Wetenschap en Techniek

In Science, Patricia Fara rewrites science's past to provide new ways of understanding and questioning our modern technological society. Aiming not just to provide information but to make people think, this unique book explores how science has become so powerful by describing the financial interests and imperial ambitions behind its success.
Sweeping through the centuries from ancient Babylon right up to the latest hi-tech experiments in genetics and particle physics, Fara's book also ranges internationally, challenging notions of European superiority by emphasising the importance of scientific projects based around the world, including revealing discussions of China and the Islamic Empire alongside the more familiar stories about Copernicus's sun-centered astronomy, Newton's gravity, and Darwin's theory of evolution. We see for instance how Muslim leaders encouraged science by building massive libraries, hospitals, and astronomical observatories and we rediscover the significance of medieval Europe--long overlooked--where, surprisingly, religious institutions ensured science's survival, as the learning preserved in monasteries was subsequently developed in new and unique institutions: universities. Instead of focussing on esoteric experiments and abstract theories, she explains how science belongs to the practical world of war, politics and business. And rather than glorifying scientists as idealized heroes, she tells true stories about real people--men (and some women) who needed to earn their living, who made mistakes, and who trampled down their rivals.
Finally, this provocative volume challenges scientific supremacy itself, arguing that science is successful not because it is always indubitably right, but because people have said that it is right. Science dominates modern life, but perhaps the globe will be better off by limiting science's powers and undoing some of its effects.
"Dismantling popular myths, taking a truly global view and dispensing with false idols, Fara's highly readable survey of science's histories is a breath of fresh air. She unerringly pinpoints the defining moods of each age, treating the past with respect and the present with discernment. This wonderfully literate book tells a story that is far, far more interesting than the tidy fictions of hindsight." -- Philip Ball, Consultant Editor of Nature
"It's been a very long time since any reputable historian of science had the desire, the knowledge, or the nerve to undertake a book like this-- an attempt to survey the development of science from Antiquity to the present, notably including non-European materials. Patricia Fara has succeeded: Science is an elegant and compact creative synthesis of the piecemeal researches of generations of academic historians. It deserves the widest possible readership." - Steven Shapin, Professor of the History of Science, Harvard, and author of The Scientific Revolution

Patricia Fara lectures in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge and is the Senior Tutor of Clare College. She is the author of numerous books, including Fatal Attraction: Magnetic Mysteries of the Enlightenment and Newton: The Making of Genius. Her writing has appeared in History Today, New Scientist, Nature, The Times and New Statesman, and she writes a regular column on scientific portraits for Endeavour.
Books by the same author Fatal Attraction: Magnetic Mysteries of the Enlightenment by Patricia Fara. Published: 2005 Publisher: Icon Books Price: L9.99 Pandora's Breeches: Women, Science and Power in the Enlightenment by Patricia Fara. Published: 2004 Publisher: Pimlico Price: L12.99 Sex, Botany and Empire; the Stories of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks by Patricia Fara. Published: 2003 Publisher: Icon Books Price: L6.99 Newton: the Making of Genius by Patricia Fara. Published: 2002 Publisher: Macmillan Price: L20 An Entertainment for Angels: Electricity in the Enlightenment by Patricia Fara. Publish

"Failed states" Chomsky writes, are those "that do not protect their citizens from violence and perhaps even destruction, that regard themselves as beyond the reach of domestic or international law, and that suffer from a 'democratic deficit,' having democratic forms but with limited substance." Exploring recent U.S. foreign and domestic policies, Chomsky assesses Washington's escalation of the nuclear risk, the dangerous consequences of the occupation of Iraq; and America's self-exemption from international law. He also examines an American electoral system that frustrates genuine political alternatives, thus impeding any meaningful democracy.

