A collection of conversations in which scientists from all fields give non-technical accounts of their lives in the profession, showing how incidents and human characteristics have influenced discoveries.

This open access edited book provides new thinking on scientific identity formation. It thoroughly interrogates the concepts of community and identity, including both historical and contemporaneous analyses of several scientific fields. Chapters examine whether, and how, today’s scientific identities and communities are subject to fundamental changes, reacting to tangible shifts in research funding as well as more intangible transformations in our society’s understanding and expectations of technoscience. In so doing, this book reinvigorates the concept of scientific community. Readers will discover empirical analyses of newly emerging fields such as synthetic biology, systems biology and nanotechnology, and accounts of the evolution of theoretical conceptions of scientific identity and community. With inspiring examples of technoscientific identity work and community constellations, along with thought-provoking hypotheses and discussion, the work has a broad appeal. Those involved in science governance will benefit particularly from this book, and it has much to offer those in scholarly fields including sociology of science, science studies, philosophy of science and history of science, as well as teachers of science and scientists themselves.

Scientific facts can be so complicated that only specialists in a field fully appreciate the details, but the nature of everyday practice that gives rise to these facts should be understandable by everyone interested in science. This book describes how scientists bring their own interests and passions to their work, illustrates the dynamics between researchers and the research community, and emphasizes a contextual understanding of science in place of the linear model found in textbooks with its singular focus on "scientific method." Everyday Practice of Science also introduces readers to issues about science and society. Practice requires value judgments: What should be done? Who should do it? Who should pay for it? How much? Balancing scientific opportunities with societal needs depends on appreciating both the promises and the ambiguities of science. Understanding practice informs discussions about how to manage research integrity, conflict of interest, and the challenge of modern genetics to human research ethics. Society cannot have the benefits of research without the risks. The last chapter contrasts the practices of science and religion as reflective of two different types of faith and describes a holistic framework within which they dynamically interact.

The Science and Passion of Communism presents the battles of the brilliant Italian communist Amadeo Bordiga in the revolutionary cycle of the post-WWI period, through his writings against reformism and war, for Soviet power and internationalism, and then against fascism, on one side, Stalinism and the degeneration of the International, on the other. Equally important was his sharp critique of triumphant U.S. capitalism in the post-WWII period, and his original re-presentation of Marxist critique of political economy, which includes the capital-nature and capital-species relationships, and the programme of social transformations for the revolution to come. Without any form of canonization, we can say that Bordiga’s huge workshop is a veritable goldmine, and anyone who decides to enter it will not be disappointed. He will guide you through a series of instructive, energizing and often highly topical excursions into the near and distant past, into the present that he largely foresaw, and into the future that he sketched with devouring passion.

A science and nature biography of Cynthia Moss, the elephant expert, by the author of Caldecott Honor book One Cool Friend Cynthia Moss was never afraid of BIG things. As a kid, she loved to ride through the countryside on her tall horse. She loved to visit faraway places. And she especially loved to learn about nature and the world around her. So when Cynthia traveled to Africa and met the world’s most ENORMOUS land animal, the African elephant, at Amboseli National Park in Kenya, she knew she had found her life’s work. Cynthia has spent years learning everything she can about elephants and sharing these fascinating creatures with the world. She is a scientist, nature photographer, and animal-rights activist, fighting against the ivory poachers who kill so many elephants for their tusks. This lyrical and accessible picture book gives kids a glimpse of what scientists do in the real world and inspires them to dream of accomplishing BIG things.

This book describes the accomplishments of a curious and imaginative scientist, and his endeavours to translate or even to extrapolate scientific insights into the world of art.The science section in this volume concerns studies on S-layers, a very important class of proteins found on the surface of numerous Bacteria and nearly all Archaea. S-layer proteins are one of the most abundant biopolymers on our planet, and assemble into the simplest type of biological membrane. Moreover, they are unique building blocks and patterning elements for the production of complex supramolecular structures and nanoscale devices in nanobiotechnology, molecular nanotechnology, synthetic biology, biomimetics and nanomedicine.In the second part of this book the author goes on to passionately describe how his scientific activities stimulated his art work, which in particular concerns the visualization of results and the potential of synthetic biology and evolutionary events induced by genetic manipulations. Most importantly, the engagement in art allowed him to leave the rather curtailed canon of science and reach a mental state of unlimited freedom of thoughts. Mask-like sculptures are used as examples to visualize the intersection between science and art, and in particular the unpredictability and mystery of scientific visions.

