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New Directions in Molecular Simulation
Van Gunsteren
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 2881249507 |
Customer Reviews:
Human Domesticates.......2005-11-24
The backbone of this book is the idea that human beings were/are the first domesticated species, and the ONLY evolved (being product of our biological and cultural history) domesticates. Human domestication was caused by dependence on a technology centered ideology that eventually led to the rationale frequently employed today of, "If we can do it, we should do it" (the people become servants of the tool as opposed to the tool serving those who employ it). Livingston explains that being a domesticate means being completely dependent upon something (one's handler) for survival; in the case of humans, the dependence is an ideology based on "storable, retrievable, transmissable technique." It is an exploration of how we (humans) got here and what it means to be the first domesticate, the only evolved one at that; he goes on to critique some of the aspects of present day civilization in light of the ideology of technology that it is founded on.
It's a marvelous book that anyone who is interested in evolution, ecology, social problems, ideology, or why humans are the way they are in general should enjoy reading. A very very great book; it's one of those rare pieces of scholarly writings that anyone can pick up, read, and understand. Like the other reviewer, I wasn't always in complete agreement, but that's only because the book was so thought provoking.
An Interesting Collection of Ideas.......1997-12-13
This is one of the very few books that ever changed the way I look at things. I don't agree with all of the author's opinions (and he doesn't ask me to), but after reading this I doubt I'll ever look at humanity's relation to "Nature" - or even the idea of seperation of the two - the same way again.
Book Description
The close relation of apes to humans raises important ethical questions. Are they better protected in the wild or in zoos? Should they be used in biomedical research? Should they be afforded the same legal protections as humans? In Great Apes and Humans, field biologists, academic scientists, zoo professionals, psychologists, sociologists, ethicists, and legal scholars come together to present a spectrum of viewpoints on human responsibilities toward great apes united by concern for their safety and well-being.
Book Description
In
The Ethical Primate, renowned philosopher Mary Midgley tackles important questions about human freedom and morality. Scientists and philosophers have found it difficult to understand how each human being can be both a living part of the natural world and, at the same time, a genuinely free agent. Midgley explores their responses to this seeming paradox and argues that our evolutionary origin, properly understood, explains why human freedom and morality have come about.
Customer Reviews:
Ethics and Evolution.......2005-03-09
The purpose of this book is to suggest how the ethical sense of humans is likely to have developed in the course of evolution. Many so-called Darwinians have seen this development as "merely" another mechanism in the struggle for survival. They have argued that morality, properly understood, is nothing other than a more or less enlightened codification of self-interest, a view that had already been put forward by Hobbes and by Bentham. For Herbert Spencer moral feelings that weaken the human species in the struggle for survival were aberrations to be corrected: on these grounds he thought that the desire to help the unfit poor should not find a place in a proper system of ethics. Man was part of Nature; Nature was "red in tooth and claw"; and this fierce competition was supposed to make for evolutionary progress. (Social Darwinists never really bothered to study animals, or they would have seen that in the natural world cooperation and interdependence are at least as important as competition). Another Darwinian, like T.H.Huxley, was so appalled by this approach to ethics that he removed ethics from the evolutionary process altogether: Man's moral ends, he said, were not those of the ruthless cosmic process.
Mary Midgley rejects both these reactions to Darwin's work: the Hobbes-Bentham-Spencer view because it is reductionist and Huxley's because it is untenable. The thrust of her book is to show that genuine altruism is as much a product of evolution as are other developments; it is partly rooted in our physical instinctual inheritance, but it is also the result of the special way in which humans are conscious of themselves and can enter imaginatively into the feelings of others.
She develops these ideas in the last third of her book, after having devoted the first two thirds to a comprehensive attack on all reductionist theories of behaviour - that is, theories which purport to explain complex human behaviour in terms of something simpler and fundamental, such a purely physical processes. I have not the space to comment on this part of her powerful arguments here.
In the last third of the book, then, Midgley considers how in evolutionary terms our moral sense might have developed. Her starting point is a hitherto little noticed comment of Darwin's: indeed, most people did not seem to know that he had written anything at all about ethics. Darwin had observed that parent swallows follow one of their instincts in joining migrating flocks while being apparently untroubled by the rival instinct not to desert nestlings who are left behind to die. In this case an instinct which is temporarily very powerful quite blots out one which Midgley describes as "a habitual feeling which is much weaker at any one time, but is stronger in that it is far more persistent and lies deeper in the character." The reason why the swallows evince no hesitation or feeling of conflict between the two courses is that their intellectual power is not highly enough developed. It is, Darwin wrote, "exceedingly likely that any animal whatever, endowed with well-marked social instincts, would inevitably acquire a moral sense or conscience as soon as its intellectual powers had become as well-developed, or anything like as well-developed, as in man." Morality develops when creatures become conscious of the inevitable conflict in their feelings; and in the more highly developed animals the signs of the struggle between opposing impulses are quite clearly observable.
