Knowledge Technology & Policy articles from March 2000

Knowledge Technology & Policy archives from March 2000

Foreword.
March 22, 2000... Dear Readers, Please welcome two new Editorial Board members: Richard Woodbridge is the founding partner of Woodbridge & Associates, P.C. of Princeton, New Jersey. Richard specializes in mechanical and electrical patent and business...

Techscope.
March 22, 2000... A Clean Hack Adapted from Reason Express, 20 March 2000, Vol. 3 No. 12, the e-newsletter from Reason magazine.written by Jeff Taylor, drawing on the ideas and resources of the Reason editorial staff . Used with permission. It is...

Food Biotechnology: A Microcosm of Science Under Attack.
March 22, 2000... Efforts by antitechnology extremists to stop the use of gene-spliced plants are a serious threat to the research that promises to offer consumers greater choice among safer, cheaper, more nutritious foods. Millions of people who would benefit...

Technology and Morality: Influences on Public Attitudes Toward Biotechnology.(Statistical Data Included)
March 22, 2000... This study uses national survey data to test effects on individuals' objections to biotechnology applied to plants and animals. We find that females and individuals who believe in the biblical story of creation have greater intrinsic moral...

Consumption Choices Concerning the Genetically Engineered, Organically Grown, and Traditionally Grown Foods: An Experiment.(Statistical Data Included)
March 22, 2000... While debate over the new agricultural biotechnology has been relatively muted, food may come under increased scrutiny when consumers confront new products. The American public may demand regulations such as labeling. To test the influence of...

New Agendas for Agricultural Research in Developing Countries: Policy Analysis and Institutional Implications.
March 22, 2000... This article argues that the goals of agricultural research in poor countries have changed substantially over the last four decades. In particular they have broadened from the early (and narrow) emphasis on food production to a much wider...

Policy Medicine Versus Policy Quackery: Economists Against the FDA.(Food and Drug Administration)
March 22, 2000... A sulfa drug called Elixir Sulfanilamide released in 1937 killed 107 Americans, mostly children. A sedative called Thalidomide released in Europe in 1957 and taken by pregnant women caused deformities in 10,000 children. These famous episodes...

Coordinating Technology.(Review)
March 22, 2000... Coordinating Technology, by Susanne Schmidt and Raymund Werie. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1998. Subtitled Studies in the International Standardization of Telecommunications, this book provides an excellent background of the...

Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace.(Review)
March 22, 2000... Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, by Lawrence Lessig. Basic Books, New York, 1999. Unless you knew otherwise, the title suggests something you might find in the science fiction aisle, perhaps just a few books down the shelf from William...

Sleeping with Extra-Terrestrials: The Rise of Irrationalism and Perils of Piety.(Review)
March 22, 2000... Sleeping with Extra-Terrestrials: The Rise of Irrationalism and Perils of Piety, by Wendy Kaminer. Pantheon Books, New York, 1999. Imagine that life is a tedious dinner party peopled by tangential acquaintances who chew with their mouths...

The Gordian Knot: Political Gridlock on the Information Highway.(Review)
March 22, 2000... The Gordian Knot: Political Gridlock on the Information Highway, by W. R. Neuman, Lee McKnight and Richard Solomon. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1999. The Gordian Knot is a case study focusing on policy debates concerning developing...

The Shadow University: The Betrayal of Liberty on America's Campuses.(Review)
March 22, 2000... The Shadow University: The Betrayal of Liberty on America's Campuses, by Alan Kors and Harvey Silverglate. Harper Perennial, New York (paper), 1999. The Shadow University is not about technology but it surely is about knowledge and policy....

Rationalizing Medical Work: Decision-Support Techniques and Medical Practices.(Review)
March 22, 2000... Rationalizing Medical Work: Decision-Support Techniques and Medical Practices, by Marc Berg. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1997. A consistently enlightening, at times infuriating, work of importance for students of medical practices,...

How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics.(Review)
March 22, 2000... How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics, by N. Katherine Hayles. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1999. The fundamental thesis of this book considers the question of what it means to be...

Database Nation: The Death of Privacy in the 21st Century.(Review)
March 22, 2000... Database Nation: The Death of Privacy in the 21st Century, by Simson Garfinkel. O'Reilly & Associates Inc, Sebastopol, CA, 1999. This book deals with much more than its title would suggest. Besides addressing future threats to our personal...