I read this book in conjunction with Alvarez' "T. Rex and the Crater of Doom." The writing style in this book is not very polished but the author does a good job reviewing the evidence and detailing the controversies of the K/T comet and its impact on dinosaurs and on contemporary geologists & paleontologists! It does read rather well as a case history of science (as another reviewer suggested) but it is written very much in the tradition of Karl Popper rather than Thomas Kuhn, with hypotheses explicitly stated, falsifying obsevations articulated, and chapter-end summaries of the consensus interpretation of the evidence. Still, the overall message is Kuhnian: the overthrow of a paradigm (Lyell's geological uniformitarianism) by an outsider (a Nobel lauraute physicist & his geologist son). Engaging, scientifically literate, and a real trip to read for the scientific upset (revolution?) that it caused. Alvarez's "T. Rex" is written much better stylistically and is way more fun to read, so read this one for the science.

James Lawrence Powell's book is a scientific detective story that meticulously, exhaustively, and painstakingly lays out his case for why he thinks the dinosaurs got wiped out by a meteorite impact. And Powell makes his case by combining such disciplines as geology, paleontology, chemistry, ecology, astronomy, and biology.

Although many scientists still think the meteor impact theory is "controversial," Powell's diligent research makes his conclusion appear certain. He convinced me!

But scientists are human, too, and Powell's book recounts how some scientists rejected this theory so strenuously that they lost their sense of proportion, particularly geophysicist Charles Officer.

On pages 216-217, Powell asks, "How far will scientists on the losing end of an argument go? They employ a set of stratagems that seem hauntingly familiar; they are the very ploys used by creationists and others who have no platform or logic."

The following examples paraphrase Powell's findings against Charles Officer:

1. Officer's confident assertion: "There IS no evidence for a meteor impact at the KT boundary." 2. His straw men: "Nobody has found big dinosaur piles." 3. His red herrings: "There are similarities between livestock fatalities and dinosaur extinctions." 4. His plea for equal time: "The journal Science published eleven favorable impact articles, but only two against." 5. His blame of the media: "The Earth science community is biased." 6. His impugned motives: "Scientists fabricate theories and evidence." 7. His false alarms: "The meteor impact theory is pathological and dangerous!"

Ironically, Powell says that Officer's tireless efforts to debunk the meteor impact theory forced geologists to vigilantly reinforce their case. And in the end, the earth science community has a lot to thank Charles Officer for.

But the previous Amazon.com reviewer is wrong when he claims that Powell believes all mass extinctions are attributed to extraterrestrial impacts. Powell does, however, point out that we've found approximately 150 terrestrial impact craters all over the globe, and scientists claim to discover between three and five new craters annually. And these don't include impacts that might've struck the oceans.

Also, you only have to look at the surface of every moon and terrestrial planet in our solar system to see that impacts once occurred regularly. And when a three-mile wide chunk of comet Shoemaker Levy 9 struck Jupiter four years ago, it left a massive impact streak as large as the earth itself! And this bolide was only HALF the size of the rock that bore the Chicxulub crater.

Powell only suggests the POSSIBILITY that periodic impacts triggered mass extinctions. And he thinks this premise deserves a fair hearing instead of being rejected outright.

As a combined scientific detective story and riveting historical account, Powell's book is a masterpiece! Every science student should read it.

Night Comes to the Cretaceous: Dinosaur Extinction and the Transformation of Modern Geology wriiten by James Lawrence Powell is a comprehensive work on the powers of scientific reasoning about what happened to the dinosaurs from the information that is available to us.

There has been a lot of controversy about what reallly happened to the dinosaurs, after all they ruled the earth for 160 million years and then...poof... they are gone. Why did this happen and was the... poof... not so all of a sudden, but over and entended period of time. We do not know for sure, but we have some very interesting information from this book that will shead some light on the matter.

Luis and Walter Alvarez found an interesting clue in the geology of the earth itself. Luis is a Nobel Prize winning physicist and Walter is his son, they found something that would turn the scientific community on its collective ear, that a single random event caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. There is an immense impact crater buried deep in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico that was identified as Ground Zero called Chicxulub or red devil

You see what the Alvarez's found was an Iridium layer in the rocks and soil core samples, why would that be so interesting, well, iridium mainly comes from extraterrestrial sources as it is not found in abundance on earth. This iridium layer is found all around the earth at the K-T layer (Cretaceous-Tertiary) at about the right geological time 65 million years ago.

