The Developing Person Through the Life Span (paper)

Customer Reviews:

Book review.......2007-09-28

Excellent product condition! No problems with seller - very straightforward purchase and will buy again!!

Decent, but had a lot of fluff.......2007-08-29

For me this book was required for a class. I guess it wasn't bad but I felt like I had to pick through all their example stories to find any of the real content. So much was case studies of one child or another. And most of the case studies were in themselves mostly fluff.

Packed with usefull information.......2007-02-18

I found this book very engaging, the topics were interesting and the graphics were very appropriate. I really liked how every other page had an interesting question that you could apply to everyday life and you got the answer in 2 pages. I would skip ahead to find out the answer. But after my developmental psychology class was over i wanted to keep this book. i love it.

Berger: Developing person through the life span.......2007-02-16

Great deal, the book was in excellent condition, like bran new and it
arrived in timely manner.

Excellent.......2006-11-07

Great book!! We are using this book for my developmental pyschology class. It has really provided me with a wealth of knowledge.

The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God

Average customer rating:

Nicely done, accessible account of the human brain
Entertaining?
A Very Refreshing Book On Brain Science
A Perspective-Changing Read about the Brain
For your thinking and reading friends....

The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God
David J. Linden
Manufacturer: Belknap Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Health Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature
Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives
Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts
The Art Spirit
Forty Studies that Changed Psychology: Explorations into the History of Psychological Research

ASIN: 0674024788

Book Description

You've probably seen it before: a human brain dramatically lit from the side, the camera circling it like a helicopter shot of Stonehenge, and a modulated baritone voice exalting the brain's elegant design in reverent tones.

To which this book says: Pure nonsense. In a work at once deeply learned and wonderfully accessible, the neuroscientist David Linden counters the widespread assumption that the brain is a paragon of design--and in its place gives us a compelling explanation of how the brain's serendipitous evolution has resulted in nothing short of our humanity. A guide to the strange and often illogical world of neural function, The Accidental Mind shows how the brain is not an optimized, general-purpose problem-solving machine, but rather a weird agglomeration of ad-hoc solutions that have been piled on through millions of years of evolutionary history. Moreover, Linden tells us how the constraints of evolved brain design have ultimately led to almost every transcendent human foible: our long childhoods, our extensive memory capacity, our search for love and long-term relationships, our need to create compelling narrative, and, ultimately, the universal cultural impulse to create both religious and scientific explanations. With forays into evolutionary biology, this analysis of mental function answers some of our most common questions about how we've come to be who we are.

Customer Reviews:

Nicely done, accessible account of the human brain.......2007-08-08

David Linden's "The Accidental Mind" is a neat little book. He has two main purposes: (a) to write a readable introduction on brain science, accessible to nonspecialists; (b) to make the case that (page 6) `. . .the brain is an inelegant and inefficient agglomeration of stuff, which nonetheless works surprisingly well." As to the first point, this volume is a far cry from the magnificent work, Michael Gazzaniga's The Cognitive Neurosciences III: Third Edition. However, if one is not well steeped in knowledge and understanding of the neurosciences, Gazzaniga's edited work is close to impenetrable. This book is well and crisply written, explaining simply how neurons work the structure of the brain, how the brain develops, and so on.

As to the second point? He asserts that, quoting Francois Jacob (Page 6), "'Evolution is a tinkerer, not an engineer." That is, evolution operates on organisms as they are and then the process of change takes advantage of the material already existent to adapt to new conditions and challenges. Thus, the human brain is mounted on older, more primitive structures, in an ill fitting complex. As he says (page 21): "The brain is built like an ice cream cone (and you are the top scoop): Through evolutionary time, as higher functions were added, a new scoop was placed on top, but the lower scoops were left largely unchanged."

Thereafter, he speaks of the structure of the brain, how the fully mature human brain develops (with both nature and nurture having roles to play), how the brain is associated with all manner of emotions, learning, religion, and so on.

The Ninth chapter has a title that speaks directly to Linden's first theme--"The Unintelligent Design of the Brain." Here, he slyly critiques advocates of the "Intelligent Design" perspective by noting that the brain is hardly an exemplar of some great design. As noted already, he sees the brain as inefficient and "jury-rigged."

This is a book that provides plenty of insight into how neuroscientists study the structure and function of the brain--and presents some of the exciting possibilities for future research.

In sum, this is a work that ought to be attended to by those interested in the brain sciences, but who cannot readily read the technical literature.