Glaeser travels through history and around the globe to reveal the hidden workings of cities and how they bring out the best in humankind. Even the worst cities-Kinshasa, Kolkata, Lagos- confer surprising benefits on the people who flock to them, including better health and more jobs than the rural areas that surround them. Glaeser visits Bangalore and Silicon Valley, whose strangely similar histories prove how essential education is to urban success and how new technology actually encourages people to gather together physically. He discovers why Detroit is dying while other old industrial cities-Chicago, Boston, New York-thrive. He investigates why a new house costs 350 percent more in Los Angeles than in Houston, even though building costs are only 25 percent higher in L.A. He pinpoints the single factor that most influences urban growth-January temperatures-and explains how certain chilly cities manage to defy that link. He explains how West Coast environmentalists have harmed the environment, and how struggling cities from Youngstown to New Orleans can "shrink to greatness." And he exposes the dangerous anti-urban political bias that is harming both cities and the entire country.

Walter Lewin is niet alleen een geniaal wetenschapper, hij staat er vooral ook om bekend de meest ingewikkelde formules begrijpelijk te maken, en zelfs tot leven te wekken. Zo liet hij in de collegezaal een sloopkogel op zich af slingeren en zette hij zichzelf onder stroom met meer dan driehonderdduizend volt. Lewins colleges zijn een ware online hit; ze worden jaarlijks door meer dan twee miljoen mensen bekeken. Ook reist Lewin de hele wereld rond om iedereen de schoonheid van de natuurkunde aan den lijve te laten ondervinden. Gek op natuurkunde is een even aanstekelijk als erudiet boek dat je ogen opent voor de wereld om je heen: hét natuurkundeboek dat iedereen op de middelbare school gehad zou willen hebben

S.W Couwenberg merkte eens op: 'We zijn in dit land dol op dissidenten, maar ze moeten wél een flink eind uit de buurt zijn'. Rietdijk is zo'n dissident. Staatsrecht-deskundige Wim Couwenberg, VPRO-journalist-socioloog Kees Sluys, VU filosoof-politicoloog Henk Woldring en drie andere tegenstanders van censuur-op-pantoffels stellen hem hier - vaak uitdagende - vragen. Rietdijk antwoordt taboe-doorbrekend inzake o.m. onbegrijpelijke kunst, misdaad, buitenlanders, genetisch 'zwakkeren' en de zin van het bestaan. Hij komt tot een samenhangende cultuurtheorie die weinig vleiend is voor onze 'relatiocratie'.

De wereld van het getal van Georges Ifrah is een uitgebreide verkenning van de geschiedenis van getallen en cijferstelsels. Het boek onderzoekt hoe verschillende beschavingen door de tijd heen hun eigen systemen voor het rekenen en noteren van getallen hebben ontwikkeld, van de oude Sumeriërs tot moderne wiskundige systemen. Ifrah belicht de oorsprong en evolutie van cijfers, zoals het decimale stelsel, het positiesysteem en de Arabische cijfers, en legt uit hoe deze systemen de ontwikkeling van wetenschap, technologie en cultuur hebben beïnvloed. Het werk biedt zowel een historisch als technisch inzicht in de rol van getallen in de menselijke beschaving.

There has been much talk about family values in recent years, but little examination of the economic forces that are exploding family life and limiting the caregiving that families can provide. As Folbre points out in her provocative and insightful new book, every society must confront the problem of balancing self-interested pursuits with care for others--including children, the elderly, and the infirm. Historically, most societies enjoyed an increased supply of care by maintaining strict limits on women's freedom. But as these limits happily and inevitably give way, there are many consequences for those who still need care.

Using the image of "the invisible heart" to evoke the forces of compassion that must temper the forces of self-interest, Folbre argues that if we don't establish a new set of rules defining our mutual responsibilities for caregiving, the penalties suffered by the needy--our very families--will increase. Intensified economic competition may drive altruism and families out of business.

A leading feminist economist, Nancy Folbre writes in a lively, personal style--Molly Ivins cheek-to-cheek with John Kenneth Galbraith--and develops a distinctive approach to the economics of care. Unlike others who praise family values, Folbre acknowledges the complicated relationship between women and altruism. Her book offers new interpretations of such policy issues as welfare reform, school finance, and progressive taxation, and it confronts the challenges of globalization, outlining strategies for developing an economic system that rewards both individual achievement and care for others.

In this volume, eminent economist Charles Kindleberger sets out to challenge the widespread belief that the market for seafarers, in the days before steam, was efficient, conforming more or less to a strong prior belief in the neo-classical economic model of supply and demand. 

