The Delicate Balance, Part 2: Love Canal Tragedy
Lois Gibbs thought she had a sickly child until she learned that twenty thousand tons of chemical waste was buried just blocks from her home. When she learned that the area had a 56 percent rate of birth defects, Gibbs b..
The Delicate Balance, Part 2: Politics and Economics of Environmental Decision Making
Environmental policy begins with sound scientific data. But data is subject to interpretation, and environmental decision making is heavily influenced by politics and economics.
The Delicate Balance, Part 2: Prevention is Better than Remediation
Politically, environmental protection is a hard sell. What makes the grass roots environmental movement different is prevention. How to prevent waste from getting into the environment, whether via air, water, or soil.
The Delicate Balance, Part 2: Renewable Resources
Both non-renewable and renewable resources are at risk today. When Canada realized that the cod off their coasts had been fished to the risk of extinction, a moratorium was called, leaving Canadian fishermen out of work ..
The Delicate Balance, Part 2: Species Loss
Humans have altered the habitats of life forms from microscopic to whale-sized. General estimates of species loss is tens of thousands of species per year.
The Discovery of Time
Philosopher Stephen Toulmin explains that people in different parts of the world who have lived at different times have often had very different conceptions of time. He mentions several, including the notion that process..
The Dynamic Theory of the Tides
Renowned oceanographer and geophysicist Walter Munk talks about the dynamic theory of the tides, noting that Sir Isaac Newton's theory of the tides was incomplete. French scientist Pierre-Simon Laplace explained a centur..
The Enduring Self
Philosopher Daniel Dennett explains that each of us is a collection of cells that individually on their own are what he terms "dumb" and "robotic." Who we are--in other words, the self by which we distinguish ourselves f..
The Enduring Self: Exploring the Self
The notion of an enduring self that integrates a person's interactions and experiences continues to capture the attention of psychologists. The self and how it is shaped is at the core of psychological science. Recent re..
The Enduring Self: Genetic Links to Personality
There is growing evidence that many personality traits have a genetic basis. Human neuromodulatory systems have set points that regulate such dimensions as how active a person is and whether or not they tend to avoid new..