Entertaining?.......2007-07-30

This is a great book for readers who are interested in an overview of the anatomical and physiological functions of the brain. If you have had any previous A+P, this book may give you flashbacks (and does a good job of explaining how those feelings were "created.") You may even recognise many of the examples and case studies right from classic lectures.
If you are approaching "The Accidental Mind" as pure entertainment, enjoy. If you are looking for juicier or more in depth case studies, keep browsing.

A Very Refreshing Book On Brain Science.......2007-07-18

The addition of this review is to fill in one gap in particular. Dr. Linden is the first scientific author I have read in quite a while that wasn't flip with schools of thought. He has distilled research with varied hypothesis and has enough respect for his field and the reader to frankly state when "We just don't know." My only regret is that Dr. Linden didn't make this book the "larger tomb" he mentions when wrapping up the research that didn't make it into the book. Highly recommended to anyone who is mystified by belief and dreams.

A Perspective-Changing Read about the Brain.......2007-07-04

Why do we sleep? What is love? What is happening when we dream? These questions seem so basic to our human experience, and yet the average person in at a complete loss to explain even the most common of our daily experiences. This is where the Accidental Mind comes in. Linden's book offers a refreshingly different perspective on the brain. After reading this book, you will have a much better understanding of how your brain shapes your experience, it's limitations, and what is going on "behind the curtain." Intelligence, gender identity, sexuality, are all covered with an eye to how these factors play out in the architecture of the brain.

This book also provides a great deal of information on the biological basis for issues that are being debated in our culture, which many people will find enlightening and necessary for making informed comments.

If you are considering picking up this book, read Chapter 7 on sleep, available for free from Linden's website:

[...]

While the book may sometimes goes into great detail on the biology, most readers will find plenty of compelling information in these pages. People who enjoy this book and are interested in some of the practical insights that new research is providing about humans, how we work, and practical advice for improving our lives should check out The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt.

Happy reading!

For your thinking and reading friends...........2007-05-31

I found The Accidental Mind a well written, humorous and thought-provoking introduction to neuroscience and to some profound ideas about evolution and other topics. It's the kind of book that makes you interrupt your partner's reading every five minutes with "Hey, listen to this...." If Dr. Linden lectures as entertainingly and interestingly as he writes, his classes at Johns Hopkins University must be in great demand.

Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease

Average customer rating:

Very,very, interesting
Evolution in a way you never knew!
Understanding genetic disease from an evolutionary point of view
Razzle dazzle them
Somewhat difficult subject matter for those lacking a background in science or medicine..

Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease
Sharon Moalem , and Jonathan Prince
Manufacturer: William Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

General | Research | Medicine | Subjects | Books

Research | Medical | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Disorders & Diseases | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Health Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine
Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries
The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution
Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil

ASIN: 0060889659
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Book Description

Read it.

You're already living it.

Was diabetes evolution's response to the last Ice Age? Did a deadly genetic disease help our ancestors survive the bubonic plagues of Europe? Will a visit to the tanning salon help lower your cholesterol? Why do we age? Why are some people immune to HIV? Can your genes be turned on -- or off?

Joining the ranks of modern myth busters, Dr. Sharon Moalem turns our current understanding of illness on its head and challenges us to fundamentally change the way we think about our bodies, our health, and our relationship to just about every other living thing on earth, from plants and animals to insects and bacteria.

Through a fresh and engaging examination of our evolutionary history, Dr. Moalem reveals how many of the conditions that are diseases today actually gave our ancestors a leg up in the survival sweepstakes. When the option is a long life with a disease or a short one without it, evolution opts for disease almost every time.

Everything from the climate our ancestors lived in to the crops they planted and ate to their beverage of choice can be seen in our genetic inheritance. But Survival of the Sickest doesn't stop there. It goes on to demonstrate just how little modern medicine really understands about human health, and offers a new way of thinking that can help all of us live longer, healthier lives.

Survival of the Sickest is filled with fascinating insights and cutting-edge research, presented in a way that is both accessible and utterly absorbing. This is a book about the interconnectedness of all life on earth -- and, especially, what that means for us.

