Bücher veröffentlicht von Prometheus Books

This eclectic history of unusual crowd behavior describes a rich assortment of mass phenomena ranging from the amusing and quirky to the shocking and deplorable. What do fads, crazes, manias, urban legends, moral panics, riots, stampedes, and other mass expressions of emotion have in common? By creating a typology of such behavior, past and present, the authors show how common extraordinary group reactions to fear or excitement are. And they offer insights into how these sometimes dangerous mob responses can be avoided. We may not be surprised to read about the peculiarities of the European Middle Ages, when superstition was commonplace: like the meowing nuns of France, "tarantism" (a dancing mania) in Italy, or the malicious anti-Semitic poison-well scares. But similar phenomena show up in our own era. Examples include the social-networking hysteria of 2012, which resulted in uncontrollable twitching by teenage girls in Leroy, NY; the "phantom bus terrorist" of 2004 in Vancouver, Canada; and the itching outbreak of 2000 in South Africa. Vivid, detailed, and thoroughly researched, this is a fascinating overview of collective human behavior in its many unusual forms.

How does the cosmos do something it has long been thought that only gods could achieve? How does an inanimate universe generate stunning new forms and unbelievable new powers without a Creator? How does the cosmos create? That's the central question of a book that in its original edition was called profound, extraordinary, provocative, mind-bending, and daring. Author Howard Bloom takes you on a scientific expedition into the secret heart of a cosmos you've never seen. Not just any cosmos. An electrifyingly inventive cosmos. An obsessive-compulsive cosmos. A driven, ambitious cosmos. A cosmos of colossal shocks. A cosmos of screaming, stunning surprise. A cosmos that breaks five of science's most sacred laws. Yes, five. At the end of this intellectual thrill-ride is a whole new theory of the beginning, middle, and end of the universethe Bloom toroidal model, also known as the big bagel theorywhich explains two of the biggest mysteries in physics: dark energy and why, if antimatter and matter are created in equal amounts, there is so little antimatter in this universe. Called ';truly awesome' by Nobel Prizewinner Dudley Herschbach, this paperback edition of The God Problem will pull you in with the irresistible attraction of a black hole and spit you out again enlightened with the force of a big bang. Be prepared to have your mind blown.

Drawing inspiration from quantum physics, innovative management thinker Danah Zohar offers a powerful new model for business thinking and practice. "e;Quantum leaders,"e; she says, like the systems they have to manage, are poised at "e;the edge of chaos."e; They thrive on the potential latent in uncertainty and are adept at unleashing the creativity of self-organization. More important, they are vision- and value-led; they adapt quickly, are unafraid to play with the boundaries and reinvent the rules, and celebrate diversity. Zohar points out that the existing, business-as-usual paradigm owes a great deal to the outdated thinking, assumptions, and values of Newtonian science, which gave rise to the Industrial Revolution. Newtonian thinking assumes that corporations and markets are like machines--predictable, stable, and controllable; they are best managed in a way that eliminates risk and assures equilibrium. Unfortunately, as the global financial collapse of 2008 demonstrated, this way of thinking is as obsolete as the steam engine. Further developing ideas she introduced in her acclaimed Rewiring the Corporate Brain and Spiritual Capital, Zohar has written an inspirational book that will motivate leaders to tap the full potential of their employees, their businesses, and the customers they serve.

Heavily influenced by the work of David Ricardo, and also taking ideas from Adam Smith and Thomas Malthus, the author demonstrates how important economic concepts could be applied to real-world situations. This work is intended for anyone with an interest in the history of economics or the history of ideas.

Presents a study of ecological virtue ethics and the rhetoric of environmentalists. Based on a wide-ranging survey of environmental literature, this title offers an overview of 'green' virtue language and proposes the basic elements of a matching ecological virtue theory, dubbed 'dirty virtues' by ecological philosophers.

Guardian angels, demonic spirits, extraterrestrial visitors; are these entities figments of the imagination, or is there evidence for their existence? This book attempts to answer these questions. It examines eyewitness accounts and other evidence for strange beings world-wide. It is intended for both believers and skeptics.

