Instrumental Lives is an account of instrument making at the cutting edge of contemporary science and technology in a modern Indian scientific laboratory. For a period of roughly two-and-half decades, starting the late 1980s, a research group headed by CV Dharmadhikari in the physics department at the Savitribai Phule University, Pune, fabricated a range of scanning tunnelling and scanning force microscopes including the earliest such microscopes made in the country. Not only were these instruments made entirely in-house, research done using them was published in the world's leading peer reviewed journals, and students who made and trained on them went on to become top class scientists in premier institutions. The book uses qualitative research methods such as open-ended interviews, historical analysis and laboratory ethnography that are standard in Science and Technology Studies (STS), to present the micro-details of this instrument making enterprise, the counter-intuitive methods employed, and the unexpected material, human and intellectual resources that were mobilised in the process. It locates scientific research and innovation within the social, political and cultural context of a laboratory's physical location and asks important questions of the dominant narratives of innovation that remain fixated on quantitative metrics of publishing, patenting and generating commerce. The book is a story as much of the lives of instruments and their deaths as it is of the instrumentalities that make those lives possible and allow them to live on, even if with a rather precarious existence.

The musical instruments of East and Southeast Asia enjoy increasing recognition as parts of humanity’s intangible cultural heritage. Helen Rees edits a collection that offers vibrant new ways to link these objects to their materials of manufacture, the surrounding environment, the social networks they form and help sustain, and the wider ethnic or national imagination. Rees organizes the essays to reflect three angles of inquiry. The first section explores the characteristics and social roles of various categories of instruments, including the koto and an extinct Balinese wooden clapper. In section two, essayists focus on the life stories of individual instruments ranging from an heirloom Chinese qin to end-blown flutes in rural western Mongolia. Essays in the third section examine the ethics and other issues that surround instrument collections, but also show how collecting is a dynamic process that transforms an instrument’s habitat and social roles. Original and expert, Instrumental Lives brings a new understanding of how musical instruments interact with their environments and societies. Contributors: Supeena Insee Adler, Marie-Pierre Lissoir, Terauchi Naoko, Jennifer C. Post, Helen Rees, Xiao Mei, Tyler Yamin, and Bell Yung

Offers a fresh narrative of ancient ethics that does justice to neglected perspectives on the value of human life.

"An intense, eloquent, and appropriately furious memoir with the transporting beauty of classical music . . . The cumulative effect of the literary concert [Rhodes] gives in these pages is transcendence, both for him and for the reader." --Los Angeles Review of Books “A mesmeric combination of vivid, keen, obsessive precision and raw, urgent energy.” --Zoe Williams, The Guardian James Rhodes's passion for music has been his lifeline--the thread that has held through a life encompassing abuse and turmoil. But whether listening to Rachmaninov on a loop as a traumatized teenager or discovering a Bach adagio while in a hospital ward, he survived his demons by encounters with musical miracles. These--along with a chance encounter with a stranger--inspired him to become the renowned concert pianist he is today. Instrumental is a memoir like no other: unapologetically candid, boldly outspoken, and surprisingly funny--shot through with a mordant wit, even in its darkest moments. A feature film adaptation of Rhodes's incredible story is now in development from Monumental Pictures and BBC Films, following a competitive bidding war involving major U.S. and U.K. companies. An impassioned tribute to the therapeutic powers of music, Instrumental also weaves in fascinating facts about how classical music actually works and about the extraordinary lives of some of the great composers. It explains why and how music has the potential to transform all of our lives.

Current patterns of global economic activity are not only unsustainable, but unethical - this claim is central to Materialist Ethics and Life-Value. Grounding the definition of ethical value in the natural and social requirements of life-support and life-development shared by all human beings, Jeff Noonan provides a new way of understanding the universal conception of "the good life." Noonan argues that the true crisis affecting the world today is not sluggish rates of economic growth but the model of measuring economic and social health in terms of money-value. In response, he develops an alternative understanding of good societies where the breadth and depth of life-activity and enjoyment are dependent on dominant institutions. The more social institutions satisfy the necessary requirements of human life, the more they empower each person to develop and enjoy the capacities that make human life valuable and meaningful. A well-reasoned synthesis of traditional philosophical concerns and contemporary critiques of global capitalism, this book is a forward-looking treatise that defends political struggle and reconsiders what is most important for a happy life.

