Trespass Against Us: Dow Chemical and the Toxic Century

Book Description

From its "accident" at Bhopal by its Union Carbide company to Agent Orange, from Napalm to Plutonium, Dow Chemical has been at the center of many of the worst chemical disasters in history. In this explosive expose of the chemical giant, Jack Doyle reviews the legacy and the future of this gigantic chemical octopus.

A comprehensive overview of the company's dirty deeds from dioxin to Greenwashing, Doyle provides an indispensable history with a grave warning for what's up next.

The second book in the Environ-mental Health Fund Series.

Customer Reviews:

Riveted.......2005-01-04

Exposing chemical industry crime and the personal stories that make their poisoning of the world real to us, Trespass Against Us takes on Dow Chemical. The book was launched on the 20th Anniversary of the Bhopal Chemical Disaster that stole the lives of 22,000 people and counting. Social justice organizers hope the book will help spur Dow to present its subsidiary Union Carbide to the Indian Courts to face the criminal charges against them.

Asserting that it is a human right to be born and live free of manmade chemicals which enter our bodies without our permission; Doyle makes the case that Dow is guilty of legal and ethical trespass. The book chronicles the poisoning Dow has been responsible for through quality investigative journalism, while telling the story of dioxin, Agent Orange, and silicone breast implants. The lesser known stories of plastic wrap, pesticides, dry cleaning chemicals and myriad of other products that we use every day and inhabit our bodies are also told.

The book is both a human story and a thorough resource for anyone who wants to understand Dow's seemingly endless quest for power and the toxics that have made it the largest chemical company in the world. On a more human scale, the book helps one understand the connection between the subtle impacts of chemicals in the world on our health from asthma and endometriosis to cancer. I think this connection is the most important one in made in the book, the personal stories of suffering that are caused by Dow are not associated with everyday pollution and they should be. It is impossible to live in this modern world today and be totally untouched by Dow. The current administration would have us believe that Dow has more of a right to pollute than a child with Dow- triggered cancer has to live. The story of how this could happen in just 100 years is worth reading.

A wealth of information that could use better editing........2004-11-29

This book reports on the history of those who have been adversely affected by Dow's products, byproducts, and practices, especially from the forties onward. The three main topics are workplace (un)safety, hazardous products, and toxic waste. It's a bit disjointed, though. Most chapters focus on a single product or manufacturing site, and there isn't much of an overarching chronology or a neat conclusion on, say, Dow's culture, or much discussion on how it compares to large corporate culture in general. The author might also have made it clearer that establishing allowable levels for chemical releases doesn't help when bioaccumulation causes the presumed-safe thresholds to be exceeded in people.

Technical editing would have helped as well. There are several typos or misspellings of chemical names, and other errors that would be caught by an editor with some knowledge of chemistry -- for example, the author at one point states, incorrectly, that acetone and benzene are chlorinated compounds. This is not good for the book's credibility. Fortunately, many of the people the author quotes are chemical or medical experts, and the quotes at least seem to be (plausibly) correct. The best parts of the book are the stories of workers or nearby residents that have been affected by Dow, and the people who have tried to solve the problems. Unfortunately, so far it seems that only threats of regulation or litigation have had much effect.

Jack Doyle Is a Great Patriot.......2004-11-24

Jack once again show us he is an american hero Thanks Jack for your work on this ugly corporation!!!!!!!

Book Description

They mastermind our lives, shaping our features, our health, and our behavior, even in the sacrosanct realms of love and sex, religion, aging, and death. Yet we are the ones who house, perpetuate, and give the promise of immortality to these biological agents, our genetic gods. The link between genes and gods is hardly arbitrary, as the distinguished evolutionary geneticist John Avise reveals in this compelling book. In clear, straightforward terms, Avise reviews recent discoveries in molecular biology, evolutionary genetics, and human genetic engineering, and discusses the relevance of these findings to issues of ultimate concern traditionally reserved for mythology, theology, and religious faith.