Human thought brings with it a number of characteristics which, if they exist at all in animals, do so to a much weaker degree: humans have a well developed possibility of imaginative empathy with the feelings of other creatures: they become not merely self-conscious but also conscious of others. They care about what others are thinking and feeling, not least about themselves. They understand the consequences of actions. When they have violated what the weaker but deeper feelings tell them, they feel guilt; when they observe others violating them, they become judgmental. They understand the consequences of actions. They want to have some control over their conflicting emotions - not just for mechanically "evolutionary" reasons, but because they value the freedom which may prevent them from being passively swept hither and thither by their instincts like a piece of flotsam on a powerful wave. Having become conscious of their instincts clashing, they want to establish for themselves a system of priorities; and the purpose of a moral code is to establish that system of priorities. The priorities they establish bear some signs of "selfish" evolutionary programming: to put the interests of one's children before those of the needier stranger, for example; but it is the capacity of thought and of feeling (Midgley constantly stresses that theories which set these two in a hierarchical scheme are badly reductionist) which gradually widens the range of creatures towards whom we accept increasing degrees of responsibility.
I am not in a position to pronounce on the validity of the origins of morality as Mary Midgley presents them. I would suspect that reductionist arguments cannot be quite as crass as she suggests, were it not for the devastating quotations she adduces from some of their academic exponents. As usual, she writes extremely well and lucidly. She is totally devoid of philosophical jargon; and almost every page has a memorable phrase or striking image, as well as a fine sweep of reference to which a short review like this cannot do justice. It is a deeply humane and attractive book.
Somewhat misleading title, but great follow-through!.......2004-03-05
In the year or so that I've been acquainted with her work, Mary Midgley has quickly become one of my favorite philosophers (outside of Karl Popper and John Dewey). This here is philosophy for the real world.
As such, she starts with real questions: How does morality fit into the evolutionary schema? Science's answer: game theory and self interest became self-interested cooperation. How does the mind (our first person view) fit into naturalistic accounds of the body? Science's answer: it doesn't, really. The mind is the brain and that first person 'viewpoint' is an illusion propogated by the genes.
If I had to give a brief summation of what Midgley does in this book, I'd say this: she takes on reductionism in all of its scientistic forms. Those who want another evolutionary psychology account of the evolution of morality will not find this book comfortable (that's why the title might be misleading). Rather Midgley comes to pluralistic conclusions that when asked to choose between moral libertarianism and reductionistic fatalism, answers: why not a little of both? Why are scientists so eager to do away with the mind as either an illusion or as merely a 'propogation center' for memes? Answer: because they want a unified physicalist view that can't tolerate anything (like the mind) that doesn't disappear into purely physical terms. But, Midgley asks, does that erase the fact that the mind, despite all the 'explaining away' is still there?
Anyhow, another way this book's title may be misleading is that Midgley's concern lies mostly with the issue of how free our moral agency is. Thus if the reader is looking for a book to answer specific moral questions like: Why do we share? Why do we like doing things for others? Why do we fight? and such, the reader won't find that here. Teh essential questions are: How can we give a non-reductionistic account of the mind in a physical world? and How can any form of freedom be compatible with a world of determinism.
Enjoy.
Amazon.com
For the last 35 years British biologist Jane Goodall has been living among African chimpanzees, recording their behavior and explaining it in a number of fine books. With literature professor Dale Peterson, Goodall here looks at the place of chimpanzees in the popular imagination, from Shakespeare's play The Tempest (whence the book's title) to David Letterman's monkey-cam, while Goodall recaps her work among chimps and decries their probably unhappy future. As she tells us in chilling detail, the chimpanzees' rain forest habitat is on the decline due to consumption of fuel wood as well as industrial logging, and chimps are thus threatened with extinction. The authors even wonder whether, given the relentless destruction of the chimpanzees' home, the poor creatures might not be better off in zoos. Peterson's and Goodall's point-counterpoint makes for fascinating, if somber, reading.
Customer Reviews:
Uncomfortable truths.......2005-06-27
This brilliant, understated book exposes a terrible injustice in the United States, corporate medicine's aggressive attempts to undermine the Endangered Species Act and CITES for their personal gain. Like so many embattled exploiters, they have responded to criticism and revelations with mud-slinging campaigns and lies, such as NIMH's estimate that they needed 200-300 chimpanezees a year to continue research vital to human health. At the same time, NIMH had access to more than 100 chimps, and was only able to find uses for 25 of them.
Goodall has taken the productive path: honesty without invective or confrontation. This has allowed her to accomplish small but significant changes, but they are far too small and far too trivial. It would be nice if Dr. Robert Gallo would agree to be locked into a 5x5x7 cage, with a grate at the bottom so he would not find himself smeared with all his feces, but nothing to protect him from the blowflies his stench would draw. Welcome to medical research.
Human beings have a history of declaring those it would exploit to be "lesser creations": Jews, Negros, Indians, Gypsies, the harmless primates we have nearly exterminated. When the "lesser creations" are human, they can speak out to protest, and they are heard. Someone else must speak for the chimpanzees mutilated in research labs, the orangutans brutalized to entertain Las Vegas drunks, the gorillas slaughtered so their children can be confined in zoos.
