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A disaster is the tragedy of a natural or human-made hazard (a hazard is a situation which poses a level of threat to life, health, property, or environment) that negatively affects society or environment. In contemporary academia, disasters are seen as the consequence of inappropriately managed risk. These risks are the product of hazards and vulnerability. Hazards that strike in areas with low vulnerability are not considered a disaster, as is the case in uninhabited regions. Developing countries suffer the greatest costs when a disaster hits ? more than 95 percent of all deaths caused by disasters occur in developing countries, and losses due to natural disasters are 20 times greater (as a percentage of GDP) in developing countries than in industrialized countries. A disaster can be defined as any tragic event with great loss stemming from events such as earthquakes, floods, catastrophic accidents, fires, or explosions. ... Read more

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Measuring Vulnerability to Natural Hazards: Towards Disaster Resilient Societies [Paperback]United Nations University (Author), Jorn Birkmann (Editor) ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard (e.g. flood, tornado , volcano eruption, earthquake, or landslide) that affects the environment, and leads to financial, environmental and/or human losses. The resulting loss depends on the capacity of the population to support or resist the disaster, and their resilience. This understanding is concentrated in the formulation: "disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability." A natural hazard will hence never result in a natural disaster in areas without vulnerability, e.g. strong earthquakes in uninhabited areas. The term natural has consequently been disputed because the events simply are not hazards or disasters without human involvement. ... Read more

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A reader-friendly explanation of biotechnology, its history, and its implications for us all. This volume uses everyday metaphors to help readers understand the genetic code and how it works to produce every form of life. From medical technology to agribusiness, Grace examines the realities and ethics of this dynamic technology Pub: 8/97. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

The cutting edge of biotech's promise
Eric Grace is a science writer with a Ph.D. in zoology: his BIOTECHNOLOGY UNZIPPED: PROMISES AND REALITIES may sound technical but is surprisingly accessible, appearing in a revised second edition to provide chapters covering health, environmental concerns, and biotech applications. The first edition, which appeared in 1997, was on the cutting edge of biotech's promise: since then much has happened, and this second edition updates details for the latest studies and issues.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

A competent and readable overview
I bought this book because I wanted a refresher on Molecular Biology.The first half of the text delivers this, explaining key concepts of DNA/RNA, the role of genes and the function of gene expression in the creation of proteins.Upon these understandings the author builds an explanation of genetic engineering.He explains techniques of recombinant DNA, the relevance of stem cells and modern gene therapy.The second half of the book was of less relevance to me, but if you need a journalist's eye view of the whole of biotech, sweeping across everything from cell biology to bioethics, Eric Grace does a reasonable job of providing it.Pro:Competently written and clearly illustrated.Con: Breadth but limited depth.

Great intro for the layperson
After seeing so much in the news about biotechnology, I was in search of an introductory book that would explain the basics of genetic manipulation.This book starts from the very basics--how are genes related to DNA and chromosomes, what are enzymes and proteins, then more sophisticated concepts such as gene splicing and monoclonal antibodies.

While this book won't make anyone an expert scientist, the text and diagrams are clear and concise.I read articles about biotech in the newspapers and business magazines, and this book is a useful primer for those in search of further detail.

After the overall introduction, the author describes biotech applications in several fields, which become a bit of a laundary list after awhile.I would have found fewer, in-depth case studies more interesting.Nevertheless, if you're looking for an informative introduction to biotech, I highly recommend this book.

compelling
BIOTECHNOLOGY UNZIPPED is the most compelling evaluation ofbiotechnology I have read since Harsanyi & Hutton's GENETICPROPHECY of almost 20 years ago. What makes this book soinsightful isthe "tradeoffs" perspective that Grace brings to the subject. In every instance where a particular technique is eitherindevelopment or on the market, the possibilities for selective breeding, or genetic engineering, or composite materials, all hold both a promise and a peril.

Grace, who has a Ph.D. in Zoology andconsiderable experience as ascience writer, attempts to provideenough critical information ineach case so that the reader will get asense of whatconsiderations are involved in any particular"biotechnologysolution". What we learn about biotechnologyfrom him is thatevery biotechnology decision has the followingcharacteristics:

* Costs and revenues (developments cost$millions, so the goal is profits) * Winners and losers(the rich could get lucky, the poor and vulnerable may not)* Benefits and detriments (solutions generate unintended &unwanted consequences) * Enthusiasts and detractors (argumentsarise on all sides of biotechnology issues)

The reasonthat the public is so ambivalent about biotechnology isthat itssupporters have been so inept at making their case.Biotechnologyadvocates seem to think that their's is just aproblem of an"uninformed public" whom they can re- assure becausetheyhave "the facts". They obviously don't appreciate the most important principle of new-age public relations, namely, "They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care".

What Grace shows is that the public does have cause to beconcerned.There are no simple problems, no silver bullets, and nofinalsolutions, even if biotechnology boosters pretend there are.Ifbiotechnology advocates become willing to address theseconcerns, ANDlearn to manage the expectations of theirstakeholders, then they canbegin to earn the respect that willotherwise continue to elude them.Grace's book helps clarify allof this. Well done!

Not That Great Of A Book
I bought and read this book for my biotechnology class and I really did not like it very much. There are certain parts that are understandable. But much of the book was just blah, blah, blah. If you have to take a class onbiotechnology, or just want to read a biotechnology book, this fits you. Ifyou really don't want to read these kind of books, I would not recommendit. ... Read more

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The new edition of At Risk confronts a further ten years of ever more expensive and deadly disasters since it was first published and argues that extreme natural events are not disasters until a vulnerable group of people is exposed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A short review of"At risk : natural hazards"
The four authors of "At Risk, natural hazards, people's vulnerability, and disasters" (three from the UK, one from USA, active in the field of social and development studies) claim that natural disasters are not only caused by the natural environment, but also (or maybe even more) by the social, political and economic environment. It is shown throughout the book when they concentrate on the various hazard types: floods, coastal storms, earthquakes, landslides, vulcanoes, biological hazards and famine. They consistently use a flow diagram describing the framework of the root causes, dynamic pressures, unsafe conditions(on the one side), the hazard (on the other side), and the disaster (in the middle).

The book describes 12 principles towards a safer environment. It cannot be made by technical measures alone. It should address the root causes by challeging any ideology, politicalor economic system which causesor increases vulnerability. It should reduce pressures by developing by macro forces such as urbanisation, re-afforestation, a.o. It should achieve safe conditions by protected environment, resilient local economy and public actions, such as disaster preparedness.Together with technical measures to reduce certain hazards (such as flood defences, shelter breaks, etc), it should all lead to a substantial reduction in disaster risk.

The book illustrates natural hazards from a social studies point of view, with striking observations, such as the bureaucratic blindness and biased relief assistance in South Carolina following hurricane Hugo in 1989 to the needs of many African Americans who lacked insurance and other support systems. The huge North Vietnam floods in 1971 only resulted in a few hundred deaths, largely because of a highly efficient wartime village-level organisation that allowed rapid evacuation and provision of first aid, whereas the similar 1970 Bangladesh floods killed a record 300,000 people.
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