The book explains how the genetic gods figure in our development--not just our metabolism and physiology, but even our emotional disposition, personality, ethical leanings, and, indeed, religiosity. Yet genes are physical rather than metaphysical entities. Having arisen via an amoral evolutionary process--natural selection--genes have no consciousness, no sentient code of conduct, no reflective concern about the consequences of their actions. It is Avise's contention that current genetic knowledge can inform our attempts to answer typically religious questions--about origins, fate, and meaning. The Genetic Gods challenges us to make the necessary connection between what we know, what we believe, and what we embody.

Customer Reviews:

Musings on Selfish Genes.......2007-01-16

John Avise presents a review of contemporary molecular biology which is quite accessible to the 'lay' reader with some prior exposure to the general area of evolutionary-genetics. The discussions are somewhat philosophically charged (i.e. they do not remain necessarily technical) and touch upon social, emotional, and theological issues too. However, there is no attempt at actively engaging the theistic implications of modern genetics; the book remains focussed on the biological & behavioural aspects.

Avise basically elaborates on notion of the "Selfish Gene" which seeks to 'immortalize' itself by using individuals as 'ephemeral' vehicles for perpetuation. Using this point of view, the book reviews the basic doctrines of genetics & evolution, the genesis & replication of life/genes, genetic disorders & benefits, gene replication strategies (including sexual reproduction & death), nature vs. nurture issues, and gene-therapy.

Avise's style is engaging, clear, & succint - and never pedantic. The accompanying glossary is very useful for non-biologists to fallback onto when reading the more technical sections. I only wish that the notes for each chapter had been foot-notes rather than being located to the end of the book (but this is a purely personal preference).

Overall I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in acquainting herself with recent advances in molecular biology, evolutionary genetics, and genetic engineering - and its implication to modern human thought, philosophy, and civilization.

Engaging exploration of genetics and attendant ethical issue.......2001-07-21

John Avise's engaging book is both an overview and an introduction to recent genetic research as well as an assessment of the social, ethical and religious ramifications stemming from our manipulation of the genetic code. The terminology is a little formidable in spots, and there is perhaps more genetics being explained here than most general readers would want, but these are minor obstacles when one considers the reward: listening to an expert talk about what's happening in genetics today while considering the implications. I was very impressed with Avise's level-headed and balanced assessment of the controversies. This is a sophisticated book, deeply considered and carefully expressed.

The author is the distinguished Professor of Genetics at the University of Georgia and an evolutionary biologist who really knows his stuff. "The genetic gods" in the title is a metaphor of course--he even refers jokingly to "protein angels" on page 208--his point being that we are to some very real extent at the whims of our genes, just as the Greeks once thought they were at the whims of the gods on Mount Olympus. However don't imagine that Avise is presenting a genetic-centered reductionist approach in this book. He wants to emphasize that the genes are subtly, and sometimes not so subtly, influencing our lives, but that is far from the whole story. Avise suggests that the proper way to look at the culture verses genes debate is to think of culture as an "epigenetic phenomenon...itself a product of biological evolution," and that "genes and culture coevolve" (pp. 158-159). The environment shapes us, but we in turn condition the environment. As Avise expresses it, "the individual's mind to a considerable extent creates itself through the environments it conditions" (p. 159). In our attempt to understand how the mind works and to account for human behavior, Avise's states that a "myopically reductionist approach that neglects multiple levels of biological, personal, and social causation" is inadequate, as are "uncritical holistic approaches alone" (p. 165).

This just makes sense and it also makes moot the sometimes heated "culture verses genetics" debate, which is similar to the old "nature verses nurture" false dichotomy. Quite simply, how can we separate the effects and influence of the environment and culture from that of the genes, and vice versa?

Professor Avise does not shy away from a position on whether we should intervene genetically when something is amiss. While some people believe that "developing embryos are governed by intelligent and caring supernatural forces," Avise insists that "they are governed by natural gene-environment interactions that unfortunately can" go horribly awry as in the Lesch-Nyhan syndrome or in Down's syndrome (p. 199). In such cases, he asks, "Should we then take the reins?" His careful answer on the next page is yes, but with the understanding that "the interests of the individuals most closely involved...should take legal precedence over those of more distant parties."

