Authors: Byron L. Sherwin
ISBN-13: 9781566635684, ISBN-10: 1566635683
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Dee, Ivan R. Publisher
Date Published: January 2004
Edition: (Non-applicable)
Sherwin (Spertus Institute of Jewish studies, Chicago) grew up with stories of the golem, a Jewish android created by mystical means to protect the Jewish people in the Middle Ages. Notably, according to the tradition, the rabbi would know when it was time to destroy his creation. After a survey of developments in bioengineering, Sherwin contends that our ethical decisions in using these scientific advances will determine whether they turn out to be helpful like the golem or destructive like the Frankenstein monster. Annotation © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
An important, unique work.
Grandmother's tales | 3 | |
1 | Golems 'R Us | 7 |
2 | The golem of Prague | 18 |
3 | Creating a golem | 27 |
4 | Golems among us | 35 |
5 | The past meets the present : the golem and the genome | 47 |
6 | Organic golems : Frankenfood and designer genes | 66 |
7 | Test-tube golems : stem cells and the cloned arranger | 94 |
8 | Mechanical golems : toward a postbiological human future? | 123 |
9 | Corporate golems : the Supreme Court creates an artificial person | 156 |
10 | The honey and the sting : the golem meets Frankenstein | 192 |
A note on sources and a personal note | 213 | |
Index | 221 |