Thomas A Easton

Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Science, Technology, and Society

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

The Taking Sides Collection on McGraw-Hill Create® includes current controversial issues in a debate-style format designed to stimulate student interest and develop critical thinking skills. This Collection contains a multitude of current and classic issues to enhance and customize your course. You can browse the entire Taking Sides Collection on Create or you can search by topic, author, or keywords. Each Taking Sides issue is thoughtfully framed with Learning Outcomes, an Issue Summary, an Introduction, and an "Exploring the Issue" section featuring Critical Thinking and Reflection, Is There Common Ground?, Additional Resources, and Internet References. Go to the Taking Sides Collection on McGraw-Hill Create® at www.mcgrawhillcreate.com/takingsides and click on "Explore this Collection" to browse the entire Collection. Select individual Taking Sides issues to enhance your course, or access and select the entire Easton: Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Science, Technology, and Society, 14/e book here http://create.mheducation.com/createonline/index.html#qlink=search%2Ftext%3Disbn:1260579956 for an easy, pre-built teaching resource. Visit http://create.mheducation.com for more information on other McGraw-Hill titles and special collections.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: McGraw Hill LLC
• 14th edition
• Seitenzahl: 304
• Erscheinungstermin: 15. Oktober 2019
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 272mm x 213mm x 13mm
• Gewicht: 612g
• ISBN-13: 9781260579956
• ISBN-10: 1260579956
• Artikelnr.: 56019882

Autorenporträt

McGraw-Hill authors represent the leading experts in their fields and are dedicated to improving the lives, careers, and interests of readers worldwide

