Navigating Cross-Cultural Ethics: What Global Managers Do Right to Keep From Going Wrong

Book Description

Through the personal stories of managers running global business, this book takes an inside look into the dilemmas of managers who are asked to make profits ethically according to the dictates of their company's ethics code. It examines what companies `think" they are doing to help managers in those situations and how those managers are actually affected.
Thanks to the boost from the 1991 Sentencing Guidelines which minimizes penalties for companies with ethics codes caught in ethical wrongdoing, more than 85% of US companies and two thirds of all Canadian companies and half of all European companies now have Codes of Ethics. Yet, over and over, we hear of stories of personal dilemmas and conflicts experienced by individual managers navigating those business waters in other cultures.

"Eileen Morgan does an excellent job of mapping the course for navigating the previously uncharted global ethical waters. By identifying best practices, she leads the reader on a journey from Surviving, to Understanding to Knowing the ethical issues that frequently confront international business people. This is a must read for anyone who wants to successfully compete in world markets."
-Michael J. Litwin, Executive Vice President, Chief Credit Officer, Heller Financial, Inc.

"Eileen Morgan has combined the pragmatic concerns of the individual manager with the moral concerns that come from personal-life history, cultural roots, and corporate ethical culture ...This book focuses on the constructive task of formulating and using an "ethical map," and is sure to be a tonic to conscientious managers who want to navigate cross-cultural commerce with integrity. It has done a superb job of creating order out of the complexity of cross-cultural moral experience by insisting that the complexity must be honored and appropriated rather than ignored or suppressed."
-Dr. Richard Beauchamp, Professor of Ethics, Christopher Newport University

"In this groundbreaking book, Eileen Morgan has provided scores of real-life examples and developed a framework for approaching ethical leadership in international business. This is mandatory reading for anyone involved in global management today...This is an important book on an important subject."
-Stephen H. Rhinesmith, Ph.D. Author, A Manager's Guide to Globalization

"Eileen Morgan provides us with a much needed roadmap for how to walk the path of ethical leadership with practical feet. She reminds us that ethical decision-making is a critical aspect of every day leadership, and that we can all choose to be 'ethical pioneers' in our companies and our communities. Every leader engaged in global business can benefit from the lessons and stories included in this book."
-Christi A. Olson, Ph.D. Chair, Telecommunications Management Department,
Golden Gate University

"Eileen Morgan's thoughtful analysis of 'ethical capital' should be read by anyone who does business in a global environment...Morgan's book presents the issue clearly, comprehensively and compellingly, demonstrating that ethics is an indispensable aspect of individual leadership and organizational credibility. ...It provides a clear roadmap for business leaders who need to communicate their commitment to integrity and accountability to their employees, their partners, and their customer, making their 'ethical capital' one of their most valuable assets."
-Nell Minnow, Principal, Lens, The Corporate Governance Investors

"Eileen Morgan gives excellent insight into ethical practices. She focuses on business but her insights have general application. This book also describes differences in ethical interpretation that can arise between diverse cultures. Ms. Morgan has made an excellent contribution to understanding the benefit of positive ethical practices."
-David C. Lincoln, Sponsor, Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics, College of Business, Arizona State University; President, Arizona Oxides, LLC

· First in-depth look at how managers in global companies actually bridge the gap between their organizations and their daily decisions

· Explains the need for internal and external ethical operations¦and how organizations often create confusion rather than clarity with the label of "ethics"

Book Description

Takes a task-oriented (competency-based) approach throughout, walking students through each state of pre-trial preparation and trial. Students draft documents based on a hypothetical law suit and can build an optional detailed systems manual containing forms, documents, and checklists. Thoroughly updated throughout to reflect the most recent changes in Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on Service of Process and Discovery. ALSO AVAILABLE California, ISBN:0-314-20697-3 Florida, ISBN:0-314-20698-1 New York, ISBN: 0-314-20699-X Texas, ISBN: 0-314-20700-7 Study Guide/Workbook, ISBN: 0-314-20702-3 INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENTS CALL CUSTOMER SUPPORT TO ORDER Instructor's Manual (with Test Bank), ISBN: 0-314-20701-5 Computerized Test Bank, ISBN: 0-7668-1254-5

Customer Reviews:

Good book - well written.......2007-01-10

I had to buy this book as part of a college course curriculum.

