General Books - Page 4

The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions

Robert Todd Carroll, Robert T. Carroll

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Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Social Sciences -> Sociology -> General AAS
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 47 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A wealth of evidence for doubters and disbelievers

"Whether it’s the latest shark cartilage scam, or some new ‘repressed memory’ idiocy that besets you, I suggest you carry a copy of this dictionary at all times, or at least have it within reach as first aid for psychic attacks. We need all the help we can get."
–James Randi, President, James Randi Educational Foundation, randi.org

"From alternative medicine, aliens, and psychics to the farthest shores of science and beyond, Robert Carroll presents a fascinating look at some of humanity’s most strange and wonderful ideas. Refreshing and witty, both believers and unbelievers will find this compendium complete and captivating. Buy this book and feed your head!"
–Clifford Pickover, author of The Stars of Heaven and Dreaming the Future

"A refreshing compendium of clear thinking, a welcome and potent antidote to the reams of books on the supernatural and pseudoscientific."
–John Allen Paulos, author of Innumeracy and A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper

"This book covers an amazing range of topics and can protect many people from being scammed."
–Stephen Barrett, M.D., quackwatch.org

Featuring close to 400 definitions, arguments, and essays on topics ranging from acupuncture to zombies, The Skeptic’s Dictionary is a lively, commonsense trove of detailed information on all things supernatural, occult, paranormal, and pseudoscientific. It covers such categories as alternative medicine; cryptozoology; extraterrestrials and UFOs; frauds and hoaxes; junk science; logic and perception; New Age energy; and the psychic. For the open-minded seeker, the soft or hardened skeptic, and the believing doubter, this book offers a remarkable range of information that puts to the test the best arguments of true believers.

Suppressed Inventions

Jonathan Eisen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Good Case 4 out of 5 stars.
15 of 15 people found this review helpful.

Jonathan Eisen makes a convincing case that cures for cancer and alternative energy devices are being suppressed. I had professors in engineering college tell stories of people who had been killed for creating super efficient carburetors or former students who had been paid off to stop producing solar energy devices. Well Eisen has put a bunch of these stories together. He even has a whole chapter on alternative carburetors. What I like about the book is that he gives lots of foot notes and references including patents. I don't believe everything he says but with the references I am free to check his sources my self. I think the people on Mars and the moon landing being faked are a little far fetched but he does construct a convincing argument.
onathan Eisen makes a convining case that cures for cancer and
alternative energy devices are being suppressed. I had

Editorial Review:

To compile this book, editor Jonathan Eisen traveled the world in search of documented stories of scientific cover-ups, covert operations, and programs of deliberate misinformation, all designed to hide controversial inventions and discoveries, such as anti-gravity devices, limitless energy sources, results of cancer and AIDS research, and more. 40 photos. 30 illustrations.

On Growth and Form

D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

How to ruin a classic book with an abridged edition 2 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

When I ordered the book, I didn't even realize the edition was abridged. The book arrived suspiciously smaller than I expected it, almost half size. I thought maybe my memory deceived me, but apparently no.

In the introduction of the editor, Mr. John Tyler Bonner, is so kind as to explain that he mistook a classic book on organism and form, for a scientific one. In order to make the book accessible to general public (who said it was not?) and to "correct" Mr. D'Arcy's writing, Mr. Bonner removed the "dangerous" chapters with "vague" (always according to him) arguments, and the "out-of-date" material, and finally to turned D'Arcy's book into his own.

What I want to clarify is that I am not giving two stars to Mr. D'Arcy's book, for this book I did not read. Instead I am giving 2 stars to Mr. Bonner, to Cambridge University Press, to Canto and to Amazon (for not noting this is an abridged piece of work) for destroying a classic.

REMINDER: THE BOOK IS ABRIDGED EDITION, and the editor not so great

Editorial Review:

Why do living things and physical phenomena take the form they do? D'Arcy Thompson's classic On Growth and Form looks at the way things grow and the shapes they take. Analysing biological processes in their mathematical and physical aspects, this historic work, first published in 1917, has also become renowned for the sheer poetry of its descriptions. A great scientist sensitive to the fascinations and beauty of the natural world tells of jumping fleas and slipper limpets; of buds and seeds; of bees' cells and rain drops; of the potter's thumb and the spider's web; of a film of soap and a bubble of oil; of a splash of a pebble in a pond. D'Arcy Thompson's writing, hailed as 'good literature as well as good science; a discourse on science as though it were a humanity', is now made available for a wider readership, with a foreword by one of today's great populisers of science, explaining the importance of the work for a new generation of readers.

