Brian Martin

Climate change, psychiatric drugs, genetically modified organisms, nuclear power, fluoridation, stem cell research - these are just a few of the hundreds of issues involving science and technology that are vigorously debated. If you care about an issue, how can you be more effective in arguing for your viewpoint and campaigning in support of it? The Controversy Manual offers practical advice for campaigners as well as plenty of information for people who want to better understand what\'s happening and to be able to discuss the issues with friends. The Controversy Manual provides information for understanding controversies, arguing against opponents, getting your message out, and defending against attack. Whether experts are on your side or mostly on the side of opponents, you\'ll find advice for being more effective. While not taking sides on individual controversies, the emphasis is on fostering fair and open debate and opposing those who use power and manipulation to get their way. The author Brian Martin is professor of social sciences at the University of Wollongong, Australia. He has been involved in and studied scientific and technological controversies since the 1970s, and is the author numerous publications addressing controversy dynamics.

If you do nothing, the problem will continue. If you speak out, you become a target for attack - and the problem may still continue.Whistleblowing: A Practical Guide tells how to assess your options, prepare for action, use low-profile operations, negotiate official channels, leak, build support and survive the experience. It is filled with sample cases that show what can happen when you make incorrect assumptions or fall into common traps. The advice in this guidebook is based on the author\'s contact with hundreds of whistleblowers and dissidents, plus consultation with others experienced in the area. Although there are no guarantees of success, Whistleblowing: A Practical Guide can improve your odds of making a difference. Even if you never expect to challenge the system yourself, it will give you valuable insight into the dynamics of individual struggles and what is happening to others.Brian Martin has been involved with issues of dissent and whistleblowing for over 30 years and has extensive experience with social movements. He is active in Whistleblowers Australia and edits its newletter, The Whistle. Pofessor Martin has a PhD in theoretical physics and now works as a social scientist at the University of Wollongong. He is the author of a dozen books and hundreds of articles in diverse fields including dissent, nonviolent action, scientific controversies, strategies for social movements, democracy and information issues.

The story about baseball's being invented in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839 by Abner Doubleday served to prove that the U.S. national pastime was an American game, not derived from the English children's game of rounders as had been believed. The tale, embraced by Americans, has long been proven false but to this day, Cooperstown is celebrated as the birthplace of baseball. The story has captured the hearts of millions. But who spun that tale and why? This book provides a surprising answer about the origins of America's most durable myth. It seems that Abner Graves, who espoused Cooperstown as the birthplace of the game, likely was inspired by another story about an early game of baseball. The stories were remarkably similar, as were the men who told them. For the first time, this book links the stories and lives of Graves, a mining engineer, and Adam Ford, a medical doctor, both residents of Denver, Colorado. While the actual origins of the game of baseball remain subject to debate and study, new light is shed on the source of baseball's durable creation myth.

This turned out to be a political disaster for the Indonesian government, greatly increasing international support for the East Timorese independence strugggle.The massacre backfired on the Indonesian government. The Backfire Manual explains why. Imagine you´re planning an action and think you might come under attack. Maybe it´s a rally and there´s a risk of police brutality. Maybe you´re exposing government corruption and there could be reprisals against your group. To be prepared, you need to understand the tactics likely to be used by your opponent, for example covering up the action and trying to discredit you and your group.The Backfire Manual provides guidance for this sort of planning. It outlines the backfire model and gives examples and exercises for using it. This is a practical handbook for being more effective whenever you face a powerful, dangerous opponent.Brian Martin is professor of social sciences at the University of Wollongong, Australia. He is the author of numerous books and articles on nonviolent action and is vice president of Whistleblowers Australia.

This is a book for how to improve what you are already doing well. How to improve your writings as an academic, playing skills as a musician, jogging as a runner or honour codes as a good citizen and friend.

This is a book for how to improve what you are already doing well. How to improve your writings as an academic, playing skills as a musician, jogging as a runner or honour codes as a good citizen and friend.