This was an informative and well written book which was also easy to read and follow. I can't stand boring complicated college books so this one was a welcome change. It really helped to break down the litigation process and defined many terms and uncomplicated some things that would have been quite difficult otherwise.

I'd definitely recommend it to anyone just wanting to know more about litigation, especially those who don't want to be bogged down with technical legal jargon which is hard for most people to understand.

Instructor's manual for The litigation paralegal: A systems approach

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Instructor's manual for The litigation paralegal: A systems approach
James W. H McCord
Manufacturer: West Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Civil Procedure | Procedures & Litigation | Law | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0314377018

The Litigation Paralegal a Systems Approach Workbook

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The Litigation Paralegal a Systems Approach Workbook
James W.H. McCord
Manufacturer: Thomson Delmar Learning
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 141801608X

The Litigation Paralegal: A Systems Approach, 5E

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The Litigation Paralegal: A Systems Approach, 5E
James W. H. McCord
Manufacturer: Thomson Delmar Learning
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Litigation | Procedures & Litigation | Law | Subjects | Books

Paralegals & Paralegalism | Law Practice | Law | Subjects | Books

Book Description

The Litigation Paralegal: A Systems Approach, fifth edition provides students and faculty with a learning resource written specifically for them. It is a resource combining the theories and principles of law with practical paralegal skills, paralegal ethics, numerous forms, checklists, practice tips, online resources, and a focus on the goals and needs of the paralegal profession, all in the context of the law office. This text also provides instructors with the flexibility to utilize the step-by-step law office litigation system, which stresses student organizational skills and quality control techniques, or any other approach of the instructor's choosing. This new edition addresses electronic discovery and filing and the associated ethical and practical responsibilities of the lawyer and the paralegal. New revisions to the Federal Rules of Evidence and Civil and Appellate Procedure are examined, as are the practice requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. New/revised forms have been added to reflect current practice. Web sites, assignments, key terms, and study questions have been updated throughout the text as well.

Workbook to accompany The litigation paralegal, a systems approach, second edition

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Workbook to accompany The litigation paralegal, a systems approach, second edition
James W. H McCord
Manufacturer: West Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Civil Procedure | Procedures & Litigation | Law | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0314006257

The Litigation Paralegal: A Systems Approach

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The Litigation Paralegal: A Systems Approach
James W. H., J.D. McCord
Manufacturer: West Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OB0GBS

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The Litigation Paralegal: A Systems Approach
James W. H. McCord; Sandra L. McCord
Manufacturer: Delmar Thomson Learning
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OU2BJE

McCord/Litigation Paralegal: A Systems Approach (Web Tutor--Taking Learning Beyond the Classroom)

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McCord/Litigation Paralegal: A Systems Approach (Web Tutor--Taking Learning Beyond the Classroom)
Rob Kehn , and Frank McCord
Manufacturer: Delmar Thomson Learning
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Calendar

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1401834078

Book Description

This book serves as a primary text and source for both practicing and student toxicologists. This edition retains the structure of earlier editions, but includes chapters on trend analysis, risk assessment, and epidemiology, as well as revision of material on the analysis of covariance and reworking of corresponding examples. Marketing Class Code: 1U, 6B2

Customer Reviews:

A truly terrible book.......2006-12-29

I thought I had never met a book on statistics I didn't like (i.e., find something useful therein), until I met this book. I bought it in spite of other reviews that mentioned glaring errors that had not been fixed. I felt I knew enough about statistics to fix the errors, and I was interested primarily in the application of statistics to toxicology, for which topic few good texts exist. However, I could never have imagined the monumental scale of the corrections needed.

In this book (supposedly in its 3rd edition), in my opinion there is essentially NOTHING in the text without errors and omissions, except possibly the SAS programs given, which are possibly useful to the neophyte in SAS. Formulae are unintelligible, missing parentheses and using improper symbols and typesetting. Symbols are referenced that are never defined, etc. Apparently the author just created a montage of clips from other works without regard to antecedent explanation and had zero concern for correctness (he should be ashamed).

Finally, in my opinion, the author does not appear from his writings to be the expert in the field that one would expect from the book title. He does appear to be a toxicologist, but his knowledge of statistics appears rudimentary and confused.

