When the Viking lander on the planet Minerva is destroyed, sending back one last photo of a strange alien being, scientists on Earth are stunned. And so a joint investigation - by the USA and Russia - is launched, the first long-distance manned space mission and a symbol of the new peace between old rivals. Humankind's first close encounter with extraterrestrials will be history in the making, and the two teams are schooled in diplomacy as well as in science. But nothing prepares them for alien war - especially when the Americans and the Russinas find themselves on opposite sides. The bestselling author of the Worldwar and Colonisation sequences has once again set up an epic story of conflict in an alternate world of 'what if?' and 'what could be'. 'The wizard of If.' Chicago Sun-Times 'The standard-bearer for alternate history.' USA Today

Public Policy in a New Key brings together important contributions by a major social analyst on some of the most crucial policy questions of our time. Amitai Etzioni brings to these issues not only a lifetime's study of sociology and its sister social sciences but a critical commitment to societal change firmly rooted in democratic values and the ethics of social responsibility. Although these writings, half of which appear here for the first time, range widely over the spectrum of domestic and foreign policy questions, they are linked by a broadly conceived vision of sociological method that acts as a universal key to many social issues. Etzioni defines his approach to policy analysis as a macrosociology that deals with society in terms of its large-scale constituting units and their combinations. His method is flexible and superbly attuned to the dynamics of change that underlie the contexts of each issue treated here.^

Philosophical Profiles brings together ten important essays by Richard Berstein. Each focuses on the work of a thinker or group of thinkers at the center of contemporary developments in philosophy, including Hannah Arendt, John Dewey, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Jurgen Habermas, G.W.F. Hegel, Alasdair MacIntyre, Herbert Marcuse, and Richard Rorty.

The essays included here represent Fox Keller's attempts to integrate the insights of feminist theory with those of her contemporaries in the history and philosophy of science.

How were Ned Kelly's bones finally identified? What makes cockroaches some of the most successful creatures on the planet? Could some obscure bacteria finally rid the world of dengue fever? How did infant reflux become the disease of the moment? Why does the discovery of a planet made of one huge diamond cause so much media excitement? And do video games really rot children's brains? From the furthest reaches of the universe to the microscopic world of our genes, science offers writers the kind of scope other subjects simply can't match. Good writing about science can be moving, funny, exhilarating or poetic, but it will always be honest and rigorous about the research that underlies it. Editor Elizabeth Finkel showcases the nation's best science writing, drawn from some of this country's best publications. With a foreword by Nobel Prize-winning astronomer Professor Brian Schmidt, the anthology includes contributions from Margaret Wertheim, Ashley Hay, Wilson da Silva, Jo Chandler and a host of new voices.

Scientists are racing to unravel the code of life in our DNA sequences. But once we know the code, will we know what life means? Will we know what to do with the powerful -- healing, destructive, and marketable -- information we will have? Barbara Katz Rothman's warm, learned, passionate, and humorous voice is just the one we need to guide us through some of the most loaded issues and technologies of our time -- ones that bear on the most intimate aspects of our lives. Her astute observations about the new genetics are combined with personal reflections: about raising a black child; the risks of cancer; midwives and pregnancy; the social web into which we are born; motherhood; time, growth, chance, and all the indefinable things that make us human. She helps us to think about the place of genetic science in our own lives, its role in our social world, and how we choose to think about human life itself. A genetic map will take us places, but we need an imagination to see the relationship between DNA and public policy, between genes and the society we live in, and to understand why human life can't be reduced to genetics. Rothman inspires that imagination, in a book that is essential reading.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Before he wrote The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn wrote The Quest for Physical Theory--a series of eight lectures that examine the nature of scientific knowledge, how it is created, and how it changes through time. Commissioned as public lectures in 1951 by Boston's Lowell Institute, The Quest for Physical Theory adopts the historical approach Kuhn would later refine in Structure. He surveys the history of physics from Aristotle to Newton, of atomism from antiquity to modern chemistry, and he examines the concepts of fields and subtle fluids a creative metaphors that guide research. In the last four lectures, he turns to logic and philosophy, psychology, and theories of language to explain the workings of "creative science" that are typically ignored by textbooks and many influential philosophers of science.