Inhaltsangabe

Unit 1: The Place of Science and Technology in Society
Issue: Should the Funding of Scientific Research Be Left to the Private
Sector?
Yes: Terence Kealey, from "The Case against Public Science," Cato Unbound
(2013)
No: David Guston, from "The State Will Always Need Science," Cato Unbound
Response Essay (2013)
Terence Kealey argues that "the strongest argument for the government
funding of science today is anecdotal." Private funding is sufficient, as
it has been for centuries. David Guston argues that without public
sponsorship of scientific research, there would only be private sponsorship
of research. Public sponsorship provides a necessary non-market way of
setting priorities for R&D. "Knowledge inputs" (data or evidence) are
necessary for the proper function of the state.
Issue: Should the Public Have to Pay to See the Results of Federally Funded
Research?
Yes: Ralph Oman, from "Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Courts, The Internet, and
Intellectual Property, Hearing on 'The Fair Copyright in Research Works
Act,'" U.S. House of Representatives (2009)
No: Stuart M. Shieber, from "Testimony before the U.S. House of
Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Subcommittee on
Investigations and Oversight, Hearing on 'Examining Public Access and
Scholarly Publication Interests,'" U.S. House of Representatives (2012)
Attorney and past register of copyrights Ralph Oman contends that "If the
NIH [National Institutes of Health] succeeds in putting all of the
NIH-related peer-reviewed articles on its online database for free within
one year of publication, the private publishers will be hard-pressed to
survive." Allowing private publishers to continue to profit by publishing
the results of publically funded research is the best way to ensure public
benefit. Stuart M. Shieber argues that the concerns of traditional journal
publishers that open access publishing will endanger their survival are not
justified. The data show that publisher profitability has increased despite
the recent economic downturn. Providing open access to the publicly funded
research literature amplifies the diffusion of knowledge and benefits
researchers, taxpayers, and everyone who gains from new medicines, new
technologies, new jobs, and new solutions to long-standing problems of
every kind.
Issue: Can Science Be Trusted Without Government Regulation?
Yes: David R. Franz, from "The Dual Use Dilemma: Crying Out for
Leadership," Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy (2013)
No: Robert Gatter, from "Regulating Dual Use Research to Promote Public
Trust: A Reply to Dr. Franz," Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law
& Policy (2013)
David R. Franz argues that "when rules for the few become too disruptive to
the work of the many, communities of trust can break down." Exceptional
research leaders create a culture of responsibility in which safety
rulebooks can be thin and their laboratories will be safer, more secure,
and more productive. Government regulation leads to thicker rulebooks and
more wasted effort without increasing safety and security. Robert Gatter
argues that the research enterprise must be trustworthy to the public at
large. Because scientists share a bias in favor of discovery rather than
public safety, they cannot be trusted to regulate themselves. Government
regulation is essential.
Unit 2: Energy and the Environment
Issue: Is it Necessary to Reduce Carbon Emissions to Fight Global Warming?
Yes: D. J. Wuebbles et al., from "Climate Science Special Report: Fourth
National Climate Assessment, Volume I," U.S. Global Change Research Program
(2017)
No: Kevin D. Dayaratna, Nicolas D. Loris, and David W. Kreutzer, from
"Consequences of Paris Protocol: Devastating Economic Costs, Essentially
Zero Environmental Benefits," Heritage Foundation Backgrounder (2016)
D. J. Wuebbles et al. argue that, particularly given the tendency of
climate models to underestimate the effects of carbon emissions (from
large-scale combustion of fossil fuels and from deforestation), avoiding
dangerous warming of the climate will require reducing net global CO2
emissions. Kevin D. Dayaratna, Nicholas D. Loris, and David W. Kreutzer
argue that trying to meet the requirements of the 2015 Paris Agreement by
restricting the use of fossil fuels would harm several sectors of the U.S.
economy with little if any benefit to the environment. By 2035, Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) would lose $2.5 trillion, consumer electric bills
would go up by 13 percent, and family income would lose $20,000.
Issue: Would a Carbon Tax Help Slow Global Warming?
Yes: James Rydge, from "Implementing Effective Carbon Pricing," The New
Climate Economy (2015)
No: Robert P. Murphy, Patrick J. Michaels, and Paul C. Knappenberger, from
"The Case Against a Carbon Tax," Cato Institute (2015)
James Rydge argues that the case for using carbon pricing (via a carbon tax
or a cap-and-trade system) as an important component of efforts to bring
carbon emissions and their effects on global climate change under control
is strong, momentum is growing, and effects on competitiveness can be dealt
with via international cooperation. Therefore all developed and emerging
economies, and others where possible, should commit to introducing or
strengthening carbon pricing by 2020, and should phase out fossil fuel
subsidies. Robert P. Murphy, Patrick J. Michaels, and Paul C. Knappenberger
argue that the economics of climate change reveal that the case for a U.S.
carbon tax is very weak, partly because reining in global warming cannot be
justified in cost/benefit terms. Even a well-designed carbon tax would
probably cause more harm than good.
Issue: Is Home Solar the Wave of the Future?
Yes: Peter Bronski et al., from "The Economics of Grid Defection," Rocky
Mountain Institute (2014)
No: Peter Kind, from "Disruptive Challenges: Financial Implications and
Strategic Responses to a Changing Retail Electric Business," Edison
Electric Institute (2013)
Peter Bronski et al., of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) argue that the
combination of home solar power with storage technologies such as batteries
offer to make the electricity grid optional for many consumers, perhaps as
early as the 2020s. Utilities have an opportunity to exploit the spread of
"distributed electricity generation" to provide a robust, reliable