Customer Reviews:

Very,very, interesting.......2007-09-21

This is one of those books that is a delightful read, educating, interesting, and entertaining. The author puts forth his theories that many modern diseases are variations of evolutionary traits that were held by our ancestors that enabled them to survive the ice age and bubonic plague. He goes on to describe how viruses cause certain behavior in their carriers to help the viruses survival. The common cold leaves you well enough to stay moving and go to work so you can spread the virus to others, while the parasitic malaria wants you immobile and in bed because mosquitos can continue to carry it even better with you immobile.
The author also presents a case currently making head way in evolutionary science that is challenging the savannah theory. He proposes that we are evolved form aquatic apes as opposed to grassland dwellers, which would explain our hairlessness like other aquatic mammals and being bipedal. We also have fat stored at the skin like water dwellers and our infants have swimming instincts at birth that have been proven by water birthing that is very successful.
And finally I was really fascinated by the finding that what scientists have believed were "junk DNA" is slowly being shown to actually be a creative force that causes mutations in DNA for the benefit of survival of the species. I have always had trouble believing in the evolutionary theory because no mechanism could be created with causing it outside of God, and God would not need it. I also believed that the key was in DNA. Now I have a cause, the DNA itself creates and casues beneficial mutations.
I really can not do this book justice in a review with out making it far to long so buy the book if the above sounds interesting. The book presents an excellent case and has made me a believer.

Evolution in a way you never knew!.......2007-09-08

Everything out there is influencing the evolution of everything else. The bacteria and viruses and parasites that cause disease in us have affected our evolution as we have adapted in ways to cope with their effects. In response they have evolved in turn, and keep on doing so.

There are many dietary diseases that have had an evolutionary advantage in our ancestors but that today do more harm than good. In a person with hemochromatosis, for example, the body always thinks that it doesn't have enough iron and continues to absorb iron unabated. The excess iron can lead to liver failure, heart failure, diabetes, and even cancer.

Why would a disease so deadly be bred into our genetic code? Remember how natural selection works. If a given genetic trait makes you stronger--especially if it makes you stronger before you have children--then you're more likely to survive, reproduce, and pass that trait on. People with hemochromatosis have therefore an evolutionary advantage--protection against the bubonic plague!

On one set of experiments, macrophages from people who had hemochromatosis and macrophages from people who did not were matched against bacteria in separate dishes to test their killing ability. The hemochromatic macrophages crushed the bacteria. They are thought to be significantly better at combating bacteria by limiting the availability of iron than the nonhemochromatic macrophages. So though hemochromatosis will kill those inflicted with it decades later, they are much more likely than people without hemochromatosis to survive plagues, reproduce, and pass the mutation on to their children.

Diabetes also provided an evolutionary advantage to our ancestors by providing superior ability to withstand the cold by eliminating water and driving up sugar levels (like alcohol, sugar is a natural antifreeze). As a theory, it's hotly controversial, but diabetes may have helped our European ancestors survive the sudden cold, including the ice-age.

Malaria is an infectious disease that infects as many as 500 million people every year, killing more than 1 million of them. But not everyone who gets bit by malaria-carrying mosquitoes gets infected. And not everybody who gets infected dies. So what's helping the malaria survivors? People with a genetic tendency for sickle-cell anemia, another inherited blood disorder, had better natural resistance to malaria.

As you've seen with hemochromatosis, diabetes, and sickle-cell anemia, one generation's evolutionary solution is another generation's evolutionary problem.

At the end of the day, every living thing shares two hardwired imperatives: Survive. Reproduce. To achieve this, some organisms have inherited ingenious techniques to manipulate their hosts--the phenomenon that occurs when a parasite provokes its host to behave in a way that helps the parasite to survive and reproduce.

Orb weavers are a family of spiders that experience host manipulation. A wasp bites the spider, temporarily paralyzing it, then deposits its egg in its abdomen. The spider then goes on with his life oblivious to the egg in him. The egg then hatches, and the larva slowly feeds off the blood of the spider. When it is ready to cocoon, it injects chemicals into the spider's bloodstream to manipulate the spider into building a special web for it--instead of building circular webs, it goes back and forth building a rectangular web. Once the web is completed, the larva kills the spider by sucking off all its blood, and then throwing its carcass to the jungle floor below. It then uses the specially built web for it to cocoon by hanging on it.

A worm that infects ants is a classic example of another host manipulator. As the worms being carried by the ant develop, one of them makes its way to the ant's brain where it manipulates the ant's nervous system. Suddenly, the ant behaves in completely uncharacteristic fashion. At night, it leaves its colony and hangs on the tip of a grass, waiting to be eaten by a sheep. If it does not, it returns to its colony only to resume again its journey at night to the tip of a grass waiting to be eaten. Once eaten by a sheep, the worm would have succeeded in its manipulation, and would grow inside the sheep's stomach, its intended host.

The rabies Virus is another interesting host manipulator. It manipulates its host into becoming aggressive, which will make its host bite others and thus also infecting others.