I was truly disappointed by this book, because my needs remain unsatisfied. Its true value lies solely in the table of contents (so you can look up elsewhere the techniques referenced) and the SAS program snippets. Everything else is untrustworthy, incomplete and generally contaminated by errors. If the author cared the least bit about accuracy and content, he could have made his book enormously more useful in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd edition. The eternal optimist may hope for this in the 4th edition.

Fix the mistakes.......2003-02-18

While this book is a good attempt at placing statistical topics necessary to toxicology in one spot, the mistakes are inexcusable. Many formula are incorrect as well as text referring to the wrong tables or data. Therefore, one begins to lose trust in the information presented. Be careful if you use this book!

Recommended for both student and practicing toxicologists.......1998-10-08

The third edition has a larger scope and is a useful upgrade from the previous edition. Beginning with descriptive statistics and using examples drawn from toxicology studies, the book covers issues and methods for inferential statistics in toxicology at an accessable level. Meta-analysis, assessment of carcinogenicity, risk assessment, and quantitative structure-activity relationships are all addressed.

A strength of the book is that the interpretation of the statistics in biological context is emphasized. The biological interpretation is an example of the author leading us to follow the advice of R.W. Hamming who suggested that the purpose of computation is insight, not numbers.

The third edition achieves its goal of being useful as a textbook for students and a source for practicing toxicologists.

Book Description

Discusses the synthesis, properties, and current and potential applications of a wide variety of functional polymers in four major areas: radiation effects and applications, opolelectronic properties and applications, chemical and physicochemical applications, and biomedical applications. Reviews the general synthetic methods for preparing functional polymers. Examines functional polymers with properties of interest in such fields as microlithography, photochemistry, nonlinear optics, electrical conductivity, chemical sensors, electron and energy transfer processes, polymeric liquid crystalline networks, chiral liquid crystalline polymers, solar energy utilization, floculation of minerals, catalysis, polymeric dental aids, polymer-drug conjugates, biocompatible polymer surfaces, and drug targeting by functional polymers.

Book Description

Excellent, informative volume focuses on dynamics of nonradiating fluids, problems involving waves, shocks and stellar winds, physics of radiation, radiation transport, and the dynamics of radiating fluids. 1984 edition.

Customer Reviews:

Foundations of Radiation Hydrodynamics.......2000-04-19

This work is by far the most outstanding text in the field. It's completeness and attention to detail make it a "must have" for students of radiation hydrodynamics as well as for experts in the field. The republication of this book by Dover has done the field a great service second only to the service provided by the authors in writing it!

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Foundations of Radiation Hydrodynamics
Dimitri and Barbara Weibel Mihalas Mihalas
Manufacturer: Oxford University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KWLDKY

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Foundations of Radiation Hydrodynamics.

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ICIKA2

Book Description

With its encouraging tone, careful explanations, and abundance of carefully sequenced and incrementally challenging exercise sets, Odyssey enables readers to view writing as a means of discovering more about themselves and their surroundings. The text's organization and self-contained chapters within each part ensure cumulative skill development and allow flexibility in course design. In every chapter, the book offers a progression of exercises that begin with comprehension and practice of fundamental concepts. Some exercise sets focus on invention and the writing of short pieces. Readers can then proceed to exercises that call for critical thinking, drafting, and revision. Grammar, mechanics, and punctuation chapters conclude with summary editing exercises that call upon readers to use all the grammar and sentence skills learned in the chapter. Many chapters contain a pair of Discovering Connections exercises. The first, which falls early in the chapter, is a prewriting assignment with an array of topic possibilities. The second is a drafting and revision exercise based upon the prewriting and calls for peer review. For those interested in developing their writing skills at the paragraph to essay level.

Odyssey: A Guide to Better Writing, 3rd Edition

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Odyssey: A Guide to Better Writing, 3rd Edition
William J.; Lawton, Deborah L. Kelly
Manufacturer: Longman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OU9YC6

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Odyssey - A Guide To Better Writing
Kelly
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall College Div
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OOH4GA

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Odyssey - A Guide to Better Writing
Kelly
Manufacturer: Longman Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OP2Q12

Customer Reviews:

Excellent BUT..........2007-07-25

No other book details the events related to KAL 007 like this one does. It is clearly the best book on the subject. The research presented is impeccable but very tedious at times to read. My criticism is that the author leaves the reader hanging at the end when I think he could've done a lot better. It is very disappointing. He offers detailed analysis of the events leading up to the disappearance of the plane but then strangely never offers a detalied analysis of what he thinks happened. He says it was destroyed. He never offers a theory about who destroyed it or what could've happened to the bodies or all the wreckage. The flow of the book leads the reader to expect this, but the author fails to do this. This ultimately detracts greatly from his contribution on the subject, concerning which the public will probably never know the real truth. I am incredulous to understand how he could not have made a well-educated theory on these- the most important details of the story especially in light of the analysis leading up to the disappearance. Still, it is riveting and I recommend it.

