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March 28, 2016

Ismail Serageldin on scientists playing God

    Ismail Serageldin asks for scientists to practice wisdom in human gene editing, but is that just wasted advice when the population is content in rushing ahead toward boiling themselves in global warming? A huge part of wisdom is getting your priorities straight.

    Literature, from Icarus to Frankenstein, gives us the image of disasters following in the steps of hubris of scientists who wanted to play God. But you must recognize that we have been playing God ever since we domesticated plants and animals. And we do so every time today when we turn on the lights at night and turn night into day. . . . We need knowledge but we also need wisdom.

    (Ismail Serageldin speaking on December 1, 2016, at the International Summit on Human Gene Editing.)
    For a brief biography of Ismail Serageldin, click here. For images of or relating to Ismail Serageldin, click here.

March 28, 2016 |

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Books by H. Charles Romesburg

  • H. Charles Romesburg: The Life of the Creative Spirit

    H. Charles Romesburg: The Life of the Creative Spirit
    Practically all of the quotations in this blog's posts are collected in "The Life of the Creative Spirit."

  • H. Charles Romesburg: How About It, Writer?

    H. Charles Romesburg: How About It, Writer?
    Based on a study of more than 12,000 essays from the very best literary magazines, this book provides writers with lists of thousands of classic forms of opening sentences, titles, transition sentences, ways of saying "for example," and ways of closing nonfiction pieces. When you are writing an essay and want a hint for a better or fresh way of saying what you mean, looking through the lists acts on the imagination, stimulating your creativity. From Lulu Press (ISBN 1-4116-2862-4, 194 pp., softback), it's $16.95 when ordered from Lulu.com/Romesburg , and $22.95 from bookstores. To view its cover, click on www.cnr.usu.edu/romesburg/how_about_it_writer.htm To view its title page, contents, and first two chapters, click on: www.cnr.usu.edu/romesburg/how_about_it_writer_preview.pdf

  • H Charles Romesburg: Best Research Practices

    H Charles Romesburg: Best Research Practices
    The Saunterer’s new book (2009), Best Research Practices explains how to plan and carry out reliable experiments, how to conceive and circumstantially support research hypotheses, how to test research hypotheses with the hypothetico-deductive method, how to discover cause and effect, and more. It’s based on his examination of 5,000 top scientific articles, studying the methods used to produce reliable knowledge. Preview it on-line by going to the following link: http://print.google.com/print?isbn=9780557017836

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