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Colloids and colloid assemblies
BOOKS & MEDIA UPDATE Fracture Mechanics Nestor Perez Kluwer Academic Publishers (2004), 376 pp., ISBN: 1-4020-7745-9 $125 / £79 / 114
This reference work explains the analytical methods used to derive stress and strain functions related to fracture mechanics. Perez emphasizes the use of modeling and problem solving to interpret the mathematical solutions in terms of the mechanical behavior of materials and significance of microstructural parameters.
Intelligent Macromolecules for Smart Devices Liming Dai Springer-Verlag (2004), 496 pp. ISBN: 1-85233-510-6 $149 / £90 / 159.95
This book reviews molecular systems that can respond to their environment and the smart devices that can be built with them. The chemistry and material properties of carbon nanotubes, artificial opals, dendrimers, and biomolecules are covered. Dai analyzes the suitability of such molecules for different applications, such as sensors and actuators, polymer batteries, photovoltaic cells, and novel lasers.
Colloids and Colloid Assemblies Frank Caruso (ed.) John Wiley & Sons (2004), 621 pp. ISBN: 3-527-30660-9 $260 / £140 / 210
Caruso has brought together a range of authors to cover the synthesis, modification, organization, and application of various colloidal systems. Metal nanoparticles, semiconductor quantum dots, and organic particles are some of the material systems described. Colloidal crystals and nanocontainers are discussed, as well as layer-by-layer self-assembly techniques and applications as biological labels and models .
Expert Graduate Undergraduate
The politics of science From the diversion of research efforts to the perception of risk, the essays in Politicizing Science provide a valuable insight into the competing interests of science and policymakers, says Ian Gibson. Karl Popper, probably the leading 20th century philosopher of science, famously divided science into two steps: the formation of a hypothesis followed by its testing. But what happens when science and politics meet and competing interests, deliberately or otherwise, selectively interpret facts to suit their own agendas? The 11 essays in Politicizing Science provide an electrifying insight into this question.
The third part of the book describes the use of consensus panels in controversial areas of science, such as climate change. Two essays consider the precautionary principle; loosely, the idea that action should be taken to prevent activities that may cause harm to humans or the environment until there is evidence that such damage will not occur. Is this sometimes just an excuse for inaction?
Michael Gough has divided the book into four main areas. The first considers government involvement in science and the diversion of research into politically desirable avenues. The most compelling essay of these is written by William Happer, former director of energy research at the US Department of Energy. Happer parallels perhaps the most chilling example of politicization of science, agronomist Trofim Lysenko’s suppression of genetics in Stalin’s Soviet Union, with the ‘demonstration’ of cold fusion in the US in the late 1980s. Lysenko’s biology prevailed for 40 years, supported by a state whose ideology it suited. In contrast, cold fusion was quickly put to the test and found to fail. In the absence of an all-powerful political establishment, cold fusion could not be hijacked and declared politically correct or incorrect.
With the exception of Robert Nilsson’s spirited attack on Swedish over reliance on the precautionary principle, the essays are dominated by the experience of scientists working in the US. It is noticeable that several contributors are critical of the Clinton administration and, indeed, the book is published by the politically right-wing Hoover Institution. However, the points made are still valid and I’m sure that there are now scientists who feel equally badly served by the administration of George W. Bush. With a couple of notable exceptions, little emphasis is placed on how policy decisions of the US and other developed nations affect the rest of the world, and I would have welcomed more insight into this area.
The second section deals with shifting perceptions of risk. Risk is the keyword these days, and any serious scientist will admit that there is an element of risk in any new technology. There always has been. But when the term is employed by some elements of the media, it has a different impact – think of the panic we have seen in recent years over childhood immunization or the growth of genetic science. In his impressive contribution on nuclear power, Bernard L. Cohen outlines many of the problems in conveying a true appreciation of risk to politicians and the public. Cohen highlights the fact that the same media that devote high-profile stories to potential risks are reluctant to cover subsequent research that downgrades that risk or finds no risk from the technology. Risk sells newspapers.
Michael Gough (ed.) Politicizing Science: The Alchemy of Policymaking (2003) Hoover Institution Press, 313 pp., ISBN: 0-8179-3932-6 $15.00
Are the problems raised in this book unique to science? I don’t believe that science is a special case when it comes to policymaking. Specialist input leading to evidence-based policy is needed in all areas. Is scientific theory really any harder to understand than economics? As much as we try to make policymakers more scientifically literate, we also have to politicize science and scientists. Both politics and science have to understand that they are of huge relevance to each other. They ignore one another at their peril. Ian Gibson is chair of the UK House of Commons’ Science and Technology Committee and Member of Parliament for Norwich North.
