If you are the layman and want to get basics in genetics and molecular biology, this is a book for you. Berg and Singer explain the field in a very clear language, backed by good drawings and pictures wherever you need it. Having read the book mapping genomes, uncovering kinship, cloning, differences between eucaryotic and procaryotic genomes and virus strategies will be no mystery for you. The book encourages to dig deeper, and is a minimum for anyone wanting to get the feeling of what is going on in modern biology.

I just finished reading "Dream Lovers" and would recommend the book to all lovers of the entertainment industry. It tells from beginning to end the life of two wonderful people who never really didn't have anything in common, struggle with their own demons. It's not a name dropping sort of book it's a story of struggle, misunderstandings, abuse in the extreme and the type of abuse we inflect on the people we really love. Dodd is quite a man and any parent would be proud of the way he turned out considering what he himself had to go through as a child of two famous people who had and still has a lot of warts. It has been out of print for awhile, but if you put a little effort into it you can still find it either through used books store or like I did on ebay. Good Luck it's worth the effort.

Dodd Darin is the only child of the late great Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee, the "Dream Lovers" of the title. I hesitated reading this book because most celebrity biographies written by the children of the subjects are often vindictive, slash and burn tell-alls. Not this book. Dodd Darin has written a touching,honest, heartfelt account of his parents lives, together and apart ,paying tribute to their good qualities while recognizing and accepting their shortcomings. The story told here is often quite sad, especially reading about Dee's current isolation and reclusiveness. The book is very well-written and is a fine tribute to the author's parents. Sandra Dee must be proud of her son.

A detailed, well-written account of the lives of Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin as authored by their son. What is also interesting is that Sandra Dee's own comments are included, written in her voice, as if she is speaking to the reader. Her commentary is honest, sad, and painfully revealing; at times she sounds very detached, which makes it even more touching. Her onscreen image of a sweet, blonde teen-age virgin (as spoofed in the song "Look At Me I'm Sandra Dee" from the movie soundtrack "Grease") was the antithesis of what her life was really like. Starting at age 5, she was molested by her stepfather; as she matured, she was forced to submit to sex with him. Dee's mother knew about this, but turned a blind eye and lived vicariously through her daughter's movie career. Thanks to her dyfunctional mother and stepfather, Sandra developed a severe eating disorder which plagues her to this day. Of the two, I found Sandra's story to be the most interesting and the most tragic, although Darin's life wasn't a piece of cake, either. He struggled with a heart condition, living his life as a race against time, knowing that eventually his heart would give out. Once you start reading this book, you won't want to put it down. This book shows how two gifted young entertainers lived quite tortured and difficult lives once the cameras stopped rolling.

I believe the sub-title for this book is quite fitting. R.M. Hazen and M. Singer aptly describe the major questions facing the physical sciences. This is not, however, a book for initiates of academia. It is written in a very simplistic manner, with a touch of humor intersperced within. I would describe it as a light read on a manner of subjects.

If any of the articles arose your curiosity, ample suggestions for further reading are included in the back of the book. All-in-all, it was an enjoyable book suitable for a sunny afternoon read.

This is a wonderful book to read for anyone who enjoys science but doesn't have a science degree. This book explains questions many have pondered and it does it's best to give scientific explinations without making the reader feel as if he/she is inferrior to knowledge because they don't have a degree attached to their name. This book explains it in ways for everyone to understand, that I appreaciate.

Some have suggested that we will see the end of science when physicists eventually develop a grand unified theory. Robert M. Hazen and Maxine Singer disagree, and show that science is likely to be an ever-expanding sphere of inquiry and study far into the future. The book is clear, concise, and easy to read, with a thought-provoking introduction by Stephen Jay Gould. This is a great little book for airline flights, evenings before bedtime, or a sunny afternoon on the back deck.

The book is non-technical, without a single equation (though some of us may find this a disadvantage). Subjects include cosmology, dark matter, the fate of the universe, energy, chemistry, symmetry, geology, biology, the origin of life, aging, evolution, genetics, human development, and the search for extraterrestrials. Each section in the book provides a summary discussion of the current state of knowledge. However, it frequently only hints at the big questions in science (though most ca! ! reful readers will be able to surmise them). In this, the book's content is somewhat different from the description given on the cover. Interestingly, the book never discusses why black holes are not black.

Generally I found the book technically correct, though often abbreviated (something that would be hard to avoid, given the book's broad scope). Sometimes the abbreviated style leads to explanations that are potentially misleading. For example, the discussion of the second law of thermodynamics (see page 95) is only four paragraphs. In this short space the authors give several examples of the second law at work, concluding with the statement:

"The second law defines the direction of events in time. Water flows downhill. Rooms get dusty. Supplies of fossil fuels diminish. We grow older."

Given a correct understanding of other circumstances, the first two examples describe the second law. However, in each case we can find counter examples if we ignore the unmen! ! tioned conditions under which the second law applies. Wate! r will run uphill if pushed with an electric pump. Rooms can get less dusty if we clean them. Supplies of fossil fuels may renew over millions of years (and lots of energy from the sun). The problem with the presentation of these examples is that the book does not adequately describe the significance of spontaneous processes and the requirement for closed systems for which the second law applies. The second law of thermodynamics does not preclude open systems becoming more ordered, only that the overall disorder of any closed system must increase with time.

The example of growing older is particularly susceptible to misleading conclusions. Aging is a poorly understood process that probably has a significant genetic component. At any rate, our bodies are not closed systems. We continually assimilate energy to drive our metabolic processes in order to stay alive. Consequently, using the aging process as an example of the second law of thermodynamics is especially inappr! ! opriate in such a condensed discussion. In a later chapter, the authors actually go into great detail describing the genetic component of aging, describing the cause(s) for aging as one of the big questions in science (see pages 230 -- 235).

Except for a few similar examples, however, the book does a good job of explaining the essential aspects of scientific principles and problems at a level with which most educated Americans will feel at ease.

In addition to having no equations, the book also has no figures. A few strategically placed figures would do wonders for this book, especially in the sections describing aspects of human anatomy (the brain in particular). Even a few line drawings would help polish off the descriptions that (in the absence of drawings) are sometimes hard to follow. Also, the book does not have an index (a big disappointment to me) so when you read it, use plenty of page markers and a bright yellow pen. That's the only way you will be able to! ! go back later and look up any interesting material for fut! ure reference.

Overall, however, this was a great book and well worth the reasonable price. I am glad I bought it and took the time to read it.

Duwayne Anderson