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Book reviews for "Hooper,_Judith" sorted by average review score:

The Three-Pound Universe
Published in Paperback by J. P. Tarcher (1991)
Authors: Judith Hooper, Dick Teresi, and Isaac Asimov
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Great start, gets bogged down for the long haul.
This book really seemed promising, with a great title and a very fine first 50 pages or so. But then it sort of gets lost, meandering through a survey of all sorts of disconnected research material. It seems to be saying the same things over and over, pozing interesting questions along the way, but always just leaving them on the table and moving on. I had to fight to read the last 50 pages (I hate not finishing books). Good cover and publishing job.

Read this book when you're young---
In another lifetime, I would have studied neurobiology--and this book would have been what inspired me. I read this book a decade ago, and recently re-read it. It's still as good; and is enhanced by Asimov's forward. The book touches on the relationship between who we are physically, and what we think. There are chapters explaining the intricate link between our senses (visual perception and sound, for example--how sound can sometime produce 'colors').

The Three-Pound Universe discusses madness, heaven and hell, god, the neurobiology of madness, altered states of consciousness....it touches on a lot, without going too in depth. It was a great introduction, one that inspired me to read more on the subject. If this book had been published in the 1980's, and I had stumbled on it in high school, it could have changed my life.

An amazing and wonderful book
This is one of those books that end up profoundly affecting your life and your world view. I changed the direction of my career because of things I read in here. Take a chance and read it. You will never view the world quite the same again. It led me to read at least ten more books that were mentioned in it and they were great too. Reading this book is really a worthwhile way to spend your time.


Of Moths and Men: An Evolutionary Tale
Published in Hardcover by W.W. Norton & Company (15 August, 2002)
Author: Judith Hooper
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poor choice of references
While the bulk of the book was interesting but had little actual bearing on the veracity of evolution, the scholarship aspect took a dive when I realized that Hoopper had relied on the rantings of a creationist electrical engineer as a source of information on "Haldane's Dilemma."

That alone told me that I should be very wary of any conclusions the author offers, and it should similarly make other readers wary.

Damn good story
Like many others, I was convinced of the power of natural selection via the peppered moth story in introductory college biology. I heard about this book in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Discover, and Science, and thought I'd better give it a read, for my own education. I did get an education, but more than that. "Of Moths and Men" reads like a novel. I loved the real-life characters--Bernard Kettlewell, EB Ford, Ted Sargent. A real pleasure to read, even if you don't care about evolution, and a tale about how science is really done. A cross between Crime and Punishment and A Confederacy of Dunces.

An excellent account of how science can be subverted
Why does the theory of evolution matter? And what demonstrable evidence can we point to that shows its mechanism operating within the life-span of a living organism? Anyone who took high school biology in the latter half of the 20th century is familiar with the photos of moths that "prove" the adaptive changes at work in this species, favoring the survival of black moths in industrially polluted England and the increased predation suffered by their lighter-hued cousins. The research, the experiments, and the resultant glory were centered around a tiny group of scientists at Oxford; the theoretical geneticist at the heart of the endeavor was E.B Ford, the field experimenter was Bernard Kettlewell. Until quite recently their evidence, and their theories, have gone unchallenged, but lately there has been a significant shift in the paradigm of adaptive evolution that they held sacred. Moreover, many of their experimetnal techniques, data, and conclusions have come under serious question by a new generation of scientists.
In her engrossing book, OF MOTHS AND MEN, Judith Hooper revisits the story of the theory of evolution, from Darwin's masterful insight to later refinements and controversies around the basic assumptions. This in itself is no small accomplishment, and her narrative is both lucid and compelling, but this is really just the necessary background to her real tale. Next she paints a compelling portrait of the handful of scientists at Oxford who set out to illustrate adaptive mechanisms once and for all from nature; not coincidentally, she gives us an incisive view of intellectual life at the pinnacle of the biological sciences establishment in mid-century England. And finally, she shows us how the experimental model that was so widely accepted (and so ubiquitously illustrated by all those photos of moths in textbooks) began to unravel. By the time she's done, we understand the stakes involved in keeping intact the "proof" underlying one of the principal tenets of the modern view of the world, and the tenacity, ambition, and intrigue of the major players.
Along the way Hooper manages to keep clear to the reader, miraculously enough, all the science and personalities and facts and sequences. Make no mistake, the story is complex, but Hooper keeps it from being confusing. You don't read this five pages at a time before dropping off to sleep, but once you understand the fundamental issues involved, it's very hard to put down.
This book works on many different levels: a real pot-boiler, full of venality and small-mindedness on all sides; a clear and thoughtful exposition of the central principles behind the oh-so-short field of evolutionary biology; a look at the sometimes whacky world of "moth people" (mostly men, as it happens); and a textbook example of how, when you're dealing with human beings, even on the frontiers of science, black-and-white usually refine themselves into shades of grey as complex motives and loopy behavior keep things chaotic. And, in between the lines, it's a strange and occasionally hilarious history of the recent past and of how many pieces of social quirkiness have (mercifully) fallen out of the puzzle. (For instance, we are given the almost surreal image of the departmental secretary at Oxford having to work in a shed in the garden, and having to go to the warmer moth shed just to answer the phone... )
Hooper has a wonderful gift for mordant understatement combined with serious questions that lets the reader discover the importance of the matters at hand without her ever having to talk down. Quite an accomplishment when you're juggling so many weighty facts, competing theories, and weird personalities. And of course I have my own favorites among her gems: "...(W)as 'Darwin's missing evidence' just an empty demonstration, a red-faced wino in a Santa suit?"; "It might be said that the birds in Tinbergen's famous film were like conventioneers gorging on roast beef and shrimp and leaving the aspic and stewed cabbages for later." My wife had to shut me up for out-loud laughing more than once.
Hooper avoids facile conclusions about intentions, preferring to suggest motives and practical constraints rather than see villains and heroes. Virtually none of her real-life characters come across as anything other than human, which is to say flawed, in various degrees, and therefore fascinating. I hope this will be a great cross-over book, a look at why science and a search for the truth matter, and why human foibles will always skew results. It should be a textbook, too: History of Science; Philosophy of Science; Ethics; and plain old Biology -- why not? Highly recommended.


Authenticating the Words of Jesus
Published in Paperback by Brill Academic Publishers (01 June, 2002)
Authors: Bruce Chilton, Craig A. Evans, and Judith A. Hooper
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Highlights Fun to Play: Recorder Book
Published in Spiral-bound by Boyds Mills Pr (2001)
Authors: Maureen Brett, Dr Hooper and Judith Hunt
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Personality and Memory Correlates of Intellectual Functioning: Young Adulthood to Old Age (Contributions to Human Development, Vol 11)
Published in Hardcover by S. Karger Publishing (1985)
Authors: Frank H. Hooper, Judity O. Hooper, Karen K. Colbert, and Judith O. Hooper
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Tokelau: A Historical Ethnography
Published in Hardcover by University of Hawaii Press (1997)
Authors: Judith Huntsman and Antony Hooper
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Transformations of Polynesian Culture (Polynesian Society Memoir, No 45)
Published in Paperback by University of Hawaii Press (1986)
Authors: Antony Hooper and Judith Huntsman
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Would the Buddha Wear a Walkman?: A Catalogue of Revolutionary Tools for Higher Consciousness
Published in Paperback by Fireside (1990)
Authors: Judith Hooper and Dick Teresi
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