Paper on Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos”

There is a grapple in Seattle which is nestled in North America on the spinning Earth led by the Sun around the Milky Way, a speck of cosmic dust floating in the Universe. On this bed Carl Sagan died of an obscure disease for which in that location is no cure. Carl Sagan is a celebrated writer and astronomer, but about remembered for his paternitys. Like Galileo he brought the beauty of science to the people. He is the writer of Cosmos, an award winning television mini-series that brought the wonders of astronomy into the home.His last and final work was a collection of his essays Billions and Billions Thoughts on Life and Death on the brink of the Millennium. . Sagan wrote with a sense of awe, humility and reverence of nature. This book is an expression of Sagans passions for the things around. The book is so varied in topic that it is difficult at quantifys to find a unifying factor. Nor does the book r from each one whatsoever sort of conclusion as to the direction of eart h and things around him.In this we can understand the rightful(a) sadness of Sagans death, he was a child who was overwhelmed by the beauty of the universe around him and had non the time needed to express each last(predicate) of it in words. The book is split into three parts The Power and steady of Quantification, What ar the Conservatives Conserving? and Where Hearts and Minds Collide. In the first section Sagan begins by teaches the reader about gravid numbers and what innovations in the past allowed us to use them.Sagan moves slowly and tactfully building the readers understanding of these grassroots concepts of large numbers and exp cardinalnts, then applies them to such problems as exponential growth of populations, radioactive decay and nuclear chain reactions. . He exposes scientific concepts handle a traditional narrative. Building the story to the questions he would most(prenominal) like answered concerning the nature of the universe and extraterrestrial (intel ligent or otherwise) life.There is only a slight deviation ropiness of this section where Sagan-or the editors- decide to delve into the nature of mans war instinct and whether or non it is good to remove it or nurture it. Sagan feels that thousands of years of a hunter/gatherer society will not be offset by relatively few years of a sedentary existence. Despite this Sagan maintains an optimistic candidate on humanities destiny, a trend that runs the course of the book. Overall this section is fairly light and pleasurable to read, the concepts early in the section will not overwhelm the reader.Upon finishing the section one is go ahead with a sense of satisfaction, not the confusion associated by the jargon riddled books that plague this genre. In our day, that is today, there are more scientists than there ever was in the past. Tomorrow will bring more still. Scientists by nature are disruptive creatures, there favourite pastime is pacing in back and forth in their laborato ries creating theories as to how the clockwork of the universe ticks. Others scientists spend their time trying to disprove each others theories. In doing so changing the nature the universe-there could be nothing more disruptive than that.What then do we do when two scientists, or, two separate herds of them disagree on a theory. We could sop up them strap on safety goggles, pull in them butt heads like mountain goats, last scientist standing is correct. Though this sounds amusing, in some circumstances it is not any better than some of systems that exists to test the validity of a theory. A theory by rendering can never be proven or become fact, except for mathematical ones. The Scientific system requires of us to perform tedious experi custodyts and to keep concise observations as a means of strengthening a theory This is the inherent problem.If two contradicting theories are both sound then which one do we accept, and to abstruse the problem what if the theories were predi cting if life on this planet would end in the next year, decade or century. Choosing one over the other now becomes very personal, and scientists might try to resolve their problems with attacks on each others character, each will accuse the other of scare-mongering or being too conservative. This only breeds paranoia and hate for science in the minds of the public.The issues are ozone levels, greenhouse gases, fish stocks and whatever is being leached into your backyard. Sagan address this issue in the second part of his book. This by far being the strongest and most important part because it affects the each life on our planet. It is interesting that Sagan in his final chapter of this part Religion and Science An Alliance that Sagan comes to the conclusion that Science and Religion can unitedly work through this problem Science being the antithesis of Religion, but both-for now- are committed to helping public