Maritime history is traditionally strewn with references to crimping or shanghaiing, naval press-gangs, desertion, mutiny, marooning and shipwrecks due to drunkenness or negligence. In contrast, Kindleberger examines issues of recruitment and pay, the treatment of seamen, and the question of government intervention and its impact on efficiency, in the engaging narrative style that is his trademark. 

Offering an original and informative account of the markets for seafarers in the age of sail, Mariners and Markets will be welcomed by economic and maritime historians alike.

In February of 2008, amid the looming global financial crisis, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France asked Nobel Prize-winning economists Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen, along with the distinguished French economist Jean Paul Fitoussi, to establish a commission of leading economists to study whether Gross Domestic Product (GDP)--the most widely used measure of economic activity--is a reliable indicator of economic and social progress. The Commission was given the further task of laying out an agenda for developing better measures.

Mismeasuring Our Lives is the result of this major intellectual effort, one with pressing relevance for anyone engaged in assessing how and whether our economy is serving the needs of our society. The authors offer a sweeping assessment of the limits of GDP as a measurement of the well-being of societies--considering, for example, how GDP overlooks economic inequality (with the result that most people can be worse off even though average income is increasing); and does not factor environmental impacts into economic decisions.

In place of GDP, Mismeasuring Our Lives introduces a bold new array of concepts, from sustainable measures of economic welfare, to measures of savings and wealth, to a "green GDP." At a time when policymakers worldwide are grappling with unprecedented global financial and environmental issues, here is an essential guide to measuring the things that matter.

Hoe creëer je een uitdagende en aantrekkelijke omgeving waarin de passie van bevlogen en eigenzinnige medewerkers een verbinding aangaat met de eisen van een succesvolle en solide bedrijfsvoering? Pieter de Jong reist in dit boek langs de belangrijkste thema s waar je als leidinggevende mee te maken krijgt. Vanaf de vraag welke eisen leidinggeven aan je stelt en wat verstandig is om aan bagage mee te nemen tot en met de do s en dont s van succesvol veranderingen in een organisatie doorvoeren. Hij toetst vanuit zijn jarenlange ervaring als CEO de zee aan managementadviezen op relevantie voor de praktijk van alledag en lardeert dat met verrassende citaten uit de wereldliteratuur. Ter zake kundig, praktisch en inspirerend voor wie zijn fascinatie deelt voor het avontuur dat leidinggeven heet.

In this revolutionary, acclaimed book, bestselling economist Tim Harford introduced us to a selection of fifty radical inventions that changed the world.

Now Harford once again brings us an array of remarkable, memorable, curious and often unexpected things, inventions, that teach us lessons by turns intimate and sweeping about the complex world economy we live in today. From the brick, blockchain and the bicycle to fire, the factory and fundraising, and from solar PV and the pencil to the postage stamp, this brilliant and enlightening collection resonates, fascinates and stimulates. It is a wonderful blend of insight and inspiration from one of Britain's finest non-fiction storytellers.

Metamorfose intrigeert de mens al sinds Ovidius, met verhalen over duivels en weerwolven in mensengedaante. We vergeten echter dat Homo sapiens, net als de rups en vlinder, uit twee soorten bestaat: het kind en de volwassene. Kinderen leven gescheiden in hun eigen wereld, tot ze zich in de puberteit 'verpoppen'. Veel volwassenen verlangen terug naar die kinderlijke vrijheid, skaten in opgroei kleren en lezen kinderboeken. Deze infantilisering doet denken aan een vlinder die terug kruipt in zijn pophuid. In De larf onderzoekt Midas Dekkers de rol van het kind in natuur en cultuur, en stelt dat de kind en volwassene verschillende wezens zijn, met vaak tegenstrijdige belangen. Groei in de natuur gaat altijd ten koste van iets anders, en de mens is daarop geen uitzondering.

Kinderen leven gescheiden van volwassenen, in een eigen wereld van crèches, scholen en clubs, ze lezen hun eigen kinderboeken en bezoeken een eigen kinderboerderij. Tot ze in de puberteit verpoppen in een explosie van popmuziek en pukkels.
In "De Larf" onderzoekt Midas Dekkers welke rol het kind speelt in natuur en cultuur.

