Our world has been radically transformed during the past 200 years with the industrial revolution and development of mass production techniques and recently the plethora of technological advancements in medicine, engineering, computation, communication and entertainment products. These have made major changes in the ways that we live our worlds and in our expectations of the future.
Science and Technology Ethics re-examines the ethics by which we live and asks the question: do we have in place the ethical guidelines through which we can incorporate these developments with the minimum of disruption and disaffection? It assesses the ethical systems in place and proposes new approaches to our scientific and engineering processes and products, our social contracts, biology and informatics, the military industry, and our environmental responsibilities. The volume is multidisciplinary and reflects the aim of the book to promote a state of the art assessment of these issues.
Ten specialists from the UK, Australia and the U.S. explore modern ethics and whether or not we have existing ethical guidelines to deal with the ongoing advances in science and technology. Coverage includes an overview of science and engineering ethics; recurring themes and challenging ethical issues in scientific research; moral dilemmas raised by evolution theory, and possible resolutions; an overview of engineering ethics; rival ethical systems; scientific and technological developments as seen in relation to "a social contract;" ethical issues raised by biological engineering; computer ethics; ethical issues associated with engineering with atomic nuclei; and current issues regarding science and the military. For students of science and technology, and professionals in the administration of laws in these fields. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