With the first unified theory of guilt, shame, and anxiety, this pioneering psychiatrist and critic of psychiatric diagnoses and drugs examines the causes and effects of psychological and emotional suffering from the perspective of biological evolution, child development, and mature adult decision-making. Drawing on evolution, neuroscience, and decades of clinical experience, Dr. Breggin analyzes what he calls our negative legacy emotions--the painful emotional heritage that encumbers all human beings. The author marshals evidence that we evolved as the most violent and yet most empathic creatures on Earth. Evolution dealt with this species-threatening conflict between our violence and our close-knit social life by building guilt, shame, and anxiety into our genes. These inhibiting emotions were needed prehistorically to control our self-assertiveness and aggression within intimate family and clan relationships. Dr. Breggin shows how guilt, shame, and anxiety eventually became self-defeating and demoralizing legacies from our primitive past, which no longer play any useful or positive role in mature adult life. He then guides the reader through the Three Steps to Emotional Freedom, starting with how to identify negative legacy emotions and then how to reject their control over us. Finally, he describes how to triumph over and transcend guilt, shame, and anxiety on the way to greater emotional freedom and a more rational, loving, and productive life.

A recent poll from the University of Minnesota finds that atheists are America's least trusted social group. Perhaps compounding this negative impression is the attack-dog persona taken on in the past decade by the "New Atheists." Not only have they been quite public about their disbelief, but they've also stridently lambasted religious belief generally in a number of bestselling books. Disturbed by this negative public perception and the deterioration in the tone of open debate, the authors of this eminently reasonable work attempt to introduce a note of civility and rational clarity. To both religious believers and fellow atheists they counsel a measured approach that combines serious intellectual engagement with respect for the reasonableness of the other side's position. The heart of the book is the authors' moral case for atheism. Atheism, they contend, manifests a decidedly moral concern for others and their wellbeing. The authors further argue that atheism is driven by the kinds of moral considerations that should be familiar to all religious believers. Atheists are motivated by a moral concern for others, a desire to alleviate suffering and combat evil, and an appreciation for the value of life, freedom, and responsibility. In the end, the authors make not only a compelling case for atheism but also for the value and necessity of mutual respect in a democratic society composed of diverse citizens.

Did you know that there are kids out there who don't even want to get out of bed because they know what going to school means for them: being teased and taunted; being excluded and rejected; sometimes it can even mean that you just can't hang in there any longer, so you give up and take your own life. This book is suitable for ages 10+.

Biology does not bend to feminist ideals and science does not work miracles. That is the message of this eye-opening discussion of the consequences of delayed motherhood. Part personal account, part manifesto, Selvaratnam recounts her emotional journey through multiple miscarriages after the age of 37. Her doctor told her she still "had time," but Selvaratnam found little reliable and often conflicting information about a mature woman's biological ability (or inability) to conceive. Beyond her personal story, the author speaks to women in similar situations around the country, as well as fertility doctors, adoption counselors, reproductive health professionals, celebrities, feminists, journalists, and sociologists. Through in-depth reporting and her own experience, Selvaratnam urges more widespread education and open discussion about delayed motherhood in the hope that long-lasting solutions can take effect. The result is a book full of valuable information that will enable women to make smarter choices about their reproductive futures and to strike a more realistic balance between science, society and personal goals.

A former African American minister reveals his unusual journey from faith to atheism.Anthony Pinn preached his first sermon at age twelve. At eighteen he became one of the youngest ordained ministers in his denomination. He then quickly moved up the ministerial ranks. Eventually he graduated from Columbia University and then received a Master of Divinity in theology and a PhD in religion from Harvard University. All the while, Pinn was wrestling with a growing skepticism. As his intellectual horizons expanded, he became less and less confident in the theism of his upbringing. At the same time, he became aware that his church could offer only anemic responses to the acute social needs of the community. In his mid-twenties, he finally decided to leave the ministry and committed the rest of his life to academia. He went on to become a distinguished scholar of African American humanism and religious history. The once fully committed believer evolved into an equally committed nonbeliever convinced that a secular approach to life offers the best hope of solving humanity's problems.