prevail.The third and final part is mixed bag of topics from Americas cold war with Russia, America war with itself, a new view on abortion, morality and Sagans top three advances in twentieth century existence. apiece essay only begins to discuss topics of enormous depth. Sagan in the style that is prevalent throughout the book keeps them all very readable and thought provoking. The essays define so well aspects of the Twentieth century that one gets the mental picture that some of them will find their way into the anthologies of the future. In many ways this book is loosely held together. singular parts hold some unity but the book as a whole does not. This whitethorn be because the book was published after Sagans death, lack of matieral or and editors blunder. This should not detract the reader from the impressiveness of this book. In 1994 I spent one month in the country of my ancestors, India. Immediatley I marveled at the advancements in my rural village in the period between a prior visit. Televisions had become widespread, satellites were attached to a quarter of the homes and telephones were now as common as curry. Night fell on my humble village.The nights are pitch black, there are no lamps to illuminate the streets. A problem quickly arises if you dont know every back alley, every tiny claustrophobic cobble stone street, every pseudo-dead end path (paths that search to dead ends but if you walk through a Hobbit hole like door, you emerge on to some other tiny cobblestone street), you are quickly lost. On top of all of this, the streets are roamed by err dogs. Attempting to walk across the village, as I did without a flashlight(they attract bandits) is daunting frightening on the most primitive of levels.To my relief I have hit the booksed that since my visit street lamps have been installed in firmly traveled areas. As a westerly observer I overlooked the technological necessity of my village. By my village I mean then millions of rural villages in the dozens of countries around the world. All the gadgets t hat these villages will take away will not make up for the basic security that a simple low drive sodium street lamp will provide. These small centers will have to be built up from the cause up with their specific needs in mind.Sadly this has been overlooked by the western guardians of civilization, the dozens of failed hydroelectric, foot and aid projects are a testament to that. Another sad fact is that our Eastern brothers are federal official some of same 500 channel universes that are numbing western mans mind. All the east man receives is the ugly consumerism that is the foundation of western mans existence. The need is in raising. As the technological need for both these men is distinct so too is their need of education.The western nations feel that res publica is what all nations must have to be fair and right and just and pious. Western man takes a zealous position and feels that democracy should not be strived for but imposed. Overlooking the fact that a successful democracy requires a reliable level of education by its people. An education that eastern man does not have. They only man who gains is the western man because he has his thumb firmly over the squirming eastern mans head. Conversely, as the west becomes changed by engine room it too will need a new kind of education.Not a kind of education that is provided in the halls of higher education but a kind for the average man. The need for this education is to animate the phenomenon of scientific myth. Scientific myths are the conceptions that a mass population has as to the limits and powers of science. These myths are most verbalised in the realms of pseudo science, advertisements, media and most importantly industry. As I write there is a turn over over whether or not genetically altered food is safe or not.Both sides are armed with their infantry of experts and spin doctors. Whether there is real danger in the food is almost not a question anymore, rather this issue is that of pub lic relations. The con side could easily win by playing to the fears of the public, by painting a picture of a Jurassic Garden, where asparagus is more noisome than killer bees. It does not matter which theory is right, the public will not be accepting when it is afraid, no amount of RNA, DNA,G,A,T,C,X Y and Zed will change that. This is where people like Carl Sagan fit in.The power of his writing is its ability to teach the average man of the wonders around him in and easy to understand, non-confrontational manner. From this education we will learn to be critical of science and not shun it. The real progress for both western and eastern man will happen on a personal level and education is its vehicle. We do not judge the progress of a society by measuring the height of their buildings, the strength of their telescopes or compassion of their athletes. We measure progress by looking at the individual.