Reading this book will fill in a lot of details as it is a masterful work in scientific reasoning. I found it to be a very educational, entertaining read.

The very best thing about this RPG has to be the character races. No other game I've seen has such original, and fully developed characters. The Eridani sword saint, all the way to the feministic Cizaracks.
One of the other great qualities about the game is the prices for the supplements. My friends all seem to baulk when I tell them I bought all of the books for less than $... For most RPG's it would take a life time to afford all of the supplements.

Battlelords is still an amazing RPG after 10 years. My friends and I have played countless other games, but this is the one we keep coming back too. It's easy to play, easy to learn, and lots of fun. If you could own only 1 sci-fi RPG, this would have to be the one.

Battlelords is one of 2 sci-fi rpg's that, after playing rpg's for almost 20 yrs, I can honestly say is a great game. The system is easy to use and understand, the wide variety of races (complete with histories and profiles), and equipment make Battelords a game that will keep both players and Battlemaster entertained for years.

This is collection of short stories that offers a wide mix of speculative genres. Fantasy, SF, horror, and just plain weird. The stories run the gambit and most are good. "Jeo Defined" and "Moon Warrior" were excellent stories and well worth purchasing the book. Even just the so-so stories were enjoyable and all the authors are names to keep a look out for. In the end, this is a book of up and coming writers and a few of them will no doubt be big names someday.

I didn't know what to expect from this collection of short stories but I was happily surprised. The stories cover a wide range from fantasy, science fiction, and horror to those hard to classify strange stories. Each one is worth reading. My favorites were the one about a radio personality who was singing the Siren's song and the one about a criminal who is forced to undergo "augmentation" to control him. Some wild stuff for a great read.

I had to read this book for a broadcasting class and it was a treat. "Ratings Analysis" deals with the behind the scenes business of broadcasting. The authors do a good job of presenting the information in an intellectual manner without putting you to sleep. This is actually one "text book" that I have enjoyed reading. The layout of the book is easy to read and to comprehend. It is divided into three parts and from there, the information is broken down even further. Although the authors have tried to present their case in as easy terms as possible, they never sound unintelligent or underestimate their readers' intelligence. One gets the message and the point without feeling that they are being talked down to. The book includes the latest statistics on audience research and data, which is hard to come by in the ever-changing business of broadcasting. I recommend this book for anyone interested in pursuing this field as a career and for those who are just interested in general.

When I imagine a book that brings together statistics, research methodology, social science and modern history, I imagine an excellent antidote to insomnia. But surprisingly, not only did I stay awake through the entire book, I actually learned a few things.

The authors' history of commercial audience research was tight, offering a multitude of insights into where the ratings business might be headed in the Internet age. And the descriptions of research methodology was just right--enough to understand conceptually, without overdoing it.

Following closely on the heels of chapters about ratings used in programming and advertising, the chapter on ratings and financial analysis added almost no value. But the third section, Understanding Audience Behavior, offered some great discussions of specific measurements without burying the reader in too many details.

Overall, Ratings Analysis is the best book on the topic I've seen--a very thorough exploration of the subject without the passive, scholarly tone of too many textbooks.

When I saw the page I recognized the cover of the book, but I could not believe what people were actually writing about it.

First I want to say that I am an undergraduate biotechnology student. I have a very strong background in biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, tissue culture techniques, and immunology; but I have not had any classes dealing with anatomy or physiology since Bio 101 way back when. I have read and am quite comfortable with Alberts Molecular Biology of the Cell and Stryers Biochemistry, and even a handful of primary journal articles, so I do know how to read a textbook.

Now with that out of the way, let me say that this book is completely incomprehensible. It is so full of anatomy and Latin derived words (which it does a poor job at explaining BTW) that I can only assume that it was meant for medical students, and to have physiology an a prerequisite for it, but it doesn't even have an introduction describing the recommended background or whom it is supposed to be for. In fact, most of the book is devoted to the physiology of sensation and movement, not neurobiology. Now if you have the background for it and thats what you are looking for then it is a very thorough text that goes into a lot of depth.

