3. The discovering questions are terrific. Please, expand them in future versions.
4. Math minutes are an excellent idea.
5. Boxes are welcome. Please, include more.
6. Also helpful are the boldface words on each chapter. Perhaps they could be also included in a keywords at the beginning of each chapter.
7. The index should be more comprehensive and should have all main entries in boldface. This is important to any index and very few books have it right.
8. The glossary is helpful. It should be more comprehensive,
including more terms.
9. The summaries and conclusions are great, yet should be expanded to include more relevant information. They should be like a "minichapter" an the end of each chapter or --better-- at the beginning. All partial summaries could be pooled into a larger summary that way.
10. Addendum sections could be included as separate notes or boxes.
11. The pronunciation tips for new words are also an excellent idea; mostly for non-English speakers.
12. The classified references are really useful. Well done. If they were commented or "annotated" they would be just perfect.
13. A list of abbreviations would be welcome. A list sorted by the full name would be very handy as well.
14. What about telomerase and aging? What about the fact that
unicellular organisms are immortal? Or stem cells? Or tumor cells? Death is a tax that multicellular organisms have to pay to nature in order to evolve. Yet we humans might change that soon.
15. It should be clearly indicated the organisms with genomes made of dsDNA, ssDNA, dsRNA and ssRNA.
16. Missing bioinformatics tools and step-by-step analysis of genes and mRNA (see next) and whole genomes.
17. It would be really helpful to explain clearly and analyze --even from a bioinformatics point of view-- the structure of genes, mRNA, CDS, introns, exons, promoters and terminators. It is not clear where do these elements start or end or how to recognize them. Diagrams and graphs would greatly help to explain these absolutely basic and fundamental concepts. In other words, imagine that you have cloned and sequenced a genomic gene as well as a full mRNA (cDNA). Now you want to publish your results and for that you do a comprehensive description of your gene (chromosome) and cDNA (mRNA). That is precisely the kind of information that is missing as a diagram and explanation. In this way, it should be indicated that you may encounter several ATG (or other) starting coding triplets in the mRNA, that if the 20 or so amino acid residues of the 5'-end of a peptide have a high percentage of hydrophobic residues, they are likely part of a leading peptide which would be further excised, that you may encounter several polyadenylation signals, etc. On the genome side, the promoter and terminator structures should be analyzed, as well as the intron-exon boundaries.
18. Likewise, it should be indicated the tools and current
possibilities to determine or predict the 3D structure of a protein (folding) from the primary structure of the peptide.
19. Does not mention Lasergene package of DNAStar
20. Which genes are best to draw dendrograms? Differentiation between genes from the nucleus or organelles (mitochondrion or chloroplast). Likewise for DNA fingerprinting and molecular markers.
21. Differential display methodologies are missing (as well as other methodologies of gene expression like subtractive hybridization).
22. Large-scale sequencing is missing. For instance, sequencing of single-molecules will allow the sequencing of whole chromosomes or genomes.
23. Missing tables comparing different genomes with full details
(size, ploidy, percentage of genes, introns, exons, repetitive DNA, junk DNA, etc).
24. Reference to manufacturers is very useful. Please, include also links to web sites. Best if all manufacturers are included as an appendix.
25. All web sites (NCBI, etc) and web-based applications (BLAST, ORF Finder, etc) should be clearly indicted in an appendix.
26. It is not indicated that the PCR was in fact described with full details by Khorana et al 14 years before Mullis et al.
27. Please, include more drawings and pictures in the printed book and CD-ROM.
28. Suggestion: including chapters on eukaryotic-genomic DNA
libraries, cDNA libraries, subtractive libraries.
29. Suggestion: including chapters on plant and animal transformation.
30. Suggestion: including drawing of Maxam-Gilbert sequencing method and Sanger method (Applied Biosystems electropherograms,
electrofluorograms).
31. Prions, viroids and viruses could be also included.
32. A title index at the beginning of each chapter would be very
useful. Besides the goals for chapter, which are quite useful.
33. Bioinformatics could be significantly expanded.
34. QuickTime videos explaining some topics would be fantastic.
Please, make them in QuickTime (best quality, platform-independent).
35. All in all, a great novel approach. Keep up the great work!
Book Description
This is the only textbook which is organized to follow the steps of the actual process of archaeological research in order to present the methods and theoretical frameworks of archaeology, from the planning and actual conduct of field research, to the different ways archaeological data is interpreted to produce an understanding of the past. It is also the only such textbook to give the reader a series of firsthand accounts of what its like to do archaeology, written by a variety of practicing archaeologists.
Customer Reviews:
Decent book but needs more pictures.......2006-04-11
I had this as my main text for a class at Foothill college and it was a relatively easy read if you use the glossary. Their could have been more pictures of the items discussed and I would recommend to any teacher thinking of using this book to gather some more higher quality pictures of the items discussed for the student to look at.
Amazon.com
If we're so smart, why are we still at the mercy of treacherous microorganisms? The Genius Within: Discovering the Intelligence of Every Living Thing asks readers to let go of brain worship and look at the incredible problem-solving skills of viruses, ants, and other lowly creatures. Neurosurgeon Frank T. Vertosick Jr. seems an unlikely candidate to write a book celebrating noncerebral intelligence, but his knowledge helps him draw comparisons that others might miss. The fast-moving genetic intelligence of bacteria and immune systems might not match the precision of digital computers, but they have devised arms races much more complex--and deadly--than our comparatively paltry efforts. Vertosick's grasp of what it means to behave intelligently comes through clearly, even if he is as stumped as anyone trying to define the I word. Exploring parallels between neural networks, insect colonies, and our own brains, he finds common ground and shows that, as far as evolution is concerned, we're not so bright. It's not all bad, though: we're very good at what we do, and Vertosick hopes that we can learn to use our intelligence more wisely. --Rob Lightner
Book Description
Can bacteria be as smart as we are? Can ants think? And fish? Yes, says Frank Vertosick, a neurosurgeon who combats our elitism about intelligence in this brilliant book.