Here is one amazing example of host manipulation: One researcher has discovered that women infected with T. gondii spend more money on clothes and are consistently rated as beings more attractive than women without the infection. Infected women were more easy-going, more warm-hearted, had more friends, and cared more about how they looked. However, they were also less trustworthy and had more relationships with men. Infected men, on the other hand, were less well groomed, more likely to be loners, and more willing to fight. They were also more likely to be suspicious and jealous and less willing to follow rules.

A normal sneeze occurs when the body's self-defense system senses a foreign invader trying to get in through your nasal passages and acts to repel the invasion by expelling it with a sneeze. But sneezing when you've got a cold? There's obviously no way to expel the cold virus which is already lodged in you. The cold virus has learned this reflex so it can infect your colleagues, family and your friends. Your body is actually being manipulated by the virus into sneezing!

The herpes virus may heighten sexual feeling, which will increase the probability of transmission. In other words, sometimes the herpes virus may want you to get some action in order for it to spread to other hosts.

So what if we made it easier for a given type of bacteria to survive in a healthy human than to survive in a sick human? Would this create evolutionary pressure against behavior that harms us? In fact there is an evolutionary advantage for the malaria parasite to push its hosts toward the brink of death. The more parasites swarming through our blood, the more parasites the mosquito is likely to ingest; the more parasites the mosquito ingests, the more likely it will cause an infection when it bites someone else. Cholera is similar--it doesn't need us moving around to find new hosts, so there's no reason for the bacteria to select against virulence. The bottom line is that if an infectious client has allies (such as mosquitoes) or good delivery systems (such as unprotected water supplies), peaceful coexistence with its host becomes a lot less important. In those cases evolution is likely to favor versions of the parasite that best exploit its host's resources, allowing the parasite to multiply as much as possible. Some researchers believe that we can use this understanding to influence the evolution of parasites away from virulence. The basic theory is this: shut down the modes of transmission that don't require human participation and suddenly all the evolutionary pressure is directed at allowing the human host to get up and get out. According to this theory, the virulence of a cholera outbreak in a given population should be directly related to the quality and safety of that population's water supply. If sewage flows easily into rivers that people wash in or drink from, then the cholera strain would evolve toward virulence--it can multiply freely, essentially using up its hosts, relying on its access to the water supply for transmission. But if the water supply is well protected, the organism should evolve away from virulence--the longer it remains in a more mobile host, the better its chance of transmission.

A series of cholera outbreaks that began in Peru in 1991 and spread across South and Central America over the next few years provide compelling evidence that this theory might actually work. The water supply systems from country to country ranged from relatively advanced to seriously rudimentary. Sure enough, when the bacteria invaded nations with poorly protected water supplies, such as Ecuador, the virus became more harmful as it spread. But in countries with safe water supplies, such as Chile, the bacteria evolved downward in virulence and killed fewer people. The implications of this are huge. Instead of challenging bacteria to become stronger and more dangerous through an antibiotic arms race (which we are currently losing), we could essentially challenge them to get along. If mosquitoes didn't have access to bedridden malaria patients, the microbe would be under evolutionary pressure to evolve in a way that allowed the infected person to remain mobile, increasing the opportunity for it to spread.

A series of groundbreaking research has shown that certain compounds can attach themselves to specific genes and suppress their expression. Let's take a look at a few examples. Depending upon the time of year the vole (a type of mouse) is due to give birth, baby voles are born with either a thick coat or a thin coat. The gene for a thick coat is always there--it's just turned on or off depending on the level of light the mother senses in her environment around the time of conception.

One species of lizard is born with a long tail and large body or a small tail and small body depending on one thing only--whether their mother smelled a lizard-eating snake while pregnant. When her babies are entering a snake-filled world, they are born with a long tail and big body, making them less likely to be snake food.

This is a fascinating book and I highly recommend it. I truly enjoyed reading it and I have learnt things I never imagined! Now that's what I call precious reading!

Understanding genetic disease from an evolutionary point of view.......2007-09-01

We really don't "need" disease. This is a bit misleading. It just so happens that some genetic disorders, such as sickle-cell anemia, favism, diabetes, hemochromatosis, the tendency to obesity, etc., confer on the afflicted compensatory advantages. Thus a predilection for getting fat is adaptive if a drought or a long winter beckons, or a person with a genetic tendency toward sickle-cell anemia is less likely to get malaria, and so on. Note that it is only diseases caused by genetic mutations that Dr. Moalem is talking about.