Oude mensen doen zich jong voor, want iedereen wil oud worden, maar niemand wil het zijn. Na het feliciteren van de honderdjarige wast de burgemeester zijn handen. Liever opent hij een nieuwe wijk, want nieuw is mooi en jong is lekker. Tegenover elk herfststukje in het lokalen staan honderd boeketten fris in bloemenwinkels te stralen.
Toch lonkt het verval. Afwaarts is een berg ook mooi. Schilders schilderen ruïnes, toeristen fotograferen tandeloze vissers, en Fellini begreep dat de nadagen de mooiste dagen van Rome zijn. Nog steeds willen mannen niet oud zijn, maar eisen wel een penopauze. De cirkel wil rond.
Restaureren we om het oude te behouden, of proberen we de tijdelijkheid te ontduiken? Hoe meer we over de lente zingen, hoe noodzakelijker de herfst blijkt, wanneer de bomen hun vrucht en blad aan de wind meegeven. Wat verval lijkt, is vaak vervulling.

The complete lexicon of crisis related suicides’ is een indrukwekkend en tegelijkertijd confronterend tijdsdocument. Richard Sluijs heeft het persoonlijk leed dat velen trof als gevolg van de economische crisis, die sinds 2008 de wereld in zijn greep houdt, op monumentale wijze in beeld gebracht. Dit boek omvat een verzameling verhalen van mensen die hun ellende niet langer konden verdragen en zelfmoord als enige uitweg zagen. Het boek is een in memoriam voor alle slachtoffers van de crisis. Tegelijkertijd vormt het een kritisch tegengeluid voor de boodschap die politici, bankiers en economen propageren, dat het strenge bezuinigingsbeleid zijn vruchten begint af te werpen en alles weldra weer bij het oude zal zijn. Maar dat voor vele nabestaanden het leven nooit meer hetzelfde zal zijn wordt aan de hand van dit boek pijnlijk duidelijk.

In De maat van het heelal beschrijft Kitty Ferguson de zoektocht naar de grootte van het universum. Het begint met Eratosthenes in Syene, Noord-Afrika, twee eeuwen voor Christus, die de omtrek van de aarde meet met behulp van zonlicht. Hiermee hoopt hij ook de afstand naar de zon en de maan te berekenen. Ferguson volgt deze zoektocht van de Griekse oudheid tot de Hubble-telescoop. Wat lijkt op een beperkt onderwerp, ontvouwt zich als een boeiende geschiedenis van de astronomie, verteld op een begrijpelijke en spannende manier.

Until Josiah Wedgwood, Britons ate from wood and pewter plates. Until Henry Heinz, women toiled over pickled foods. Until Michael Dell, few people owned a personal computer, let alone dreamed of buying one "built to order." According to business historian Nancy F. Koehn, these pathbreaking entrepreneurs shared a powerful gift: the ability to discern how economic and social change would affect consumer needs and wants.

In Brand New, Koehn introduces us to six extraordinary leaders of brand creation who lived and worked during periods of widespread change: Josiah Wedgwood in the Industrial Revolution; Henry Heinz and Marshall Field in the Transportation and Communication Revolution; and Est?e Lauder, Howard Schultz of Starbucks, and Michael Dell in the Information Revolution. Through compelling and engaging profiles of these entrepreneurial visionaries, she reveals a provocative relationship between economic turbulence, household priorities, and company strategy that holds important lessons for today's brand builders.

According to Koehn, these forward-thinking individuals understood the profound effects that socioeconomic change has on what customers want, have, and can afford as much as on what companies make-and were masters at exploiting the enormous business opportunities these demand-side shifts created. Indeed, the brands and companies created by these individuals have become such a part of everyday life that we've made them part of common speech: we pass the Heinz; eat off Wedgwood; order a Starbucks.

Koehn draws from their diaries, correspondence, and official business records to demonstrate that these entrepreneurs were more than savvy marketers; they were institution builders. She shows how each used brand not as a logo, but as a vital strategic tool for creating best-of-class companies-and for building powerful organizational capabilities that supported their connections with customers and helped make new markets for their offerings.