If you are looking to understand the biochemistry or molecular aspects of neurobiology, find another book!

As an undergraduate Psychobiology student, this text served me well in my Neuroscience course. In all honesty I never went. I just read this book. I got excellent marks in the class. As a serious slacker and bibliophile, I recommend this textbook for any like-minded student.

As an undergraduate Neuroscience major I found this textbook to be highly informative and well-written. It was used to a Freshman-level course, and was easy to understand, yet thorough and interesting. The graphics are well done, and the format is better than most textbooks I'm used to. Anyone, even with minimal science experience could dive right in and learn a great deal. It may not be advanced enough, however, for grad or medical students. As a reference it does okay, but there are more-advanced texts which would probably do better. All-in-all it is an excellent book. In-fact, I liked it so much that I didn't sell it back at the end of the semester and keep it on my bookshelf for future reference (and future classes!)

The Passing of the Armies offers readers the opportunity to experience the trials and triumphs of the Civil War through the personal recollections of an authentic American hero. However, it is my opinion that the introduction by Brooks D. Simpson serves to disrupt the first hand experiences of Joshua Chamberlain by calling into question Chamberlain's accuracy of events and his personal motives. Passing of the Armies should stand as one man's first hand account of his life, leaving his critics to write their own book.

"The Passing of the Armies" was the final memoirs authored by Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, published a year after his death in 1914. Having dealt with the Battle of Gettysburg and the Siege of Petersburg in earlier volumes, Chamberlain recounts the final days of the Fifth Army Corps of the Army of Potomac from March 1865 through the end of the Civil War. Consequently, this book contains Chamberlain's account of the emotional moment when he was in charge of the formal surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. Because of Michael Shaara's Pulitizer Prize winning novel "The Killer Angels," the companion volumes on the Civil War by his son Jeff, and the film "Gettysburg," Chamberlain has become the idealized citizen-soldier of the Civil War, which means we are assured that his books will be kept in print.

Chamberlain's writing style is a bit different in this book from his earlier efforts, due no doubt to the fact that half a century had passed since the events he is covering, he was apparently in the process of dying while writing the book, and he never had an opportunity to revise the manuscript, a task which was left to his family. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are inconsistencies with this book from accounts he wrote earlier. Certainly Chamberlain comes across as more emotional in his reminiscences than he did in "Bayonet! Forward!" or "Through Blood and Fire at Gettysburg." Reading Chamberlain's books in terms of the chronology of the events they cover is a good approach and I would certainly recommend reading his memoirs before moving on to the biographies currently available.

With so few first hand accounts available about the final campaign of the Civil War, "The Passing of the Armies" clearly stands out as one of the most memorable for its content and style. Written by General Joshua L. Chamberlain towards the end of his long and productive life, the former soldier and college professor's book relates his thoughtful observations and recollections of the battles at White Oak Road and Five Forks from a selfless standpoint. He reminisces on the surrender at Appomattox and the last review in great detail with sensitivity and a touch of sentimentality towards the events. Chamberlain is an eloquent, perceptive writer who provides the reader with much valuable insight about the personalities and situations he describes. His imagistic prose make this book enjoyable and inspiring to read. This is definitely one to include in the collection of any student of the Civil War.

Okay, I admit there is a fair amount of gossip in this book, but it is worth reading to hear what Capote has to say about his own work. And I found myself marking spots where he speaks highly of certain other authors...now I want to read those books as well!

An intriguing look at one of America's most respected and shunned literary icons. Probes both his writing as well as the fantastic social life for which the author was famous. A unique portrait that will stand as the difinitive book on Capote.

