Koneru Ramakrishna Rao has played a leading role in advancing parapsychology in the United States, India, and around the world--serving as president of both the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology and the U.S.-based Parapsychological Association. He founded the Journal of Indian Psychology and served as editor of the Journal of Parapsychology for nearly two decades. He has authored many books, including Basic Research in Parapsychology (second edition, 2001, $39.95) and Consciousness Studies (2002, $75). Thirteen essays collected here honor his contributions to the field; they are written by Raos colleagues, students, and protgs on such topics as psychical research, prayer and healing, consciousness, dreams and clairvoyance. Also provided is a complete bibliography of Raos published writings.

"This very important work calls for research and policy-making that is proactive, multi-level, multi-method, and interdisciplinary--not disease-driven. It synthesizes perspectives on wellness that have the potential to produce a paradigm shift in research and policy planning, implementation, and evaluation." — Lené Levy-Storms, University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Medicine/Geriatrics "[This book] helps broaden the field of inquiry and legitimates the social and political perspectives in health care research and planning." —Ellen R. Shaffer, University of California, San Francisco, Program in Medical Ethics

Human–Robot Interaction (HRI) considers how people can interact with robots in order to enable robots to best interact with people. HRI presents many challenges with solutions requiring a unique combination of skills from many fields, including computer science, artificial intelligence, social sciences, ethology and engineering. We have specifically aimed this work to appeal to such a multi-disciplinary audience. This volume presents new and exciting material from HRI researchers who discuss research at the frontiers of HRI. The chapters address the human aspects of interaction, such as how a robot may understand, provide feedback and act as a social being in interaction with a human, to experimental studies and field implementations of human–robot collaboration ranging from joint action, robots practically and safely helping people in real world situations, robots helping people via rehabilitation and robots acquiring concepts from communication. This volume reflects current trends in this exciting research field.

Why has the flow of big, world-changing ideas slowed down? A provocative look at what happens next at the frontiers of human knowledge. The history of humanity is the history of big ideas that expand our frontiers—from the wheel to space flight, cave painting to the massively multiplayer game, monotheistic religion to quantum theory. And yet for the past few decades, apart from a rush of new gadgets and the explosion of digital technology, world-changing ideas have been harder to come by. Since the 1970s, big ideas have happened incrementally—recycled, focused in narrow bands of innovation. In this provocative book, Michael Bhaskar looks at why the flow of big, world-changing ideas has slowed, and what this means for the future. Bhaskar argues that the challenge at the frontiers of knowledge has arisen not because we are unimaginative and bad at realizing big ideas but because we have already pushed so far. If we compare the world of our great-great-great-grandparents to ours today, we can see how a series of transformative ideas revolutionized almost everything in just a century and a half. But recently, because of short-termism, risk aversion, and fractious decision making, we have built a cautious, unimaginative world. Bhaskar shows how we can start to expand the frontier again by thinking big—embarking on the next Universal Declaration of Human Rights or Apollo mission—and embracing change.

This volume brings together essays by an internationally distinguished and diverse group of scholars. Contributors thoughtfully explore the ethical, public policy, and scientific implications of embryonic and adult stem cell research. Part one of the book offers a variety of scientific and public policy perspectives, including essays on stem cell plasticity and using umbilical cord blood as an alternative source of pluripotent stem cells. Part two vigorously examines the ethics of stem cell research and considers issues of social justice, morality, and public policy. Scientific alternatives, a natural law perspective regarding federal funding, and a discussion of the possible moral complicity of Catholic researchers are among the distinctive contributions made to the stem cell research debate by this collection. The objective and balanced discussions contained in this volume serve as an accessible introduction to the bioethical questions, issues, and problems surrounding stem cell research.

For almost ten years chaos and fractals have been enveloping many areas of mathematics and the natural sciences in their power, creativity and expanse. Reaching far beyond the traditional bounds of mathematics and science to the realms of popular culture, they have captured the attention and enthusiasm of a worldwide audience. The fourteen chapters of the book cover the central ideas and concepts, as well as many related topics including, the Mandelbrot Set, Julia Sets, Cellular Automata, L-Systems, Percolation and Strange Attractors, and each closes with the computer code for a central experiment. In the two appendices, Yuval Fisher discusses the details and ideas of fractal image compression, while Carl J.G. Evertsz and Benoit Mandelbrot introduce the foundations and implications of multifractals.

This book studies social phenomena in a new way, by making judicious use of computer technology. The book addresses the entire spectrum of classic studies in social science, from experiments to the computational models, with a multidisciplinary approach. The book is suitable for those who want to get a picture of what it means to do social research today, and also to get an indication of the major open issues. The book is connected to a database of code for simulations, experimental data and allows to activate a subscription to a teaching tool using NetLogo, a programming language widely used in the social studies. The authors are researchers with first-hand experience research projects, both basic and applied. The work will be useful for those who want to understand more of the social, economic and political phenomena via computer applications.

Applied Psychology demonstrates the power of applied psychology to promote human welfare and optimal human functioning as well as the vast career opportunities that exist for those with a psychology education. Some of the most eminent psychologists in the world today examine how psychological science is and can be used to prevent and ameliorate pressing human problems to promote positive social change. Part one provides an overview of the history and rise of applied psychology. The second part provides examples of how psychological science has been, and can be used, to prevent and ameliorate human problems. Part three presents examples of cutting-edge research in applied psychology, while exploring non-traditional career opportunities. The contributors provide evidence for the range of career opportunities, discuss skill and educational requirements, and explore the quality of work life in a wide range of areas within psychology. Advice on what it takes to prepare for a rewarding career in applied psychology is also provided. Intended as a supplement for courses in introductory or applied psychology, contemporary issues, professional development, social and organizational psychology, this book will also be a valued addition to campus career centers. Psychologists considering new career options will also appreciate this volume.

The last 25 years have seen tremendous advances in the study of psychological processes in reading. Our growing body of knowledge on the reading process and reading acquisition has applications to such important problems as the prevention of reading difficulties and the identification of effective instructional practices. This volume summarizes the gains that have been made in key areas of reading research and provides insights on current controversies and debates. The volume is divided into seven parts, with each part begininning with an introductory chapter presenting findings on the topic at hand, followed by one or more classic papers from the author's research program. Issues covered include phonological processes and context effects in reading, the "reading wars" and how they should be resolved, the meaning of the term "dyslexia," and the cognitive effects and benefits of reading. --From publisher's description.

Steve Fuller has a reputation for setting the terms of debate within science and technology studies. In his latest book, New Frontiers in Science and Technology Studies he charts the debates likely to be of relevance in the coming years. Should science and technology be treated as separate entities? What impact has globalization had on science and technology? Can science be clearly distinguished from other forms of knowledge? Does the politicization of science really matter? Is there a role for the social regulation of scientific inquiry? Should we be worried about research fraud? These questions are explored by examining an array of historical, philosophical and contemporary sources. Attention is paid, for example, to the Bruno Latour's The Politics of Nature as a model for science policy, as well as the global controversy surrounding Bjorn Lomborg's The Sceptical Environmentalist, which led to the dismantling and re-establishment of the Danish national research ethics board. New Frontiers in Science and Technology Studies will appeal strongly to scholars and advanced undergraduate and graduate students in courses concerned with the social dimensions of science and technology, and anyone who cares about the future of science.