One of the techniques our bodies use when fighting infection is to reduce the amount of iron available to the invaders. Bacteria need iron to reproduce. If there is a lot of it available their numbers can grow quickly. Without iron they can't reproduce at all. Iron is a limiting factor for many kinds of life. Vast stretches of ocean support little in the way of life because the microorganisms that begin the food chain can't grow where there is so little iron. As Dr. Moalem reports in this wide-ranging and eyebrow-lifting book, sprinkle some iron onto those patches of ocean and they will quickly turn green with microorganisms.

So it is a bit of an irony that people who have hemochromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes them to retain large amounts of iron in their bodies, are able to survival infections like the plague. This is because they starve the invading microbes through "iron locking." They have a lot of iron in their bodies, but they keep it away from the bacteria. Other people who have low levels of iron in their bodies are able to withstand bacterial attacks because they also keep what little iron they have away from the germs. In fact, one of the body's initial responses to microbial invasion is to limit the amount of free iron in the system.

Genetic coding for levels of iron in the body is an example of evolutionary adaptation, part of the ongoing arms race between us and the microbes that live in and on our bodies. This is just one of several interesting and new ideas coming from the growing science of evolutionary medicine that I found in Survival of the Sickest. Incidentally, one way to manage hemochromatosis is through donating blood on a regular basis, which explains in part why physicians of old were sometimes successful when they bled their patients.

This got me to thinking about "only women bleed" which led me to think about hemorrhoids (which prove that it isn't only women who bleed). Perhaps bleeding instead of retaining blood, which seems like the more natural thing for our bodies to do, has adaptive value in some people in some environments.

Another interesting idea is this from page 58: "ACHOO syndrome--its full name is autosomal dominant compelling heliopthalmic outburst syndrome." It is a "disorder that causes uncontrolled sneezing when someone is exposed to bright light, usually sunlight, after being in the dark." Dr. Moalem suggests that "way back when our ancestors spent more time in caves, this reflex helped them to clear out any molds or microbes that might have lodged in their noses or upper respiratory tract." Now this may sound a bit far fetched, but I have suffered from low grade allergies all my life, and used to have asthmatic attacks. I came to believe that the buildup in my lungs and the sneezing were signals to me to move on! Of course now I clean and vacuum like a germaphobe, but the idea is the same. My symptoms were adaptive. They more or less forced me to reduce the level of potential irritants and microbes in my environment.

But there is more. I noticed long ago that sometimes the sun in the morning would cause me to sneeze. I never figured out why until I read the above from Dr. Moalem. I am just the kind of person who would need to sneeze those molds out.

Later on in the book Moalem returns to an evolutionary idea that has been kicking around for decades. Beginning with the work of Elaine Morgan from the 1970s the public became aware of the notion that we humans had an aquatic past. She got the idea from marine biologist Alister Hardy. Through such books as The Descent of Woman (1972) and The Aquatic Ape: A Theory of Human Evolution (1982) Morgan argued that some of our unusual adaptations came about because we had an aquatic past. Taking up the idea, Moalem writes, "Every hairless mammal is aquatic or at least plays in the mud--think of hippos, elephants and the African warthog. But there aren't any hairless primates." (p. 198) Furthermore we have fat directly under our skin to help keep us warm just as aquatic mammals do. Also, Moalem notes, "the ability to survive on land and sea" gives us adaptive flexibility. If "chased by a leopard, the semiaquatic ape could dive into the water; chased by a crocodile, it could run into the forest." (p. 199)

These ideas are familiar but what I didn't know was that an aquatic past could have figured in our evolution toward bipedalism. "[S]tanding upright in water allowed...[aquatic apes] to venture into deeper water and still breathe, and the water helped to support their upper bodies, making it easier to support them on two feet." (p. 199)

This is an easy to read book, aimed at a general readership. An earlier, slightly more technical book that covers some of the same territory is Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine (1994) by Randolph M. Nesse and George C. Williams, which I also recommend.

Razzle dazzle them.......2007-08-27

This book embodies much of what I dislike in popular cience books, while having few of the qualities I admire in such books. It relies more on sleigh of the hand and razzle dazzle, you-wouldn't-have-thought-of-it than on throughly thought out, well substantiated lines of thought.

Let's start with the subtitle: "A medical maverick discovers why we need disease". That is a clear case of fiction: nowhere in the book does the author "discover" anything; he merely retells the study of others. This, of course, is not a demerit, as many interesting scientists have difficulties in explaining their work in clear terms, acessible to the layman. However, the author must be hyped as the "discoverer", as the center figure in the tale.