This is a great bed-side reader. Well, maybe not, because, once you start reading, you may not be able to put it down. Truman Capote started out as a celebrated, controversial writer, became the "enfante terrible", and spent his final years as a sad, outrageous, drug addicted talk show guest, more known for his scathing celebrity, his writing glory a thing of the past. He first achieved renown for his breakthrough novel, "Other Voices, Other Rooms", which was one of the first books to dare have a homosexual undercurrent, but is probably most well known for his classic bestseller, "In Cold Blood", about the brutal slayings of a midwest family, and, just as much about their slayers, two loser drifters whom Capote unjudgingly befriended. By the time these interviews were conducted, by "Playboy" interviewer Lawrence Grobel, Capotes literary fame had preceded him, and he had become, to many, an outrageous joke. While his public deterioration was sad and shocking...he often appeared on television or at appearances "under the influence", during his more lucid times, his observations were still unpredictably entertaining. How much actual writing he did during the last ten years or so of his life is widely speculated, his ability to do so maybe ended. But, back to this book....During these conducted interviews, Capote talks about the things he has done, and those he has known... he socialized with the most famous of his day, though how much of what he said was fact or fiction has been questioned by many. To say he is sometimes mean spirited is an understatement. If he liked you, he really liked you, but, if not, oh my....watch out. You would be verbally splayed for all to see. His comments were meant to shock, and they certainly achieved their desired effect. But they are done so brilliantly and outrageously that you can only cackle at his daring to say what no one else dared even think. He had no problem, when asked here about certain fellow writers or acquaintances by name, in describing them as "ghastly", "lousy", "talentless", "dull", etc..and his elaborations are scathingly, wittily entertaining. Ex: About Jack Kerouac. "That's not writing, that's typewriting." Jackie Susanne: "She looks like a truck driver in drag". Georgia O'Keefe: "I wouldn't pay 25 cents to spit on a Georgia O'Keefe painting!". What saves him from maybe just being viewed as a "not nice" person, are his extreme intelligence, wit, humor, and his always brutal honesty. This fascinating book is so entertaining that I am hard pressed to give just a few examples or excerpts from it. But I loved his response when Grobel poses the question to Capote, who in his lifetime had befriended (and later was publicly alienated by) many of the super wealthy, "How are the rich different? Is it just that they have more money?" Capote responded "No, no. The real difference between rich and regular people is that the rich serve such marvelous vegetables. Little fresh born things, scarcely out of the earth. Little baby corn, little baby peas, little lambs that have been RIPPED out of their mothers' wombs. That's the REAL difference!". Truman had a long, drawn out, public demise, and died what was apparently a welcome death after years of suffering. While many would have him being remembered as just a sad, malicious , social climbing, venemous celebrity, it is his record of brilliant writing and his incredible wit which will stand out. And the realization that, underneath it all, was just a sad little boy, trying to make alot of noise. Of all the books written about Capote, I have found this the most revealing and fascinating. Why read ABOUT him, when you can hear him, in all his outrageous splendor? As little Truman says, when asked to define himself: "I am a homosexual. I am a drug addict. I am a genius."

For a family member of a person recently diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, this book is a valuable resource for understanding this rare condition. It's a difficult read, but the book is organized into managable sections. For a lay person, it is probably best read in conjunction with less-technical material to provide definitions and context. Topics covered include historical perspectives of diagnosis and treatment, current research, and up-to-date treatment options.It provides in-depth explainations of the role of various diagnostic techniques in classification and staging. Additional topics include the relationship between Hodgkin's and the non-Hodgkin's lymphomas as well as the association with Epstein-Barr virus. The issues of pediatric Hodgkin's and long-term complications of treatment are also covered. The book's strongest recomendation is that it is one of the few available with current information specific to Hodgkin's, as opposed to the non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. It provides the lay person with requisite information to discuss Hodgkin's with the medical team, in sufficient detail to make informed decisions.

As a layperson not familiar with medical terms and theories I found the book hard to follow and understand at first. After a bit of slow reading and comprehension it became a wonderful source of knowledge about cancer and hodgkin's disease

This timely review of the literature on Hodgkin's diseasereplaces the venerable work by Henry S. Kaplan and betters the master.The section written by Richard Hoppe, M.D. carries on the finest traditions of radiation oncology at Stanford. This is a very fine work and one anyone in the field of oncology should have on his/her book shelf.

Sunshine is a substance of transparency, yet when it touches the soft mist and shines through the concrete droplets, the arc of color manifests and dazzles the human yes. In many ways, this is the journey of man as the essence of living is filtered through the mist of love. D.H. Lawrence's controversial Rainbow makes few reference to the natural phenomenon as rainbow, yet through out the lines, readers feel the "unbearable lightness of being" sipping through to cinch the yearning hearts. Countless twenty-century writers dedicated their finest works to capture this evanescence, and surviving through scandals and suppression is this ambitious piece.