electricity supply. Peter Kind, executive director of Energy Infrastructure
Advocates, argues that increased interest in "distributed energy resources"
such as home solar power and energy efficiency, among other factors, is
threatening to reduce revenue and increase costs for electrical utilities.
In order to protect investors and capital availability, electrical
utilities must consider new charges for customers who reduce their
electricity usage, decreased payments to homeowners using net metering, and
even new charges to users of "distributed energy resources" to offset
"stranded costs" (such as no longer needed power plants).
Unit 3: Human Health and Welfare
Issue: Do We Have a Population Problem?
Yes: Dennis Dimick, from "As World's Population Booms, Will Its Resources
Be Enough for Us?" National Geographic (2014)
No: Tom Bethell, from "Population, Economy, and God," The American
Spectator (2009)
Dennis Dimick argues that new projections of higher population growth
through the twenty-first century are reason for concern, largely because of
the conflict between population size and resource use. The environmental
impact of population also depends on technology, affluence, and waste, but
educated women have smaller families and technology (electric lights, for
instance) aids education. Controlling population appears to be essential.
Tom Bethell argues that population alarmists project their fears onto
popular concerns, currently the environment, and every time their
scare-mongering turns out to be based on faulty premises. Blaming
environmental problems will be no different. Societies are sustained not by
population control but by belief in God.
Issue: Can Vaccines Cause Autism?
Yes: Arjun Walia, from "Scientific Evidence Suggests the Vaccine-Autism
Link Can No Longer Be Ignored," Collective Evolution (2013)
No: Harriet Hall, from "Vaccines and Autism: A Deadly Manufactroversy,"
Skeptic (2009)
Arjun Walia argues that the scientific consensus on the safety of vaccines
may be suspect because "the corporate media is owned by the major vaccine
manufacturers." He describes 22 studies that suggest that the connection
between childhood vaccines and autism is real or that suggest possible
mechanisms for the connection. Harriet Hall argues that the controversy
over whether vaccines cause autism has been manufactured by dishonest,
self-serving researchers and physicians, ignorant celebrities, conspiracy
theorists, and the media. The result is a resurgence of preventable
diseases and childhood deaths. Vaccines save lives. Autism's causes are
probably genetic.
Issue: Should We Worry That Cell Phones Cause Cancer?
Yes: Mark Hertsgaard and Mark Dowie, "How Big Wireless Made Us Think That
Cell Phones Are Safe: A Special Investigation," The Nation (2018)
No: David H. Gorski, "The Nation Indulges in Fear Mongering about Cell
Phones and Cancer," Science Based Medicine (2018)
Mark Hertsgaard and Mark Dowie ar gue that the true hazards of cell phones
have been covered up by the telecommunications industry in a way similar to
the way the tobacco industry covered up the hazards of tobacco and the
fossil fuels industry covered up the climate implications of carbon dioxide
emissions. David H. Gorski argues that Hertsgaard and Dowie, despite their
disclaimer denying that they are saying that cell phones cause cancer are
clearly and misleadingly stoking fears that cell phones do precisely that.
The research to date does not demonstrate that wireless phones cause cancer
or have other adverse health effects.
Issue: Should Genetically Modified Foods Be Labeled?
Yes: Todd Daloz, from "Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health, Hearing on 'A
National Framework for the Review and Labeling of Biotechnology in Food,'"
U.S. House of Representatives (2015)
No: L. Val Giddings, from "Testimony before the U.S. House of
Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health,
Hearing on 'A National Framework for the Review and Labeling of
Biotechnology in Food,'" U.S. House of Representatives (2015)
Todd Daloz argues that Vermont's legislation requiring labeling of
genetically modified crops (GMOs) is amply justified by the public's need
for factual information about the food they eat, and that federal
preemption of state labeling laws, without providing a suitable substitute,
is unreasonable. L. Val Giddings argues that there is no scientific doubt
that GMO crops are safe to eat, the federal government already has
sufficient authority to regulate the sale and labeling of GMO foods, and
the push for labeling laws is a thinly disguised effort to ban GMOs in
favor of less safe and more expensive alternatives, such as organic foods.
Unit 4: Space
Issue: Should We Try to Stop an Asteroid or Comet Impact?
Yes: National Science and Technology Council, from "National Near-Earth
Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan: A Report by the Interagency Working
Group for Detecting and Mitigating the Impact of Earth-Bound Near-Earth
Objects," www.whitehouse.gov (2018)
No: Clark R. Chapman, from "What Will Happen When the Next Asteroid
Strikes?" Astronomy Magazine (2011)
The Interagency Working Group for Detecting and Mitigating the Impact of
Earth-Bound Near-Earth Objects of the National Science and Technology
Council (NEO) argues that NEO impacts pose a significant challenge to
society. Dealing with that challenge requires national and international
cooperation to detect potential impacts, devise ways to ward them off, and
to devise procedures for coping with and recovering from NEO impact
emergencies. Clark R. Chapman argues that though the consequences of an
asteroid or comet impact would be catastrophic, efforts to prevent the
impact would be futile. It is far more appropriate to incorporate such
impact disasters into more conventional disaster planning.
Issue: Will the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Ever Succeed?
Yes: Seth Shostak, from "Using Radio in the Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence," U.S. House of Representatives (2014)
No: Peter Schenkel, from "SETI Requires a Skeptical Reappraisal," Skeptical
Inquirer (2006)
Radio astronomer and Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)
researcher Seth Shostak defends SETI and argues that if the assumptions
behind the search are well grounded, "it is not hyperbole to suggest that
scientists could very well discover extraterrestrial intelligence within
