Radical Thinkers Set 15 – serie

Deemed by Arthur C. Clarke to be "the most brilliant attempt at scientific prediction ever made", The World, the Flesh and the Devil is most famous for having been the first to propose the so-called Bernal Sphere, a type of space habitat intended for permanent residence. Written by one of the most well-known and controversial scientists of the twentieth century, this futuristic essay explores radical changes to human bodies and intelligence, as well as suggesting their impact on society in the future. It includes far-reaching visions of the future of space research and colonisation, material sciences, genetic engineering and near-technology, as well as the idea of a universal brain of the species to be created by technological means. In Bernal's view, it will be possible for the material conditions of civilisation to reach a state of materialist utopia on earth. For all three realms, the world, the flesh and the devil, Bernal attempted to map out the utmost limit of technoscientific progress of which he could conceive, and found that there are almost no limits.Introduced by McKenzie Wark

Skillfully deploying a large cast of characters, Sheehan retraces the development of Marxist philosophy of science through detailed and highly readable accounts of the debates that have characterized it. Approaching Marxism from the perspective of the philosophy of science, Sheehan shows how Marx's and Engel's ideas on the development and structure of natural science had a crucial impact on the work of early twentieth-century natural philosophers, historians of science, and natural scientists.From the ideas of Marx and Engels, those of the Marxist theoreticians of the Second International to the debates within Russian Marxism up to World War II, Sheehan masterfully surveys the history of marxist philosophy of science, concluding with a close analysis of the development of the debate among non-Soviet Marxists, placing particular emphasis on the contributions of leading British Marxists in the 1930s.