Tag Archives: book

eBook / PDF versions available

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Two of my books from The University of Ottawa Press – The Doom Loop in the Financial Sector and The Priesthood of Science – are available as ebooks or PDF file: http://www.press.uottawa.ca/search/node/leiss.

In addition, all of my books from McGill/Queens Press are available as eBooks for libraries. These include:

9780773575356 Leiss, W – C.B. Macpherson

9780773561922 Leiss, W. – The Limits to Satisfaction: An Essay on the Problem of Needs and Commodities

9780773562219 Leiss, W. – Under Technology’s Thumb

9780773564794 Leiss, W. – The Domination of Nature

9780773569515 Leiss, W. – In the Chamber of Risks: Understanding Risk Controversies

9780773572409 Leiss, W. – Mad Cows and Mother’s Milk: the Perils of Poor Risk communication

9780773564671 Leiss/Chociolko – Risk and Responsibility

Book: The Priesthood of Science

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The latest in the Herasaga trilogy, discount Priesthood of Science is published by University of Ottawa Press.

Hera and her sisters are now sealed off from the rest of the world in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain in southern Nevada. Hera is still tormented by her parents’ decision to genetically modify the brains of their twelve daughters—and by her own agreement to allow a similar procedure to be used on a much larger group of human embryos.

In a series of dialogues with a molecular biologist recruited for their private university, Hera and Gaia debate the changing relationship between science and society from the time of Lavoisier in the eighteenth century to the terrible legacy of atomic physics in the twentieth. Two dialogues between Hera and Jacob Hofer, a Hutterite minister, deal with the issue of nihilism in religion and science.

Meanwhile, the group of engineered embryos has become one thousand young people just turning eighteen, and their gender politics are threatening to ruin Hera’s new beginning for human society.

Like priests, scientists are liable to be misled by the purity of their motives into downplaying the risks inherent in their creations.

“It is, of course, quite correct for you to allot the relevant priesthood to Niels Bohr.” (Albert Einstein to Max Born, 7 September 1944)

The priesthood of science (introduction)

This is the opening section from the Prologue to The Priesthood of Science, Book Two of The Herasaga, to be published in 2008. These words – “Begotten, not made” – are from the Nicene Creed, one of the fundamental texts of the Christian faith. They are reinterpreted here by Hera in the context of evolutionary biology and the appearance on earth of the Hominina subtribe: gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans. See the website for Book One of The Herasaga, entitled Hera, or Empathy: http://www.herasaga.com

Download a copy of the PDF here: Begotten Not Made

Book: Social Communication in Advertising

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Author: William Leiss, Stephen Kline, Sut Jhally, Jacqueline Botterill 
Publisher: Routledge () 
Buy this book from Amazon or Chapters.

This new edition of Social Communication in Advertising updates the most comprehensive historical study of advertising and its function within contemporary society. This classic text traces advertising’s influence within three key social domains: the new commodities industry, popular culture, and the mass media that manages the constellation of images that unifies all three.
The third edition includes:

  • discussion of new issues such as the Internet and globalization
  • updated and expanded examples and illustrations
  • arguments revised throughout to take into account recent developments in advertising scholarship and new trends in advertising

Reviews and Table of Contents

Book: Communicating about Risks to Environment and Health in Europe

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Public experience with risk communication differs greatly from country to country in Europe and there has been little opportunity for the transfer of experience and learning between countries. This is especially true for the many new European States, story including the countries in transition from centralised to market economies. This book presents case studies on risk communication. One of its unifying concepts is the role of risk communication in the risk management process. Technical and philosophical introductions to risk communication and risk management and research in risk communication are given. The case studies themselves occupy the central portion of the book, troche each one covering a particular hazard, risk or situation seen from a particular point of view. The issue of the special circumstances for environmental and health risk communication in central and eastern Europe is also addressed through a separate presentation and discussion of an appropriate case study. A different approach to risk communication is taken by examining how it forms part of the risk management process at the local level. Research into risk perception, a field that forms an important foundation for many aspects of risk communication, is summarised and practical guidelines for risk communication are reviewed. These include discussions on how to carry out public information programmes and methods for increasing public involvement in risk management decisions.

William Leiss was a member of the editorial committee for this book.

Available from Amazon and Chapters.

Book: Mad Cows and Mothers’ Milk

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Communicating the nature and consequences of environmental and health risks is one of the most problematic areas of public policy in western democracies. Given the perceived risks associated with the food we eat, chemicals in the environment, and modern technologies, consumers need clear and timely explanations of the nature of those risks – but rarely get them. Using a series of case studies, Douglas Powell and William Leiss outline the crucial role of risk management in dealing with public controversies and analyse risk communication practice and malpractice to provide a set of lessons for risk managers and communicators. The Second Edition is a republication of original edition plus three new chapters.

Author: William Leiss 
Publisher: McGill-Queen’s University Press (December 2004) 
Buy this book from Amazon or Chapters.

Preface to the Second Edition
Part Three: New Perils for Risk Managers

Chapter 10:
Two Stinking Cows: The Mismanagement of BSE Risk in North America,
by William Leiss (pp. 229-61)

Chapter 11:
A Night at the Climate Casino: Canada and the Kyoto Quagmire,
by Stephen Hill & William Leiss (pp. 262-95)

Chapter 12:
Life in the Fast Lane: An Introduction to Genomics Risks,
by Michael Tyshenko & William Leiss (pp. 296-340)

Book: Under Technology’s Thumb

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Author: William Leiss
Publisher: McGill-Queen’s University Press (1990-01-01)
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The publication of William Leiss’ book The Domination of Nature brought him wide recognition as a perceptive and judicious author. In this brilliant new collection of essays on the philosophy of nature, Leiss argues effectively for an attitude of caring and respect for the environment rather than one of domination.

Table of Contents and Index: PDF

Book: Domination of Nature

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Author: William Leiss 
Publisher: McGill-Queen’s University Press (1994-05-01) 
Buy this book from Amazon or Chapters.

Scientists, social thinkers, public officials, and the public have been aroused by the recognition that failure to understand the destructive impact of industrial society and advanced technologies on the delicate balance of organic life in the global ecosystem may result in devastating problems for future generations. William Leiss argues that this global predicament must be understood in terms of deeply rooted attitudes towards nature. He traces the origins, development, and social consequences of an idea whose imprint is everywhere in modern thought: the idea of the domination of nature.

Download the Table of Contents and Index: PDF