William Marks

^IThe Assault on Equality^R critiques the social theory underpinning the social policies of the new political right. It focuses on the attempt by Herrnstein and Murray in ^IThe Bell Curve^R to provide theoretical justification for social program cutbacks and coercive social policies. ^IThe Assault on Equality^R reanalyzes Herrnstein and Murray's own data and demonstrates that their conclusions are questionable results of polemic and ideology that ignore and contradict the fundamental findings and methods of 20th-century sociology and genetics. The policy proposals of Newt Gingrich are the political counterpart to the flawed social theory of ^IThe Bell Curve^R. Both scholarly and readable, this is an appropriate supplement in courses such as race relations, stratification, theory, policy, and research methods. It shows the contemporary relevance of basic theoretical and methodological insights of sociology contradicted by ^IThe Bell Curve^R and other works of the new political right. Appendices present the statistical issues and the theoretical background ignored by such works. From a multi-disciplinary perspective, the authors take issue with the social policy positions of the new right concerning affirmative action, education, family, race, social class, and welfare.

^IThe Assault on Equality^R critiques the social theory underpinning the social policies of the new political right. It focuses on the attempt by Herrnstein and Murray in ^IThe Bell Curve^R to provide theoretical justification for social program cutbacks and coercive social policies. ^IThe Assault on Equality^R reanalyzes Herrnstein and Murray's own data and demonstrates that their conclusions are questionable results of polemic and ideology that ignore and contradict the fundamental findings and methods of 20th-century sociology and genetics. The policy proposals of Newt Gingrich are the political counterpart to the flawed social theory of ^IThe Bell Curve^R. Both scholarly and readable, this is an appropriate supplement in courses such as race relations, stratification, theory, policy, and research methods. It shows the contemporary relevance of basic theoretical and methodological insights of sociology contradicted by ^IThe Bell Curve^R and other works of the new political right. Appendices present the statistical issues and the theoretical background ignored by such works. From a multi-disciplinary perspective, the authors take issue with the social policy positions of the new right concerning affirmative action, education, family, race, social class, and welfare.

Long gone are the days of drinking naturally pure water from flowing rivers and streams--or even your tap. Today it is becoming common practice to use bottled or filtered water. How did we arrive at such a state, and what can we do about it? Pollution, ever-increasing population, industrial pressures, rainforest destruction, and ground water waste have all led to the deterioration of water quality, yet the underlying problem--as Marks shows in his wide-ranging, thoughtful book--is the general lack of understanding of the nature of water itself. Marks' topics are as diverse: water's role in the origin of the universe and life itself; cosmic rain and water in interstellar space; water in the traditional myths and religions; the power of water in its many forms in the natural world; vortex energy and living water; water and the human body; water healing; and a history of water pollution. He offers hope for the future by discussing the work of visionaries such as Theodor Schwenk and Viktor Schauberger. We see that, in the end, one cannot understand water unless it is viewed as a mediator--not only between life and death, but also between the physical and the spiritual worlds.