Stephen Webster

Thinking about Biology is intended for biology students who are interested in reflecting on the wider contexts of their studies. This 2003 book encourages students to see that biology does not deliver certainties; it discusses how biological ideas become established facts; it uses history to examine how ideas change, and to show that the biological facts that form the basis of a biology course are likely to change too. Each chapter is based on biological topics, and examines them for their philosophical, social and political implications. Topics covered include the role of natural selection in evolution, the history of ideas about fertilisation and inheritance, vivisection, and reductionism. Genetically modified foods, xenotransplantation, eugenics, and genetic testing are some of the controversial subjects discussed. Thinking About Biology should be essential reading for all college students already taking a biology course, and for those contemplating such a course in the future.

Thinking about Biology

Robert Ainsworth

Uwe Zerbst

Manfred Schödel

The purpose of Fitness-for-Service Fracture Assessment of Structures Containing Cracks is to facilitate the use of fracture mechanics based failure assessment procedures for the evaluation and design of structures and components. All practical structures contain flaws and the optimum combination of cost efficiency and safety whilst achieving the required capability, can only be realised by using state of the art methods such as that represented by the European flaw assessment method SINTAP/FITNET to analyse the safety risk. This book is written by practitioners with extensive experience in both the development and use of integrity assessment methods and provides comprehensive information on the basic principles and use of analytical flaw assessment. It provides an introduction to the method, its background, how it can be applied, its potential and, importantly, its limitations. The explanations are complimented by using a large number of worked examples and validation exercises which illustrate all aspects of the procedure. In addition, for students and engineers who are new to the subject, a comprehensive glossary of basic terms used in fracture mechanics based integrity evaluations is included. The topics addressed include: Crack driving force (CDF) and failure assessment diagram (FAD) type analyses Preparation of the input parameters (crack dimensions, stress-strain properties, fracture toughness, statistical aspects) Determination of the model parameters, (stress intensity factor and yield load solutions) Treatment of combined primary and secondary loading, together with residual stress effects Analysis of the effect of constraint effects (treatment of small defects and section size effects) Treatment of mixed mode loading Consideration of the influences of strength mismatch Reliability aspects Comprehensive description of the use of structural integrity methods to optimise cost effectiveness and safety Detailed description of how to evaluate the integrity of structures containing cracks Valuable background information for understanding the methods, their potential and limitations Large number of worked examples, which demonstrate all aspects of the methods Descriptive, readable writing style Applicable to a wide range of interests, from the student (university or self study) to the expert who requires a 'state of the art' document

A Workbook based on the European SINTAP/FITNET procedure

Fitness-for-Service Fracture Assessment of Structures Containing Cracks

Known for his invaluable contribution to our understanding of life and evolution, Charles Darwin was a scientist who has become legend. His History Makers biography presents primary sources and historical context on his life and legacy. In this title, chapters scrutinize this man as a teacher, traveler, scientist, husband, and authorrevealing the personal evolution of an enduring figure.

Naturalist

Charles Darwin

Examines the evolution of life on Earth, from the first primitive organisms to modern humans, and attempts to look into the future.

The Kingfisher Book of Evolution

William Davison

Nicholas Coni

Lecture Notes on Geriatrics

When Darwin announced his theory of evolution by natural selection, he did more than transform biology. Before his great work, humans were comfortably different from other life, a special creation. By showing how life on Earth evolved, Darwin told us that humans too are part of nature. His decisive experience – a five-year round-the-world voyage on the Beagle – set him thinking about the diversity of life, ideas that would challenge the scientific establishment and Victorian society. Darwin for years built his evidence for evolution, even as he realised that such ideas were leading him straight into controversy and dispute. This book gives a concise account of Darwin’s life and work, and makes vividly clear why his work continues to influence us all. STEPHEN WEBSTER is Director of the Science Communication Unit at Imperial College. He was educated in zoology at Bristol, and in the philosophy of science at Cambridge. His PhD thesis was a study of art-science collaborations. Stephen has a writing career that spans textbooks, BBC radio plays, an opera about Darwin, BBC radio documentaries about the nature of science, and contributions to the Guardian newspaper’s weather column. His 1993 radio play about the clockmaker John Harrison was awarded an Association for British Science Writers prize; in 2003, with the composer Graham Treacher, Stephen was funded by the Wellcome Trust to write the libretto for Darwin’s Dream, a piece of music theatre that received its premiere in the Royal Albert Hall.

Charles Darwin: pocket GIANTS

Felicity Mellor

Over the last half century scholars from a range of disciplines have attempted to theorise silence. Naively we tend to think of silence negatively, as a lack, an emptiness. Yet silence studies shows that silence is more than mere absence. All speech incorporates silence, not only in the gaps between words or the pauses that facilitate turn taking, but in the omissions that result from the necessary selectivity of communicative acts. Thus silence is significant in and of itself; it is a sign that has socially-constructed (albeit context -dependent and ambiguous) meanings. To date, studies of science communication have focussed on what is said rather than what is not said. They have highlighted the content of communication rather than its form, and have largely ignored the gaps, pauses and lacunae that are an essential, and meaningful, part of any communicative act. Both the sociology of science and the history of science have also failed to highlight the varied functions of silence in the practice of science, despite interests in tacit knowledge and cultures of secrecy. Through a range of case studies from historical and contemporary situations, this volume draws attention to the significance of silence, its different qualities and uses, and the nature, function and meaning of silence for science and technology studies.

Gaps and Pauses in the Communication of Science

The Silences of Science

This beautifully illustrated book offers the first look back on a storied career by acclaimed jewelry designer Stephen Webster. Setting luxurious reproductions of Webster's stunning creations alongside a charming collection of musings on his life and experience, it is a book like no other, a hybrid that enhances our understanding of Webster's work and the genesis of his artistic vision. Tracing Webster's career back to his earliest days and his enrollment in a jewelry-making course at his local college in Rochester, Kent, the book is full of anecdotes and memories that offer autobiographical insights into the inspirations and influence that have fired his work for decades. The many photographs from his own collection amplify the intimate feel of the book, giving a true behind-the-scenes look at a life devoted to the making of beautiful objects. Enclosed in a luxurious amethyst-colored slipcase, the limited edition of Goldstruck is packaged with a unique illustrative print of the Wrath Ring from the Seven Deadly Sins collection, created exclusively by Stephen's design studio for the publication of Goldstruck and signed by the author.

Stephen Webster

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