In the decade preceding the outbreak of World War II, the Vatican made a devil's bargain with fascist leaders. Anticipating that their regimes would eliminate a common enemy--namely Marxist-Leninist communism--two popes essentially collaborated with Hitler, Mussolini, and the fascist dictators in Spain (Franco) and Croatia (Paveli¿).This is the damning indictment of this well-researched polemic, which for almost five decades in Germany has sparked controversy, outrage, and furious debate. Now it is available in English for the first time. Many will dismiss Deschner--who himself was raised and educated in a pious Catholic tradition--as someone who is obsessed with exposing the failings of the church of his upbringing. But he has marshaled so many facts and presented them with such painstaking care that his accusations cannot easily be ignored. The sheer weight of the evidence that he has brought together in this book raises a host of questions about a powerful institution that continues to exercise political influence to this day.

A reader-friendly yet in-depth overview of the latest research on mood as the way we are tuned to the world.This book examines the central role that mood plays in determining our outlook on life and our ability to cope with its challenges. The central theme is that mood determines how we are tuned to the world. Tuning emerges over the course of our earliest development as environmental and genetic influences form the neural circuits and set how they function across the lifespan in daily life and under conditions of stress. How each person is tuned becomes the basis for resilience or vulnerability to events. Some will take events in stride; others may become angry, anxious, or sad.A child psychiatrist with decades of clinical experience treating patients, the author stresses that relationships play a central role in shaping our mood. Security or insecurity, loss or the fear of loss of key relationships, especially in childhood, can have telling effects on the way we view the world.A chapter is devoted to each of the disorders where mood is a central issue: depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and antisocial disruptive disorders. The author then discusses the various "e;talking therapies"e; and the main classes of medication often administered to treat emotional disturbances. Burke concludes by summarizing the latest research on preventing mood disorders and discussing the impact that illness can have on emotional well-being and the role of mood in resilience and recovery.

This fresh and exciting approach to science, skepticism, and critical thinking will enlighten and inspire readers of all ages. With a mix of wit and wisdom, it challenges everyone to think like a scientist and embrace the skeptical life. If you want to improve your critical thinking skills, see through most scams at first glance, and learn how your own brain can trip you up, this is the book for you. Think shows you how to better navigate through the maze of biases and traps that are standard features of every human brain. These innate pitfalls threaten to trick us into seeing, hearing, thinking, remembering, and believing things that are not real or true. Guy Harrison's lucid, accessible text will help you trim away the nonsense, deflect bad ideas, and keep both feet firmly planted in reality. With an upbeat and friendly tone, Harrison shows how it's in everyone's best interest to question everything. He brands skepticism as a constructive and optimistic attitude--a way of life that anyone can embrace. An antidote to nonsense, quackery, and delusion, this accessible guide to critical thinking is the perfect book for anyone seeking a jolt of inspiration.

This accessible and informative biography of an acclaimed anthropologist will appeal to anyone with an interest in anthropology.When Coming of Age in Samoa was published in 1928, the book quickly became a bestseller and brought its author to national prominence-a bright, young, and charismatic anthropologist named Margaret Mead. For the next five decades, Margaret Mead became the public face of anthropology in the United States, her strong personality and maverick stance on many issues generating both acclaim and controversy. This succinct, well-researched biography traces Mead's life and career, from her upbringing in Pennsylvania and her college years under the tutelage of esteemed anthropologist Franz Boaz, through her field work on the islands of Oceania in the South Pacific, to her later career at the American Museum of Natural History. Besides many interesting details of Mead's career, the author examines her three marriages and her circle of friends, including fellow anthropologist Ruth Benedict and novelist James Baldwin. The author also presents material not published in other Mead biographies, including information about existing pages of a manuscript Mead said she tore up when atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; her personal and anonymous funding of the American Anthropological Association when it was in financial straits; and her support for anthropologists who worked for the government's covert operations during the Vietnam War era. The work concludes with an assessment of Mead's career, various criticisms and controversies generated by her work, and thoughts on what she would say about today's cultural landscape.