Everything started with a great love. In fact, I believe that everything usually starts, somehow, through love. In my case, the greatest changes in my life came through the men that I have loved. Thanks to Life, I loved a lot, I loved profoundly and intensely, and all that I have learned, I learned by loving. Only by going through all the pains and all the pleasures of love, without the reservations of not loving out of fear of what would happen, or what other people would think, there I found within me the energy necessary to believe in dreams. The first big dream that I fulfilled three years ago was to walk the eight hundred kilometer trip of the Santiago's journey, an illuminating trek that I recommend to anyone that wishes to grow spiritually. This trip helped me understand new things about Life and about myself, and also helped me better appreciate its beauty. After this marvelous experience, I went through a very difficult time. The journey had given me the strength to endure that difficult time in my life. After all those beautiful and harsh experiences, my faith in life had increased by leaps and bounds. I then understood that either pleasure or pain are gifts given by Life to those who seek to find themselves. At that time in my life, full of gratitude and love for existence, I tried to find again a man with whom I had shared a beautiful love story. This was at the same time a heartbreaking and marvelous reunion. Sad, because time and distance made that love change, and we could not revive the sublime passion that had united us before. Marvelous because that passion that had been so special, even if it would not manifest itself between us as man and woman once again, but only for the fact that I saw him again, unleashed in me a process that was magical and irreversible.Ever since that encounter I became aware of the existence of another person inside of me. I realized then that She had always been present, but more that ever I had perceived Her clearly. At first, this new sensation was strange to me, even though it filled me with a sort of happiness unknown until then. I wondered if this phenomenon happened only to me, if I was finally going crazy, if I had to seek medical help. But it was so good that it just couldn't be a sickness! I resolved then to deepen my knowledge on the subject, and I came across vast literature that dealt with this kind of spirituality that had flourished in me. I began to understand that I had come into contact with what is called the "Higher Self", the divine part, the soul, the particle of God that exists in everyone! I noticed that I had received an immense gift from Life as a reward for going after my dreams. For many people this might be incomprehensible or even absurd, which is perfectly natural, because it is not possible to understand something which is unknown. But I have also come to understand that for a growing number of people, the spiritual search is not only an intellectual past time, it is a vital necessity, something that is put into practice and lived day by day. With "The Science of Passion", I hope to contribute to the search of some of these people, since my greatest dream is to be a channel of Light for my fellow man.

Author Diann Jordan took a journey to find out what inspired and daunted black women in their desire to become scientists in America. Letting 18 prominent black women scientists talk for themselves, Sisters in Science becomes an oral history stretching across decades and disciplines and desires. From Yvonne Clark, the first black woman to be awarded a B.S. in mechanical engineering to Georgia Dunston, a microbiologist who is researching the genetic code for her race, to Shirley Jackson, whose aspiration led to the presidency of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Jordan has created a significant record of women who persevered to become firsts in many of their fields. It all began for Jordan when she was asked to give a presentation on black women scientists. She found little information and little help. After almost nine years of work, the stories of black women scientists can finally be told.

A collection of sixty classic and contemporary essays, stories, lists, poems, quotations, and cartoons that celebrates the joys of reading, the feeling of spending hours browsing through a bookstore, and the people for whom buying books is a necessity. Booklovers will find themselves in good company within the pages of A Passion for Books, beginning with science-fiction great Ray Bradbury's foreword and throughout contributions like-- Umberto Eco's How to Justify a Private Library, dealing with the question everyone with a sizable library is inevitably asked: "Have you read all these books?"; Gustave Flaubert's Bibliomania, the tale of a book collector so obsessed with owning a book that he is willing to kill to possess it; and Anna Quindlen's How Reading Changed My Life, in which she shares her optimistic view on the role of reading and the future of books in the computer age. Interspersed throughout are entertaining lists--Ten Bestselling Books Rejected by Publishers Twenty Times or More, Norman Mailer's Ten Favorite American Novels and many more-- plus select writings on bookstores, book clubs, cartoons about books and a specially prepared "bibliobibliography" of books about books. Whether you consider yourself a bibliomaniac or just someone who enjoys reading, A Passion for Books will provide you with a lifetime's worth of entertaining, informative, and pleasurable reading on your favorite subject--the love of books.

Computer Science: Reflections on the Field, Reflections from the Field provides a concise characterization of key ideas that lie at the core of computer science (CS) research. The book offers a description of CS research recognizing the richness and diversity of the field. It brings together two dozen essays on diverse aspects of CS research, their motivation and results. By describing in accessible form computer science's intellectual character, and by conveying a sense of its vibrancy through a set of examples, the book aims to prepare readers for what the future might hold and help to inspire CS researchers in its creation.