Engineering Ethics Essay

The need for safety is proportional to the peril of having an accident. Nothing is fool-proof, yet we must try to belittle risks. If the public is willing to run or to take such(prenominal) risks, who be engineers to refuse and to say no? (a) In my opinion, the above is a very straightforward argument. The relationship between measures to ensure safety in engineering operationes or products of such motiones may be linear in the short-term, just at the end, it is effectuate that safety goes down to a participant (or worker) or the user of a product designed and employ by engineers.The theories relating accidents to bad or unethical engineering practices are largely based on mentally ill arguments. Even though it is the ethical and moral responsibility for us engineers to ensure safety during design and expression of projects, in that respect can never be a guarantee no matter how perfect we destiny things to be (Davis, 1998). The society needs innovation, and it is our pr ofessional responsibility as engineers to design innovative products to meet this demand. angiotensin converting enzyme thing is important though.All design procedures are based on both theoretical and empiric methodologies where virtually factors surrender to be held constant (Davis, 1998). In real life, these factors sometimes may not ready constant due to some unforeseen eventualities. This is one cause of accidents, and it is unavoidable. The society, through its demand for engineering innovation, in return chooses to engage these risks. b) By definition, a risk is a source of danger or the possibility of incur a misfortune. Safety, on the other bowl over, safety is a state of having some degree of certainty that danger or misfortune will not occur (Davis, 1998).In the engineering process, risk and safety are inversely proportional. The lesser the risks associated with a process, the more the safety of the process and by extension the product. Engineers have, in the proce ss of delivering their services be it in the design or implementation of technical projects, to make sure that the process or project is characterized by as few risks as can be possible (Davis, 1998). As argued in part (a) above, it is virtually impossible to have zero risk. in that respect therefore has to be some degree of safety compromised no matter how insignificant it may be.(c) technology ethics is a work of applied ethics which is primarily concerned with setting and examining standards that should ideally govern engineers practice, their provinces to the society, their employers and to the profession itself (Davis, 1998). A suitable engineer should practice with application program, professionalism, and morality. When an engineer overlooks any element of this set of standards, the consequences may be minimal or disastrous. If divergence from the engineering code of ethics and professional competency and conduct by an engineer causes an accident, thence the engineer is creditworthy for the accident.Unanticipated mishaps may not be due to lack of diligence on the part of an engineer or engineers in charge of a process or the product of such a process (Davis, 1998). However, where there is sufficient proof that the engineer did not follow standard precautions and the infallible standards of professionalism, the engineer should be held accountable for any accidents or mishaps resulting from such. The engineer may admit to being negligent due to his or her personal moral principles but until there is proof of negligence, he or she should not be held responsible.The standards of due diligence applying here are clearly defined in engineers code of ethics, of which there are several defined for the various engineering disciplines (Davis, 1998). The issue Institute for Engineering Ethics (NIEE), the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the American Society of Mechanical Engineer s (ASME), the Society of self-propelled Engineers (SAE) and a host of other local and international engineering societies each have a strong defined set of ethical standards that each of their members is expected to adhere to.Professional engineers should enforce the standards of due diligence outlined in the applicable code of ethics by first of all liaising with educational institutions that tutor engineers so that the standards can be taught as part of engineering courses. After graduation, young engineers should further be examined on their levels of competence before being admitted to engineering societies. These examinations should be repeated on a perpetual basis to ensure that engineers remain competent.In cases where registered engineers fail to comply with due standards of diligence and standards of ethics, their operational licenses should be suspended for some time depending on the seriousness of their negligence and the gravity of its consequences (Davis, 1998). 2. competency, Personality and Morality (a) Competence in an engineer can be measured by his or her level of knowledge, expertise and cast-of-mind as exhibited in his or her delivery of service (Davis, 1998).A good (or competent) engineer will therefore have the knowledge and expertise required to deliver in his or her engineering discipline as headspring as the right attitude towards the profession. These qualities must go hand in hand skills alone cannot intend an engineer as competent since he or she must have the moral and ethical obligation to take responsibility for all professional activities undertaken. A bad (or incompetent) engineer on the other hand lacks at least one of the above attributes.He or she might have the skills and expertise but lack the moral edge, compromising the safety and satisfaction of clients and employers and therefore bringing the profession into disrepute (Davis, 1998). (b) There is a relation between being a good engineer and being a good person in that the principles upheld in ones personal life are probably to be transferred into professional practice (Davis, 1998). A good person conducts him or herself with honesty and claims responsibility for his or her actions.Engineering ethics are about exhibiting sufficiently high standards of obligation to the public, clients, employers and the profession. A person who cannot be held responsible in the society or in his or her personal life will most likely be irresponsible in professional practice and vice versa so good people are most likely to make good engineers (c) Someones moral competence can be established by recording their approach to situations or by establishing what values are placed on the means and ends of a problem (Davis, 1998).Morally competent people tend to weigh situations carefully so that a balance is created between the values placed on the means and those placed on the end. In the engineering context, a morally competent engineer will seek to practice in a m anner that meets engineering ethics so that his or her practice ensures safety and comfort for others. (d) Moral competence evaluations are difficult because morality itself is a very complex issue. Morality is determined by an soulfulnesss world view, and world views vary from one person to another (Davis, 1998).There cannot be a mechanism to justify some moral values as more righteous than others since everyone is entitled to his or her point of view which has been formed by his or her experiences and environment. However, evaluations of moral competence are still necessary since as engineers, we have to build a consensus on the standards which can be termed as mutually acceptable and recommendable for the practice of engineering. ? References Davis, M. (1998). Thinking like an Engineer Studies in the Ethics of a Profession. Oxford Oxford University Press.

International Relations - OpED Assignment Term Paper

International dealing - OpED Assignment - Term Paper ExampleThe sophisticated arms that they used and the manner of the attacks point to a well funded, well trained group that bears the signature of the Lahkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and its several variants. Unlike in the case of close to of the other terror attacks where bombs were placed in crowded places, this was a strange attack like the single on Parliament in 2002. The targeting of well known landmarks and high profile places including Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Taj and Trident hotels and Nariman house shows some previous knowledge of the place obtained by regular visits or through local bulk.Mumbai as the commonwealths financial and business centre has always been an obvious target for those seeking to destabilize the Indian state and terrorists attacks expect been occurring in the city in the recent past. To maximize international attention, the terrorists have targeted Cafe Leopold, and Nariman house both visited by tourists frequently besides the hotels. Some reports speak of their seeking unlike nationals, mainly American and British for hostage-taking.The interrogation of those in custody should provide some details of the people and the organization behind the attack. The use of sea route by terrorists who could have landed on a small boat from out of a larger vessel in the high seas off the margin of Mumbai opens up the possibility of their coming in from Karachi. While the government of Pakistan appears to be serious in putt any form of support that its Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) provided for terrorism behind and in its pursuit of improved relations with India, there are several groups in the country that go virtually quiet openly recruiting and training people for terrorist attacks in India. Given the series of attacks within Pakistan itself, its governments determination and ability to contain terrorist element within is no doubt open to question. Nevertheless, Islamabad nece ssitate to reminded once again to