were incarcerated when he was fourteen months old for their role in a politically motivated bank truck robbery -- and arrives in Guatemala. He finds a world where disparities of wealth are even more pronounced and where social change is not confined to classroom or dinner-table conversations, but instead takes place in the streets. While a new generation of progress-ive Latin American leaders rises to power, Boudin crisscrosses twenty-seven countries throughout the Americas. He witnesses the economic crisis in Buenos Aires; works inside Chávez's Miraflores palace in Caracas; watches protestors battling police on September 11, 2001, in Santiago; descends into ancient silver mines in Potosí; and travels steerage on a riverboat along the length of the Amazon. He rarely takes a plane when a fifteen-hour bus ride in the company of unfettered chickens is available. Including incisive analysis, brilliant reportage, and deep humanity, Boudin's account of this historic period is revelatory. It weaves together the voices of Latin Americans, some rich, most poor, and the endeavors of a young traveler to understand the world around him while coming to terms with his own complicated past. The result is a marvelous mixture of coming-of-age memoir and travelogue.
Scribner 2013-02-16 240 pages

Because It Is Wrong Torture, Privacy and Presidential Power in the Age of Terror

Beneficial Professor of Law Charles Fried,Charles Fried,Gregory Fried
Can torture ever be justified? When is eavesdropping acceptable? Should a kidnapper be waterboarded to reveal where his victim has been hidden? Ever since 9/11 there has been an intense debate about the government's application of torture and the pervasive use of eavesdropping and data mining in order to thwart acts of terrorism. To create this seminal statement on torture and surveillance, Charles Fried and Gregory Fried have measured current controversies against the philosophies of Aristotle, Locke, Kant, and Machiavelli, and against the historic decisions, large and small, of Jefferson, Lincoln, and Pope Sixtus V, among many others. Because It Is Wrong not only discusses the behavior and justifications of Bush government officials but also examines more broadly what should be done when high officials have broken moral and legal norms in an attempt to protect us. This is a moral and philosophical meditation on some of the most urgent issues of our time.
W. W. Norton, Incorporated 2010-09-06 224 pages

Cloning Miranda

Carol Matas
An Action-packed Sci-Fi Thriller for Middle Grades & YA A new updated edition that combines Canadian bestseller, Cloning Miranda, with its two sequels, The Second Clone and The Dark Clone into a single gripping adventure. Fourteen-year-old Miranda has it all: beauty, brains, talent, perfect health. Until the day her vision goes blurry - the first symptom of a fatal disease. As she and her parents fight to save her, she makes the shocking discovery that everything she thought she knew about her life is a lie. Suddenly Miranda is facing some troubling questions: What makes us human? Is it our DNA, our upbringing or the choices we make? The answers will force Miranda to deal with the biggest challenges of her life.
Fictive Press 2017-11-25 294 pages

Oxygen: a play in two acts

Djerassi, Carl
Was treibt Wissenschaftler an? Der Konkurrenzkampf, das Bestreben etwas Neues als erster zu entdecken, ist eine wichtige Motivation. Die moralischen Konsequenzen werden in dem Stück "Oxygen" behandelt, in dem es um die Entdeckung von Sauerstoff geht, dem für das Leben auf der Erde wichtigsten Element. Im Zentrum des Stückes stehen chemische und politische Revolutionen sowie der Nobel-Preis, der 2001 zum 100. Mal vergeben wird. Das Stück spielt 1777 und 2001; zur Aufführung werden drei Schauspieler und drei Schauspielerinnen benötigt, die elf Personen darstellen. Die Urauffühung wird im Frühjahr 2001 in San Diego stattfinden, die deutsche Premiere im September. Die weltberühmten Autoren Carl Djerassi und Roald Hoffmann bürgen aufgrund ihrer Erfahrungen als Wissenschaftler - Carl Djerassi ist bekannt als "Vater der Pille" und Roald Hoffmann erhielt 1982 den Nobelpreis für Chemie - und als Schriftsteller - Djerassi schrieb mehrere erfolgreiche Romane, Hoffmann viel beachtete Lyrik - für Kompetenz und Spannung.
Wiley-VCH 2001-03-05 119 pages

Communism, Fascism, and Democracy

Carl Cohen
Part One: Communism -- Utopian Socialism -- Dialectics -- Materialism -- The Theory of Dialectical and Historical Materialism -- State, Revolution, and the Future -- The Strategy and Tactics of Communism -- Part Two: Fascism -- Absolutism -- Organicism -- Irrationalism -- Fascist Philosophy in Italy -- Fascist Philosophy in Germany -- Part Three: Democracy -- Natural Right Democracy -- Democratic Liberalism -- The Forms of Contemporary Democracy -- Democracy as a Way of Life --
McGraw-Hill Companies 1972 620 pages

