Bücher veröffentlicht von The University of Chicago Press

Today's science tells us that our bodies are filled with molecular machinery that orchestrates all sorts of life processes. When we think, microscopic "channels" in our brain cells' membranes open and close; when we run, tiny "motors" in our muscle cells' membranes spin; and when we see, light operates "molecular switches" in our eyes and nerves. A molecular-mechanical vision of life has become commonplace in both the halls of philosophy of science departments and the offices of drug companies developing "proton pump inhibitors" or medicines such as Prozac.  Membranes to Molecular Machines explores just how late twentieth-century science came to think of our cells and bodies this way. This story is told through the lens of membrane research, an unwritten history at the crossroads of molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology and the neurosciences, that directly feeds into today's synthetic biology as well as nano- and biotechnology. Mathias Grote shows how these sciences have not only made us think differently about life, they have, by reworking what membranes and proteins represent in laboratories, allowed us to manipulate life as "active matter" in new ways. Covering the science of biological membranes since the mid-1960s, this book connects that history to contemporary work with optogenetics, a method for stimulating individual neurons using light, and should appeal to scholars interested in the intersection of chemical research and the life sciences.

Foodborne illness is a big problem. Wash those chicken breasts, and you're likely to spread Salmonella to your countertops, kitchen towels, and other foods nearby. Even salad greens can become biohazards when toxic strains of E. coli inhabit the water used to irrigate crops. All told, contaminated food causes 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths each year in the United States. With Outbreak, Timothy D. Lytton provides an up-to-date history and analysis of the US food safety system. He pays particular attention to important but frequently overlooked elements of the system, including private audits and liability insurance. Lytton chronicles efforts dating back to the 1800s to combat widespread contamination by pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella that have become frighteningly familiar to consumers. Over time, deadly foodborne illness outbreaks caused by infected milk, poison hamburgers, and tainted spinach have spurred steady scientific and technological advances in food safety. Nevertheless, problems persist. Inadequate agency budgets restrict the reach of government regulation. Pressure from consumers to keep prices down constrains industry investments in safety. The limits of scientific knowledge leave experts unable to assess policies' effectiveness and whether measures designed to reduce contamination have actually improved public health. Outbreak offers practical reforms that will strengthen the food safety system's capacity to learn from its mistakes and identify cost-effective food safety efforts capable of producing measurable public health benefits.

Definitive biography covering the life, world, and work of pioneering nineteenth-century German polymath Hermann von Helmholtz.

Intends to seek answers to the following questions: What is the nature of the traditional culture of the dominant ethnic group, the Amhara, and what are its enduring values? What aspects of modern culture interest this society and by what means has it sought to institutionalize them?

Recognizing the need to engage experts across the life, social, and legal sciences as well as the humanities, this title draws together a wide variety of ecologists, historians, economists, legal scholars, policy makers, and communications scholars, to facilitate a dialogue among these disciplines and understand the invasive species phenomenon.

Written in the sixteenth century, this book tells the story of the fourteen-year pilgrimage of the monk Xuanzang, one of China's most famous religious heroes, and his four supernatural disciples, in search of Buddhist scriptures.

This comprehensive account of Weber's political views and activities reveals that, paradoxically, Weber was at once an ardent liberal and a determined German nationalist and imperialist.

Plato's "Symposium" - translated here, and with a commentary - is arguably one of the greatest works on the nature of love ever written. It recounts a drinking party following an evening meal, where the guests include Aristophanes, Alcibiades and Socrates. The revellers discuss a variety of topics.

Alan Grofield has a knack for attracting damsels in distress. When Ellen Marie Fitzgerald comes in through his window, he dismisses the tale she tells him, until hoods come to find her, and their escape route from political intrigue may well be their last!

A study of how investment in an individual's education and training is similar to business investments in equipment. This edition has four new chapters, covering topics including: human capital, fertility and economic growth, the division of labour and economic considerations within the family.