Fantasy.......2005-02-15

Brun's telling of the downing of KAL 007 has be refuted long ago. His supposed transcipts of Soviet air defense pilots and controllers doesn't agree with the actual recordings, his facts can't be double checked, and none of it agrees with the declassified records that have been made available in the wake of the collapse of the USSR.

So why do people continue to defend Brun, and claim that he alone is correct, and all others are somehow corrupt?

Conspiracy theorists are motivated by a great many things. Some are simply looking for verification of their existing predjudices. Many revel in the ideal that they alone are privy to secret information not available to others. And some find solace in conspiracy theories that mirror their own paranoid delusions.

Whatever the case, Brun's work has long been discredited- see, for example, the tremendous amount of research that Soviet aerospace expert James Oberg has put in on this at his own web pages (www.jamesoberg.com). And yet, the hysteria lingers on.

True story? Gimme a break!.......2004-07-22

No doubt, that Ronald Reagan could have send the entire world to a nuclear oblivion.

However: I have a couple of questions:

In 1983 USSR was at the top of her military might.

1.What on Earth made Andropov and his comrades to admit to the world, they shot a civilian airplane, IF THEY DID NOT? (as the book suggest)

and:

2. Why on Earth did the soviets keep silent about the battle, especially after they won? If there was such battle, the whole World would have known. Things like this would not be kept secret, there would be books, and movies, and poems, and songs, and shows, abd statues to the heroes.

If you believe in toothfairy and in James Bond, then this book is for you.

Just, do not try to convince me, it is a true and documentary stry: Please, Gimme a break.

U.S. Warmongering Gets A Black Eye.......2003-08-30

The simplistic notion that the Russians would cold-bloodedly shoot down an airliner because it was said to have marginally entered its airspace has always been too preposterous for me to believe, regardless of the circumstances.

At the time of this incident in 1983, I didn't pay as much attention to it as I normally would have, due to other personal commitments. I followed the story only casually, but nevertheless came to the fairly quick conclusion that in all probability this was just another CIA adventure gone haywire, as others had before it. I suspected a good number of people in this world probably thought the same.

Specifically, while I was gradually and only very grudgingly willing to entertain the notion that Russia perhaps did shoot down the airliner, I believed they probably would have only done so after extreme and deliberate provocation. Exactly what may have occurred with the airliner to cause such an extreme provocation I was never able to discern, but realized that most of the truth was obviously being hidden once again, so eventually I put the matter out of my mind.

My CIA-provocation conclusion stuck with me for years - until I discovered Michel Brun's book. Upon reading this book, the various pieces of the evidence I had hitherto been aware of finally fell into place and made some sense, and I realized that the apparent truth was far worse than I had previously thought. Here is a synopsis of the author's conclusions, reached after more than ten years of research, most of it done by him in person in Japan:

(EDIT, 15Mar06: For the sake of maintaining the suspense, I have deleted the previously listed five major conclusions the author has reached. Suffice it to say that these conclusions are nothing like those of other books on the KAL matter, such as Hersh's The Target Is Destroyed drivel, just as an example.
The purpose of my review is to get people to read this excellent book and I've decided that maintaining the suspense does more in that regard as would giving the conclusions.
Needless to say, said conclusions should raise the ire of any critical thinker who reads the book.)

A few years ago I tried reading Seymour Hersh's _The Target Is Destroyed_, but was only able to labor my way through various parts, totaling about a third of the book. The stuff just didn't make any sense. In order to accept any of these earlier so-called conclusions proposed by various authors, one has to believe that the KAL pilots were nothing more than imbeciles, incapable of performing even the most basic and routine
navigational duties - duties in which they previously had repeatedly demonstrated expertise. These kind of superficial and facetious explanations are hardly worth considering.

