In the wake of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, executives and policymakers are motivated than ever to reduce the vulnerability of social and economic systems to disasters. Most prior work on "critical infrastructure protection" has focused on the responsibilities and actions of government rather than on those of the private sector firms that provide most vital services. Seeds of Disaster, Roots of Response is the first systematic attempt to understand how private decisions and operations affect public vulnerability. It describes effective and sustainable approaches - both business strategies and...

In the wake of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, executives and policymakers are motivated than ever to reduce the vulnerability of social and economic systems to disasters. Most prior work on critical infrastructure protection has focused on the responsibilities and actions of government rather than on those of the private sector firms that provide most vital services. Seeds of Disaster, Roots of Response is the first systematic attempt to understand how private decisions and operations affect public vulnerability. It describes effective and sustainable approaches both business strategies and...

In this technologically adventurous book, Lewis Branscomb-- distinguished physicist who once headed the National Bureau of Standards and later was IBM's Chief Scientist--explores the "wise and creative" uses of our nation's science, from the boundless faith in science after the Second World War, into the age of technology, which, says Branscomb, "is an expression of the values of the society that creates and uses it." Branscomb examines emerging information technologies--computer software, electronic libraries, video disks, and the information "superhighway"--always exploring the way people...