Even though new data on the formidable hazards and questionable efficiency of nuclear power plants continues to appear, the issue of nuclear power may at this point be more political than technical. Technical problems, such as waste disposal and the security of weapons-grade nuclear materials, may even be shown to be...
Category - No 5
The chapter in Santa Cruz is growing solidly. There are now 15 of us meeting regularly. Many of us are associated with the university, but several community members not directly working in science fields are also active.
The question of what makes a woman or a man is not an easy one. Ridiculous, you might say. One can always tell who are the women and who are the men. Well, almost always. It's hard with babies. And with people bundled up in winter clothes. Long hair can be confusing until you see whether the person has a beard (which...
The proliferation of possibilities in recombinant DNA research has brought new excitement to molecular biology. Besides new vistas in "pure" research, remarkable applications and grim hazards have appear_ed on the horizon, and previously farfetched scenarios for genetic engineering seem much less distant...
1. The Rise of Social Darwinism
Hofstadter, Social Darwinism in American Thought. Boston: Beacon Press, 1955.
Zmarzlik, "Social Darwinism in Germany, Seen as an Historical Problem," Chap. 10 in Republic to Reich: The Making of the Nazi Revolution, (ed.) H. Holborn, Vintage Books; 1973, pp. 435-474.
Dear Dr. Wilson: I am a graduate student in anthropology at New York University. I purchased a copy of your text, Sociobiology, because I was anxious to study Homo sapiens from the standpoint of so eminent a scientist as yourself. This is my problem. Although I scored 760 in the verbal portion of the graduate record...
The idea that human behavior is genetically controlled is called “biological determinism.” Throughout history this ideology has been used as a justification for oppression. Women and minorities were claimed to be inferior because of biological differences that could not be changed. There has been a resurgence of this...
While addressing a conference on "The New Nutrition," Dr. Benjamin Feingold stated: "As many as seven million children have been diagnosed as having serious learning problems. About five million are considered hyperactive. At least two million are being treated with drugs, usually Ritalin or amphetamines, in an...
On June 20, 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision (6 to 3) that it is within the power of states to deny welfare funds for elective abortions. Immediately, in Connecticut, Governor Ella Grasso declared that unless an abortion is medically necessary the state will not pay for it. In Michigan, Nebraska and...
The following is an abridged and revised version of a talk given by Barry Commoner at the Toward Tomorrow Fair (a fair on alternative futures) at Amherst, Mass., on June 27,1977.