Designs On Nature

Biology and politics have converged today across much of the industrialized world. Debates about genetically modified organisms, cloning, stem cells, animal patenting, and new reproductive technologies crowd media headlines and policy agendas. Less noticed, but no less important, are the rifts that have appeared among leading Western nations about the right way to govern innovation in genetics and biotechnology. These significant differences in law and policy, and in ethical analysis, may in a globalizing world act as obstacles to free trade, scientific inquiry, and shared understandings of human dignity. In this magisterial look at some twenty-five years of scientific and social development, Sheila Jasanoff compares the politics and policy of the life sciences in Britain, Germany, the United States, and in the European Union as a whole. She shows how public and private actors in each setting evaluated new manifestations of biotechnology and tried to reassure themselves about their safety. Three main themes emerge. First, core concepts of democratic theory, such as citizenship, deliberation, and accountability, cannot be understood satisfactorily without taking on board the politics of science and technology. Second, in all three countries, policies for the life sciences have been incorporated into "nation-building" projects that seek to reimagine what the nation stands for. Third, political culture influences democratic politics, and it works through the institutionalized ways in which citizens understand and evaluate public knowledge. These three aspects of contemporary politics, Jasanoff argues, help account not only for policy divergences but also for the perceived legitimacy of state actions.

Biology and politics have converged across much of the industrialized world. Taking a look at some twenty-five years of scientific and social development, this work compares the politics and policy of the life sciences in Britain, Germany, the United States, and in the European Union as a whole.

In 1969, Ian McHarg's seminal book, Design with Nature, set forth a new vision for regional planning using natural systems. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, a team of landscape architects and planners from PennDesign have showcased some of the most advanced ecological design projects in the world today. Written in clear language and featuring vivid color images, Design with Nature Now demonstrates McHarg's enduring influence on contemporary practitioners as they contend with climate change and other 21st-century challenges.

In Jewelry Designs from Nature, Heather Powers reveals her creative process and guides readers through 30 nature inspired bracelet, necklace and earring projects. Her designs feature her beads and the beads of other well-known artists. Simple techniques such as stringing, wirework and bead stitching are explained with clear step-by-step directions. Pieces are designed with simple techniques, chain, wire, findings, crystals, seed beads and art beads in standard sizes. Readers can recreate the pieces or choose their own beads to personalize projects. Heather Powers shows readers that there is a method behind using simple stringing and other basic jewelry-making techniques to produce jaw-dropping results.

As synthetic biology transforms living matter into a medium for making, what is the role of design and its associated values?

This collection of 31 richly detailed art includes a cluster of red and purple clematis, bee-eating birds, long-stemmed lily pads, migrating monarch butterflies, and much more.

Written by Norah Gaughan, one of the most innovative and respected knitwear designers working today, Knitting Nature was an instant classic when it was released in hardcover in 2006, and it is now available at a must-have paperback price. In Knitting Nature, Gaughan blends together the natural and artistic world with 39 stunning, fun-to-knit designs for women, men, and children. Among them are a skirt patterned after the hexagonal scales nature has used to cover a domed turtle’s shell, a jacket whose collar grows in a spiral—much the same way a ram’s horn does—and a tank top with leaves that grow the same way they do on a stem. Also available from Norah Gaughan: Norah Gaughan's Knitted Cable Sourcebook, Comfort Knitting & Crochet: Babies & Toddlers, and Comfort Knitting & Crochet: Afghans.

This splendid sourcebook for stained glass designs contains 88 patterns in styles ranging from medieval interlacements to Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and modern motifs. Suitable for crafters at every level of expertise, the patterns can be easily expanded for full-sized panels, mirror surrounds, and other decorative work.