Research Monograph

Stories of cancer are full of monster and marvels; the monstrousness of the disease and the treatments, the marvels of the cures and the saved lives. Still one of the most dreaded diseases to haunt our imaginations, cancer is more than an illness - it is a cultural phenomenon. People who have cancer are bombarded with competing explanations of their conditions: it is genetically inherited; it is environmentally produced; it is the result of their personality. Teratologies - A Cultural Study of Cancer investigates how this disease is perceived, experienced and theorised in contemporary society. It explores changing beliefs about the causes of, and the cures for, cancer in both biomedicine and its increasingly popular alternative counterparts. Analysing conventional and alternative medical accounts, self-help manuals and patients' personal stories, Jackie Stacey takes a critical look at the place of heroes, metaphors, the self and the body in these competing bids to produce the authoritative definition of the meaning of cancer today. Interspersed with these detailed textual investigations are discussions of broader issues such as the feminist debates about the history of science, the place of consumer culture in health practices and the status of patients and of health professionals in postmodern society. Combining authobiographical narratives with contemporary theoretical debates, the author carves out a specifically feminist analysis of the cultural dimensions of cancer. She brings accounts of her own illness under the critical lens of academic scrutiny and situates these personal stories within a discussion of contemporary cultural change.

Academic and professional publishing represents a diverse communications industry rooted in the scholarly ecosystem, peer review, and added value products and services. Publishers in this field play a critical and trusted role, registering, certifying, disseminating and preserving knowledge across scientific, technical and medical (STM), humanities and social science disciplines. Academic and Professional Publishing draws together expert publishing professionals, to provide comprehensive insight into the key developments in the industry and the innovative and multi-disciplinary approaches being applied to meet novel challenges.This book consists of 20 chapters covering what publishers do, how they work to add value and what the future may bring. Topics include: peer-review; the scholarly ecosystem; the digital revolution; publishing and communication strategies; business models and finances; editorial and production workflows; electronic publishing standards; citation and bibliometrics; user experience; sales, licensing and marketing; the evolving role of libraries; ethics and integrity; legal and copyright aspects; relationship management; the future of journal publishing; the impact of external forces; career development; and trust in academic and professional publishing.This book presents a comprehensive review of the integrated approach publishers take to support and improve communications within academic and professional publishing. Brings together expert publishing professionals to provide an authoritative insight into industry developments Details the challenges publishers face and the leading-edge processes and procedures used to meet them Discusses the range of new communication channels and business models that suit the wide variety of subject areas publishers work in

American business has recently been under fire, charged with inflated pricing and an inability to compete in the international marketplace. However, the evidence presented in this volume shows that the business community has been unfairly maligned—official measures of inflation and the standard of living have failed to account for progress in the quality of business equipment and consumer goods. Businesses have actually achieved higher productivity at lower prices, and new goods are lighter, faster, more energy efficient, and more reliable than their predecessors. Robert J. Gordon has written the first full-scale work to treat the extent of quality changes over the entire range of durable goods, from autos to aircraft, computers to compressors, from televisions to tractors. He combines and extends existing methods of measurement, drawing data from industry sources, Consumer Reports, and the venerable Sears catalog. Beyond his important finding that the American economy is more sound than officially recognized, Gordon provides a wealth of anecdotes tracing the postwar history of technological progress. Bolstering his argument that improved quality must be accurately measured, Gordon notes, for example, that today's mid-range personal computers outperform the multimillion-dollar mainframes of the 1970s. This remarkable book will be essential reading for economists and those in the business community.