“Many of us carry around a bucolic view of farming, ranching, and rural America. We think of farming as being toxic only after the introduction of DDT at the close of World War II. Such presumptions are wrong,” Will Allen writes.... Read More

Few enterprises require as much vigilance on the part of the consumer as hiring a contractor. Whether repairing a leaky roof or remodeling the whole house, “When that time comes,” author Amabile writes, “you had best be prepared to... Read More

It may seem far-fetched that by the end of this century a satellite will be furnishing a cheap continuous and inexhaustible supply of electric power to ten billion earthlings. But after reading Ed Bair’s analysis of the current and... Read More

Between hybrid cars, organic cotton t-shirts, and energy efficient light bulbs, it’s clear the environment is increasingly on people’s minds—not least for those who design these eco-items. In this useful new book, Thorpe, a senior... Read More

Two women are undergoing in vitro fertilization. The embryologist whose job it is to sort and prepare the embryos for implantation mixes them up. Nine months later one of the women gives birth to the other woman’s baby. Is it human... Read More

Many people see technological advances as a smooth linear process. A new product is introduced, commercial applications are discovered, and the new technology is embraced, then improved upon as the price drops to a level where the... Read More

People do not like to be alone. Although they may claim to desire privacy, in reality most need the comfort of having someone—or something—close by for company. That’s the reason that television is so omnipresent, theorizes... Read More

Scene 1: The man with the rifle has been holding police at bay for several hours on the Los Angeles freeway. He has fired some shots but hasn’t hit anyone. Local television stations are providing live, nonstop coverage of the standoff... Read More