_Incident At Sakhalin_ presents the most thorough explanation of what happened to KAL 007, and to the best of my knowledge has yet to be challenged in any of it's premises, let alone discounted. It is the only explanation I've come across in which all of the evidence finally appears to fit.

post Cold War declassification.......2002-05-19

Only a year ago, I watched a History Channel presentation of the "official" story of KAL 007, whose flight-number designation seemed so cruelly appropriate. Shortly thereafter I was recommended "Incident at Sakhalin" by a person who had been heavily involved in US Cold War strategies of the eighties. "Read this," he insisted, "if you want to know how close to the brink of nuclear war we came." He refused to say more, but the book is an eye-opener. On 1-Sept. 1983, Korean Air Lines Flight 007, enroute to Seoul from New York via Anchorage, disappeared over the Sea of Japan. An extraordinary propaganda campaign and coverup ensued immediately following the events surrounding this incident -- on both sides of the Cold War Iron Curtain. In that perilous and paranoid time, the disaster nearly precipitated World War lll. To this day, the four governments involved in the Sakhalin Incident would prefer that the "official" conclusion remain in effect: that is, the passenger jet had innocently strayed off-course and was mistaken for the Cobra Ball spy plane which was detected at the same time in violation of Soviet airspace. That story generated much suspicion, which resulted in numerous Congressional investigations and accusations regarding CIA use of foreign civilian airliners for its surveillance missions over the USSR. Passengers were routinely and unwittingly used as pawns, a chilling revelation in itself. But Brun's book goes way beyond that. The author has impressive credentials; he is a French aviation expert and aircraft accident investigator, fluent in five languages. Moreover, his political neutrality ensures an unbiased presentation of the facts he had spent some ten years gathering. Several mysteries of the Sakhalin incident are widely known. For example, neither the wreck of the plane nor the remains of the 269 passengers has ever been found in the shallow area of the Sea of Japan over which KAL 007 was allegedly shot down. Meticulous research, aided by post-Cold War release of previously classified materials, reveals more of the disturbing story. In fact, Flight 007 was not lost over Sakhalin, but continued to fly and transmit messages for nearly an hour after other intruding aircraft were intercepted there by Soviet MiGs. The evidence shows that a poorly-conceived US intelligence and provocation operation launched a two-hour-long air battle with Soviet fighters over Sakhalin. In this battle, US Air Force and Navy aircraft and personnel were lost, and KAL 007 disappeared some 435 miles from where it was "officially" claimed to have crashed -- by means and reasons after all these years still unexplained. Boris Yeltsin, in his 17-June, 1992 speech to a joint session of the US Congress, mentioned Soviet-held American POWs in conjunction with the KAL 007 incident. This was interpreted by the American press as reference to the Korean and Vietnam eras; and the Reagan Administration offered no enlightenment to the public. We Americans have become accustomed to some misinformation and coverup on the part of the government, some of which is conducted in the name of national security. It appears that the Incident at Sakhalin was the result of a massive blunder with tragic, embarrassing, and nearly devastating ramifications. Get the book! Loaded with technical facts and stats, it is a fascinating read.

The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist (Helix Books)
Average customer rating:

A pleasant read

Feynman's three speeches do not impress in written form

Its title says it all and it is indeed one of the greates books I have ever read

I could have been spared misery, only if I had read this in Jr. High!

Great Book

The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist (Helix Books)
Richard Phillips Feynman
Manufacturer: Perseus Books Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character

The Pleasure Of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman (Helix Books)

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character)

Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher

Six Not-So-Easy Pieces: Einstein's Relativity, Symmetry, And Space-Time

ASIN: 0201360802

Amazon.com

In this series of lectures originally given in 1963, which remained unpublished during Richard Feynman's lifetime, the Nobel-winning physicist thinks aloud on several "meta"--questions of science. What is the nature of the tension between science and religious faith? Why does uncertainty play such a crucial role in the scientific imagination? Is this really a scientific age?

Marked by Feynman's characteristic combination of rationality and humor, these lectures provide an intimate glimpse at the man behind the legend. "In case you are beginning to believe," he says at the start of his final lecture, "that some of the things I said before are true because I am a scientist and according to the brochure that you get I won some awards and so forth, instead of your looking at the ideas themselves and judging them directly...I will get rid of that tonight. I dedicate this lecture to showing what ridiculous conclusions and rare statements such a man as myself can make." Rare, perhaps. Irreverent, sure. But ridiculous? Not even close.

