Bøger udgivet af Prometheus Books

Offers an exploration of how our understanding of evolution is key to the future of our planet. This title argues that understanding evolution has never mattered more in human history. It explains how health, food production, and human impact on the environment are dependent on our knowledge of evolution.

Critiquing assumptions on both the left and the right, noted historian of ideas and political theorist David Selbourne stresses the importance of shared community and civic duty.How stable are free societies today? This book argues that they are under threat from "market free-choice" and "moral free-choice," two sides of the same coin which between them, the author warns, threaten to tear civil society apart. Market free-choice is the prevailing economic ideology that gives free reign to market forces, even when they ride roughshod over communities and whole nations. Moral free-choice, the other side of the coin, is the notion of individual rights without any sense of civic responsibility. The result of such ultra-individualism in economic and moral practice is the malaise we find ourselves in today: a lost sense of place, community, and belonging, as well as dismissiveness and unawareness of the lessons of the past. In the wake of these destructive trends, this book reminds us that personal well-being is dependent in large part upon the maintenance of a coherent civic and moral order. A society consisting of isolated individuals focused solely on personal rights with no regard for the foundation of their freedoms will soon see that foundation crumble through neglect. By the same token, a society that routinely sacrifices equality of opportunity and economic fairness to the forces of the global marketplace creates dangerous tensions between the few haves and the many have-nots. Reminding the reader of the aspirations and largely-forgotten writings of America's founding fathers, the book concludes by pointing to the principles of what the author calls the "true commonwealth" as an alternative to today's political, ethical, and social disorders.

WINNER: National Press Club's Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism Leading journalists from Fox News, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, newspapers, and other outlets-including Dan Rather, Ashleigh Banfield, Robert McChesney, Greg Palast, Pulitzer Prize and Emmy winners, and more-recount the press censorship they experienced in the wake of 9/11 security concerns. With a foreword by Gore Vidal and edited by former CBS and CNN producer Kristina Borjesson, this highly acclaimed anthology has been described as "fascinating and disturbing," "uplifting" and "infuriating," and a "penetrating collection of powerful essays." The original edition won the National Press Club's Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism and was selected by the New York Public Library as one of the most extraordinary titles of 2002.

Multiculturalism has become an ambiguous but potent battle cry in US society, lauded by proponents as a call to tolerate different cultural traditions and values, and deplored by detractors as an attack on the highest standards of Western culture. This anthology explores this controversial social movement from various humanist perspectives.

Contains historic debates that led to the creation of one of the free world's most respected documents: the Constitution of the United States. This book includes Madison's notes and remarks as well as other requisite information for interpreting the events of that historic year.

Presenting an account of global Islamic terrorism, this book aims to answer the question that has been on the minds of Americans since September 11: Why do they hate us? It also tells that as the chief backer of Israel, the United States is seen by extremists as the evil power behind the hated 'Zionist enemy'.

Combines classic and contemporary approaches to educational theory. This work takes a step towards integrating the major contributions found in both traditional and non-traditional scholarship. It also suggests provisional solutions to some of the problems that have fuelled the quarrel between the two camps.

Features a depiction of a pilgrimage to Lourdes. This book offers commentary on suffering and the belief in miracles as the last desperate refuge from pain. It contains various characters and describes the physical effects of their illnesses, their hopes, beliefs, fears, and above all endurance.

Attempts to understand the role of Catholic dogma in a world undergoing wide-ranging changes in science, social science, historical analysis, and cultural study. This book includes the text of Loisy's work and the complete text of the papal encyclical condemning the Modernist movement.

Looking at American history by tracing the life paths of its heroes and heroines, this account provides vignettes and anecdotes, presenting the careers and contributions of these remarkable people. It is a tour through America's wars, highlighting the service of those who went beyond the call of duty, and has left an example.

Maintains that science can help us make wise choices and that an increase in scientific knowledge can help modify our ethical values and bring fresh ethical principles into social awareness. This book covers topics including bio-genetic engineering, stem cell research, organ transplants, human enhancement, abortion, euthanasia, and psychiatry.

Blessed with native intelligence and the ability to think quickly on her feet, Andrea navigated her way through professional management circles and a series of salary increases. When the opportunity to move to another company arose, she took the chance of being caught and interviewed again. This is her autobiography.

From impotence to diabetes, cataracts to psoriasis, the proven dangers of smoking go well beyond heart and lung disease. This book details the various known health threats of smoking. It features chapters that explain how cigarette smoking can effect the body from head to toe.

Presents a series of thought-provoking musings, mainly about the imagination, the sense of identity, the compulsion to write, and Isaac Asimov - who, as Janet Asimov says, was good at all of them.

Reveals a sometimes funny but more often disturbing world of fanaticism and extremism.

Tells the story of A Square, an inhabitant of the two-dimensional world Flatland. This novel touches on themes of humanity's insatiable quest for truth, authority's tendency to squash radical ideas born from this quest, and the necessity of curiosity.

Offers helpful explanations to those discouraged in the struggle to decipher what philosophers are really up to.