One of the unique faces of The Rainbow is its treatment of characters; instead of expanding from individuals, D.H. Lawrence reverses focus and lets the plot drift along. It's impossible to determine which character is the true protagonist because individuality is simply abashed in this banned work. In place of emphasis on characters, Lawrence traces a circuitous journey through three generations-alternating voices of three generations of Brangwen women. Despite the complexity of this novel however, each of these three women are given their space to dictate the path of their own rainbow. The word "journey" itself is repeated frequently enough, and the torch of change is constantly being passed along. The journey traces from the Polish widow to her Brangwen husband, her daughter to another Brangwen, and eventually the "heiress" of Brangwen memories-Ursula. The mother-daughter loop itself is a symbolic journey as the understanding of love is inherited.

As a novel focusing on the very nature of relationships and their connection to love, to sex, and to God, The Rainbow captures the pain and anguish of each woman as they come to possess the fruit of union with a man. And as the daughter gains voice over the ailing mother, the readers come to see how much time leads the mind towards something new. All characters seek illumination of love, and different from conventional romance novels, The Rainbow traces not the journey of one person, but the journey of an understanding. Anna Brangwen, the daughter of Lydia Lensky, finds a lover with whom she develops "a sensuality violent and extreme as death" (280), a relationship that ends in great fecundity. As her fresh and wishful perspective fades, her eldest daughter, Ursula commands the pace as she comes to possession of passion. Through her youthful flirtation with Anton Skrebensky, Ursula grows to be an emotional teacher eager to share her passion, only finding herself shut down by reality into "a hard, insentient thing" (445). Her meager knowledge of love leads her to a physical and emotional affair with Skrebensky as both grope for the truth behind relationships. But this truth is too grand for both of them as they yield to the tempting nature of passion, and let love pass by. But does the journey stop there?

"The primeval darkness falsified to a social mechanism" (499) is indeed the chimera that propels all characters towards the light of human affections. During a time of great changes, men and women cannot help but clang to one thing that seems unscathed-this primordial sense of protection in the bodies of opposite sex. But this need fades so fast as they probe deeper into the soul in search of the amorphous answer that leaves them sleepless. Just as the sun penetrates through the seductive veil of mist, the characters reach a point where physical relationships is a concrete something that does not satisfy. But while they reach in the darkness of lust for the light of emotional union, all falter just as the beautiful array of colors fade away. The sunshine never fails to reach earth, but it never fails to trick wild hearts into the trap of a surreal realm of love-the paradise beyond the rainbow.

I get the impression that, just as some authors remain fashionable due to their undeserved reputations, Lawrence's reputation suffers from unfounded and unjust criticism. How many people who dismiss Lawrence as a shallow, sex-obsessed writer have actually read him, or if they do read him, merely skip to the "juicy" bits in their desire to be offended? Should you dislike Lawrence, that's OK, but form your opinion after having read him objectively. It worries me too that there are still people out there who advocate the banning of books just because they don't like them - please try to remember Heine's advice. I can almost hear the autos da fe being prepared. I'm firmly of the opinion that the starting presumption should be one of tolerance rather than proscription. What of "The Rainbow"? I think that it's not the best of Lawrence's work that I have read so far - that plaudit belongs to "Sons and Lovers", but it's far better than "The White Peacock", "The Trespasser" and the awful "Lady Chatterley". There are painfully poor parts in the novel: the description of the visit to Lincoln cathedral is embarrassingly bad, and the prose is at times hackneyed, almost becoming a self-parody. Yet, there are excellent passages, such as the death of Tom Brangwen and Ursula's experiences as a school teacher. But the true value of the book is in its in-depth characterisations: the constant, unachieved desire for meaning in life (why aren't I content, now that I've reached this age, what drives me on?); the mixture of love and hate - how strong emotions often exist together rather than excluding each other (ever wondered why couples argue and "make-up"?); and (for the time) ground-breaking exploration of female sexuality. I found this refreshing - how tedious the mythology of boy meets girl, 400 pages of manoeuvering later they get married and live happily ever after. This myth does a great disservice to marriage - what institution could possibly live up to it? Oh, and if you're uncomfortable about that myth being dispelled, good, and read Hardy, Zola and especially Anne Bronte for further enlightenment.

