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time influence society’s patterns. He argues that the rhythms of human society are analogous to and (to some
extent) a result of biological rhythms, but that we have done ourselves great harm by supplanting these natural
rhythms with mechanical rhythms dictated by machinery and by bureaucrats using the tools of clock and calendar.
He appeals for a new time-ecology - a new entente with the sun - as a means of restoring more stability to people’s
lives.

New Ways of Knowing: The Sciences, Society, and Reconstructive Knowledge, Marcus G. Raskin
and Herbert J. Bernstein. 1987. Rowman and Littlefield, Totowa, NJ. 304 pages. ISBN: 0-8476-7462-2. $34.95.

The 20th century has witnessed the birth of awesome new technologies that have irreversibly altered the lives of
millions of people. Many of the worst potential and actual horrors of the modem age - nuclear war, environmental
pollution, the accelerating greenhouse effect, and laboratory-created pathogens - are the products of our most highly
regarded sciences. This volume examines the assumptions and values underlying the applications of physical and
social technologies and attempts to isolate the characteristics of contemporary scientific knowledge and discourse
that tend to produce irresponsible and destructive technological systems. Working from the viewpoint that a
radical change of direction is needed in our current knowledge process, the contributors are concerned with
developing a reconstructive model of knowledge that would replace the traditional scientific insistence on
&dquo;value-free&dquo; inquiry and research with an agenda that incorporates criteria of social responsibility, democratic
principles, and comprehensive ethical standards.

Among the contributions by a group of noted physicists and social scientists is an essay by Herbert J. Bernstein
that explores the forces that have influenced the direction and content of modern physics and molecular biology.
He looks at the significance of the attitude exemplified by the value-blind phrase &dquo;it works,&dquo; which has replaced
deeper causal understanding as the standard for scientific investigation. An essay by Marcus G. Raskin proposes a
reconstructionist model that is a radical reworking of Bacon’s classic principles of scientific inquiry. Other essays
investigate the power conferred by the social scientist’s ability to name, judge, and categorize; consider the cultural
effects of economic development; discuss how information technology has altered social relations; and explore the
market forces that have shaped and exploited the discipline of economics. A noteworthy feature of the book is a
lively exchange between Noam Chomsky and Marcus Raskin on technology and the scientific method.
The One Percent Advantage, John Gribbon and Mary Gribbon. 1987. Basil Blackwell. 224 pages. ISBN:
0-631-16004-3. $19.95.

The authors trace the path by which our species got to be &dquo;the naked ape with the big brain.&dquo; Fascinating insights
abound: the authors explain why, in an overhwhelming right-handed world there are lefties - and why lefties might
be superior (indeed, the percentage of lefties has not decreased since the Stone Age); why an unrelated bystander
jumps into the water to rescue a drowning man - and why the bystander is much more likely to be a male; why
women are generally less prone to disease; how the present perilious state of the world may have resulted not from
aggressive intent or stupidity but from a misunderstanding, etc.
The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution, Frank White. 1987. Houghton and
Mifflin Co., New York. 318 pages. Index. ISBN: 0-395-43084-4. $18.95.

Using interviews with and writings by 24 astronauts and cosmonauts, White shows how experiences such as
circling the Earth every ninety minutes and viewing it from the moon have profoundly affected our space travelers’
perceptions of themselves, their world, and the future. He shows how the rest of us, who have participated
imaginatively in these great adventures, have also been affected psychologically by them. He provides a powerful
rationale for space exploration and settlement, describing them as the inevitable next steps in the evolution of
human society and human consciousness, as the activities most likely to bring a new perspective to the problems
of life on Earth.

White goes on to consider the possible consequences of a human presence in space, both for the pioneers who
settle there and for those who remain on Earth. He imagines how having a permanent perspective from outer space
will affect our politics, our religion, our social relations, our psychology, our economics, and our hard sciences.
He confronts the possibility of rebellion by a space colony and of contact with extraterrestrial beings. And,
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finally, he makes it clear that our fate is in our own hands, that we will shape our future in space effectively only
by fashioning a new human space program, free of excessive nationalism and dedicated to the peaceful exploration
of the space frontier.

Protecting Intellectual Property Rights: Issues and Controversies, Robert P. Benko. 1987. University
Press of America, Lanham, MD. 72 pages. ISBN: 0-8447-3617-1. $15.75.

Copyrights, patents, and trademarks are crucial to innovation and the creation of new technologies. Resolution of
controversies over such rights will influence U.S. competitiveness and relations with other countries. The author
answers many questions over rights and offers suggestions for further research.

The Race to Synthesize the Human Gene, Stephen S. Hall. 1987. Atlantic Monthly Press, New York. 334
pages. Index. ISBN: 0-87113-147-1. $19.95.

A few short years ago, genetic engineering was a fanciful theory that bordered on the realm of science fiction.
Today it has become a reality of daily life, a fact which was dramatically driven home earlier this year when the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled that genetic engineers may patent higher life forms - including mammals.
Seemingly overnight, biotechnology has become one of this decade’s hottest growth industries - and one of its
greatest controversies.

This is the first book to tell the inside story of the birth of the revolution in genetic engineering. The story
begins in 1976, at a symposium on insulin in Indianapolis, sponsored by the pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly & Co.
It was here that several molecular biologists realized, independently, that it might be practical to synthesize or
clone a human gene. Almost immediately, three groups of scientists - one at Harvard, one at the University of
California at San Francisco, and one at City of Hope Hosptial in Los Angeles - found themselves in race to do just
that.

Remembering and Forgetting: An Inquiry into the Nature of Memory, Edmund Blair Bolles. Walker
and Co., New York. 313 pages. ISBN: 0-8027-1004-2. $22.95.

This exploration of recent breakthroughs in psychology and neuroscience makes it possible to understand how our
memories work - and fail - everyday life. The author provides a reassuring explanation of absent-mindedness. He
surveys the latest findings in the spectrum of more serious forgetting: the memory loss of accident victims, of
those afflicted with Alzheimer’s, of advanced alcoholics, and the pathological states of battle fatigue, amnesia,
hysteria, etc.

Rethinking Psychiatry: From Cultural Category to Personal Experience, Arthur Kleinman. 1988.
Free Press (Macmillan Publishing Co.) New York. 256 pages. ISBN: 0-02-917441-4. $25.00.

Both a psychiatrist and an anthropologist, Kleinman establishes a fundamental connection between culture and
mental illness, and argues that pathology stems from interaction between the patient’s psychobiology and his or
her social world. Therefore, a full, accurate diagnosis of a disorder and its consequent treatment require a complete
understanding of the patient’s life circumstances and beliefs.
The Ring of Truth: An Inquiry into How We Know What We Know, Philip Morrison and Phylis
Morrison. 1987. Random House, New York. 307 pages. Index. ISBN: 0-394-55663-1. $24.95.

Throughout, the quarry is not what we have learned about the universe but rather how we go in search of answers.
The Morrisons explore Thomas Jefferson’s surveying techniques, what a chocolate layer cake can reveal about
evidence in rocks, how we came to know the Mediterranean was once a desert and how scientists read rainbow light
for the recipe of the stars. Employing doughnuts and mousetraps, fireworks and a big yellow van along with
lasers and computers, this book uses precept and example to bring out the deepest conclusions. Based on the PBS
Series.