Computers and Society Book Review Page 24 June 1995 Thinking through Technology: The Path between Engineering and Philosophy Carl Mitchell University of Chicago Press, 1994 Reviewed by: Thomas P. Cummings cummings@acm.org My wife and I have recently become first-time parents of twins. Our infant son and daughter are "IVF babies," born as the result of a successful in vitro fertilization procedure performed at Cornell University's New York Hospital in December 1993. Like countless other parents of IVF children throughout the world, we are supremely grateful for the sophisticated biomedical technology which has given us the chance to experience parenthood -- a chance we might not otherwise have had. Nonetheless, numerous perplexing ethical issues reside within the bounds of this technology. For example, the fertilization process often creates more embryos than are needed for a particular implanting. These extra embryos are usually frozen for possible future use. If unneeded, should they be destroyed, or donated to a couple who cannot achieve fertilization, or used for research purposes? If the parent couple separates, which partner rightfully owns them? If both parents die without a will, what ownership rights do the survivors have? How we answer these questions often depends upon
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