I successively declare each Lawrence novel I encounter to be the best I've read, but in my opinion, "The Rainbow" is especially brilliant in its painstaking and accurate depiction of the universal experience of adolescence...and especially noteworthy in its spot-on description of the evolving feelings and thoughts of adolescent girls. Lawrence's feeling for and understanding of his female characters is astounding, particularly when compared with that of other writers of his time.

This work is sometimes criticized because of "repetitiveness" in the writing, but I find the repeated phrases add to, not detract from, the power of the novel. As in Lady Chatterley, he also manages to work in many brilliant and cutting observations of the price of progress in an industrial society, and document in careful, keen-eyed accuracy the varying responses of his characters--and, through them, archetypal human responses--to that society.

Years ago when I first read James Watson's folksy book on his co-discovery I thought, "my how far an ambitious ornithologist can fly." But I saluted Watson's seemingly unvarnished candor then, and years later I can still manage a sloppy salute.

Watson's account discusses the various intrigues such as with Peter, Linus Pauling's son; and some downright espionage leading to the important discovery with Crick [and a phantom Rosalind Franklin] that a double helix is naturally assumed by pairs of DNA. Misogyny seems to lurk behind every condescension towards women and womanhood liberally expressed by Watson. One wonders whether absent his shared Nobel Prize, Watson would get away with it.

In all probability, had Pauling reported the double helix first thus collecting his third Nobel Prize (!) and Watson was just another chronicler of DNA's lab history the scientific community would not be so tolerant towards a man who remains nearly pathologically dismissive of women in science. Alas, Alfred Nobel didn't stipulate good manners as a condition for awarding the prize bearing his name. Be that as it may, the now classical memoir by a co-discoverer of the double helix has merit for its place in time and should be read by students and other citizens. What it lacks as a primer of ethics it makes up for in its quasi-truthfulness.

The Double Helix contains pedestrian writing that describes a great event. DNA is spectacular. The book about its discovery is merely fair.

I read this book as a requirement for my undergraduate biology class, but I ended up enjoying it quite thoroughly. I think the depiction of Watson & Crick, as well as their adventure to discover the Double Helix as naturally assumed by pairs of DNA, was far more entertaining than one would assume coming from a "science" book. There are really three major points that make this an interesting read. (1)The unbelievable ease of reading in this book was unexpected. One would normally assume that a "science" book would be difficult to say the least but in fact the layout of the book was really reader friendly. (2)The race against another, more well-known scientist, in Linus Pauling to discover the structure of DNA, and (3) the teamwork approach to this discovery that Watson & Crick took. I was personally enthralled with the overall competition between the two different groups and how Watson, Crick, and Franklin came together to add to one purpose. It was very interesting to see all of them bring something different to the table in regards to their scientific specialties. Overall I thought the book was an excellent read but I was surprised to see the personality clashes with Watson and Franklin. I would recommend this work for anyone who has a creative want to learn more about the human side of science and DNA in general.

This firsthand account of the discovery of DNA dispels a lot of the notions that ousiders have about how science really works. Watson's descriptions of the competition, politics, dead ends, personality clashes, mistakes, and eventually inspiration reveal that discovery is not as clear-cut a process as it sometimes might seem.

Watson is honest in his introduction that his account is just that, the story told through his own point of view, complete with possible faulty memories and personal prejudices. I was intrigued by the portrayals of the personalities of so many famous figures that I've been learning about for years in my biology and genetics classes - Francis Crick, of course, along with Maurice Wilikins, Rosalind Franklin, Linus Pauling, and many more. I was touched by Watson's admission at the end of the book that his unfavorable impressions of Rosalind Franklin stemmed from the fact that she was a woman trying to make a name for herself in the male-dominated world of scientific research in the 1950s.

There is quite a bit of biological jargon in this book, and though it could probably be read by someone without any knowledge of genetics, it will be appreciated more by readers with some background. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in genetics and science.