Avise believes that ethical questions about genetic engineering should be considered by all members of society, not just scientists or theologians or lawyers (p. 202). He believes in a case-by-case appraisal (p. 201). "The only approach," he avers, "is that in which the moral authority of a god is asserted." He wryly observes, that since there is such a diversity of opinion, "any supernatural deity either has been strangely silent on such issues or else has conveyed vastly different messages to different listeners."

This book requires an effort on the part of the reader, there is no doubt about that. This is no breezy Time Magazine treatment. But I think what we can learn from Professor Avise on a topic of such overriding human interest is well worth the effort.

Book Description

The author applies methods of nonlinear elasticity to investigate the defects in the crystal structure of solids such as dislocations and disclinations that characterize the plastic and strength properties of many materials. Contrary to the geometrically motivated nonlinear theory of dislocations continuously distributed over the body, nonlinear analysis of isolated dislocations and disclinations is less developed; it is given for the first time in this book, and in a form accessible to both students and researchers. The general theory of Volterra's dislocations in elastic media under large deformations is developed. A number of exact solutions are found. The nonlinear approach to investigating the isolated defects produces results that often differ qualitatively from those of the linear theory.

The Crystal Lattice: Phonons, Solitons, Dislocations

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The Crystal Lattice: Phonons, Solitons, Dislocations
Arnold M. Kosevich
Manufacturer: Wiley-VCH
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Crystallography | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

The aim of the book is to describe and analyse peculiarities of classical and quantum dynamics of a crystal as a spatially periodic structure. Both traditional questions like the spectrum of vibrations, the idea of phonon gas, dislocations etc. and new aspects like the theory of quantum crystals, solitons in 1D crystals, dislocation theory of melting of 2D crystals etc. are discussed. The author gives an explanation of a set of phenomena which entered into solid state physics during the last decades. It is shown that the crystal properties are sensitive to the dimension of the crystal and its defect structure, and depend slightly on whether the periodic structure consists of atoms, or electrical dipoles, or magnetic moments (spins). Considerable attention is devoted to the dislocation mechanics as a basis of theory of plasticity and numerous technological applications of crystal materials.

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Dislocations in Solids

Manufacturer: Brill Academic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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Dislocations in Solids

Manufacturer: London
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000I9FMCE

Dislocations in Solids : L1
<INF>2</INF> Ordered Alloys (Dislocations in Solids)

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Dislocations in Solids : L1 2 Ordered Alloys (Dislocations in Solids)
F. R. N. Nabarro , and M. S. Duesbery
Manufacturer: North-Holland
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Hardbound. A substantial part of this volume is devoted to the plastic properties of alloys having the ordered L12 structure, typified by Ni3Al. These structures are of engineering importance because they form an essential constituent, and in modern alloys, the major constituent, of superalloys.

Book Description

Hardbound. Work hardening is perhaps the most intractable of the remaining problems of modern physics. It is also one of great economic importance. No wonder, then, that theorists who have a special understanding of one of the mechanisms involved have intended to underestimate the importance of other mechanisms, leading to what Friedel calls "repeated Homeric disputes at international meetings" and the situation in which the topics involved 'lost some of their importance, owing the the mere emphasis of the contestants".

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Dislocations in Solids : Volume 9

Manufacturer: Elsevier Science & Technology
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

It is clear that disclination theory has not, or not yet, shown the power of physical explanation that has come from dislocation theory. However, there are many indications that its importance will grow. There is increasing interest in the structure of highly deformed metals, and their deformation obviously involves large mutual rotations of neighbouring elements. There is a strong, but not remarkably successful, activity in the theory of the formation of dislocation patterns during deformation, and these patterns are essentially disclinations.

Book Description

Dislocations are lines of irregularity in the structure of a solid analogous to the bumps in a badly laid carpet. Like these bumps they can be easily moved, and they provide the most important mechanism by which the solid can be deformed. They also have a strong influence on crystal growth and on the electronic properties of semiconductors.

· Influence of dislocations on piezoelectric behavior
· New mechanisms for hardening in twinned crystals
· Bringing theories of martensite transformation into agreement
· Atomic scale motion of dislocations in electron microscopy
· Dislocation patterns deduced from X-ray diffraction
· Role of dislocations in friction
· Dislocation motion in quasicrystals

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