Dr. Silver will discuss his forthcoming book Challenging Nature: The clash of science and spirituality at the new frontiers of life, to be published in May 2006 by Ecco, an imprint of Harper Collins. The philosopher and author Peter Singer calls it "a provocative and sorely needed book," with a "rich array of arguments [that] will force you to think afresh about many cherished preconceptions."

Dr. Silver's previous book was Remaking Eden: How Genetic Engineering and Cloning Will Transform the American Family, a bestseller published in 16 languages. Dr. Silver has published over 180 scientific articles in the fields of genetics, evolution, reproduction, embryology, computer modeling, and behavioral science,and other scholarly papers on topics at the interface between biotechnology, law, ethics, and religion. He has been elected to the governing boards of the Genetics Society of America and the International Mammalian Genome Society. He was a member of the New Jersey Bioethics Commission Task Force formed to recommend reproductive policy for the New Jersey State Legislature, and has testified on reproductive and genetic technologies before U.S. Congressional and New York State Senate committees. He has appeared on numerous television and radio programs including NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, the Jim Lehrer PBS News Hour, Nova, ABC Nightline, The ABC World Report with Peter Jennings, the Charlie Rose Show, 20/20, 60 Minutes, and many others in the U.S. and around the world.

See Silver's website, www.princeton.edu/sites/lsilver, for more information.

This event is part of an ongoing series sponsored by the Stevens Center for Science Writings in collaboration with the Frederick and Julia Bissinger Fund for the Humanities. For more information, contact John Horgan at jhorgan@stevens.edu or 201-216-5057.