Since James Burke's "Connections", it seems that popular science must explore all the crossroads, no matter how irrelevant. So Moalem goes on long tangents that have little to do with the theory he is trying to substantiate. In order to show how diabetes works to protect the body against cold, the reader is taken through the mechanism of an ice age, how ice core samples are removed and so on. If one were to remove all this "extra" material, this book would be thin indeed.

The book seems to revolve around this material and the author's use of jokes. Unfortunately, his sense of humour tends more towards ha-ha than funny, which helped to further fray my patience towards this book.

All of this is indeed a pity, as the subject is very interesting. If more pages had been dedicated to developing a central line of thought and substantiation and to showing the debate behind all these ideas (in a real light, instead of "the thickheaded traditionalists who won't accept new ideas"), it would be well worth the read.

Somewhat difficult subject matter for those lacking a background in science or medicine.........2007-07-08

From time to time I pick up a book on a subject I know virtually nothing about. Ordinarily I devour books about history or politics or current events. These are topics I am well versed in and comfortable with.
Dr. Sharon Moalem's "The Survival of the Sickest: sounded like a fascinating departure from my ordinary fare. So I thought I would give it a whirl. Unfortunately for me the results were somewhat mixed. Although Dr. Moalem and her co-author have written this book in fairly simple language that most should be able to follow pretty easily I found myself overwhelmed at times by the number of terms I was simply not familiar with at all. I'm afraid my lack of education in the sciences was showing. Blame me not the good doctor. Yet in spite of these difficulties I was still able to glean some important information from this book. I now have a somewhat better understanding of the whole business of why disease exists in the first place. I also discovered the important role viruses play in our ability to survive and reproduce. I also found out that the development of diabetes in human beings probably emerged as natures response to people having to cope with conditions in regions with extremely cold temperatures. This makes perfect sense and was interesting to me because a number of people in my family have battled this disease. Perhaps the most fascinating thing I learned in "Survival of the Sickest" is that exposure to the sunshine actually helps to convert the cholestorol in our bodies into the vitamin D we all need to ensure strong bones and help avoid osteoperosis. I had never heard this before and found this revelation to be quite interesting indeed!
For me, attempting to read "Survival of the Sickest" was a little like visiting a foreign country and not knowing the language. I was simply unprepared to get the most out of this book. As you can see, other reviewers continue to heap praise on Dr. Sharon Moalem for her book. I suspect their evaluation of this book is right on the money. In the end I found that reading "Survival of the Sickest" was time well spent anyway. After all, it is impossible to expand your horizons if you never make the attempt.

The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Author

Average customer rating:

Excellent overview of evolution
Fancifully Dark
Mandatory reading for students/interested persons
a mixed bag
a new way to look at the world

The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Author
Richard Dawkins
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Genetics | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Health Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The God Delusion
The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design
The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature
Letter to a Christian Nation
Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon

ASIN: 0199291152

Amazon.com

Inheriting the mantle of revolutionary biologist from Darwin, Watson, and Crick, Richard Dawkins forced an enormous change in the way we see ourselves and the world with the publication of The Selfish Gene. Suppose, instead of thinking about organisms using genes to reproduce themselves, as we had since Mendel's work was rediscovered, we turn it around and imagine that "our" genes build and maintain us in order to make more genes. That simple reversal seems to answer many puzzlers which had stumped scientists for years, and we haven't thought of evolution in the same way since.

Why are there miles and miles of "unused" DNA within each of our bodies? Why should a bee give up its own chance to reproduce to help raise her sisters and brothers? With a prophet's clarity, Dawkins told us the answers from the perspective of molecules competing for limited space and resources to produce more of their own kind. Drawing fascinating examples from every field of biology, he paved the way for a serious re-evaluation of evolution. He also introduced the concept of self-reproducing ideas, or memes, which (seemingly) use humans exclusively for their propagation. If we are puppets, he says, at least we can try to understand our strings. --Rob Lightner

Book Description

The million copy international bestseller, critically acclaimed and translated into over 25 languages. This 30th anniversary edition includes a new introduction from the author as well as the original prefaces and foreword, and extracts from early reviews. As relevant and influential today as when it was first published, The Selfish Gene has become a classic exposition of evolutionary thought. Professor Dawkins articulates a gene's eye view of evolution - a view giving centre stage to these persistent units of information, and in which organisms can be seen as vehicles for their replication. This imaginative, powerful, and stylistically brilliant work not only brought the insights of Neo-Darwinism to a wide audience, but galvanized the biology community, generating much debate and stimulating whole new areas of research.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent overview of evolution.......2007-10-08

Scholars pro-evolution can generally be divided into 1) those who believe in evolution at the group level (ie: The reason lions behave in a particular way is because they want to survive as a species) or 2) those who believe in evolution at an individual level (ie: The reason a particular bird behaves in a particular way is because he wants to survive as an individual bird). Dawkins' views are closer to the latter. In fact, he takes it a step further and argues for evolution at the gene level. I think he makes a very convincing case for his views. Of course nothing is certain (except uncertainty perhaps) so he does not prove his theory definitively.