The Firefly Encyclopedia of Astronomy

Margaret Penston

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

An extensive astronomy reference, beautifully illustrated and expertly written.

The Firefly Encyclopedia of Astronomy is organized A-Z with concise details on each topic. The pages are profusely illustrated with vivid computer graphics, photography and archival images. Included are accessible contributions by 650 world-leading astronomers covering:

• History from the Big Bang to present
• Famous astronomer bios
• Key space missions since the launch of Sputnik
• The work of observatories worldwide.

"Backyard stargazing is a lot more fun when you understand what you're looking at. The Orion Nebula is pretty in any telescope, but the view is all the more inspiring when you know that the light you're seeing left the nebula as the Roman Empire fell and that new stars are continually forming from the glowing gas.

"It's appropriate that professionals and amateurs should come together to produce such a work, because at the dawn of the twenty-first century the line between the two communities is becoming blurred. Technology is putting state-of-the-art capabilities into the hands of backyard observers, many of whom are now collaborating with professionals to study phenomena as diverse as Martian dust storms and bursts of energetic radiation from distant galaxies.

"Wherever your astronomical interests take you, this encyclopedia will be a welcome and valuable companion."

Rick Fienberg
Editor-in-Chief of Sky and Telescope magazine

(20041201)

Oxford Dictionary of Biology (Oxford Paperback Reference)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Amazing, concise dictionary 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is the best dictionary that I have ever purchased. The dictionary has EVERYTHING that a college biology major (or biology professional) needs. The definitions are thorough and extremely well written. The dictionary itself is organized perfectly. Everything about this dictionary is great--inside and out! A must-buy for any biology student, teacher or anyone else who is interested in the subject.

Editorial Review:

Fully revised and updated, this new sixth edition is the perfect guide for those studying biology either in high school or college. The Dictionary offers more than 5,500 clear and concise entries, including more than 300 entries new to this edition. It provides comprehensive coverage of biology, biophysics, and biochemistry, includes biographical entries on key scientists, and features highlighted entries on important topics such as bioinformatics, genomics, molecular evolution, and protein structure. The new edition also features web links accessed via a companion website, featuring additional information that is regularly updated to ensure that it stays fresh. The volume also has many appendices, including a list of useful web sites, mass extinctions of species, and SI units, plus entirely new appendices on model organisms and their genomes and on Nobel prizewinners.

An Introduction to Management Science: Quantitative Approaches to Decision Making (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac®) (Introduction to Management Science)

David R. Anderson, Dennis J. Sweeney, Thomas A. Williams

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Lack of real life examples 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The examples of these book are not in synch with real life. Much of it is a vague attempt of creative writing.

Necessary for class 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

It may not be the best textbook in the world but its not the worst. Actually, I can't find anything wrong with it except for the coffee stain I left while studying.

The text comes with a CD that contains Excel worksheets described in the book. Regardless of whether examples in the book are relevant to everyday life, they explain the situation.

Minus one star for not having a study guide to go along with it. Thats all, other than that... decent book.

Editorial Review:

ASW's Introduction to Management Science: A Quantitative Approach to Decision Making provides thorough, application-oriented coverage in a very readable writing style. This is the best traditional text on the market. Simply put, this is a classic! The problem-scenario approach introduces quantitative procedures through situations that include both problem formulation and technique application. The extensive linear programming coverage includes problem formulation, computer solution, and practical application. The text covers transportation, assignment, and the integer programming extension of linear programming, as well as advanced topics like waiting line models, simulation, and decision analysis. A large selection of problems includes self-test problems with complete solutions and case problems. Excel spreadsheet appendices are included in this edition as well.

The Sciences: An Integrated Approach

James Trefil, Robert M. Hazen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Good intentions with conceptual problems 3 out of 5 stars.
24 of 28 people found this review helpful.

The book covers a lot of subjects with the intention of providing a basic aproach to science. There are some lack of precise characterization of important concepts. For instance, it confuses heat with internal energy ( not heat as energy in transit). Also it does not defines mass adequatetly as a measure of inertia, which may cause confusion when one studies relativity. These were problems detected at first sight. I suggest to by, through Amazon, "Integrated Science", by Tillery, Enger and Roos, from Mc Graw Hill, to get a general view of fundamental science with a more clear, and rigorous definition of terms.