A systematic clarification and defence of Sufficientarianism 'having enough' as a demand of justiceLiam Shields systematically clarifies and defends the political philosophy of Sufficientarianism, which insists that securing enough of some things, such as food, healthcare and education, is a crucial demand of justice. By engaging in practical debates about critical issues such as child-rearing and global justice, the author sheds light on the potential implications of suffientarianism on the social policies that affect our daily lives. Key FeaturesThe first book-length treatment of sufficiency as a demand of justiceCritically discusses the relative merits of sufficiency compared to equality or priority Makes a new contribution to debates in political theory about autonomy and upbringing from a sufficientarian perspective

Contributing a unique perspective to health reform, Negotiating Health Care presents the findings of a large qualitative investigation of the experiences of the chronically ill within today′s health care system. The author develops the argument that chronic illness and acute illness are social experiences of a vastly different order that lead to different health care consequences, especially in a health system geared to the "miracle cure." From interviews with chronically ill patients, Thorne discusses the onset of their diseases, handling acute episodes, and their attempts to normalize life. The author also examines the interpersonal experience with health care providers exploring the issues of trust, confidence, and compliance. The institutional experience can, and often does, pose daunting problems for the chronically ill because of organizational and sociocultural issues, health care politics and ideology, and the individual patient′s response to the system. In her concluding chapter, Thorne proposes future directions for health care organization, biomedical technology, and social policy. Students and professionals in the fields of nursing, allied health/medical sciences, and human services will find Negotiating Health Care a valuable resource. "This book is highly recommended for all health care professionals and anyone involved in legislation regarding chronic health care on a national basis. The book also could be very useful for lay people who are chronically ill and for their caregivers and families." --Rehabilitation Nursing "Finally, a window is opened to the experience of chronic illness as it exists within the North American health care system. Just in time. Every health care provider and reformer who looks inside will be changed by the reflections of themselves they see. This book is a courageous voice for both the bolder, more conclusive clinical research and for the chronically ill who may yet show us a better way." --William L. Miller, M.D., The University of Connecticut "Although there are a number of texts available on chronic illness, Dr. Thorne′s approach to the topic is unique in that it provides a graphic illustration of how the beliefs and values guiding the health care system contribute to problems which the chronically ill encounter in obtaining care. By setting the experience of chronic illness in the broader context of the health care system, the [book] provides some clear guidelines for needed changes, something I have not found elsewhere. . . . This is a valuable piece of work . . . which is a valuable contribution to our understanding of chronic illness and which provides a guide both to practice and to health policy revision." --Lee Walker, R.N., Ph.D., The University of Utah "This extraordinary book provides rich description and unique insights into the illness experience. Data obtained from interviews with 91 informants provides remarkable detail, strong linkages to existing theory, and powerful development of the illness trajectory. The book is well documented, methodologically rigorous, and presented in a refreshing style. Dr. Thorne has written a classic! Negotiating Health Care will become the book of the 90s for anyone interested in providing humanistic care." --Jan Morse, R.N., Ph.D., College of Health and Human Development, The Pennsylvania State University "The book provides a view into the major issues adults with chronic illness experience in obtaining health care, a perspective that is rarely available to those of use who use the health care system mainly for acute problems, or indeed, who are the providers. The book is powerful, intense, and often uncomfortable reading; the ′patients′ own words should sensitize all of us who work with the chronically ill. Verbatim accounts of patients′ experiences are woven into a lucid and perceptive view of the structure and organization of Canadian health care, which should be read by health policymakers in all the western industrialized countries." --Juliene G. Lipson, Ph.D., F.A.A.N., University of California, San Francisco "Thorne takes a unique approach in providing a graphic illustration of how the beliefs and values guiding the health care system contribute to the problems the chronically ill encounter in obtaining care. . . . Those concerned with the evolving social and health policy in the United States would be well served in reading Negotiating Health Care." --Academic Library Book Review