This illuminating discussion of deism in the early American colonies presents an overview of its main tenets, showing how its influence rose swiftly and for a time became a highly controversial subject of debate among the first citizens of our nation. The deists were students of the Enlightenment and took a keen interest in the scientific study of nature. They were thus critical of orthodox Christianity for its superstitious belief in miracles, persecution of dissent, and suppression of independent thought and expression.At the heart of his book are profiles of six "rational infidels," most of whom are quite familiar to Americans as founding fathers or colonial patriots: Benjamin Franklin (the ambivalent deist), Thomas Jefferson (a critic of Christian supernaturalism but an admirer of its ethics), Ethan Allen (the rough-edged "frontier deist"), Thomas Paine (the arch iconoclast and author of The Age of Reason), Elihu Palmer (the tireless crusader for deism and perhaps its most influential proponent), and Philip Freneau (a poet whose popular verses combined deism with early romanticism). This is a fascinating study of America's first culture war, one that in many ways has continued to this day.

Naturalism is widely regarded as the dominant philosophical worldview in the West. The prestige of science and the power of technology have driven naturalism to prominence, even as deep questions mount on all sides.In this volume of all new essays, prominent philosophers consider a wide variety of challenges to naturalism, proposing improved defenses and novel developments in this influential worldview. Some essays question whether naturalism is a unified philosophy, and try to determine how one or another variety of naturalism has an advantage. Other essays defend naturalism's approaches to religion, the mind, experience, morality, and society. To ensure that naturalism has a strong future, this volume's authors are determined to help reformulate its principles for the 21st century.Among the contributors are Mario Bunge (McGill University), Paul Kurtz (Center for Inquiry and State University of New York at Buffalo), John Lachs (Vanderbilt University), Isaac Levi (Columbia University), Joseph Margolis (Temple University), Nicholas Rescher (University of Pittsburgh), John R. Shook (Center for Inquiry), and other leading philosophers.

This unique history provides an intriguing glimpse into human sexual habits, customs, beliefs, and attitudes surrounding a prophylactic device that goes back to at least the ancient Egyptians. The author includes many fascinating historical details, such as:· Clergymen of the Middle Ages left records of birth control methods that "worked." · When women had few choices in the world of commerce, a significant number found a legitimate and profitable business niche producing and selling sheaths.· During the Great Depression, while other businesses went bankrupt, condom manufacturers found themselves doing a booming trade throughout the 1930s, one of Wall Street's few successes.· AIDS has brought the condom full circle. Not for the first time in history has the little device been vilified as a promoter of dirty, illicit sex and lauded as a life-saving device.Thoroughly researched yet presented in a witty, enjoyable style, The Humble Little Condom is both an entertaining read and an educational, impeccably researched popular history.

Humanism is a philosophy that emphasizes the value of human life in all its creative potential within a secular context. Humanism is skeptical of religious beliefs and relies on science as the basis for understanding the universe. Although humanism has become most fully developed in the West, its origins lie throughout the world, and this perspective is shared by people from many different cultural, ethnic and racial backgrounds.In this succinct, informative, and enlightening introduction to humanism, Jim Herrick, a leading humanist advocate in Great Britain, provides a very readable account of the guiding principles, history, and practice of humanism in today's world. Herrick surveys the tradition of humanism as it developed over many centuries, its skepticism toward belief in God and an afterlife, humanist values and arguments for morality outside of a religious framework, its attitude of tolerance toward different lifestyles and belief systems, its endorsement of democratic political principles, its strong ties to science, its evaluation of the arts as an exploration of human potential, and its concern for environmental preservation and the long-term sustainability of the earth.In conclusion, Herrick briefly describes the various humanist organizations throughout the world; particular causes championed by humanists (women's rights, racial and sexual equality, freedom of speech and information, and education, among others); and the future of humanism.