May 2004
57
This reference work explains the analytical methods used to derive stress and strain functions related to fracture mechanics. Perez emphasizes the use of modeling and problem solving to interpret the mathematical solutions in terms of the mechanical behavior of materials and significance of microstructural parameters.
Intelligent Macromolecules for Smart Devices Liming Dai Springer-Verlag (2004), 496 pp. ISBN: 1-85233-510-6 $149 / £90 / 159.95
This book reviews molecular systems that can respond to their environment and the smart devices that can be built with them. The chemistry and material properties of carbon nanotubes, artificial opals, dendrimers, and biomolecules are covered. Dai analyzes the suitability of such molecules for different applications, such as sensors and actuators, polymer batteries, photovoltaic cells, and novel lasers.
Colloids and Colloid Assemblies Frank Caruso (ed.) John Wiley & Sons (2004), 621 pp. ISBN: 3-527-30660-9 $260 / £140 / 210
Caruso has brought together a range of authors to cover the synthesis, modification, organization, and application of various colloidal systems. Metal nanoparticles, semiconductor quantum dots, and organic particles are some of the material systems described. Colloidal crystals and nanocontainers are discussed, as well as layer-by-layer self-assembly techniques and applications as biological labels and models .
Expert Graduate Undergraduate
The politics of science From the diversion of research efforts to the perception of risk, the essays in Politicizing Science provide a valuable insight into the competing interests of science and policymakers, says Ian Gibson. Karl Popper, probably the leading 20th century philosopher of science, famously divided science into two steps: the formation of a hypothesis followed by its testing. But what happens when science and politics meet and competing interests, deliberately or otherwise, selectively interpret facts to suit their own agendas? The 11 essays in Politicizing Science provide an electrifying insight into this question.
The third part of the book describes the use of consensus panels in controversial areas of science, such as climate change. Two essays consider the precautionary principle; loosely, the idea that action should be taken to prevent activities that may cause harm to humans or the environment until there is evidence that such damage will not occur. Is this sometimes just an excuse for inaction?
Michael Gough has divided the book into four main areas. The first considers government involvement in science and the diversion of research into politically desirable avenues. The most compelling essay of these is written by William Happer, former director of energy research at the US Department of Energy. Happer parallels perhaps the most chilling example of politicization of science, agronomist Trofim Lysenko’s suppression of genetics in Stalin’s Soviet Union, with the ‘demonstration’ of cold fusion in the US in the late 1980s. Lysenko’s biology prevailed for 40 years, supported by a state whose ideology it suited. In contrast, cold fusion was quickly put to the test and found to fail. In the absence of an all-powerful political establishment, cold fusion could not be hijacked and declared politically correct or incorrect.
With the exception of Robert Nilsson’s spirited attack on Swedish over reliance on the precautionary principle, the essays are dominated by the experience of scientists working in the US. It is noticeable that several contributors are critical of the Clinton administration and, indeed, the book is published by the politically right-wing Hoover Institution. However, the points made are still valid and I’m sure that there are now scientists who feel equally badly served by the administration of George W. Bush. With a couple of notable exceptions, little emphasis is placed on how policy decisions of the US and other developed nations affect the rest of the world, and I would have welcomed more insight into this area.
The second section deals with shifting perceptions of risk. Risk is the keyword these days, and any serious scientist will admit that there is an element of risk in any new technology. There always has been. But when the term is employed by some elements of the media, it has a different impact – think of the panic we have seen in recent years over childhood immunization or the growth of genetic science. In his impressive contribution on nuclear power, Bernard L. Cohen outlines many of the problems in conveying a true appreciation of risk to politicians and the public. Cohen highlights the fact that the same media that devote high-profile stories to potential risks are reluctant to cover subsequent research that downgrades that risk or finds no risk from the technology. Risk sells newspapers.
Michael Gough (ed.) Politicizing Science: The Alchemy of Policymaking (2003) Hoover Institution Press, 313 pp., ISBN: 0-8179-3932-6 $15.00
Are the problems raised in this book unique to science? I don’t believe that science is a special case when it comes to policymaking. Specialist input leading to evidence-based policy is needed in all areas. Is scientific theory really any harder to understand than economics? As much as we try to make policymakers more scientifically literate, we also have to politicize science and scientists. Both politics and science have to understand that they are of huge relevance to each other. They ignore one another at their peril. Ian Gibson is chair of the UK House of Commons’ Science and Technology Committee and Member of Parliament for Norwich North.
May 2004
57