This is the third in a series of volumes of essays by Steven Weinberg, the previous two having also been published by HUP (Facing Up in 2001, and Lake Views in 2010). Weinberg, recipient of the Nobel Prize (1979) with Abdus Shalam and Sheldon Glashow for their contributions to the electroweak unification theory, is well known not only for his groundbreaking work in physics, but also for his efforts in popularizing science and the history of science, and for his stances on various matters in politics, public policy, and religion. This volume, like the previous two, runs a wide gamut, from the cosmological to the personal. Specific topics include particle physics, quantum mechanics, astronomy, big science, the history of science, space flight, science funding, the limits of current knowledge, and several other subjects ranging from the art of discovery to being wrong. Nearly all of the work included here, again as with the previous two volumes, has been previously published. The author has added introductions to the volume as a whole and to each essay, putting the material in context and adding further explanation where necessary. He has also added a number of explanatory notes.--

Philosophers have not taken the evolution of human beings seriously enough. If they did, argues Peter Munz, many long standing philosophical problems would be resolved. One of philosophical concequences of biology is that all the knowledge produced in evolution is a priori , i.e., established hypothetically by chance mutation and selective retention, not by observation and intelligent induction. For organisms as embodied theories, selection is natural and for theories as disembodied organisms, it is artificial. Following Popper, the growth of knowledge is seen to be continuous from the amoeba to Einstein'. Philosophical Darwinism throws a whole new light on many contemporary debates. It has damaging implications for cognitive science and artificial intelligence, and questions attempts from within biology to reduce mental events to neural processes. More importantly, it provides a rational postmodern alternative to what the author argues are the unreasonable postmodern fashions of Kuhn, Lyotard and Rorty.

'Daring, learned and humane... A revelatory restoration of wonder' Stephen Greenblatt. We no longer think, like the ancient Chinese did, that the world was hatched from an egg, or, like the Maori, that it came from the tearing-apart of a love embrace. The Greeks told of a tempestuous Hera and a cunning Zeus, but we now use genes and natural selection to explain fear and desire, and physics to demystify the workings of the universe. Science is an astounding achievement, but are we really any wiser than the ancients? Has science revealed the secrets of fate and immortality? Has it provided protection from jealousy or love? There are those who believe that science has replaced faith, but must it also be a death knell for mythology? Evolutions brings to life the latest scientific thinking on the birth of the universe and the solar system, the journey from a single cell all the way to our human minds. Reawakening our sense of wonder and terror at the world around us and within us, Oren Harman uses modern science to create new and original mythologies. Here are the Earth and the Moon presenting a cosmological view of motherhood, a panicking Mitochondrion introducing sex and death to the world, the loneliness of consciousness emerging from the memory of an octopus, and the birth of language in evolution summoning humankind's struggle with truth. Science may not solve our existential puzzles, but like the age-old legends, its magical discoveries can help us continue the never-ending search.

"Renewable energy expert Mark Diesendorf issues a powerful challenge in this clear and comprehensive guide to the technology and policies we need to adopt to ensure an ecologically sustainable energy future for the planet. Sustainable Energy Solutions for Climate Change brings together the science, technology, economics and policy issues to provide a unique and truly interdisciplinary approach. It details the enormous recent changes in the energy sector and profiles the renewable energy technologies that can transform our fossil-fuelled energy systems into ecologically sustainable ones. The book provides in-depth analysis of: scenarios for transitioning our polluting energy system to one based on the efficient use of renewable energy; sustainable transport and planning for better cities; why nuclear energy is not the answer; the politics and policies of climate change mitigation; myths about wind and solar energy and energy efficiency; what people can do to overcome vested interests and push reluctant governments to take effective action"--