A gifted writer and author of the widely praised Why We Hurt, Vertosick shows us that intelligence--the ability to react to the outside world, to change behavior, and survive-can be found wherever life exists. He demonstrates the keen intelligence of our immune system, how lowly bacteria mutate and outwit antibiotics, and how canny cancer cells elude our natural defenses.
A fascinating journey through worlds of unknown science and an unsettling argument against our valuing of brain intelligence above all else, The Genius Within tells a fascinating scientific story, one that could shake our ethical foundation to its core.
Customer Reviews:
An intelligent look at life.......2006-02-23
"The Genius Within" is a must read for the non-specialist interested in science. It is a thought provoking work; very speculative, but grounded in mainstream scientific fact and theory. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it...twice. It's a bit technical at times, so some familiarity with the science involved is recommended. Also, if you happen to be more interested in "intelligent" animal behavior as such, rather than in its biochemical, microbiological and systemic underpinnings, you may want to look elsewhere.
In this book, the author explores the notion the "networks" underlie the phenomenon we call life, and that life is synonymous with the information processing - intelligence - they architect. We tend to think of intelligence as a unique feature of brains, our conscious ones in particular (he calls this "brain chauvinism"), but he contends that all life is intelligent, or at least as "intelligent as it needs to be", and sets out to prove it.
In simplest terms, he defines intelligence as the ability to solve problems related to survival. This seems to run counter to mainstream evolutionary theory, where the survival of species is basically as matter of, well, "dumb luck". But the author views intelligence as a collective phenomenon firmly embedded within this framework; as an "emergent behavior" of large groups of highly interactive biological entities (Including sub-cellular enzymes) otherwise engaged in a contingency-driven, random struggle for survival. The architecture that endows such groups with "emergent properties" is called, for want of a better word, a "network" by the author.
The details of what the author means by a "network" is closely argued and beyond the scope of this review. In general, a biological "network" is a large collection of "selfish", randomly interacting entities whose components are capable of two or more relatively stable, but reversible, states (more active/less active, faster/slower, stronger/weaker), and whose components can variously enhance or impede each other's status over time, resulting in a collective "energy landscape" patterned by forces impinging on the network. The former allows for basic information storage (the biological equivalent of zeros and ones), and the latter for collective information storage (pattern recognition/memory) concerning the environment, allowing the collective to respond to environmental stimuli in, ultimately, a manner conducive to its survival. Overall, the architecture of a "network" harnesses the random, contingent interactions of its constituents into the directed or, as the author would claim, intelligent actions we associate with life at every level of biological organization.
The author spends much of the book "fleshing out" these and other abstractions, particularly with respects to interacting aggregates composed of things such as cellular enzymes, bacteria and somatic cells, what he calls "party networks" as opposed to "hard wired networks", though he does give ample attention to the latter (he is, after all, a brain surgeon). To assess intelligence from the "outside in", he employs a modified version of the Touring Test throughout these forays. Without making any assumptions about them based on what they are or how they're organized, he queries each system with a problem, and waits for a response. He queries an infectious bacterial species with a new antibiotic and, within months, it develops immunity. He queries the human immune system with the aforementioned bacteria and, within weeks, it develops an effective resistance. In these and other instances, he argues for an "intelligent" response from each based on their participation in network architecture, no more or less effective for the overall survival of its hosts than the quickened responses of "hard wired" brains.
I gave this book a five-star rating, and with good reason, but I'm not entirely in agreement with its conclusions. Although "networking" is arguably a characteristic of all living systems, it seems somewhat disingenuous to define intelligence as the ability to solve problems regardless of the time frame involved. Given enough time and numbers, "dumb luck" will achieve results that appear intelligent, and so will tempt teleological interpretations. Mainstream evolutionists have long had to contend with our compulsion to put a "forger" between the hammers of chance and the anvil of necessity. Like them, I suspect the author's hypothesis, however plausible, is just another in a series of attempts to inject Vitalism into biology, "networks" here replacing the less than scientific musings of an earlier age.
But then again, maybe I'm just a "brain chauvinist".
Good but boring at times.......2004-09-02
This is a relatively good book to read. However, the promise
that the author makes in not being technical is only partically
true. First, he concentrates too much on the medical explanations
that, at times, are not entirely relevant. Second, his analogies
are silly at times particularly when the concept is
already well understood without the analogy. One has to know
that the number of analogies given is not directly proportional
to how clear the concept will become to the reader.
But as I said, this is a good book and if you can live by
the parts of the book that are irrelevant you may learn
something new about the concept of intelligence and how
intelligence can be observed in seemingly "dumb" things.
Life is more then a Blind Algorithmic Process.......2003-11-15
Though Vertosick does not focus on the more technical and strictly academic foundations of his major thesis (life=intelligence), he does a beautiful job of using analogies and metaphors to describe how even a cell can exhibit "intelligent" behaviour. This book should be required reading for anyone who is remotely interested in biology, or anything to do with nature. Vertosick is able to successfully synthesize a completely different, yet strongly persuasive argument for the basis of life itself. He admits that his thesis may be flawed, but personally I think that most of his points are well thought out and strongly supported. This is one of the most interesting books on life and intelligence I have ever read.