two decades." Peter Schenkel argues that SETI's lack of success to date,
coupled with the apparent uniqueness of Earth's history and suitability for
life, suggests that intelligent life is probably rare in our galaxy and
that the enthusiastic optimism of SETI proponents should be reined in.
Issue: Should the United States Continue Its Human Spaceflight Program?
Yes: Committee on Human Spaceflight, from "Pathways to Exploration:
Rationales and Approaches for a U.S. Program of Human Space Exploration,"
The National Academies Press (2014)
No: Amitai Etzioni, from "Final Frontier vs. Fruitful Frontier: The Case
for Increasing Ocean Exploration," Issues in Science and Technology (2014)
The National Research Council's Committee on Human Spaceflight argues that
the combination of the pragmatic benefits of and the human aspirations
associated with human spaceflight are great enough to justify continuing
the United States' human spaceflight program. Professor Amitai Etzioni
argues that the Earth's oceans offer more potential discoveries, more
resources for human use, and more contributions to national security and
disaster preparedness than outer space. The exploration of space should be
replaced by the exploration of the oceans, and the necessary budgetary
resources should be taken from NASA.
Unit 5: The Computer Revolution
Issue: Do Artificial Intelligence Research and Applications Need to Be
Regulated?
Yes: Matthew U. Scherer, from "Regulating Artificial Intelligence Systems:
Risks, Challenges, Competencies, and Strategies," Harvard Journal of Law
and Technology (2016)
No: Amitai Etzioni and Oren Etzioni, from "Perspective: Should Artificial
Intelligence Be Regulated," Issues in Science and Technology (2017)
Matthew U. Scherer argues that concerns about artificial intelligence's
(AI's) impact on society warrant legislative action, perhaps in the form of
an Artificial Intelligence Development Act that would create a regulatory
agency "tasked with certifying the safety of AI systems" and the competence
of practitioners. The Act would also create a liability system to allow
existing legal systems to ensure compensation for victims of AI and
motivate increased attention to safety. Amitai Etzioni and Oren Etzioni
argue that neither artificial intelligence (AI) nor its risks are well
defined. What is needed is oversight systems or "AI Guardians" and a Cyber
Age Commission that would examine the situation and promote public dialogue
before seeking regulatory solutions.
Issue: Must Self-Driving Cars Be Safer Than the Average Human Driver?
Yes: Gill Pratt, from statement on "Self-Driving Cars: Road to Deployment,"
before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy & Commerce,
Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection (2017)
No: Robbie Diamond and Amitai Y. Bin-Nun, from statement on "Self-Driving
Cars: Road to Deployment," before the U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Energy & Commerce, Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and
Consumer Protection (2017)
Gill Pratt argues that even though self-driving cars will be safer than
human-driven cars, people will not accept them until they are much, much
safer than human drivers. Robbie Diamond and Amitai Y. Bin-Nun argue that
the deployment of self-driving cars will reduce traffic deaths (most of
which are due to human error) and should be permitted as soon as the safety
of the vehicles exceeds that of the average human driver.
Unit 6: Ethics
Issue: Should Animals Be Considered Persons?
Yes: Karen Davis, from "The Provocative Elitism of 'Personhood' for
Nonhuman Creatures in Animal Advocacy Parlance and Polemics," Journal of
Evolution and Technology (2014)
No: Richard L. Cupp, from "Human Responsibility, Not Legal Personhood, for
Nonhuman Animals," Engage (2015)
Karen Davis argues that it is not only the "higher" animals that we should
consider "persons." "Lower" animals should not be considered nonpersons and
doomed to exploitation. Richard L. Cupp argues that there is no need for
radical restructuring of our legal system to grant animals personhood.
Rather, we should focus on human legal accountability for responsible
treatment of nonhuman animals.
Issue: Should Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes Be Released into the
Environment to Fight Disease?
Yes: Hadyn Parry, from "Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Hearing on 'Science of Zika:
The DNA of an Epidemic,'" U.S. House of Representatives (2016)
No: Eric Hoffman, from "Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes in the U.S.,"
Friends of the Earth (2012)
Hadyn Parry argues that genetically engineered mosquitoes hold the
potential to reduce mosquito populations and control the spread of diseases
such as Zika and dengue. Eric Hoffman, a biotechnology campaigner with
Friends of the Earth, argues that a great deal of research remains to be
done to prove the safety to both the environment and public health of
releasing genetically engineered mosquitoes. In addition, medical ethics
require that participants in a medical trial must be able to opt out at any
time, which means that a single resident of a release area must be able to
call a halt to the release program.
Issue: Is Gene-Editing of Human Embryos Coming Soon?
Yes: Antonio Regalado, from "Engineering the Perfect Baby," MIT Technology
Review (2015)
No: Elizabeth McNally, from "Testimony before the U.S. House of
Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Subcommittee
on Research and Technology, Hearing on 'The Science and Ethics of
Genetically Engineered Human DNA,'" U.S. House of Representatives (2015)
Antonio Regalado describes recent progress in using the new CRISPR
technology to edit the genes of mammalian cells, including embryos. He
argues that although many people involved in the research are cautious,
what was until recently only a theoretical possibility is now a very real
possibility. We are very close to being able to engineer the genes of human
embryos (for a variety of reasons) and most people have no idea of what is
coming. Elizabeth McNally agrees that the technology is developing rapidly
and has much to offer but is more reserved in her evaluation. She argues
that it is necessary to regulate the technology and its uses, including
limiting or prohibiting uses where changes would be passed to the next
generation. However, "the justified use of this approach is certainly
conceivable and may one day be appropriate."