Book Description

Many appreciate Richard P. Feynman's contributions to twentieth-century physics, but few realize how engaged he was with the world around him-how deeply and thoughtfully he considered the religious, political, and social issues of his day. Now a wonderful book-based on a previously unpublished, three-part public lecture he gave at the University of Washington in 1963-shows us this other side of Feynman, as he expounds on the inherent conflict between science and religion, on people's distrust of politicians, and on our universal fascination with flying saucers, faith healing, and mental telepathy.

Customer Reviews:

A pleasant read.......2007-10-03

I would describe this book as a "classic Feynman". It is witty, upbeat and very honest. The content is timeless in the sense that his "scientist view" of society and politics is very pure and well grounded in the scientific approach. The examples are well chosen and the book is therefor a pleasant read as I am sure it must have been a very pleasant set of lectures to attend. I did however also find the purity its pitfall. It leaves you somewhat unsatisfied. He demonstrates convincingly that the choices to be made in society are choices that contain values that must be derived outside science and then he more or less stops. This is scientifically commendable and correct but does leave you clammering for his personal opinion. Perhaps this shows an obsession of current times to want to extract the motivation behind every thought by discussion the point of reference of the author, he does actually comment on this behaviour and correctly points out that in science the motivation should be irrelevant. How true.

Feynman's three speeches do not impress in written form.......2007-08-14

Richard Feynman has been my favorite author-scientist. But having read this book, I wish I hadn't. Feynman's other books have been good. They impressed me. This book did not.

These three speeches may have been good, as speeches. This book, as a book, struck me as mediocre. Whole paragraphs, indeed whole pages, were difficult to understand. Throughout the book, distilling out meaningful ideas was hard work. As I struggled through the first two speeches, I thought "this will get better." It did not. The third speech was the worst.

All that tends to drag down my opinion of Feynman as a whole. Clearly many other people liked this book. Perhaps they were able to pick some gems out of the dross. Or maybe just reading more Feynman -- even not very good Feynman -- was good enough for them.

But as much as I like Shakespeare, I am never going to go see (or worse yet read) Titus Andronicus. For the same reason, I wish I had not read this book. My view of Feynman and his work has fallen a bit from the heights where I wish it remained.

Its title says it all and it is indeed one of the greates books I have ever read.......2007-07-10

Mr. Feynman wrote in this book how the basic things in life, such as its meaning if any are.

His writting style is even simpler than Einstein's while his ideas are just as profound.

The book is very thin and it is an easy read, so you learn a lot by reading very few pages and this is really extraordinary.

I could have been spared misery, only if I had read this in Jr. High!.......2007-07-06

This is the type of book that I love. It is a world-renowned expert explaining the basic nuts and bolts of his field. Then, adding spice, he talks about other related subjects. Sometimes it is a hit, sometimes it is a miss. But it is always insightful, and generally entertaining. The only flaw with the collection is that it could have been expanded with more material. Sigh!

The first lecture is "The Uncertainty of Science," and deals with the definition of science. We use this cliché a lot with Feynman, but this should be required reading in high school, or even junior high. I am surprised with how much science I have learned without anyone defining what it is, or explaining why we do it.

Feynman gives three definitions, then deals with them in reverse order. The first definition is the process of discovery; the second is the body of discovered knowledge, and lastly the applied or utilized discovered knowledge. He treats them in reverse order, since the application of science is obvious and tactile. Technology, applied science, is based upon the second definition. The body of discovered knowledge is, in turn based upon the process of discovery. This is the level at which science advances. It focuses on experimentation. And it can only flourish in an environment of freedom.

The second lecture, the "Uncertainty of Values," is where he gets out of his area of expertise. This chapter reminded me of Carl Sagan's book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, since it involves a critique of Christianity. This is a flaw, since there are more then one religion. 9/11? The second flaw is that he makes a sweeping generalization about all religions from the medieval experiences of the Catholic Church. See Historians' Fallacies : Toward a Logic of Historical Thought.

