Western science and technology are the motors that drive social progress; no other knowledge system comes anywhere close. It's a widely held view, an example of Western exceptionalism and triumphalism -- but is it correct? The philosopher of science Sandra Harding talks about knowledge appropriation, the failure of "development," and the value and sophistication of non-Western ways of thinking.

In the world of science and technology, new words are coined, and some of them stick, and the words themselves lead interesting lives and have surprising effects -- technical, social, even political. In his book Virtual Words Jonathon Keats explores the origins, uses, and impact of terms like microbiome, copyleft, Panglish, and singularity.

In the world of science and technology, new words are coined, and some of them stick, and the words themselves lead interesting lives and have surprising effects -- technical, social, even political. In his new book Jonathon Keats explores the origins, uses, and impact of terms like microbiome, copyleft, Panglish, and singularity.

How do we know climate change is happening, and will happen? Are climate skeptics correct when they argue that computer modeling, upon which global climate knowledge largely rests, is speculative and unreliable? In his new book, Paul Edwards describes the process of making global climate knowledge and the nature of the scientific consensus that has emerged.