Simply wonderful.......2003-11-08
As easy to read as a novel and just as enjoyable, it will forever change the way you see the world around you. It is one of those rare books that links together a number of more or less well known ideas and arrives at an extraordinary and inescapable set of conclusions. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
An Ode to Creativity (aka "emergent properties").......2003-07-18
If you want to know why Darwin might be "needlessy nihilistic" and what is at the core of Vertosick's carefully built case to explain--nothing less than--the possisble meaning of everything, then check this out. I thought the beginning was a little tedious, but the pay-off for hanging in there with his carefully crafted case was well worth it. I've bought several copies to share with friends and have had many lively debates. Thanks Dr. Vertosick for your emergent property--it's marvelous!
Book Description
Learn Data Mining by doing data mining
Data mining can be revolutionary-but only when it's done right. The powerful black box data mining software now available can produce disastrously misleading results unless applied by a skilled and knowledgeable analyst. Discovering Knowledge in Data: An Introduction to Data Mining provides both the practical experience and the theoretical insight needed to reveal valuable information hidden in large data sets.
Employing a "white box" methodology and with real-world case studies, this step-by-step guide walks readers through the various algorithms and statistical structures that underlie the software and presents examples of their operation on actual large data sets. Principal topics include:
* Data preprocessing and classification
* Exploratory analysis
* Decision trees
* Neural and Kohonen networks
* Hierarchical and k-means clustering
* Association rules
* Model evaluation techniques
Complete with scores of screenshots and diagrams to encourage graphical learning, Discovering Knowledge in Data: An Introduction to Data Mining gives students in Business, Computer Science, and Statistics as well as professionals in the field the power to turn any data warehouse into actionable knowledge.
An Instructor's Manual presenting detailed solutions to all the problems in the book is available online.
Download Description
Learn Data Mining by doing data mining
Data mining can be revolutionary-but only when it's done right. The powerful black box data mining software now available can produce disastrously misleading results unless applied by a skilled and knowledgeable analyst. Discovering Knowledge in Data: An Introduction to Data Mining provides both the practical experience and the theoretical insight needed to reveal valuable information hidden in large data sets.
Employing a "white box" methodology and with real-world case studies, this step-by-step guide walks readers through the various algorithms and statistical structures that underlie the software and presents examples of their operation on actual large data sets. Principal topics include:
* Data preprocessing and classification
* Exploratory analysis
* Decision trees
* Neural and Kohonen networks
* Hierarchical and k-means clustering
* Association rules
* Model evaluation techniques
Complete with scores of screenshots and diagrams to encourage graphical learning, Discovering Knowledge in Data: An Introduction to Data Mining gives students in Business, Computer Science, and Statistics as well as professionals in the field the power to turn any data warehouse into actionable knowledge.
Customer Reviews:
conveys basic ideas.......2006-08-25
The book gives a good introduction to data mining. Larose manages to cover the important techniques used to analyse data and turn it into knowledge. These include neural networks, various types of clustering. Most importantly, perhaps, he discusses how to try various models and how to evaluate the effectiveness of each model.
The book's length is insufficient for many readers to actually get enough information to apply several of the methods. The details of using neural networks, for example, can be quite voluminous. But the value of the book is in conveying the basic qualitative ideas of the methods.
Book Description
A riveting tribute to Charles Darwin's life and ideas in celebration of his 200th birthday.
Charles Darwin's ideas resonate deeply in Western culture today, and his theory still lies at the heart of modern scientific evolutionary research. As other nineteenth-century figures fade, Darwin's theory of evolution still provokes controversy, spilling over into curriculum battles at state and local school boards in the United States and around the world.
In exploring the everyday artifacts of Darwin's life, his notebooks, and early manuscripts, Niles Eldredge—"a candid, no-punches-pulled interpreter of the core ideas of evolutionary biology" (Science News)—provides a rare glimpse into the mind of this highly intuitive, creative scientist. The celebration of Charles Darwin's 200th birthday in 2009 begins in November 2005 with the opening of a major exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, curated by Eldredge, that will travel across the nation. More than a companion book to the exhibit, Darwin is a rich and inspiring reconstruction of Darwin's life through his writings and discoveries. Color throughout, 100 illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
One of the Best Short Books on Darwin.......2007-09-16
Niles Eldredge is an excellent writer on evolutionary theory and he was certainly a good choice to write the companion volume for the American Museum of Natural History's 200th birthday of Charles Darwin exhibition. In "Charles Darwin: Discovering the Tree of Life" he covers not only the basis of Darwinian thinking, but adds illustrations of Down House, the famous sand walk, various documents associated with Darwin and some modern phylogenetic analyses. Indeed, this book gives the reader a peek into Darwin's very though processes, where he was on the right track and where he went wrong on occasion. Darwin's accomplishment is not diminished by his errors, but is more appreciated by the difficulties of arriving at the truth, or as much of the truth as humans can comprehend.
If you cannot read Janet Browne's detailed two volume biography, this is certainly the book to read! While a great companion to the exhibit, if the reader has the opportunity to see it, it is also a stand alone text that is well worth the effort to read on its own!
Explaining Darwin and defending evolution.......2007-05-07
Eldredge is the curator of the exhibit currently at the American Museum of Natural History focusing on Darwin. This is the obligatory "companion book" to the exhibit, though in fact it's far more than just a picture book of the exhibit with explanatory captions.