Editorial Review:

The Sciences, 4th Edition integrates major concepts from physics, chemistry, astronomy, earth sciences, and biology to help anyone become science-literate. Even readers with little or no science background will find this unique book an indispensable guide to understanding the latest headlines, controversies, and scientific developments. The new edition keeps pace with the dynamic nature of the sciences by incorporating the most up-to-date discoveries in all five disciplines. 

Design to be used alongside Trefil:  The Sciences, 4E, this Study Guide contains many elements that foster student success.  Included are chapter reviews, learning objectives, key chapter concepts and key concept charts. The ties between science and math are reinforced with key formulas and equations. Links to scientists and their findings are outlined to help improve your comprehension of key subject area concepts.

Listen

Joseph Kerman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The best survey available 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is the best general survey of music available. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to have a grasp of the periods and styles of Western music, even if they have little or no background in music. It also contains a sampling of world music. When used with the 6 CD supplement it will make anyone feel more "at home" with the history of music and open many windows for exploration.

Great Music History/Appreciation Book! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

We used this book in my IB Music class in high school, and I highly recommend it. The CDs are helpful, but you will find that even without them, it is a great asset. Most of the recordings are very standard, so you could easily find them online if you didn't want to buy the CDs and wanted to hear the "listening examples." It is very clear and includes good timelines which makes it easy to study.

I am a music major in college and own this book just because it is so user friendly.

Editorial Review:

With its superb recording package and innovative listening charts, this landmark text teaches students how to listen to music better than any other. Listen makes music approachable by placing it in its cultural context with lavish illustrations, timelines, and maps. Equipped with a free Study Guide CD-ROM, the new edition is more accessible than ever, offering additional help in focused listening and in music fundamentals.

Hidden Light: Science Secrets of the Bible

David, Dr., Ph.D. Medved

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Remarkable book, well worth reading! 5 out of 5 stars.
13 of 13 people found this review helpful.

This is a most remarkable book. It is well worth the attention of anyone who respects both the validity of modern science and the unique and sublime authority of the Bible. There is no posturing. This is not a compilation of narrow prejudices. Every subject discussed is worthy of attention, and is explained in a way that respects the intelligence of the reader.

About half of the book concerns the creation account in Genesis 1-3. Much of this attempts to show that a pleasing and respectful harmony exists between these accounts and the latest findings of modern science. This is a welcome contrast to the assertions of both the Bible thumping dogmatists and the Bible bashing scoffers that one too often encounters in this arena. One doesn't have to agree with the particular syntheses that the author gives, to recognize the great value of what he has done and to admit that his views deserve a respectful hearing.

David Medved rightly dismisses "other creation stories" (page 8) as vastly inferior to the Biblical creation account, which is uniquely worthy of serious attention by serious scientists, theologians and philosophers. And then he proceeds to give his synthesis of the account.

I like, and agree with, his recognition that words such as "heavens", "waters", "light", and "darkness" all are used in the creation narrative with a measure of ineffability added. He gives his own very valid suggestions as to their meaning. I agree with some of these, and disagree with others, but in all cases his views are well worth pondering.

He relates "light" (Genesis 1:3 "Let there be light.") with the time (about 370,000 years after the Big Bang) that proper atoms first form -- the decoupling of matter from radiation, when the universe cooled to the point that protons (and heavier nuclei) could capture and hold electrons to form hydrogen and other proper atoms. But in what seems to be a disjuncture, he relates "the separation of light from darkness" with the separation of matter and antimatter -- so that "light" would relate more to radiation in its various forms than to the more specialized meaning of light produced when the universe became transparent. Incidentally, it is indeed true that the "disappearance" of anti-matter in the early universe is something of a mystery to scientists.

For myself, I go along with the definition of light as radiation, and prefer it to the more conventional limitation to visible light, but admit that his suggestion is an intriguing possibility. On the other hand, I personally associate the "separation of light from darkness" with the remarkable cosmic inflation that occurred a minute fraction after the big bang, as if a small marble suddenly expanded in an instant to an object larger than the Milky Way galaxy (a factor of 10^26). The result of this expansion was the creation of true darkness (absence of radiation of any sort) throughout the fabric of space. Without this remarkable inflation, the universe could not have existed.

However I agree with the author's implication that the separation was probably a specific action on God's part.