The book can be hard to read at times and may be a bit slow for those with no background in biology or science. Nevertheless I think anyone with patience can read, enjoy and learn from this important book.

No matter what your views this is a very educational and important book. Highly recommended.

Fancifully Dark.......2007-09-21

In his play "Suddenly, Last Summer," Tennessee Williams writes of a young man who, on vacation at the seashore, watches newly hatched baby turtles struggling down to the safety of the water. Only a small percentage get there, though, because the gulls overhead scoop them up and eat them faster than they can crawl. The young man, observing this and already under great psychic tension, tells his cousin that now "I have seen God!" Later on, we realize the man is morally insane, and that perhaps this was the turning point; his descent into insanity.
Whether Williams himself thought of God the same way, I don't know. But certainly the example of the turtles and gulls had been chosen, out of thousands of other such biological observations, because the young man chose to find God - or truth - in it. He could, if he had been in a sunnier mood, chosen to look at nesting robins or a mare and her colt.
In "The Selfish Gene," Dr. Dawkins argues against the idea of altruism in nature: mothers take care of their young because they love them, etc. Dawkins says they do it because it's in their genes. But he takes it one step further: he says it's the genes themselves that are struggling to survive - not the whole animal. The analogy of genes "using" animal bodies for their own "selfish" ends, as if we were robots and the genes our drivers, is made over and over again.
Of course, Dawkins realizes this is not correct. Darwinism asserts that biological life came into existence blindly: cells and animals came (and continue to come) into being, not because they chose to, but because of natural selection. And the ones who survive do so because of serendipity.
This is a very hard concept, of course, to understand. I remember Sister Pauline laboring to explain to us girls in junior biology class that the white butterflies didn't decide to turn black; they turned black over generations, due to natural selection. She had a hard time of it. (Catholics are "allowed" to choose between a literal or analogous interpretation of the Bible, so she was not breaking any official rules!)
In other words, a "selfish" gene (or animal) makes no more sense in Darwinistic terms than an "altruistic" one.
Dawkins explicitly states this on page 196. But he uses the selfish gene analogy so many more times - hundreds of times - that, just from the sheer repetitiveness of the theme, it may sink in too deeply (and do some psychic damage) to people who are not currently living on the sunny side of the street, so to speak.
For those people, like the gentleman who wrote the touching review of how this book contributed to fits of depression, I'd say: This point of view has no more legitimacy than the altrustic point of view.
An additional (and, I think, unnecessary) weight on the sensitive reader's soul is the aspersions that Dr. Dawkins, an aggressive atheist, throws on the concept of God - limited mainly, I think, to his chapter on memes (he saves most of his vituperation on this issue for another book, "The God Delusion").
On that score, I'd say: please realize that scientists don't know everything. People in different professions develop different mental prejudices: lawyers think like lawyers, engineers like engineers, etc. And scientists, for whom scientific method is everything, tend to think that anything that's not measurable therefore doesn't exist. This is a logical fallacy. They also tend to think they are so intelligent, and the world outside science is so simple, that they can read a few survey books on religion, philosophy, or history and know all there is to know about the field. This leads them to made irresponsible, blanket statements, completely unaware of how little they know.
On page 201, he winds up a chapter by saying all is not gloomy; humans can still strive towards altruism; that "[w]e, alone on earth, can rebel against the tyranny of the selfish replicators." Then, in a long footnote, he writes that some of his colleagues disapproved of this passionate summation. "In some cases, the criticism came from doctrinaire sociobiologists jealously protective of genetic influence...." and in others, from "high priests of the left jealously protective of a favorite demonological icon!" (His exclamation point.) These latter, apparently, were objecting that he on the one hand implied a belief in free will while on the other hand talking like a genetic determinist. He objects to this, saying, if I understand it, that he's both, and ends the argument by saying, "We, that is our brains, are separate and independent enough from our genes to rebel against them. ...[W]e do so in a small way every time we use contraception."
Now, I don't pretend to have a handle on the philosophical and sociobiological arguments regarding whether or not humans have free will, or even what exactly free will is. But in the above I don't see that Dr. Dawkins really does, either: he treats it far too simply.
In sum, read the book, but don't let it get you down. After all, if the village priest doesn't have the right to bully people intellectually, than neither does the research scientist.