The first two chapters are largely a brief biography, of Darwin but also the background that led up to his dramatic breakthrough in his understanding of natural selection. The next two chapters are perhaps the heart of the book, as Eldredge takes us through Darwin's various notebooks and manuscripts, showing in Darwin's own writings how he groped his way toward Origin of Species and the ideas therein. The last two chapters are perhaps the most interesting part of all. Eldredge focuses on what we know today about biology, and how it has followed from Darwin. Eldredge has his own strong opinions--as one of the founders, with Stephen Jay Gould, of the theory of punctuated equilibrium--and does not hesitate to cast views through that prism. He is particularly interested in effects secondary to natural selection but still significant, like geographic isolation. And the final chapter has the striking title "Darwin as Anti-Christ: Creationism in the Twenty-first Century." Here he initially points out that creationism held full sway in Darwin's world, and it was the strength of Darwin's arguments that brought it down. He then revisits some of the key arguments in evolution's favor: the nested hierarchy, the progression from simple to complex, the fossil record that clearly shows the divergence of humans from apes. He spends several pages comparing the bifurcated development according to natural selection with the more complex development of a designed object, specifically the cornet, in which good ideas jump from one lineage to another, something that is never ever seen in the tree of life.
Speaking as a non-expert, I found this a very worthwhile book, both for learning more about Darwin and his thought, and about how to muster additional arguments - as if any should be necessary - against creationism.
Insightful and Thorough Examination of Darwin's Life, Ideas, and Influence.......2007-04-25
Written by the paleontologist and evolutionary biologist Niles Eldridge, who helped formulate the theory of punctuated equilibrium with Stephen Jay Gould, this biography provides a fresh and engaging new look at the life of Charles Darwin. With his background in evolutionary sciences, Eldridge is very knowledgable about the science of evolution and also has a passion for the subject which comes through clearly in his lively and smoothly flowing prose.
Eldridge does provide a brief "thumbnail sketch" of Darwin's life and spends several chapters discussing more biographical details relating to the publication of Darwin's books and the development of his intellectual ideas, but what sets this biography apart is its focus on more than just the historical facts. As a scientist, Eldridge delves deep into the science of evolution by natural selection: both how Darwin understood and conceived of it and how evolutionary theory has evolved itself in the past 150 years. He also includes a chapter about the controversy between Darwinism and the religious right that provides a scientist's perspective on the debate, in which he certainly doesn't hide his biases - but as a scientist, why should he? He nevertheless does a commendable job of bridging the gap between non-Fundamentalist religions and evolutionary ideas.
With all that's been written about Darwin and his ideas, one might wonder what the point of yet another biography could be. Yet as someone with interests in both evolution and Darwin himself, I can attest that for anyone, from the Darwin enthusiast to someone with an interest in evolutionary thought, Eldridge's book promises to provide a fascinating and perceptive new look at the life and legacy of Charles Darwin.
A Fine Introduction to Darwin and his Impact.......2007-01-19
I found this book to be both highly informative as well as beautifully produced. The author, a distingished paleontologist currently at New York's American Museum of Natural History, who was curator on the smashing exhibit last year commemorating Darwin at the museum which I had the privilege of seeing, accomplishes a number of objectives in this volume. First, he focuses upon Darwin's own history, methods and theories. Next, he does an examination of Darwin's famous Red and Transmutation notebooks, including interesting photographs of some of the pages. The reader soon comes to understand why the author feels that much of Darwin's evolutionary theory was anticipated in these journals long before he published "On the Origin of Species." This discussion is succeeded by one on Darwin's own early manuscripts (i.e., "The 1842 Sketch" and "the Essay of of 1844"), which integrates well with his analysis of the notebooks. The author also does a concise review of the "Origin" itself. One of the most interesting chapters is on "Evolution After Darwin," including the period when discussion of Darwin almost disappeared from the scene. The final chapter discusses Darwin, religion and the current "intelligent design" debate.
The author strikes a remarkable balance between a level of discussion aimed at the general reader while injecting some substantial scientific information as well. His recounting of some of the most recent leading evolutionary research is particularly informative. The book's illustrations are exceedingly helpful in illuminating the author's analysis--many are beautiful color photographs of the first quality. The book is printed on the finest glossy paper as well, resulting in a beautiful production. So, while written for a general audience, there is a good dose of scientific information as well. And the writing is always clear and concise (the entire book including illustrations and bibiography runs around 245 pages). A solid addition to the literature on Darwin and evoluton.
Setting the date.......2006-03-21
In some places, challenging Darwin is a cottage industry. In the US, it's almost a multi-national in size and scope. Challenges have run from his upper middle-class origins and existence to whether he was the first to define how evolution works. It's the last point that Niles Eldredge counters here with some vigour. In this life of the man whose novel concept of life should have overturned the concept of who we are, Eldredge is forced once again to mount the barricades in Darwin's defence. Much of the theme of this book is "when" Darwin came to the idea that transmutation of species was the key to life. Although most scholars hold that Darwin concluded species change sometime in the mid-1840s, Eldredge pushes the idea further back, even possibly during the Beagle voyage of the 1830s.
As a publication associated with a new touring exhibit from the American Natural History Museum in New York, Eldredge deftly keeps his text associated with the artefacts on view. As the curator of the exhibit, he's in a prime position to give the material a good portrayal. A dedicated Darwinist, Eldredge is intimately involved in what the naturalist thought, why he thought it and, so far as possible when he came up with his ideas. Eldredge has thoroughly investigated Darwin's notebooks in preparing this book. It was clearly a labour of love. Besides his research skills, Eldredge is an expressive and convincing writer. He has a point to make, and presents it with skill and verve. Even the unitiated is unlikely to feel bogged down by arcane information. The author's fluent language is a joy to read.