(I say it is a flaw, because it is illogical, non sequitur, and a hasty generalization. However, this does reveal a historical cut that has never quite healed. In all of my science-survey classes, the professors have sublimated these blasé historical events into a collegiate ritual. On July 4th, Americans dress up in tricorn hats, and eat cornbread. Each Sabbath, Christians put on their Sunday best, and eat symbols of Christ's Atonement. And each year, scientists ceremonially recall the conflicts early scientists had with the Vatican's adopting Aristotelianism. The Papacy has nailed his past mistakes to the cross, but have the scientists stopped carrying their shoulder-chips?)

However, Feynman correctly identifies the difference between science and religion as one between metaphysics and ethics. These are two different categories or disciplines, as explained in Philosophy: Who Needs It. This is a tricky area, since Copernicus's and Galileo's friction was not with Christian metaphysics, but the medieval Catholic Church's adoption of Aristotelian philosophy. Also, his divorce of Christian metaphysics from Christian ethics is also problematic. Ethical behavior traces itself back to the difference between human nature and God's nature. And miracles must be admissible, since the keystone of Christianity is Christ's divine nature and infinite atonement. See Miracles, chapter 13.

The last chapter is a potpourri of loosely-related ideas, all dealing with "The Unscientific Age." This lecture divides into two parts. The first section deals with critical thinking, akin to Carl Sagan's "Baloney Detection Kit." He talks about verification, but applies the process to commonplace things such as real estate scams, Red paranoia, religious hucksters, and Las Vegas casinos. All of this is helpful, if we wish a sane society.

The second part of the last lecture deals with where we get out ideas from. I wish he had expanded this into a fourth lecture, since it swerves into a discussion of using the scientific method to discover moral ideas, then ends with an abrupt jerk.

This last assertion is rather funny. He envisions a moralist following Galileo's method of experiment and observation, and having a morality based on this. This is laughable, since the consequences of deviations from Traditional Morality are the sum and substance of newspaper headlines. C. S Lewis said, "Really great moral teachers never do introduce new moralities: it is quacks and cranks who do that." (Mere Christianity). His book The Abolition of Man, another book of three chapters, deals with the consequences of devotions from Traditional Morality.

This question of overarching laws of history (akin to Hari Seldon's Psychohistory The Foundation Trilogy: Three Classics of Science Fiction) was discussed by Karl Popper in The Poverty of Historicism (Routledge Classics). There are, if not laws, at least principles of human behavior. After all, these principles make of the skin and bones of economics. Yes, the scientific method is helpful, but is it really being useful, if we are merely reinventing the wheel?

*

What an adventure! Feynman lives up to his hype. I just wish I had read him in junior high. My experiences in high school and college might have been better.

Great Book.......2007-04-07

This book is essentially a series of lectures given by Feynman at a university forum. The ideas and concepts expressed in the book are easy to read and very enlightening, even for people who are not scientists or philosophers. One of the most prevalent themes in the book is the idea that science and religion are set to answer different questions about our situation in this life, and that the questions proposed by science are not religious in nature, and the questions proposed by religion are not scientific in nature. Feynman's answer to these questions helps shed light on the current debate between scientists and theologians - and essentially, one feels that we are trying to make science into more than it was designed to be; more than it was designed to answer. Pretty amazing coming from one of the most accomplished scientists of our time. For further reading check out: Mere Christianity

The Meaning of It All - Thoughts Of A Citizen / Scientist

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The Meaning of It All - Thoughts Of A Citizen / Scientist

Manufacturer: Helix Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GR0944

The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist.: An article from: American Scientist

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The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist.: An article from: American Scientist

Manufacturer: Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
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Binding: Digital

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Meaning Of It All - Thoughts Of A Citizen Scientist

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Meaning Of It All - Thoughts Of A Citizen Scientist
Richard P. Feynman
Manufacturer: Addison-wesley Publishing Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RJ2L10

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Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist
Richard P. Feynman
Manufacturer: HELIX PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SSV3Q4

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This digital document is an article from Junior Scholastic, published by Scholastic, Inc. on April 11, 2005. The length of the article is 1861 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Saving the Everglades: the Everglades of Florida are one of Earth's most precious resources. More than half have been lost. Is it too late to save the rest?(EARTH DAY SPECIAL)
Author: Kathy Wilmore
Publication: Junior Scholastic (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 11, 2005
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Volume: 107 Issue: 16 Page: 8(7)

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