Gaining notoriety as the science behind the controversial experiments of the Large Hadron Collider, particle physics explores our most fundamental and mind-blowing problems: How did the Universe start? What are we made of? How small is the smallest thing? Without presuming any prior scientific knowledge, Brian R. Martin takes readers on a wide-ranging tour of the field, from its beginnings in nuclear physics to the discovery of quarks to present-day research into string theory, the mystery of antimatter, and the search for the elusive God particle.

John Henry Newman katolsk teolog, författare, diktare och kardinal saligförklarades den 19 september 2010. Hans rika författarskap har med djärva grepp fört det teologiska tänkandet in i nutiden och visat på dess förenlighet med förnuft, vetenskap och bildning. Brian Martins biografi berättar ingående om hans växlande levnadsbana och framställer honom både i hans begränsningar och i hans genialitet.

A Story about a normal teen boy who stumbles on one of two mythological swords once belonging to a powerful ancient God. The sword gives him Superhuman abilities nothing ever experienced by anyone on the planet. But danger rises when an Evil God known as Solaro finds out of the last sword being found; which he wants for himself. After waiting for centuries, Solaro now has the last sword in his grasp; but it is a fight to the finish to make sure this last sword does not get into the wrong hands. If it does, it could mean the end of the World; and perhaps the universe.

Attacks can backfire on attackers—sometimes spectacularly. In March 1991, an observer videotaped several Los Angeles police beating Rodney King with their batons. Shown on television, the beating caused enormous damage to the reputation of the police and led to the chief's resignation. This incident and others, such as the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the 1965 surveillance of Ralph Nader, prove that all sorts of attacks can backfire, from torture and massacres to job dismissals and reprisals against whistle-blowers. Through numerous detailed case studies, Justice Ignited presents the first comprehensive treatment of the dynamics of backfire, as it reveals the most promising tactics for causing the backfire of unfair attacks. Understanding backfire—both promoting and inhibiting it—is vitally important for activists and everyone else who wants to be effective in the face of injustice.

Attacks can backfire on attackers_sometimes spectacularly. In March 1991, an observer videotaped several Los Angeles police beating Rodney King with their batons. Shown on television, the beating caused enormous damage to the reputation of the police and led to the chief's resignation. This incident and others, such as the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the 1965 surveillance of Ralph Nader, prove that all sorts of attacks can backfire, from torture and massacres to job dismissals and reprisals against whistle-blowers. Through numerous detailed case studies, Justice Ignited presents the first comprehensive treatment of the dynamics of backfire, as it reveals the most promising tactics for causing the backfire of unfair attacks. Understanding backfire_both promoting and inhibiting it_is vitally important for activists and everyone else who wants to be effective in the face of injustice.

How might the entire citizenry of a country make the decisions that affect them? Carson and Martin provide the first accessible and comprehensive overview of random selection as a possible process for transforming our modern political systems. Building on the theoretical work of the likes of John Burnheim and Fred Emery and drawing on their own work with social action groups, they outline a set of methods that go beyond the mere tapping of community opinion to reveal not only preferences but a more active role in creating the community.Random selection, as Carson and Martin show, has been used in community participation in short-term decision making and long-term planning. It can be a powerful tool in the development of local, federal, and international policy. An important and innovative look at government decision making, this will be of primary interest to scholars and researchers in political theory and electoral systems, as well as political activists and reformers.

Scientific Knowledge in Controversy: The Social Dynamics of the Fluoridation Debate is a study of today's most heated and long-lived health controversy as well as a study of the role of power in science. It uses the tools of sociology of knowledge and political economy to analyze battles over scientific evidence and the struggle for scientific credibility, the exercise of professional power to suppress opponents, and the role of corporate interests in the debate. The evidence from a variety of countries offers a new perspective on the fluoridation issue and also shows how to link the analysis of rhetoric in scientific disputes with the wider analysis of power in society.