Uncanny X-Men. Revolution

Bendis, Brian Michael
The true flagship X-Men series returns! In the wake of the Phoenix event, the world has changed and is torn on exactly what Cyclops and his team of outlaw X-Men are - visionary revolutionaries or dangerous terrorists? Whatever the truth, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magneto, and Magik are out in the world gathering new mutants and redefining the name Uncanny X-Men. But the challenges that they must overcome are fierce: once again, robotic Sentinels hunt the team and the mutants they protect... but when you find out who's doing the hunting, your jaw will drop!
Panini 2013 112 pages

Infamous Iron Man

Bendis, Brian Michael
When Tony Stark falls, the mantle of Iron Man is taken up by... Doctor Doom!? There's a new Iron Man in town, and his name is... Victor von Doom! The Marvel Universe's greatest villain is no stranger to armour, but now he's trying something new on for size: heroism. And where Tony Stark failed, Doom will succeed. But what is Victor's master plan? That's what a great number of folks want to know - including Ben Grimm, Pepper Potts and the other Iron Man: Riri Williams! In his heroic quest, Doom faces a cosmic-level adversary - and his most mortal enemy, whom he thought he would never see again! But what is the shocking truth behind Victor's reincarnated mother? Plus: When the search for Tony Stark begins, the time comes to decide, once and for all, who will wear the armour of Iron Man! Collecting: Infamous Iron Man (2016) 1-12, Invincible Iron Man (2017) 593-600
Marvel Worldwide, Inc 2023-08-22 480 pages

Dark Avengers

Bendis, Brian Michael
Every issue of this groundbreaking series in one glorious oversized collection! There they are, a new team of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the sunlight gleaming off their smiling faces and an adoring crowd on hand to cheer them as they take the stage! Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye...You know them, you love them! They're your Avengers, and they are here to protect you! Except...things are not how they appear. With the real Avengers underground, who are these Avengers that look like them, and why have they been assembled? The Dark Reign has begun, and Dark Avengers are at the epicenter of Norman Osborn's insane plans for the Marvel Universe!
Marvel Worldwide, Inc 2015 240 pages

Saudi Arabia in transition: insights on social, political, economic and religious change

Bernard Haykel,Thomas Hegghammer,Stéphane Lacroix
"Making sense of Saudi Arabia is crucially important today. The kingdom's western province contains the heart of Islam, and it is the United States' closest Arab ally and the largest producer of oil in the world. However, the country is undergoing rapid change: its aged leadership is ceding power to a new generation, and its society, dominated by young people, is restive. Saudi Arabia has long remained closed to foreign scholars, with a select few academics allowed into the kingdom over the past decade. This book presents the fruits of their research as well as those of the most prominent Saudi academics in the field. This volume focuses on different sectors of Saudi society and examines how the changes of the past few decades have affected each. It reflects new insights and provides the most up-to-date research on the country's social, cultural, economic and political dynamics"--
Cambridge University Press 2015-01-19 351 pages

On compromise and rotten compromises

Margalit, Avishai
A searching examination of the moral limits of political compromise When is political compromise acceptable—and when is it fundamentally rotten, something we should never accept, come what may? What if a rotten compromise is politically necessary? Compromise is a great political virtue, especially for the sake of peace. But, as Avishai Margalit argues, there are moral limits to acceptable compromise even for peace. But just what are those limits? At what point does peace secured with compromise become unjust? Focusing attention on vitally important questions that have received surprisingly little attention, Margalit argues that we should be concerned not only with what makes a just war, but also with what kind of compromise allows for a just peace. Examining a wide range of examples, including the Munich Agreement, the Yalta Conference, and Arab-Israeli peace negotiations, Margalit provides a searching examination of the nature of political compromise in its various forms. Combining philosophy, politics, and history, and written in a vivid and accessible style, On Compromise and Rotten Compromises is full of surprising new insights about war, peace, justice, and sectarianism.
Princeton University Press 2010 221 pages

Leaving Home A Memoir

Art Buchwald
The New York Times Bestseller. "Dear readers: have I got a treat for you! Art Buchwald has written a book about his life . . . I guarantee 254 pages of pure pleasure". -- Ann Landers "Strikingly honest . . . [Buchwald] grew up in orphanages and foster homes and never knew his mother who, shortly after he was born, entered a mental hospital and spent the rest of her life there . . . . But instead of becoming a sociopath, Buchwald became a professional funnyman and a national figure whose columns skewer pretense and politicians . . . . Score one for humor as a means of survival". -- The Washington Post Book World "
Fawcett Columbine 1995 254 pages