This lexicon of modern Western philosophical concepts, problems, principles, and theories may well be the shortest dictionary of philosophy in the English language, but one of the most useful. Organized by internationally recognized philosopher Mario Bunge, this indispensable volume, directed to general and university audiences, elucidates and evaluates many contemporary philosophical ideas from a humanist and scientifically oriented perspective.From A to Z, most entries are brief and nontechnical in nature, highlighting useful philosophical terms rather than trendy ones. Placing emphasis on "living" philosophy, Bunge has deliberately excluded many of the archaic terms and philosophical curios of other dictionaries. He has incorporated a number of "minipapers," or longer definitions of some terms, and he critically analyzes such influential doctrines as existentialism, phenomenology, idealism, materialism, pragmatism, deontological ethics, utilitarianism, and many others. Constructive alternatives are offered to all philosophical approaches criticized.This is a superb reference work for both students and professional philosophers.

Extremist movements aren't new, but the tragic events in Oklahoma City, New York City, and elsewhere have awakened Americans to this frightening reality within our borders. What sorts of fringe groups exist? Who joins up and why? Beginning with a summary of pre-1960 movements, this work discusses conspiracy theories and what motivates extremists.

"Transparency" has become the new mantra of politicians and pundits alike. But what does it mean in practice? In this informative, clearly written book community activist Donald Gordon defines the essential features of a transparent government and makes a convincing case that it is critical for a healthy and maturing democracy and the basic liberties we all take for granted.Gordon first presents a clear definition of transparency in government and why we should pursue it, followed by a review of the history of transparency in American politics. He then makes the case for how transparency serves as the foundation for active civic engagement. The heart of the book is Gordon's "Transparency Index." The author examines best practices in measuring transparency and then isolates the critical factors that can be used to assess any type of government and its commitment to transparency. In addition, a scoring system is presented that allows for comparison of government entities.For anyone who wishes that government were more effective and responsive, this book shows how these goals can be achieved.

UFO abduction claims have spawned a veritable cottage industry, providing the fodder for an explosion of magazine articles, television interviews, best-selling books, and movies. This book focuses on the invisible epidemic of UFO abduction claims. It traces the history of these claims since the celebrated Betty and Barney Hill case in 1966.

No one was better at turning everyday social interactions into memorable comedy sketches than "Seinfeld" creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David. This book explores the sociological implications of the famous comedy. It reviews the major contributions of sociology.

In his last years, Mark Twain had become a respected literary figure whose opinions were widely sought by the press. He had also suffered a series of painful physical, economic, and emotional losses. This book denies the existence of a benign Providence, a soul, an afterlife, and even reality itself.

Even if you're an avid history buff, you've probably never heard of this disreputable cast of characters: A drunken, ne'er-do-well cop who abandoned his post at Ford's Theatre, giving assassin John Wilkes Booth unchallenged access to President Lincoln; a notorious Kansas quack who made millions by implanting billy goat testicles in gullible male patients; and America's worst female serial killer ever. These are three of the memorable but little-known rogues profiled in this eye-opening and entertaining book.Dividing his profiles into three categories--villains, scoundrels, and rogues--author and former National Geographic editor Paul Martin serves up concise, colorful biographies of thirty of America's most outrageous characters. Whether readers choose to be horrified by the story of Ed Gein, Alfred Hitchcock's hideous inspiration for Psycho, or marvel at the clever duplicity of the con artist who originated the phony bookie operation portrayed in The Sting, there's something here for everyone.Brimming with audacious, unforgettable characters often overlooked by standard history books, this page-turner is a must for anyone with an interest in the varieties of human misbehavior.

A re-appraisal of environmental thinking that challenge our perception of sustainability and efficiency. It recognises the inevitable limits of our growth and the shortcoming of approaches is a necessary first step toward the establishment of a sound environmental policy.

Explores five examples of "family annihilators" in this troubling snapshot of crime twisted by the dark trajectory of machismo in economically stressful times. This title includes nearly 50 interviews of victims' friends and family, an examination of police files, and detailed profiles of the researchers who track these "killer dads".

A guide to the biomedical research and a breakthrough treatment plan. Suitable for medical professionals and anyone concerned about their health and the health of their loved ones, it reveals the surprising truth about how you can prevent and treat breast cancer, prostate cancer, and Alzheimer's with testosterone.