One thing I particularly like is his dismissal of (or refusal to acknowledge) the conventional mythological explanations of phenomena in the creation account -- such as the supposed "Hebrew cosmology" which is constructed along the lines of (and postdates??) the later Greek and Egyptian cosmologies. Googling the phrase explains that it is "a pre-scientific attempt to understand the universe." I reject this completely, and so apparently does the author, if one can argue from silence. Thus he interprets the "waters" above/below the "firmament" in a way that recognizes a range of usage of both words that extends well beyond mere H2O and a solid dome.


Another topic of the book is the glorious celebration of God's creation in Psalm 19. He gives proper deference to the question of how the "silent speech" of verse 3 should be understood ("There is no speech, nor are there words. Their voice is not heard." ). I agree with him that the Psalm indeed says that the speech is not heard, and so those translations that attempt to "fix" or "make sense" of the verses are moving in the wrong direction. But rather than relating it to the "music of the spheres" and other phenomena of actual music, I tend to believe that the "silent speech" refers to the built-in "declarations" that exist throughout the natural world which testify to God's glory and handiwork. My own area of particular interest is the detailed geological record of how God prepared the earth for humans. The scrutability of science is one of the most amazing features of our world - as noted by Albert Einstein's famous remark, "The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible." For myself, I associate that "comprehensibility" with the "silent voice" of Psalm 19 -- after all, God did not have to build a universe that yields its inner secrets to the persistent inquirer!!!

Aside from these two passages -- creation and Psalm 19 -- the remainder of the book concerns various kabbalistic arguments. Actually I don't find these kabbalistic arguments off-putting -- perhaps they are typical of Jewish exegesis. At the least they are thought-provoking and thus enrich my enjoyment in reading the book. Examples include: the significance of the first letter in the creation account (page 2), the "mis-spelling" of the Hebrew word for "line" (page 98-99) that leads to an accurate value of pi, and the molecular structure of water in the shape of the Hebrew word (page 124).

Two or three minor quibbles. There are a few technical puzzlements which seem to me to indicate a possible lack of knowledge of some of the esoterica of the Biblical text. But nobody can be an expert in everything in this hyper-specialized day, so I'd rather have him writing imperfectly than not writing at all: he has a lot of very interesting things to say.

For example, at the very start, his comment on the (possible) significance of the form of the first letter (bet) in the creation account -- this is not at all the form of bet in the Paleo-Hebrew script (see the table in Wikipedia), so is the "significance" something introduced with the later Hebrew script?

Another example: he makes a number of fairly strong assertions based on specific dates between the times of Abraham and Solomon, as if these dates are precisely known. My understanding is that these dates are not precisely known, so one wonders if his conclusions are a bit specious.

I am also a bit bothered by the implied equivalence of the suggestions of ancient Hebrew scholars with the discoveries of modern science, such as the remark about Einstein's relativity. In the world of modern science, the prize goes to the one who presents objective, testable evidence, and not to the one who just speculates. Einstein's relativity, for example, was the result of hard mathematical work, which was in the first instance implied by the anomalies of hard scientific data (such as the Michelson-Morley experiment).

Finally, there are a moderate number of annoying typos, typical of the modern word-processing culture -- not show-stopping, but mildly annoying nonetheless -- unfortunately, this is quite typical in books today (and in my own web writing!). Also his tendency to use passive constructions (all too much a characteristic of my own efforts at "serious" writing) shows the need for another pass by a good, picky, and annoying editor.

I highly recommend this book! Reading it was sheer pleasure.

hmschallenger

PROC SQL by Example: Using SQL within SAS

Howard Schreier

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Editorial Review:

In PROC SQL by Example: Using SQL within SAS, author Howard Schreier illustrates the use of PROC SQL in the context of the SAS DATA step and other SAS procedures (such as SORT, FREQ, MEANS, SUMMARY, APPEND, DATASETS, and TRANSPOSE) whose functionality overlaps and complements that of SQL.

Using a side-by-side approach, this concise reference guide includes many extensively explained examples showing equivalent DATA step and SQL code, enabling SAS users to take advantage of existing SAS skills and knowledge while learning about SQL. Discussions cover the differences between SQL and the DATA step as well as situations where SQL and the DATA step are used together to benefit from the strengths of each.

Topics addressed include working with joins and merges; using subqueries; understanding set operators; using the Macro Facility with PROC SQL; maintaining tables; working with views; using PROC SQL as a report generator; and more.

This text is ideal for SAS programmers seeking to add PROC SQL to their SAS toolkits as well as SQL programmers striving to better integrate the SAS DATA step and SQL.