Darwin's career is essentially outlined here. The element of chance is strangely muted. It was almost a fluke that led Darwin to walk up the gangplank to board the Beagle. It was a chance occurence that he was in Chile during an earthquake that raised sealife above the ocean. A chance remark about tortoises slipped by him almost unnoticed. What would have happened if Albert Russel Wallace had sent his own groundbreaking paper to somebody else, such as Henslow? All those near-misses were overcome, as Eldredge forcefully notes, by Darwin's dedicated pursuit of what he did learn. It's easy to dismiss Darwin as a plodder, but this account shows that every step was carefully sighted and reviewed for what it might contribute. In no small measure, Darwin provided a significant leap forward, not only for our understanding of life, but in the pursuit of scientific excellence. He may not have had all the answers, but those he put forward were firmly buttressed. Given that Darwin was an observer and not a laboratory researcher, his accomplishments become yet more noteworthy.
This being a "modern" author, and a scientist who has striven for a generation to overturn a fundamental aspect of Darwin's original concept, this book necessarily preaches the notion of abrupt speciation. Darwin's use of geologist Charles Lyell's "uniformitarian" means of change has been challenged by Eldredge [and his mate Stephen Gould] with "punk eek", the idea that evolution works in a jerky fashion. Not unexpectedly, Eldredge gives this idea a good deal of ink. He attempts to ameliorate this heresy with a muted discussion of scale - the measurement of rate of change - but it's skimpy and inconclusive. The author might have done better to skim the topic and presented more on Darwin's other work. Eldredge's pushing the date of Darwin's becoming convinced of the idea of evolution in the first place is accomplishment enough for both. The final chapter throws down the gauntlet to the hordes of Christians obstructing the dissemination of Darwin's concept in education and society.
As an accompaniment to a museum exhibit, this book is richly illustrated. A multitude of contemporary illustrations, sketches, cartoons and photographs all provide visually pleasing enhancements to the text. There are even photographs of undecipherable pages from the Notebooks. In all, Eldredge has provided an fine introductory survey of who Darwin was and what he accomplished. It's to be hoped that the combination of the exhibit and this volume will retain the status Darwin deserves. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Book Description
A PARENTS’ CHOICE AWARD-WINNING SERIES
Every child is a scientist at heart, but most science books are dry and boring. They lecture rather than guide, reciting facts instead of giving students the tools to solve the problem. But not Science Smart Junior! By embedding science in the story of the hilarious misadventures of Angie, Barnaby, Bridget, and Babette, Science Smart Junior helps students understand the science behind such concepts as
··States of Matter
·Motions and Forces
·Engergy
·Living Systems
·Reproduction adn Heredity
·Ecoysystems
·Adaptation, Evolution, and Diversity
·The Geosphere
·They Hydrosphere and Atmosphere
·Earth and the Solar System
Aligned to national science standards and filled with page after page of safe, household-friendly experiments, Science Smart Junior teaches core curriculum as it sparks the imagination. Part of The Princeton Review’s award-winning Smart Junior series, this is the perfect book for the curious scientist in every student.
Customer Reviews:
Great read!.......2003-02-09
An excellent step-by-step guide through the wonders of science. Any curious middle schooler will LOVE this book. My son did.
Book Description
Between 1940 and 1970, pioneers in the new field of cell biology discovered the operative parts of cells and their contributions to cell life. Cell biology was a revolutionary science in its own right, but in this book, it also provides fuel for yet another revolution, one that focuses on the very conception of science itself. Laws have traditionally been regarded as the primary vehicle of explanation, but in the emerging philosophy of science it is mechanisms that do the explanatory work. William Bechtel emphasizes how mechanisms were discovered by cell biologists.
Amazon.com
Before we know why we age, we need to know how we age. According to Steven Austad, we should blame the process on rusting and cooking. Oxygen causes our cells to rust, and glucose causes some of our tissues to take on the qualities of cooked meat. If we eat less food, we cook more slowly and we live longer. So, why do we age? Austad claims that we've evolved to have a certain reproductive usefulness, and after that the species doesn't need us anymore. What about all the "antiaging" equations modern science promises? Generally, the best they can do is prevent premature death. Sound harsh? Well, that's life, and Why We Age is one of the most entertaining and comprehensive guides on aging that you'll find.
Book Description
Why has the life span of the average American increased from 48 to 75 years in this century alone?
. . . If the body is a machine that simply wears out, why do some cells seem immortal?
. . . Is there an aging gene? And can we control it?
. . . Can antioxidants and hormone therapy actually slow the aging process and extend life?
Steven Austads compelling book investigates the history, the theories, and the personalities behind the quest to understand the nature of aging. Here is hard evidence from the front lines of research that science is finally closing in on the fundamental processes of human biology and life.
"Austads book can be read with pleasure and profit by any intelligent person with a smattering of biological knowledge." -Science
"In this clear, engrossing overview, Austad takes the sting out of a subject that will ultimately capture us all." -Publishers Weekly
"Why We Age is remarkably rigorous in its analysis and thorough scope. . . . A comprehensive examination of its topic." -Science Editors, Amazon.com
"The problem with long life is that one keeps getting older; heres an able and clearly written summary of the latest theories on why we age and what might be done to ameliorate the process." -Kirkus Reviews
Customer Reviews:
All the latest lore on aging, health, and nutrition.......2002-08-08
This is a relaxed, somewhat witty book on aging and health by a zoologist with an emphasis on evolutionary biology. I particularly enjoyed Austed's use of statistical analysis in the beginning of the book in distinguishing popular notions about aging from what the raw data has to say. Austed uses statistics beautifully here. When Kant was trying (unsuccesfully) to formulate a science of metaphysics, he asked what other real life example of synthetic (additive) thought a priori was used by people. Math! Austed uses math to demonstrate apodaectically that what we generally refer to as extending human life is no more than altered longevity due largely to water purification, antibiotics, and less back-breaking labor rather than an actual delaying of the aging process. He also shows how our species tends to begin dying at about ten years of age according to the statistical dictate of mortality-doubling time. The limits of how old we may grow as determined by genetics is evidently about what it was back in Socrates' time, although these days longevity is greater. If cancer, according to professor Austed, were eliminated we could add a couple of more years to average longevity and likewise with heart disease; the two most prolific killers in the industrialized world. However, even if we unrealistically eliminated all disease, not only would our genes kill us somewhere around 90 years of age, but many of us would die from accidents in any event. Aging is determined by our genetic program and chance, not necessarily in that order, and the only possible hope we have for extending our limits of aging per se lies in some far off genetically engineered discovery. Presently, if you don't get flattened by a bus, your genes will get you, no matter how many vitamins you scarf down.
