An analysis of the problem of how the sameness and difference in living things are controlled normally, in the course of development and maintenance, and abnormally, in the course of defective growth, tumours and cancer. Like everything else in life, the biological sameness and difference in organisms has evolved. An understanding of this biological evolution will help control abnormalities, such as those associated with birth defects and invasive, destructive tumours.

A provocative and timely case for how the science of genetics can help create a more just and equal society In recent years, scientists like Kathryn Paige Harden have shown that DNA makes us different, in our personalities and in our health—and in ways that matter for educational and economic success in our current society. In The Genetic Lottery, Harden introduces readers to the latest genetic science, dismantling dangerous ideas about racial superiority and challenging us to grapple with what equality really means in a world where people are born different. Weaving together personal stories with scientific evidence, Harden shows why our refusal to recognize the power of DNA perpetuates the myth of meritocracy, and argues that we must acknowledge the role of genetic luck if we are ever to create a fair society. Reclaiming genetic science from the legacy of eugenics, this groundbreaking book offers a bold new vision of society where everyone thrives, regardless of how one fares in the genetic lottery.

This book explores how human population genetics has emerged as a means of imagining and enacting belonging in contemporary society. Venla Oikkonen approaches population genetics as an evolving set of technological, material, narrative and affective practices, arguing that these practices are engaged in multiple forms of belonging that are often mutually contradictory. Considering scientific, popular and fictional texts, with several carefully selected case studies spanning three decades, the author traces shifts in the affective, material and gendered preconditions of population genetic visions of belonging. Topics encompass the debate about Mitochondrial Eve, ancient human DNA, temporality and nostalgia, commercial genetic ancestry tests, and tensions between continental and national genetic inheritance. The book will be of particular interest to scholars and students of science and technology studies, cultural studies, sociology, and gender studies.

Is there a perfect being? Is everything in the universe a creation of God, the so-called Intelligent Designer? Is there a providential divinity watching over the human drama and occasionally revealing information to us supernaturally? Writing about God and religious issues can attract adverse reactions from people, and one can never be sure of the kind of reception that may ensue even if one's arguments appear to be nothing less than logical. I hope this book will imbue in you a realization that there are no logical arguments for the existence of God or any god, apart from wishy-washy propositions that say little or nothing, and that no empirical evidence has ever been offered in support. Arguments must be decided on the basis of their being factual or non-factual, persuasive or unpersuasive, logical or illogical. Reason is a far more reliable or effective tool than a mountain of faith, especially if faith means adhering blindly to one's religious teachings or dogma. Arguably, whether life is meaningful, whether there is a purpose to the universe, or whether there is a paradise waiting for us after we are buried or cremated are questions that will have to rest with each individual. Thus, if there are any truths to be found in this book, it is for you, the reader, to decide. Before he retired, Richard Woo was in international banking. Today he lives in Singapore, and is an avid reader on topics concerning science, politics, and religion. Publisher's website: http: //www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/GodOrAllahTruthOrBull.html

Bringing together conceptual obstacles and core concepts of evolutionary theory, this book presents evolution as straightforward and intuitive.

What is the role of the senses in how we understand the world? Cognitive sociology has long addressed the way we perceive or imagine boundaries in our ordinary lives, but Asia Friedman pushes this question further still. How, she asks, did we come to blind ourselves to sex sameness? Drawing on more than sixty interviews with two decidedly different populations—the blind and the transgendered—Blind to Sameness answers provocative questions about the relationships between sex differences, biology, and visual perception. Both groups speak from unique perspectives that magnify the social construction of dominant visual conceptions of sex, allowing Friedman to examine the visual construction of the sexed body and highlighting the processes of social perception underlying our everyday experience of male and female bodies. The result is a notable contribution to the sociologies of gender, culture, and cognition that will revolutionize the way we think about sex.