Distilling critical lessons for businesses operating in both the traditional and on-line worlds, Brand New will convince every entrepreneur of the remarkable power of brands to transform start-ups, gain competitive advantage, and change lives.

In this comprehensive and up to date history, from prehistoric proto-Indo-Iranian times to the post-Soviet period, Richard Foltz traces the complex linguistic, cultural and political history of the Tajiks, a Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group from the modern-day Central Asian states of Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan. In eight chapters, the author explores the revitalisation of Persian culture under the Samanid Empire in the Tajik heartlands of historical Khorasan and Transoxiana, analyses the evolution of the politics of Tajik identity and traces the history of the ethnic Tajik diaspora today.

Sheldrake argues for a return to the view of nature as a living organism as a precondition for ecological survival. In his opinion, modern mechanistic conceptions of the environment lie at the root of its destruction. His previous books are `A New Science of Life` and `The Presence of the Past`.

The humanities and the sciences face challenging times, each in their own way. The humanities suffer shrinking enrollments and budgets, and are perceived by some as irrelevant in a changing economy. The sciences face a political climate that disrespects academic expertise and challenges settled debates. Meanwhile age-old disputes about their spheres of knowledge continue: does scientific knowledge subsume that of the humanities? Are their forms of knowledge complementary, or ultimately at odds?

Richard Foley, a philosopher of knowledge and the former Dean of Arts and Sciences at New York University, here provides a concise and accessible overview of what the overarching goals of these disciplines are, relative to one another, and what kind of knowledge they aim to produce. His fundamental argument is that the sciences aim at insights that ideally are not limited to particular locations or times and are also perspective-free and wholly descriptive, whereas the humanities appropriately seek insights about specific locations and times, with the insights being perspective-based and having evaluative as well as descriptive elements. He also finds these two spheres of knowledge to be complementary in the search for understanding of our world and the human condition. The ultimate goal of Foley's investigation however is an eloquent defense and celebration of the culture of academic research. In an era of sound-bites and tweet-length falsehoods, this culture values and supports long-term intellectual achievements for the good of humanity - produced with hard work, dedication, and patience. The Geography of Insight is essential reading for readers both inside and outside of the academy.

America's economic future is uncertain. Mired in a long, crippling economic slump and hamstrung by bitter partisan debate over the growing debt and the role of government, the nation faces substantial challenges. Prominent Stanford University economist John B. Taylor brings his steady voice of reason to the discussion with a natural solution: start with the country's founding principles of economic and political freedom--limited government, rule of law, strong incentives, reliance on markets, a predictable policy framework--and reconstruct its economic foundation from these proven principles. Channeling his high-level experience as both a policymaker and a researcher, Taylor shows that when we embrace these first principles, the economy prospers. When we abandon them, the economy falters. In a masterful sweep through history, he identifies the key policymakers who stuck to, ignored, or compromised on these principles, drawing lessons from the mistakes and successes of each administration from JFK's to Obama's, as well as from the policies of Arthur Burns, Paul Volcker, Alan Greenspan, and Ben Bernanke, who ran the Federal Reserve during these periods. Neither Democrats nor Republicans wholly own these mistakes and successes. Taylor then zeroes in on current policy issues, applying the first principles. He lays out in simple terms bold strategies to defuse the debt explosion, to reform the Fed so it once again follows rules that work, to reform regulations and put an end to crony capitalism and scattershot bailouts, to transform existing entitlements and improve people's lives, and to rebuild America's global economic leadership.

De beheersing van het vuur was de eerste grote ingreep die de mensheid in de natuur teweeg heeft gebracht en een voorwaarde voor de ontwikkeling van landbouw en industrie. Alleen de mens heeft geleerd vuur te beheersen. Maar die beheersing leidde tot een grotere afhankelijkheid - met vaak onvoorziene gevolgen.

Samuel Brittan has been one of the Financial Times' leading columnists for nearly thirty years. He has also advised numerous Chancellors of the Exchequer on economic policy. Against the Flow collects the most important of these writings from the last three decades. Brittan has established a reputation for elegance of expression, trenchant analysis and tremendous range of reference. All three qualities are powerfully apparent in this collection, as he ranges over the arms trade and US military (which he opposes); the expansion of free markets and a basic income for all (which he supports), as wall as the war on terror, The book also includes his pungent portraits of some heroes and villans, including Keynes, Milton Friedman & Taken together the pieces in Against the Flow amount to a robust defence of classic liberalism.