As for special diets, lizard's eyes (special vitamins), and magnets and crystals, these are largely placebo actuators. Unless you have special nutritional needs, a sensible diet, adequate sleep, moderate excercise, and being rich are about as much as you can do to determine your future health and longevity outside of avoiding firefights with religious fanatics and other testosterone dementias. Austed doesn't really address low stress as a longevity booster except perhaps to mention the nobles tended to live longer than peasants in pre-antibiotic days. Austed excecutes a revealing discourse on tales of how certain societies in far away mountain regions tend to live to older than normal ages by eating goat yogurt and smoking ginko leaves: these are folk tales and the author uses various examples of innoent charlatanry to demonstrate exactly how gullible people are when they very badly want to hear what they've already made up their minds to believe.
I was a bit unmoved by Austed's refutation of the cellular Hayflick limit's role in aging. While controlled cell division is certainly crucial to normal development and cancer mitigation, cells, like whole organisms, are also sitting ducks for unforeseen catastrophy. A non-regenerating cell is also an accident waiting to happen through injury, free radical damage, or deliterious mutation. In terms of generalized deterioration (aging) nonregenerating cells are eventually going to deteriorate to the point where they outnumber healthy nonregenerating cells, at which point, disfunction (aging) is certain to occur; but then what do I know, maybe this is just "what I want to believe."
Austed's observation that we seek a way to study certain whale species for their menopausal physiology (rare in the animal kingdom) and lower than human cancer rates is intriguing. How this would be accomplished outside of simple skin sample research is questionable however.
All in all a good book to have read for interpreting the almost daily media reports of miracle breakthroughs in aging and health. Austed's reliance on hard statistical analysis is very helpful in this context.
An entertaining introduction to the science of aging.......2002-02-04
Why do we age? The simple answer is, there is no simple answer. The simplest "simple" answer is probably, we age because we live, and living wears our bodies out.
In order to live we breathe because our bodies use oxygen to convert food into energy. But in the process something called "oxidative damage" happens to our cells. In other words: we rust. Inevitably. The two other main reasons why bodies wear out are connected to glucose and "browning damage", and to self-repair mechanisms of our cells that fail to stop and lead to uncontrolled cell growth - what we call "cancer".
The three processes of rusting, browning and cancer are part of aging. They are "how" we age. But "why" do we age at all? Why don't we stay healthy for, say, 150 years and then simply drop dead? In very simple terms the reason is: aging is genetic. The genes do not care about the body after the body has served its purpose: to replicate the genes and ensure that they can replicate again. This is called the "selfish gene" theory, an expression coined by Richard Dawkins.
Gerontology, the study of aging, is a field of science in rapid growth. I do not claim to be a specialist; therefore I do not want to go into much detail here. Steven Austad's book explains very well "what science is discovering about the body's journey through life". He ends his book with a chapter of particular interest for women ("Reproductive Aging, Menopause, and Health"), and a chapter on our hopes of how to make the best of our ultimate genetic fate ("Slowing Aging and Extending Life: Remedies and Expectations").
Apart from Austad's humor - it can be both droll and dry - I have particularly enjoyed his short portraits of scientists in the field of gerontology and evolutionary biology, such as the geneticist J.B.S. Haldane, the immunologist Peter Medawar, the American scientist Raymond Pearl (who in 1938 produced the first paper analyzing the extent to which smoking reduced life expectancy, but also was of the opinion that people above 50 should forfeit their right to vote, because they would have grown too foolish), the German physiologist Max Rubner, the gerontologist Alex Comfort (who discovered the joy - and profitability - of sex), the biologist John Maynard Smith, and the two-time Nobel prize winner Linus Pauling.
Austad's cameo of Max Rubner is my favorite because of its psychological insight into the downside of dedication and narrow focus: "The first scientist to investigate the rate-of-living idea in any rigorous fashion was the German physiologist Max Rubner. Rubner could make people very uncomfortable with his Teutonic bluntness. He was noted for his long silences, punctuated with outbursts of aggressively sarcastic humor. But he was also an obsessively precise investigator of the energy contained in food and the use of that energy by animals. Like obsessives everywhere, he felt that the significance of his obsession was underappreciated by others."
This is the most amazing break through in science.......2002-01-21
Wow, I am impressed. I never expected this to be a good book when I saw it on my collage reading list. This turned out not only to be scientific jargon, but keeps the reader facinated with the authors great personality which comes through in the writing.
IF YOU BUY ONE BOOK EVER BUY THIS BOOK, AND IF YOU BUY ANOTHER, BUY THIS ONE AGAIN!
Why We Age needs Companion Volume.......2002-01-02
After reading Austad's book, you should read THE IMMORTALIST MANIFESTO: STAY YOUNG & SAVE THE WORLD by Elixxir. It complements Austad's book..... Find out why Harvard's philosophy professor Cornel West calls the author FIRST RATE! ORIGINAL...RAZOR-SHARP.
The Immortalist Manifesto argues persuasively that the anti-aging breakthroughs will not necessarily come in time for you and me. Unless there is an Immortalist movement which pushes society into a Manhattan Project or Apollo Program to conquer Old Age and Death. If this book does not stir us into action, nothing will. It is to Immortalism what The Communist Manifesto was to Socialism.