The next time you see *The Tempest,* imagine Caliban turning on Prospero, with his complacent human superiority, and speaking the extraordinary and powerful words of Shylock: "Hath not a beast eyes? Pricked do we not bleed?" Animals are bleeding to make your mascara safe. Read this book, look long at the orphaned chimp huddled in one of the photos, and then look in the mirror.
Realize how close you are..........1999-10-01
You read this book and discover your true nature and how you fit in this world. Never have I felt that close to nature...
A heart-wrenching and powerful book everyone should read.......1999-09-10
Certainly the most influencial book I've ever read - it led to my pursuing a degree, becoming a vegan, and an animal rights activist. And a better person. The tales of misery endured by these brethren of our are a very difficult read for those who have the capacity to care selflessly about all life, but gives the reader a very genuine sencse of what they suffer at the hands of humans who would do anything to make money and enhance their careers. Visions of Caliban is a very sobering experience, and it's very difficult at points to read beyond a couple of pages, because the reality of what these horribly unfortunate beings is truly sadenning. If everyone read this book, chimpanzee research would come to a very sudden conclusion. Read this Book!
Read this book before its too late........1998-07-09
No more discussion about the abuses of chimpanzees in abstract terms. Peterson goes out to find what specifically happens to specific chimpanzees and tracks their lives usually to their grim end. Dr. Goodall, the world's foremost expert on free chimapanzees contrasts Peterson with her insightful understanding which over thirty years of intimate knowledge of these great apes has given her. Sharing more than 98% of our genes with the chimpanzee and all of the cognitive and emotional similarities that go along with that, we need to rethink how we treat our closest living relative.
Read this book before its too late........1998-07-09
No more discussion about the abuses of chimpanzees in abstract terms. Peterson goes out to find out what specifically happens to specific chimpanzees and tracks their lives usually to their grim end. Dr. Goodall, the world's foremost expert on free chimapanzees contrasts Peterson with her insightful understanding which over thirty years of intimate knowledge of these great apes has given her. Sharing more than 98% of our genes with the chimpanzee and all of the cognitive and emotional similarities that go along with that, we need to rethink how we treat our closest living relative.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Hastings Center Report, published by Hastings Center on January 1, 1989. The length of the article is 443 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The heart of the matter. (using primate hearts as human heart transplant bridges) (Case Studies) (column)
Author: Strachan Donnelley
Publication:
The Hastings Center Report (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 1989
Publisher: Hastings Center
Volume: v19
Issue: n1
Page: p26(3)
Article Type: column
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Transplant News, published by Thomson Gale on August 31, 2005. The length of the article is 492 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Implanting human stem cells in non-human primate brains could change animals' "moral status" - Hopkins panel.
Publication:
Transplant News (Newsletter)
Date: August 31, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 15
Issue: 16
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Family Practice News, published by Thomson Gale on August 15, 2005. The length of the article is 524 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Testing human stem cells in primates.(Guest Editorial)(Editorial)
Author: Guy McKhann
Publication:
Family Practice News (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 15, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 35
Issue: 16
Page: 14(1)
Article Type: Editorial
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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Light Action! Amazing Experiments with Optics (SPIE Press Monograph Vol. PM150)
Vicki Cobb ,
Josh Cobb , and
Theo Cobb
Manufacturer: SPIE Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0819458511 |
Product Description
Faster than anything in the universe! Sustainer of life as we know it! What is this miraculous, mysterious thing? It's light. And you can be its master with optics, the science of the future. Optics lets you:
- Bend light around corners
- Stop time with a pair of sunglasses
- Capture light on a silver tray
- Magnify pictures with an ice cube
- Pour light into your palm
- Project a big-screen image from your small TV
- Fool a doorbell with a bike reflector Once you get your head and hands into optics, the world will never look the same again. That's a promise.
Dozens of experiments.
Illustrated by Theo Cobb.
Ages 11 and up.
Books:
- Operational Organic Chemistry: A Problem-Solving Approach to the Laboratory Course (3rd Edition)
- Organic and Biochemistry for Today (with GOB ChemistryNOW and InfoTrac )
- Organic Chemistry: An Intermediate Text
- Organic Chemistry Experiments: Microscale and Semi-Microscale (Chemistry)
- Organic Chemistry: Structure and Reactivity
- Organo-Clay Complexes & Interactions
- Peptides: Chemistry, Structure and Biology (American Peptide Symposia)
- Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic Chemicals: Volume I: Fate and Exposure (Acs Symposium Series)
- Pharmaceutical Formulation Development of Peptides and Proteins (The Taylor & Francis Series in Pharmaceutical Sciences)
- Planewaves, Pseudopotentials, and the LAPW Method
Books Index
Books Home
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- Fleet of Worlds
- Waiting for the End of the World
- Alberich and Friends
- Bushido : Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo
- Data Monitoring Committees in Clinical Trials: A Practical Perspective
- C. S. Lewis: Images of His World
- Augustine in the Italian Renaissance: Art and Philosophy from Petrarch to Michelangelo
- A Field Guide to Pacific Coast Shells, Including Shells of Hawaii and the Gulf of California,
- Nobody's Warriors
