Battleground: Science and Technology: [2 Volumes](Battleground Series)

Table of Contents:
Guide to Related Topics Acknowledgments Introduction Entries Agriculture Alien Abductions Art and Science Artificial Intelligence Asymmetric Warfare Autism Biodiesel Biotechnology Brain Sciences Cancer Censorship Chaos Theory Chemical and Biological Warfare Cloning Coal Cold Fusion Computers Creationism and Evolutionism Culture and Science Death and Dying Drugs Drugs and Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Drug Testing Ecology Education and Science Epidemics and Pandemics Ethics of Clinical Trials Eugenics Fossil Fuels Gaia Hypothesis Gene Patenting Genetically Modified Organisms Genetic Engineering Geothermal Energy Globalization Global Warming Green Building Design Healing Touch Health and Medicine Health Care HIV/AIDS Human Genome Project Immunology Indigenous Knowledge Influenza Information Technology Intellectual Property Internet Mad Cow Disease Mathematics and Science Math Wars Medical Ethics Medical Marijuana Memory Mind Missile Defense Nanotechnology Nature vs. Nurture Nuclear Power Nuclear Warfare Obesity Objectivity Off-Label Drug Use Organic Food Parapsychology Pesticides Pluto Precautionary Principle Privacy Prostheses and Implants Psychiatry Quarks Religion and Science Reproductive Technology Research Ethics Robots Science Wars Scientific Method Search Engines Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Sex and Gender Sexuality Social Robotics Social Sciences Software Space Space Tourism Space Travel Stem Cell Research Sustainability Technology Technology and Progress Tobacco UFOs Unified Field Theory Urban Warfare Vaccines Video Games Virtual Reality Warfare Waste Management Water Wind Energy Yeti Bibliography About the Editors and Contributors Index

About the Author :
Sal Restivo is Professor of Sociology, Science Studies, and Information Technology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Special Lecture Professor at Northeastern University in Shenyang, China, the former Hixon/Riggs Professor of Science, Technology, and Society at Harvey Mudd College, and a former Special Professor at Nottingham University in England. He is a founding member and former president of the Society for Social Studies of Science. Peter H. Denton is an instructor in Technical Communications and Ethics at Red River College in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Associate Professor in the Department of History at the Royal Military College of Canada.

Review :
This collection of essays by various authors, wide ranging in their backgrounds and qualifications and covering a wide expanse of topics, goes beyond the scope of most encyclopedia-type volumes….This resource will prove useful to teachers and students. It summarizes in one compact place many of the aspects of issues around which some controversy swirls. These essays, especially the lengthier ones, can serve as starting points for more elaborate and in-depth investigation of topics. This text offers instant access (through the table of contents) to information that can lead in many directions for more investigations. It's a worthwhile addition to a classroom resource bank for information on the implications of scientific and technological applications to society. This is the seventh in the publisher's Battleground series exploring today's controversial topics. The editors of this entry approach science and technology as they relate to culture and society. However, 'science and technology' is a much broader subject than those treated in other Battleground titles, and that makes the coverage here seem less focused. Topics range from the really broad, such as Social sciences, to the very specific, such as Green building design. In between are subjects as varied as Censorship, Coal, and Healing touch. The contributors have a range of backgrounds and experience, some not directly related to their topics. Some of their contributions are philosophic discussions of the assigned topics, while others give more prosaic accounts of the history of their topics and the pros and cons. There is a good index, and crossreferences are provided for each entry. Each entry also includes a selection of further readings, the currency of which varies. The reading level varies from article to article as well, but overall this would probably be best suited for a college-level audience looking for brief introductions. It's hard to know how libraries will use this title, since the treatment is so broad that it is likely to be overlooked by a patron doing research on a specific topic. Examples of subjects tackled by the volumes include alien abductions, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, chaos theory, drugs and direct-to-consumer advertising, the Gaia hypothesis, genetically modified organisms, green building design, information technology, intellectual property, medical marijuana, parapsychology, quarks, reproductive technology, research ethics, the scientific method, urban warfare, virtual reality, waste management, and wind energy. The entries are written in a style accessible to beginning undergraduates and up. Battleground: Science & Technology offers a basic introduction and overview to the topics addressed…This set is most appropriate for high school libraries, public libraries, and community college library that have a need for introductory material on the topics presented. Battleground Science and Technology, which also includes a substantial bibliography and an index, would be an appropriate acquisition for public and academic libraries.