Bad Ideas?: An arresting history of our inventions - Hardcover

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Robert Winston is one of Britain's best-known scientists. As Emeritus Professor of Fertility Studies at Imperial College, London, he is a leading voice in the debate on embryo research and genetic engineering. His television series include Child of Our Time, Human Instinct, and The Story of God which have made him a household name. He became a life peer in 1995.

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We are born with the instinct to create and invent. Indeed, our ability to do so is what separates us from the rest of the animal world. The moment man first converted a stone into a useful tool he was set on a relentless path towards greater power over his environment. But have our creative ideas always produced desirable results in line with their original good intentions? Have they always served us well?

Bad Ideas? traces the fascinating history of our attempts at self-improvement but also questions their value. The dubious consequences of the development of weaponry, for example, is self-evident. But what of apparently more innocuous advances such as farming, writing, medicine and the harvesting of fire? Science has produced huge good but has also had unforeseen consequences which seem increasingly to threaten our existence. Can science and scientists find solutions to the perils that now menace us?

We join Robert Winston on a thrilling journey from our earliest days to the present, written against a huge historical canvas, We learn about the history of science and engineering, following the unexpected twists and turns of progress. We meet some key individuals along the way and share quirky anecdotes about their lives and brainwaves. Inspiring, unusual and at times controversial, Bad Ideas? assess the past and looks forward to the opportunities and ethical challenges of the future. In so doing it celebrates man's extraordinary capacity for achievement and offers a hopeful way forward to protect humanity against what sometimes seem like bad ideas.