Author: Richard Hull

Remembering an exceptional chemist, humanist, and educator.

In Part 1 (FI, February/March 2008), we argued for the rapid deployment of what we called “first-round survival technologies.” These technologies are designed to satisfy certain of mankind’s fundamental needs while buying additional time to hold global warming within tolerable limits—long enough, it is hoped, to make other substantive changes that are required for humankind’s …

Four significant and interconnected physical problems are likely to reach critical stages over the next two decades. They are: Global warming and environmental degradation Depletion of key resources including oil, gas and potable water Pollution caused by use of fossil fuels with current technologies A world population that has grown beyond Earth’s carrying capacity (which …

On July 11, 1987, I found our only child, Geoffrey, dead in his bed. He was home after his freshman year at Ober-lin College. Dyslexic and not a distinguished student, he had nonetheless graduated from Buffalo’s first-rate Calasanctius prep school and scored well enough on the S.A.T. to have his choice of colleges. Anthropology was …

IntroductIon Richard T. Hull and Tom Flynn, Special Section Co-Editors Heated controversy surrounds today’s efforts to develop ethics by which to manage emerging biotechnologies. Since President Bush’s August 9, 2001, decision to limit federally funded stem cell research to existing lines, debate has swung back and forth on issues such as whether adult stem cells …

PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE, PRO AND CONPHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE, PRO AND CON Physician-Assisted Suicide In early 1997, the medical community awaited the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Vacco v. Quill. Ultimately, the high court would overturn this suit, in which doctors and patients had sought to overturn New York’s law prohibiting physician-assisted suicide. But it was fascinating to …

My typical reaction to noteworthy scientific advances is amazement and joy: amazement at the complexity of scientific knowledge and its rate of expansion, joy at living in a time when there is so much promise offered by science for having a major impact on human destiny. As a humanist, I see the ability of my …