Learn about the fundamental principles of genetically modifying animals and plants for agricultural and industrial use, and how the latest techniques in engineering plants are having a major effect on the global economy.

Examine in detail how the government and international organizations are working to regulate the use of biotechnological techniques, such as cloning, and get a glimpse of the future of biotechnology in both the American and global societies.

Agricultural versus Environmental Science, from the Science and Society series, explores the difficult dilemma created by these opposing interests and how discourse between agricultural scientists and environmental scientists has broadened. It emphasizes the methods by which ordinary citizens can have a greater impact on both the private sector’s and the government’s strategies for the management of science.

Air Pollution shows how scientists and engineers are working to help policy-makers solve the problems of atmospheric pollution. It discusses society's delicate relationship with science and technology and covers the role citizens play in pushing for an atmospheric environment that is as clean as possible.

New Genetics explains how the science of genetics emerged from attempts to improve plants and animals by selective breeding. Describing the successive stages in this revolution as well as the men and women who played crucial roles in its progress, this book conveys the social impact of modern genetic research and that of the emergent science of molecular biology.

In the new title Nuclear Power, the authors point out, for example, the therapeutic and diagnostic promise of medical isotopes, as well as the use of high-energy particles, that can reveal the inner structure of the materials used to make consumer products.

Potent Natural Medicines presents the modern history of folk remedies—both its successes and its failures. Central topics include the adventures of the plant hunters and medical consequences, but attention is also given to practices of the U.S. government that are intended to regulate the sale and use of natural products.

 Artificial Intelligence presents dynamic new portraits of the men and women in the vanguard of this innovative field. Subjects include Alan Turing, who made the connection between mathematical reasoning and computer operations; Allen Newell and Herbert Simon, who created a program that could reason like a human being; Pattie Maes, who developed computerized agents to help people with research and shopping; and Ray Kurzweil, who, besides inventing the flatbed scanner and a reading machine for the blind, has explored relationships between people and computers that may exceed human intelligence.

 Communications and Broadcasting, Revised Edition sets the scene with a look at the development and interconnection of scientific ideas: electromagnetism, leading to the telegraph and telephone; Maxwell’s wave theory, leading to radio and television; and communications and information theory, from Claude Shannon to the World Wide Web and beyond.

Forensic Science profiles key figures in this newsmaking field, both pioneers and today's top forensics experts. Eye-catching, in-text sidebars explore specific aspects of each scientist's work. Each chapter includes a chronology and suggestions for further reading; the book's general bibliography provides students with information on forensics-related organizations and Web resources.

Mathematics presents 10 essays that profile the minds behind such patterns, many of which have surfaced in recent popular culture. Meet Leonardo of Pisa, who worked with Fibonacci numbers and the "Golden Section"; John von Neumann and John Nash, proponents of game theory; Edward Lorentz, who developed chaos theory; Sid Meier, who has created award-winning computer games, such as Gettysburg and SimGolf; and five other mathematicians.

Modern Astronomy illuminates the lives and achievements of these innovative scientists. Readers will gain a clear understanding of the common threads that intertwine the astronomers' lives; the political, economic, and social events of their times; people with whom they worked; and the developments that preceded their research. In-text sidebars highlight each subject's work.