In 1958, a successful businessman named Robert Mornroe began to have experiences that drastically altered his life. Unpredictably, and without his willing it, Monroe found himself leaving his physical body to travel via a "second body" to locales far removed from the physical and spiritual realities of his life. He was inhabiting a place unbounded by life or death. Monroe recorded these experiences in two bestselling, landmark books, Journeys Out of the Body and Far Journeys. Ultimate Journey, his final and career-defining work, takes us further than we thought possible—and reveals to us what it all means. Ultimate Journey charts that area which lies "over the edge," beyond the limits of the physical world. It presents us with a map of the "interstate"—the route that opens to us when we leave our physical lives, with their entry and exit ramps, their singposts and their hazards. It also tells us how Monroe found the route and travelled it, and uncovered the reason and the purpose of this pioneering expedition. It is a journey that reveals basic truths about the meaning and purpose of life—and of what lies beyond.

Exploring the broad implications of evolutionary theorist Lynn Margulis’s work, this collection brings together specialists across a range of disciplines, from paleontology, molecular biology, evolutionary theory, and geobiology to developmental systems theory, archaeology, history of science, cultural science studies, and literature and science. Addressing the multiple themes that animated Margulis’s science, the essays within take up, variously, astrobiology and the origin of life, ecology and symbiosis from the microbial to the planetary scale, the coupled interactions of earthly environments and evolving life in Gaia theory and earth system science, and the connections of these newer scientific ideas to cultural and creative productions. Dorion Sagan acquaints the reader with salient issues in Lynn Margulis’s scientific work, the controversies they raised, and the vocabulary necessary to follow the arguments. Sankar Chatterjee synthesizes several strands of current theory for the origin of life on earth. James Strick tells the intertwined origin stories of James Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis and Margulis’s serial endosymbiosis theory. Jan Sapp explores the distinct phylogenetic visions of Margulis and Carl Woese. Susan Squier examines the epigenetics of embryologist and developmental biologist C. H. Waddington. Bruce Clarke studies the convergence of ecosystem ecology, systems theory, and science fiction between the 1960s and the 1980s. James Shapiro discusses the genome evolution that results not from random changes but rather from active cell processes. Susan Oyama shows how the concept of development balances an over-emphasis on genetic coding and other deterministic schemas. Christopher Witmore studies the ways in which a concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFO, mixes up natural resources, animal lives, and human appetites. And Peter Westbroek brings the insights of earth system science toward a new worldview essential for a proper response to global change.

In this engaging book, hydrologist Peter E. Black celebrates the wonder of our planet's most precious natural resource. In these brief, nontechnical essays, readers are introduced to water's unique scientific properties, the vital role it plays in Earth's ecology and ecosystems, and the impact it has had on human history, culture, art, law, and economics. At turns educational and inspirational, humorous and reverent, the book also sounds a cautionary note: water is abundant, but it is also scarce. Only three percent of the earth's water is fresh, and only a small percentage of that fresh water is available for human use and consumption. Therefore, it must be managed carefully, and understood, lest we find ourselves with too little, too late.

In this 21st century, we are engulfed by tidal waves and tsunamis of information. Television, Internet, Public Speakers, and other media can either bring us great knowledge that the world has never seen before this time in history, or just give us instead false messages. Business commercials want us to buy their products, and political commercials want our votes. Added to this, some of the media may disagree so much as to say opposite seeming things. Clearly, when some news sources say opposite things, logically they all cannot be right. In fact, it is slightly possible that perhaps none of them are simply correct. How to survive in this confusion and still seek wisdom? While some people will simply believe what they hear, from one source, or multiple sources, others of us want more. And we have something more powerful than the media tidal waves. We can choose to be open minded and to think for ourselves. Many people seem to doubt the power of the human mind, and even their own thinking abilities. However, I find human thinking power often much greater than many people might imagine. There is perhaps more truth, more logic power, more ethics and morality in our own thinking than is easily available in the media. Trust in yourself. While there are some logic examples in this book, they are not the point. You may begin your own thinking, or have better inside information, and reach a different conclusion, and that is more than okay. That gives us thinking people something to discuss respectfully. The important thing is how we each can "Learn how to learn," and then perhaps become continuous students for our entire lives and seek wisdom. I find that people who achieve being open minded and think are often the brightest, the most fun to talk to, and also seldom are given to the disrespect and hate so prevalent in today’s society. And best wishes - Ron Plachno

The final contact made by the Daedalus Mission begins badly, even before the ship makes a hard landing in the middle of nowhere. The situation of the colony doesn't seem to make any sense, and neither does the situation of the indigenous aliens--the Sets--that have helped the colony survive and thrive. Alex Alexander doesn't take long to work out a hypothesis that might explain the mystery--a hypothesis that the people on the ground have already worked out for themselves--and he's fortunate enough to fall in with a colonist who's obsessively determined to prove the hypothesis. Unfortunately, the quest seems likely to become so dangerous that both of them might die trying--and there's too much at stake not to take it to the very limit of possibility, no matter what the cost.

Metaphors for organization and management have been a subject of strong interest in the area of organizational studies since the 1980s. Metaphors enhance the understanding of organizations and provide a mechanism for critiquing current practices, increasing effectiveness, and improving communication. The Oxford Handbook of Metaphor in Organization Studies provides a comprehensive reference for researchers, educators, and managers. The book comprises twenty-nine chapters, which are authored by over forty contributors, many of whom have played major roles in the development of the field over the years. The theoretical underpinnings of organizational metaphors are explored. An array of metaphorical contexts for understanding management and organizations is presented. The various uses of metaphor as a tool in research, education, and management are addressed, as are the limitations of metaphors. Finally, future research directions related to metaphors in organizational studies and management are proposed.

In The Small Nation Solution, eminent anthropologist John H. Bodley argues that the contemporary global problems of poverty, conflict, and environmental degradation are problems of scale and power. Bodley’s solution involves keeping nations small so as to limit the power of elite directors. It is a simple idea with profound implications. He spotlights successful small nations around the world as the best working models of sustainable sociocultural systems and shows how these diverse small nations can be the building blocks of a transformed global system that could save the world.

The environmental movement is having a marked impact on national and international politics. This book examines the dominant ethics, attitudes, and moral values behind the international environmental movement and analyzes how it has influenced national policies around the world. In addition, it assesses the effectiveness of international law and international organizations in improving natural resource conservation.

James Lovelock’s Gaia theory revolutionized the understanding of our place and role in the global environment. It is now accepted that our activities over the past two hundred years have contributed to and accelerated the extreme weather events associated with climate change. The fact that those activities materialized, for the most part, from within Western Christian communities makes it imperative to assess and to change their theological climate: one characterized by routine use of violent, imperialist images of God. The basis for change explored here is that of gift events, particularly as evidenced in Jesus’s life and sayings. Its legacy of love of enemies and forgiveness offers a basis for nonviolent theological and practical approaches to our situatedness within the community of life. These are also Gaian responses, as they include foregoing a perception of ourselves as belonging to an elect group given power by God over earth’s life-support systems and over all those dependent on them, whether human or more-than-human. The degree to which we change this self-perception will determine how we affect, for good or ill, not only the givenness of the climate in future but the givenness of all future life on earth.