The Immortalist Manifesto minces no words to remind us that "do-it-yourselfism" is not enough if your goal is to conquer Old Age. Just as you alone can never make it to the moon. Reading Austad won't hurt. But reading THE IMMORTALIST MANIFESTO just might save your life!
Interesting.......2001-02-02
This book presents a thoroughly readable introduction to the science of aging, not just human aging, but aging among all animals. The author begins by pointing out that all claims for pockets of extraordinarily aged people in various corners of the world have always lacked documentation or other substantiation. He states that there is a limit to human longevity that has remained constant even as life expectancies have risen with improved health care and living conditions.
Austad's somewhat simplistic writing style seems geared towards readers of self-help bestsellers at times, and occasionally his analogies lack clarity. Early in the text he defines the beginning of aging as the time when the probability of death is at its minimum, which seems to be about age 11 in humans. While this may be the standard measure for the science of aging (?), Austad never compares this to ordinary people's measures. For instance, many lay people distinguish between aging and longevity. They accept that there is a limit to life but within that limit, they want to have the highest quality of life possible right up until the end. Such people might define aging as a decline in life quality due to pain or illness, and loss of balance, strength, or memory. Certainly, quality of life does not start to decline at age 11. Later in the book as Austad examines ways that people might lengthen their lives, he still never takes up the issue of quality of life. Austad argues that some of the things that people do to try to make themselves healthier (exercise, vitamins) have not been shown to increase longevity but he seems to overlook the fact that they might increase the quality of life so they still might be worthwhile.
Despite these weaknesses, the book is still a very good introduction to the science of aging. It summarizes much current research about aging in language that is accessible by anyone.
Average customer rating:
- Great Survey
- How to live in hard places
- small and accessible
- The Three Domains of Life
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The Surprising Archaea: Discovering Another Domain of Life
John L. Howland
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0195111834 |
Book Description
Although they comprise one of the three fundamental branches of life, the Archaea were only recognized as a group about twenty years ago. This recognition was based on similarities between their RNA sequences, similarities all the more striking because of the diversity of archaeal lifestyles. They include microorganisms that live in boiling water, within the guts of animals, or in concentration brines. It is also evident that the Archaea diverged early in the history of life, and are of great evolutionary interest as a result. This book tells their emerging story, from their toughness in the face of forbidding environments to their unique place in evolution and in the world ecosystem.
Customer Reviews:
Great Survey.......2004-07-22
A great survey of the current state of knowledge about this
intriguing group of organisms. The writing is clear and
informative. Howland describes a few
classic examples of the group in detail and gives a good
picture of the entire kingdom and its place in evolutionary
history.
Throughout the book he does a wonderful job of explaining how
researchers arrived at their conclusions and how much
faith the reader should have in the theories he
puts forward.
How to live in hard places.......2002-11-17
In his unusually thorough, non specialist, treatment of anaerobic
extremeophiles (non-oxygen using bacteria that live in weird places), the author answers some interesting questions, such as what kind of biologic adaptions does it take to live in places like boiling water or acid lakes? How do you collect samples of them? How do you culture creatures that die in the presense of oxygen? Is it possible that there's an entire biosphere far below ground?
Oddly, the one explanation he leaves out why the archea are generally only found today in hostile places.
small and accessible.......2002-01-29
Small but a nice book. Not many illustrations.
The author seems more a teacher than a researcher.
Archea are like bacteria but they are different.
Many archea are extremophiles living
in hot springs or other stressful environments.
From the name "archea" I assumed these critters were older than
the ones we are familiar with, but the tree of life in this book
shows the eucharia branch (us) at the same time or earlier than the archea.
Puzzling. Perhaps it isn't known so everything branches at the same time.
The book seems about 70% comprehensible to
non biological majors like earth scientists.
The Three Domains of Life.......2000-10-18
"Animal, vegetable or mineral?" It seems that question leaves out almost all living things. Biologically, the plants, animals---even yeast---are closer to one another than to any bacterium. The difference is that the former---the Eukarya---have cells with nuclei, while the Bacteria do not. Genetically, there is a third domain of life---the Archaea. A member of the Archaea is as different, genetically, from a member of either of the other domains as a bacterium is from you. The tree of life has THREE genetic branches. The remarkable discovery of the third domain of life had to await the development of modern methods of genetic analysis; the definitive paper (by Carl Woese and colleagues from the University of Illinois) appeared in 1977. Howland has written a lucid and highly entertaining overview of the biology of the Archaea, coveing everything from their ecology to the structure of archaeal cells. The level of sophistication expected of the reader is about the same as would be needed to enjoy a Scientific American article.
Amazon.com
Much has been written about what makes humans distinct from other species, but what makes individual humans different from each other? Part of the answer lies in our responses to life-threatening illness, as Sherwin Nuland shows in this beautifully written meditation on human variability. Nuland explains biology and advanced medical procedures and makes them seem no more complicated than a good baseball game, and at least as exciting. Mostly, though, Nuland finds the human spirit within these complex systems, and the reader can be as exhilarated by his findings as he is.
Book Description
The author of the acclaimed, National Book Award-winning How We Die now presents an inspiring search--within the interior of our bodies--for the biologically elusive quality of life that defines us. The Wisdom of the Body offers a mesmerizing portrait of the tumultuous universe within us--and shows how, amazingly, the stability of health rides on these tempests. 8 drawings.