Uiteenzetting over de filosofische consequenties van de nieuwe natuurkundige inzichten.

"Bedrijven die niet bijdragen aan een betere wereld hebben geen bestaansrecht. Ze moeten zich op het goede richten, de wereld beter maken, het geld komt dan vanzelf. Na de door hebzucht en overmoed gekenmerkte crisis van 2008 wordt deze boodschap van de nieuwe CEO van Unilever met gejuich ontvangen. Onverbiddelijk en onvermoeibaar legt Paul Polman uit: multinationals als Unilever spelen een hoofdrol in het uitbannen van armoede en het aanpakken van het klimaatprobleem. Dit is het grote gevecht om de ziel van het kapitalisme. Maar de moedige pionier loopt zo ver voor de troepen uit dat ?zijn? duurzame Unilever in 2017 dreigt te worden opgeslokt door concurrent Kraft-Heinz. Na deze ?bijna-doodervaring? gaat Polman op zoek naar een veilige haven voor zijn experiment. Door dagkoersen geregeerde Britse aandeelhouders en Nederlandse politici versperren de slecht luisterende ?CEO-priester? de weg. Zijn poging om er eindelijk echt één bedrijf van te maken met één hoofdkantoor in Nederland, mislukt op dramatische wijze. 0In 'Het drama Ahold' (2004) en 'De Prooi' (2008) reconstrueerde Jeroen Smit hoe falend leiderschap, opgejaagd door op snelle winst gerichte aandeelhouders, veel waarde vernietigde. De wereld snakt naar een bedrijfsleven dat zich over de grote vraagstukken van deze tijd ontfermt. In 'Het Grote Gevecht' laat Smit zien dat we daarvoor allemaal, als consumenten, werknemers en vooral ook als beleggers, een grote draai moeten maken.

Stanley Fischer served as First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund from 1994 to 2001. IMF Essays from a Time of Crisis collects sixteen essays written for the most part during his time at the IMF, each updated with Fischer's later reflections on the issues raised. The IMF drew much criticism for some of its actions during Fischer's tenure, and he vigorously defends the "battlefield medicine" practiced by the IMF during a series of economic crises, which included the problems of economic transition in the former Soviet bloc and the Asian financial crisis. Fischer addresses the subsequent calls for reform of the international financial system and makes the case for the IMF as an international lender of last resort.

The first section of essays, "The Role of the IMF and the Reform of the International Financial System," considers the IMF's role in the international financial system in light of the crises of the 1990s. The second section, "Macroeconomic Policy, Stabilization, and Transition," examines such topics as exchange rate regimes, inflation, and Eastern Europe's relation to the European Union. The final section, "Poverty and Development," reflects Fischer's basic belief that economic policies should explicitly target poverty reduction. These engaging and accessible essays will appeal not only to economics students, economists, and policymakers but also to the general reader interested in the international monetary system.

Once upon a time, students who were willing and able to work hard could obtain an affordable, high-quality education at a public university. Those times are gone. Intensified admissions competition coupled with opposition to public spending has scorched every campus. Budget cuts, tuition hikes, and debt burdens are undermining the best path to upward mobility that this country ever built.

But despite all of this, Americans still embrace ideals of equal opportunity and know that higher education represents a public good. Students, faculty, staff, and advocates are beginning to build political coalitions and develop new strategies to improve access, enhance quality, and simplify financial aid. This book celebrates and will fortify their efforts.

In Saving State U, economist Nancy Folbre brings the national debates of education experts down to the level of trying to teach--and trying to learn--at major state universities whose budgets have repeatedly been slashed, restored, and then slashed again. Here is a brilliant firsthand account of the stakes involved, the politics, and the key debates raging through public campuses today. In a passionate, accessible voice, Folbre also offers a sobering vision of the many possible futures of public higher education and their links to the fate of our democracy while looking at the practical ways in which change is now possible.