Australia's favourite popular scientist returns with a new book of scintillating science. His latest book is packed with fun facts and breakthrough science to thrill, amuse and entertain. Dazzling and daring, the inimitable Dr Karl has all the answers to the questions you never thought to ask! Prepare to discover the truth about Green Tea; why crime pays (but not very well); how you can out-run a deer; the world of Big Data; why Space is the Hostile Frontier; and just what takes the title of the world's most expensive book

Welcome to the wonderful world of Dr Karl: where oddities are embraced, facts reign supreme, curiosity is king and brightly coloured shirts are compulsory! "Dr Karl is Australia's incumbent President of Science" The Age"There's no topic on which Dr Karl does not have an interestingly expressed opinion" The Weekly ReviewIn 50 Shades of Grey Matter, Australia's National Living Treasure Dr Karl Kruszelnicki applies his trademark straight-talkin'-no-high-falutin' scientific sense to a brand new range of Big Questions that you never knew you even wanted to ask, but now desperately need to know the answers to. Have you ever walked into a room and immediately forgotten the reason you're there? A solid thought convinced your legs to move, but by the time you reach your destination, you realise the thought has abandoned you en route. No, it's not dementia. It's the doorway. Impress your friends (and potential dates) by being able to answer such questions as:- Why is the sky is blue?- Why is it dark at night? - Why does lunacy erupt under a full moon?- What's the truth about spinach and Popeye?In this ever-changing, fast-paced and sometimes crazy world, few things are certain. But what is certain is that Dr Karl is here to help us battle our way through half-baked scientific myths and rumours, so that we may emerge smarter, stronger and viewing the world with more wonder than ever before. Fans of Adam Spencer will love 50 Shades of Grey Matter.

Analyses the work of science as the creation and investigation of problems, and demonstrates the role of choice and value-judgement, and the inevitability of error, in scientific research.

J. Robert Oppenheimer, a leading physicist in the Manhattan Project, recognized that scientific inquiry and discovery could no longer be separated from their effect on political decision-making, social responsibility, and human endeavor in general. He openly addressed issues of common concern and as a scientist accepted the responsibility brought about by nuclear physics. This collection of essays and speeches, only a few of which have been previously published, presents an extraordinary thinker and scientist as well as a compassionate human being. No issue is too small or too large if it is in some way connected to the emergence of a weapon as terrible and powerful as the atom bomb. Oppenheimer discusses the shift in scientific awareness and its impact on education, the question of openness in a society forced to keep secrets, the conflict between individual concerns and public and political necessity, the future of science and its effects on future politics---in short, the common and uncommon sense we find in our modern day reality. Uncommon Sense presents a responsible scientist and a concerned man who foresaw the problems the discovery of fission would create. And we should no neglect to read between the lines: The peak of Oppenheimer’s career coincided with the McCarthy era, the repercussions of which strongly affected his personal and professional life. The themes of openness and freedom becomes, therefore, recurring concerns in this collection of essays and speeches.

Gerald Holton uses the life and work of our century's greatest scientist to warn against today's gathering Romantic rebellion, one in which science is blamed for all our social ills, and in which reason is being replaced by New Age 'ways of knowing.' Through his rich exploration of Einstein's thought, the author shows how the best science depends on great intuitive leaps of imagination, and how science is indeed the creative expression of the traditions of Western civilization. Wide-ranging and forceful, this book is a must reading for anyone interested in the place of science in our world.

The term Cosmism was introduced by Tsiolokovsky and other Russian Cosmists around 1900. Goertzel's "Cosmist Manifesto" gives it new life and a new twist for the 21st century. Cosmism, as Goertzel presents it, is a practical philosophy for the posthuman era. Rooted in Western and Eastern philosophy as well as modern technology and science, it is a way of understanding ourselves and our universe that makes sense now, and will keep on making sense as advanced technology exerts its transformative impact as the future unfolds. Among the many topics considered are AI, nanotechnology, uploading, immortality, psychedelics, meditation, future social structures, psi phenomena, alien and cetacean intelligence and the Singularity. The Cosmist perspective is shown to make plain old common sense of even the wildest future possibilities.