This e-book is an extract from Encounters that Changed the World and is also available as part of that complete publication. He didn’t realize it at the time, but in the late 1860s, David Livingstone had disappeared and was presumed dead. He had been in Central Africa and out of touch with the world for 5 years. In November 1871, Henry Morton Stanley mounted an expedition to find him. Read about the famous encounter between Stanley and Livingstone along with other famous chance encounters that changed the world.

In this rigorous and necessary book, Kristien Hens brings together bioethics and the philosophy of biology to argue that it is ethically necessary for scientific research to include a place for the philosopher. As well as ethical, their role is conceptual: they can improve the quality and coherence of scientific research by ensuring that particular concepts are used consistently and thoughtfully across interdisciplinary projects. Hens argues that chance and uncertainty play a central part in bioethics, but that these qualities can be in tension with the attempt to establish a given theory as scientific knowledge: in describing organisms and practices, in a sense we create the world. Hens contends that this is necessarily an ethical activity. Examining genetic research, biomedical ethics, autism research and the concept of risk, Hens illustrates that there is no ‘universal’ or ‘neutral’ state of scientific and clinical knowledge, and that attending to the situatedness of individual experience is essential to understand the world around us, to know its (and our) limitations, and to forge an ethical future. Chance Encounters is aimed at a broad audience of researchers in bioethics, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, as well as biomedical and environmental scientists. It will also be relevant to policymakers, and the artwork by Christina Stadlbauer and Bartaku will be of interest to artists and writers working at the intersection of art and science.

Sophie escapes from Auschwitz and is sheltered in a Catholic convent until the area is liberated by the Russians. Her husband Jake is inducted into the Polish Army in 1939 and is taken prisoner by the Germans. With the help of a friend, he escapes and reaches Russia. He eventually joins the 1st Polish Army and is part of the forces liberating Poland and Berlin. After the war Sophie searches for information about Jake. She hears about the 1st Polish Army and tries to get to Berlin to connect with survivors who might know about Jake. She is aided by another Auschwitz survivor Joseph who is searching for Eliza, a friend from Auschwitz. In an extraordinary encounter in Berlin, Sophie and Jake are reunited.

Daphne and Jack meet on a Greyhound bus heading north from California. The year is 1976 and Daphne is a pregnant teenager. Jack is a guy in search of a future. For these two lost souls, this is a ride that will change their lives and begin a dynasty. This is a prequel to the Take a Chance series about the eleven kids Jack and Daphne will collect over the years and the paths each member of this very untraditional family, will take as they, in turn, fall in love.

The world sways to an invisible music. We are the orchestra and our stories its symphony. And our loneliness is a song, which leads us through pasts and presents, towards new friends, and acquaintances... That girl on the road swaying to an invisible rhythm... That lady at the next table reading a book... What’s their music? A Symphony of Chance Encounters has suspense, love, rage, passion, contemplation and myriad human emotions sung into its stories. A murderess. A child’s relationship with her father. An indifferent author. An unusual friendship. A couple in love. Writers exploring their creations. The fragrance of a new life; a new hope. A woman trapped in a life she does not want – will the rhythm be hers? Their tunes merge. Their songs intertwine to create a symphony. But, which tune do you sway to? Which melody lingers on your lips? Which story is yours?

An assimilated American Jew finding letters that had been returned from Poland over sixty years ago, seeks to discover what happened to his grandmother's family. Coincidently a retired German banker wishes to trace the wartime footsteps of his father, who was killed in action, from his conscription in 1938 until loss of contact in early 1945 while serving on the Eastern Front. When the two meet each has experienced a profound change in attitude from the start of their journey. Their moral discussion is the culmination of this story. The two themes are the German's shift from innocence and denial to awareness and contrition, as the American accepts his generation's relationship to the Holocaust.

Ever since kindergarten, I’ve hated Chance. Everything about him rubbed me the wrong way and still does. In high school, he was always trying to one-up me either in class or out on the ice. Much to his disappointment, I was always the winner. The competition between us was fierce, and even though we’d been out of school for over a decade, Chance Reed was still always trying to one-up me. Today he finally got his wish. The man I hate with a passion saved me, and now I owe him and he’ll never let me forget it. What was once hatred has turned into an attraction I’m not sure I can deny, not now that he’s got me right where he’s always wanted me. Do I give into what my body wants, or do I fight him like I’ve been doing from the moment we met? The days in Polar Bear, Alaska, are short and chilly. And the nights. Well, they’re long and frigid. The small, isolated town known for its yearly icy swim is overflowing with hunky, lonely men. These Mountain Men are waiting for their special soulmate to come along and heat things up.

For young Paris Branch, life is about to begin. Newly eighteen, she is ready to leave the limitations of her small-town life behind. Carson, Virginia, may be where she was born, but it's not where she sees her future. An inbound freshman at Howard University, she has her eyes on a bright, new life in the nation's capital. There, she will truly blossom into the woman she is destined to be. She can't wait to start her journey. For Billy, it is love at first sight. Paris is slightly older, and Billy slightly wiser; and a romance between two people of different races presents a complication. Both know that their budding love is a problem. In 1965, interracial romance is a dangerous dream to pursue. Determined to win her heart, no matter the cost or peril, Billy romances her with a single-minded pursuit. Despite their differences in age and race, her future and his present, and the crippling intolerance and racism their relationship faces, they will fight for their love...together.

Dr. Kathryn Jackson, after finishing her residency in Emergency Medicine, begins a long anticipated vacation to Mexico. There she encounters Maximiliano Ramos, now a high ranking government official, who had captured her heart ten years before. Drawn to Max, but knowing they live in different countries and come from different cultures, Kathryn tries to fight the attraction she feels for him. Circumstances and Kathryn's independent nature as well as her fiery Irish temper place her in direct conflict with Max. Unwittingly, Kathryn finds herself involved in the underworld of illegal drugs, and torn between her love for Max and the needs of a small child. Kathryn is forced to make choices that change the course of her life.