Customer Reviews:
Biology, Anatomy and Medicine ROCK!.......2007-05-13
I read How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter several years ago. It was helpful, informative and downright fascinating. How We Live is more of the same, but focuses on startling recoveries, remissions and successes. Dr. Nuland writes clearly and with evident enthusiasm for his subject. I'm glad he had offered his thoughts and experiences to strangers. (I never knew I'd be so fascinated with a spleen!!)
His book lengh essay The Art of Aging: A Doctor's Prescription for Well-Being is a pragmatic yet reassuring guide, too.
Intriguing book!.......2006-05-25
Do you have a human body? Are you the least bit interested in how it works? If you are then the book How We Live is perfect for you! My goal in life is to become a doctor; therefore, I am entering school as a Pre-med student. This book, How We Live, by Sherwin B. Nunland truly inspired a thirst in me to learn more about the workings of my body. He writes this book with enthusiasm, intellect, and skill and his stories placed throughout the book are truly capturing.
He starts of the book by immediately grabbing his reader. He states his opinions on the body and talks about human's will to live and the doctor's passion to save them. He quickly begins an intense story about a surprise surgery he once performed. As he walked into the hospital a page sounded for "any general surgeon". Dr. Nunland was in the operating room in a heartbeat, the woman needed immediate surgery. Her stomach was cut open and all he could see was blood, he was soon searching for the unknown source of blood flow. Just as everyone thought they were losing their patient, Dr, Nunland was able to miraculously bring her back to life. Dr Nunland explains this miracle as a patient's will to live and his ability to save her.
Dr. Nunland uses this initial story to grasp the reader and continues with this fast pace story telling mixed with his medical opinions throughout the entire book. Anyone interested in the body would love this book. He talks about intriguing surgeries, capillaries, muscle movement, cell division, Alzheimer's Disease, many of the systems working in our body, sexual reproduction, and the brain. Nunland is able to mention all of this, and more, and yet his book How We Live is much more then just a science book. He incorporates touching stories, near deaths and real life experiences that would relate to everyone. Read this book if you are at all interested in how you work!
It's Great!!!.......2006-05-19
How We Live, by Sherwin B. Nunland, is an intriguing, well-written book worthy of a five-star review. The 364-page book is beautifully written, with excellent descriptions and powerful stories. In addition to scientifically accurate descriptions of each body system, How We Live relates the structure of each part of the body to the function of a human being as a whole. This book is truly the work of an excellent author.
The first chapter, "The Will to Live", is a story of just that - a woman who requires immediate emergency surgery top treat a desperate condition. The descriptions in this chapter are vivid and graphic - including detailed accounts of the surgery itself. Spurting blood, ruptured organs, and jerking muscle are described so intensely it is easy to imagine what the scene described would look like. In fact, this chapter is so well-written, I advise anyone with a weak stomach to skip it!
The second chapter provides many accurate descriptions of the body and how it works - everything from blood and capillaries to the differences between voluntary and involuntary muscle. The circulatory system is described in such detail that it is easy to forget this is a scientific book! The body and its structures are described as wonders of nature. The third chapter goes into a story of breast cancer and gets more deeply into the endocrine system. There is, in this chapter, an interesting description of a cancerous breast and the procedure done to remove it. The fourth chapter deals with the nervous system, and provides several helpful illustrations to help the reader understand somewhat challenging information. The fifth chapter details the cell, and the sixth and seventh chapters discuss sexuality and the reproductive process. The book goes on the discuss birth, the heart, the digestive system, and the brain. These chapters add up to a scientifically accurate, yet interesting book.
How We Live is different from most other science books in that it isn't dry or confusing. It combines accurate information with heart-warming stories and is fun to read. The information is surprisingly easy to understand and the book is interesting enough to contend with fiction novels. This is a must read!
Body Mechanics.......2004-03-13
I bought this book under the title "Wisdom of the Body". Because it was written after "How We Die", which won a National Book Award, it was changed from "Wisdom of the Body" to "How We Live" because so many reviewers nicknamed it that. Dr. Nuland is one of the best writer's I have come across concerning the function of the human body. He writes with such clarity and interweaves his stories with wonderful references to the history of medicine. I think everyone that has the least bit of interest in how their body works should read his books. You don't have to have a medical background to understand his writing, but if you do have a medical background, he helps you see things even more clearly. These books are especially meaningful for anyone who has an aging parent suffering from certain illnesses. It will give you an understanding and a peace that you might not find elsewhere.
Interesting Overview.......2004-01-28
We start with an overview of the body as a working, smoothly functioning system. Dr. Nuland tells us that a stable system is not a static one, but one that is constantly changing and adapting. The paradox is stability means instability. Although his background is medical science, he has the courage to admit that medicine is an art. Going back to his system's paridigm, he says we are greater than the sum of our biological parts. From that statement he makes an inference, saying by our own choices, we can enhance what we've been given physically.
He returns to this healing theme later in the book by noting, "All growth and all healing depend on the ability of cells to divide and thereby reproduce themselves."
While the book presents fascinating insight on the body's physical functions, it totally misses the mark spiritually. When he comments on those matters, rather frequently in the margins my comments are "bogus" and "spiritually blind." He knows the external functions, but he is woefully lacking on the unseen part.
Books:
- Dynamic Physical Education for Elementary School Children (15th Edition) (Pangrazi Series)
- Elephant Memories: Thirteen Years in the Life of an Elephant Family
- Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs
- Environmental Science: A Study of Interrelationships with bind in OLC card
- Environmental Science: A Study of Interrelationships with bind in OLC card
- Environmental Science: Working with the Earth (with Environmental ScienceNOW?, InfoTrac® 1-Semester Printed Access Card) (Environmental Science: Working with the Earth)
- Essential Cell Biology, Second Edition
- Essentials of Family Therapy (3rd Edition)
- Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America
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