Nature Remade: Engineering Life, Envisioning Worlds

Engineering has deeply influenced biology, with proposals to remake the living world going in many directions. Nature Remade explores these complex prospects from a historical approach, tracing cases across the decades of the long twentieth century. It affirms the centrality of engineering in understanding and imagining modern life, organized around three themes: control and reproduction, knowing as making, and envisioning.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 320 pages
\n Publication date: 05 August 2021
\n Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
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Engineering has firmly established itself within the intricate web of biology, even as proposals to reshape the living world have branched out in countless directions, spanning every scale imaginable. Nature Remade delves into these intricate possibilities with a resolutely historical lens, tracing cases across the span of the long twentieth century. These essays encompass a wide range of engineering endeavors, spanning from the molecular level to the organismic, population, ecosystem, and planetary scales. From the cloning of agricultural crops and the artificial nourishment of silkworms to biomimicry, genetic engineering, and terraforming, Nature Remade firmly establishes the centrality of engineering in its diverse manifestations for comprehending and envisioning modern life.

Organized around three central themes—control and reproduction, knowing as making, and envisioning—the chapters in Nature Remade explore diverse methods, scales, and ramifications of intervening and reimagining nature.

In the first theme, control and reproduction, the authors examine the ways in which engineering has been used to manipulate and control natural processes, such as crop breeding and genetic modification. They explore the ethical implications of these interventions, as well as the potential benefits and risks they pose to both human societies and the broader natural world.

The second theme, knowing as making, focuses on the ways in which engineering has transformed our understanding of nature and our place within it. The authors explore the role of technology in enabling us to observe, analyze, and manipulate the natural world in unprecedented ways, as well as the ethical considerations that arise from this knowledge-making process.

The third theme, envisioning, explores the ways in which engineering has shaped our imagination and our aspirations for the future. The authors examine the role of science fiction and other forms of speculative literature in shaping our understanding of the possibilities and limitations of engineering, as well as the ethical implications of these imaginative visions.

Through its comprehensive exploration of these themes, Nature Remade offers a rich and nuanced perspective on the complex relationship between engineering and nature. It challenges readers to consider the ethical and societal implications of our interventions in the natural world, as well as the potential for positive and transformative change that can be achieved through engineering.

In conclusion, Nature Remade is a thought-provoking and essential read for anyone interested in the intersection of engineering and nature. It provides a comprehensive and interdisciplinary perspective on the complex prospects and possibilities of reshaping the living world, and offers valuable insights into the ethical and societal challenges that we must confront as we navigate this rapidly evolving field.

\n Weight: 606g\n
Dimension: 159 x 235 x 26 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780226783260\n \n