Inspired by Marcelo Dascal’s theory of controversies, this volume includes studies in the theory of controversies, studies of the history of controversy forms and their evolution, and case-studies of particular historical and current controversies. The purpose of this volume is to identify a taxonomy of controversies and also to sense a line of development for the phenomenon of controversies itself. At the same time, we want to ask ourselves about the impact and the spread of controversies in the contemporary world, eminently intended as a heuristic element facilitating knowledge. For all these reasons, the fundamental aim of the volume is to provide the reader with a selection of current theoretical and practical perspectives on controversies, and to offer a broad picture of the complex range of definitions, meanings and practices connected to them.

A dazzling look at the artists working on the frontiers of science. In recent decades, an exciting new art movement has emerged in which artists utilize and illuminate the latest advances in science. Some of their provocative creations—a live rabbit implanted with the fluorescent gene of a jellyfish, a gigantic glass-and-chrome sculpture of the Big Bang (pictured on the cover)—can be seen in traditional art museums and magazines, while others are being made by leading designers at Pixar, Google’s Creative Lab, and the MIT Media Lab. In Colliding Worlds, Arthur I. Miller takes readers on a wild journey to explore this new frontier. Miller, the author of Einstein, Picasso and other celebrated books on science and creativity, traces the movement from its seeds a century ago—when Einstein’s theory of relativity helped shape the thinking of the Cubists—to its flowering today. Through interviews with innovative thinkers and artists across disciplines, Miller shows with verve and clarity how discoveries in biotechnology, cosmology, quantum physics, and beyond are animating the work of designers like Neri Oxman, musicians like David Toop, and the artists-in-residence at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. From NanoArt to Big Data, Miller reveals the extraordinary possibilities when art and science collide.

Using a variety of critical and theoretical approaches, the contributing scholars to this collection analyze culturally specific and globally held attitudes about mothers and mothering, as represented in world cinema. Examining films from a range of countries including Afghanistan, India, Iran, Eastern Europe, Canada, and the United States, the various chapters contextualize the socio-cultural realities of motherhood as they are represented on screen, and explore the maternal figure as she has been glamorized and celebrated, while simultaneously subjected to public scrutiny. Collectively, this scholarly investigation provides insights into where women’s struggles converge, while also highlighting the dramatically different realities of women around the globe.

In Reproductive Medicine and the Life Sciences in the Contemporary Economy, Alexander Styhre and Rebecka Arman illuminate issues that have given rise to terms such as 'the bioeconomy' and 'the baby business'. The life sciences play an increasing role in providing services and commodities consumed by businesses and the public. Based on an in-depth study of clinics offering assisted fertilization in Sweden, this book is the first to examine the commercialization and commodification of know-how derived from the life sciences, from the point of view of organization theory. In the field of reproductive medicine there has been significant growth of both public and private clinical work. Clinics are places where individual interests and concerns and social and institutional arrangements intersect. With a front office where patients encounter various professional groups and a back office comprising the laboratories wherein human reproductive materials are handled and stored, they are more than just places in which medicine is applied in a clinical setting. Clinicians in this field actively influence policy-making and the regulatory frameworks that monitor and set the boundaries for their work. These are places where social and cultural interests and concerns are translated into policies and practice. The clinics are open social systems, responding to and influencing discussions. This book combines organization theory, sociological theory, gender theory, science and technology studies, and philosophy. It emphasises the critical importance of a sociomaterial perspective on organization, stressing how material and social resources are always of necessity folded into each other in day-to-day organizing.

This is an edited volume of some of the selected papers presented in the International Conference on Justice and Ethics (ICJECA 2017) which was held in Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. ICJECA aimed to bring together researchers, lecturers, and scholars to exchange and share new ideas on all aspects of the interrelation between justice & ethics. Several discussions covered the theoretical and practical challenges and some solutions were suggested.

Is there a growing gap in today's world between cultural aspirations and their fulfillment, a gap that is increasing social problems of all kinds? If so, what forces are producing that gap? How can these forces be changed? To answer these questions, Phillips and Johnston employ a very broad approach to the scientific method, drawing evidence from a wide variety of data and sources, including sociologists, psychologists, political scientists, historians, philosophers, educators, psychiatrists, and novelists. They find substantial evidence for a widening gap, suggesting an invisible crisis throughout contemporary society. They also find substantial evidence that a simplistic and static metaphysical stance or worldview is largely responsible for that gap, and that an alternative worldview can work to close that gap.

Discusses contemporary Confucianism’s relevance and its capacity to address pressing social and political issues of twenty-first-century life. Condemned during the Maoist era as a relic of feudalism, Confucianism enjoyed a robust revival in post-Mao China as China’s economy began its rapid expansion and gradual integration into the global economy. Associated with economic development, individual growth, and social progress by its advocates, Confucianism became a potent force in shaping politics and society in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities. This book links the contemporary Confucian revival to debates—both within and outside China—about global capitalism, East Asian modernity, political reforms, civil society, and human alienation. The contributors offer fresh insights on the contemporary Confucian revival as a broad cultural phenomenon, encompassing an interpretation of Confucian moral teaching; a theory of political action; a vision of social justice; and a perspective for a new global order, in addition to demonstrating that Confucianism is capable of addressing a wide range of social and political issues in the twenty-first century.

Science, Technology and Global Problems documents the proceedings of the International Symposium on Trends and Perspectives in Development of Science and Technology and their Impact on the Solution of Contemporary Global Problems held in Tallinn, USSR on January 8-12, 1979. This compilation discusses the character of global problems in the year 2000, prospects of development of leading branches of science and technology, and its capacity to solve global problems. The topics include global problems in the year 2000 and the role of science in their solution; science and technology as factors for future global development; road to scientific-technological culture; and responsibility of scientists in the period of crisis. The energy situation in the world (problems and prospects); mathematics and progress in science and technology; role of information and communication in the solution of global problems; and global public health problems and ways of resolving them are also deliberated in this text. This book is a useful source for students and researchers conducting work on the development of science and technology in solving global problems.

Music lovers, researchers, students, librarians, and teachers can trace the personal and artistic influences behind music makers from Elton John to Leontyne Price. Individual entries on over 400 of the world's most renowned and accomplished living performers, composers, conductors, and band leaders in musical genres from opera to hip-hop. Also includes an in-depth Index covering musicians of all eras, so that readers can learn which artists, alive or dead, influenced the work of today's most important figures in the music industry.