"Is there still anything worth living for? Is anything worth pursuing, apart from money, love, and caring for one's own family?" Internationally known social philosopher and ethicist Peter Singer has an answer to these and other questions in this compelling new volume. "If we can detach ourselves from our own immediate preoccupations and look at the world as a whole and our place in it, there is something absurd about the idea that people should have trouble finding something to live for."Singer suggests that people who take an ethical approach to life often avoid the trap of meaninglessness, finding a deeper satisfaction in what they are doing than those people whose goals are narrower and more self-centered. He spells out what he means by an ethical approach to life, and shows that it can bring about significant and far-reaching changes to one's life.

An autobiography of Frank Harris (1856-1931), an Irish writer and editor who founded "Pearson's Magazine" in the United States (1914-1918). It includes depictions of his sexual exploits with willing Victorian Age debutantes.

Discusses the stages of dying, examines the accounts of near-death experiences, and argues that brain chemistry, rather than afterlife, best explains the sensations felt near death.

In the summer of 1980, in Wiltshire, southern England, a group of three swirled circular patterns mysteriously appeared in farmer John Scull's fields of wheat and oats. Scull blamed Army helicopters. UFO enthusiasts credited flying saucers. A local meteorologist attributed them to whirlwinds. Each year thereafter, the circles continued to appear, in Wiltshire, Hampshire, Sussex, Oxfordshire - increasing in mystery and complexity as a social, religious, and scientific turmoil grew around them. Now manifesting in enormous and ornate "pictograms," the phenomenon continues to draw crowds of the curious and the faithful, not only to circles-prone fields of southern England, but to unsuspecting fields in such places as Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Romania, Australia, Japan, Canada, and the United States. North American enthusiasts are now in the forefront of circles research - or "cerealogy" as it has come to be known - and every summer we spend tens of thousands of dollars and many hours in scientific and spiritual evaluation of circles here and abroad. Science writer Jim Schnabel ventured into Wiltshire in search of the circles and an answer to their annual mystery. He soon became entranced, not merely by the odd swirled shapes in the fields, but by the human beings who flocked to them: plasma physicists and ritual magicians, dowsers and UFOlogists, New Age tourists and garrulous mediums, and the devoted "cereal" artists whose work lay behind it all.

Examines various facets of the evolution/creationism controversy. This collection of essays exposes the ambiguous standing of "creation science" in public education, its roots in American fundamentalism, its incompatibility with scientific inquiry, and the clever rhetorical ploys "scientific creationists" use to cover their tracks.

For centuries both primitive and sophisticated societies have been spellbound by persons who claim to have 'psychic' power. In fact, much has been done over the years in an attempt to convince the scientific community that such phenomena are legitimate and credible. This book considers some of the major battlefields of this debate.

A NASA insider tells the exciting story of robotic space missions to explore the solar system.Exploring the planets has been a goal of America's space program since the dawn of the space race. This insider's perspective examines incredible missions of robotic spacecraft to every corner of our solar system and beyond. Some were flown into glory, while others were planned and relegated to dusty filing cabinets. All were remarkable in their aspirations.Award-winning science writer Rod Pyle profiles both the remarkable spacecraft and the amazing scientists and engineers who made them possible. From the earliest sprints past Venus and Mars to Voyager1's current explorations of the space between the stars, this exciting book sheds new light on ever-more ambitious journeys designed to increase the human reach into the solar system. Drawing on his perspective as a writer for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ground zero for NASA's planetary exploration, the author further details plans now in development to look for signs of life on Jupiter's moon Europa, submarines that will dive into the hazy hydrocarbon lakes of Saturn's moon Titan, and intelligent spacecraft that will operate for months without human intervention on Mars and in the outer solar system well into the 2030s. Equally compelling are programs of exploration that were considered but never left the drawing board, such as automobile-sized biology laboratories designed for a Mars landing in the 1960s and plans to detonate atomic bombs on the moon.Complemented by many rarely-seen photos and illustrations, these stories of incredible engineering achievements, daring imaginations, and technological genius will fascinate and inspire.

Defending the role that science must play in democratic society--science defined not just in terms of technology but as a way of approaching problems and viewing the world.In this collection of original essays, experts in political science, the hard sciences, philosophy, history, and other disciplines examine contemporary anti-science trends, and make a strong case that respect for science is essential for a healthy democracy. The editors note that a contradiction lies at the heart of modern society. On the one hand, we inhabit a world increasingly dominated by science and technology. On the other, opposition to science is prevalent in many forms--from arguments against the teaching of evolution and the denial of climate change to the promotion of alternative medicine and outlandish claims about the effects of vaccinations. Adding to this grass-roots hostility toward science are academics espousing postmodern relativism, which equates the methods of science with regimes of "power-knowledge." While these cultural trends are sometimes marketed in the name of "democratic pluralism," the contributors contend that such views are actually destructive of a broader culture appropriate for a democratic society. This is especially true when facts are degraded as "fake news" and scientists are dismissed as elitists. Rather than enhancing the capacity for rational debate and critical discourse, the authors view such anti-science stances on either the right or the left as a return to premodern forms of subservience to authority and an unwillingness to submit beliefs to rational scrutiny. Beyond critiquing attitudes hostile to science, the essays in this collection put forward a positive vision for how we might better articulate the relation between science and democracy and the benefits that accrue from cultivating this relationship.