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nanotimes Books Global Catastrophic Risks

Edited by Nick Bostrom and Milan Cirkovic, with a foreword by Sir Martin Rees

OUP, July 2008, 576 page, Price: GBP15.00 / $26.00, ISBN: 978-0-19-857050-9 http://www.global-catastrophic-risks.com

In Global Catastrophic Risks, twenty-six leading experts look at the gravest risks facing humanity in the 21st century, including natural catastrophes, nuclear war, terrorism, global warming, biological weapons, totalitarianism, advanced nanotechnology, general artificial intelligence, and social collapse. The book also addresses over-arching issues - policy responses and methods for predic- ting and managing catastrophes. The book is intended for anyone interested in the big issues of our time; for students focusing on science, society, technology, and public policy; and for academics, policy-makers, and professionals working in these acutely important fields.

The introductory chapter of the book, which gives an overview of the chapters and of some of the over-arching issues relating to Global Catastrophic Risks.

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology for Chemical and Biological Defense

Edited by R. Nagarajan, Edited by Walter Zukas, Edited by T. Alan Hatton, and Edited by Stephen Lee

OUP USA, ACS Symposium Series 1016, Hardback, March 2010, 384 pages, Price: GBP:114.00 / $175.00, 47 line & 130 halftone illustrations, ISBN:978-0-84-126981-1 http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/academic/engineering/industrial/chemi- stry/9780841269811.do

This is the first time a symposium focusing on the theme of chemical and biolo- gical defense has been organized as part of a ACS national meeting. The sympo- sium brought together a large number of academic, government and industrial scientists. The work presented spanned concepts at incipient stage in the labora- tory to developed systems that can be fielded in the immediate future. The book is probably the most com- prehensive compilation of research being done in this field at this time.

12-03 :: March/April 2012