Mandatory reading for students/interested persons.......2007-09-17

This is an excellent primer to biological evolution and could also be a valuable co-text with a standard high school biology course. Written in British english, it is quite understandable though more academic than casual.
Dawkins' use of the 'gene's eye view' of the world permeates the text. It is very easy to follow. A great book to rebut any creationist's
viewpoint. This was Dawkins' first book in the field. It will not disappoint or talk down to you.
Enjoy.

a mixed bag.......2007-09-09

Parts of the book were utterly fascinating to me, such as the groundbreaking idea of the "meme" as a unit of cultural transmission. But the argument that species are survival machines for our "immortal genes" seems seriously flawed.

First and foremost in my mind, it is hard for me to swallow that organisms practice altruism because the gene or genes that are responsible for this altruism have a probability of existing in the recipient of the altruism, the probability increasing with the closeness of familial relatedness. How, then, to explain altruism beyond the family, or even beyond the species? The author mentions that there is at least one well-documented case of a dolphin rescuing a drowning human being. In the book this was suggested to be a mistake. One of Earth's most intelligent animals has a gene for rescuing long, narrow objects and cannot tell the difference between a human and its own species. I got doubtful when contradictory evidence was explained as a mistake. And what about organisms' adopting children originating from other parents? Always a mistake? Highly expensive practice for when the real deal arises?

I do not understand why there must be *a* unit of natural selection. Can't there be more than one, sometimes at odds with each other, sometimes in tandem? I do believe genes are selected over other genes, but I believe groups can be selected over other groups, too. Perhaps other units, both larger and smaller than genes (Why not the selfish base pair?), are also naturally selected.

Finally, especially considering recent discoveries in genomics that have downsized the number of estimated human genes, there cannot be one gene behind any behavioral trait you can think of, a gene for being nice to your cousin, for example. I get that a gene can have many functions and can have a net effect of being nice to your cousin, and in its absence you would be less nice to your cousin, but this makes for a complicated web which would get torn apart as succeeding generations inherit just part of the web. The influences of biology, environment, and history get harder to ignore.

a new way to look at the world.......2007-08-29

Dawkins challenges us to look at old ideas (Darwinian) in a new light. At times I found his mathematical calculations tedious to follow, however when I bothered to think them through, they did make sense. I esepcially enjoyed the chapter on game theory because it helped to explain why humans do not usually behave in blatantly exploitive ways in spite of our "selfish genes". I recommend the book to anyone who wonders how the world works.

Average customer rating:

Not for the uninitiated
Genetics: From Genes to Genomes

Genetics: From Genes to Genomes
Leland Hartwell , Leroy Hood , Michael L. Goldberg , Ann Reynolds , Lee M. Silver , and Ruth C. Veres
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Genetics | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Solutions Manual/Study Guide to accompany Genetics: From Genes to Genomes
Genetics: From Genes to Genomes (3rd Edition Study Guide)
Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry, Fourth Edition
Cell and Molecular Biology: Concepts and Experiments
World of the Cell with CD-ROM (6th Edition)

ASIN: 0073227382

Book Description

Genetics: From Genes to Genomes is a cutting-edge, introductory genetics text authored by an unparalleled author team, including Nobel Prize winner, Leland Hartwell. The Third Edition continues to build upon the integration of Mendelian and molecular principles, providing students with the links between early genetics understanding and the new molecular discoveries that have changed the way the field of genetics is viewed.

Customer Reviews:

Not for the uninitiated.......2007-07-07

This is a good book if you already have a foundation in genetics. Oddly, the book is marketed as your basic undergrad genetics text. Yet instead of just explaining the concepts, it leads you on the path of discovery of how researchers figured all this stuff out. If you are still learning the subject, you may do better with Klug/Cummings/Spencer. If you are going into higher levels of biology and want to learn some research methods, this is a good book.

Genetics: From Genes to Genomes.......2007-03-09

The book came in very quickly and I am very happy with the purchase.

Average customer rating:

History of Life
Richard Cowen
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Darwin for Beginners
Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth
The Triumph of Evolution...And the Failure of Creationism
An Introduction to Astrobiology
Gorgon: The Monsters That Ruled the Planet Before Dinosaurs and How They Died in the Greatest Catastrophe in Earth's History

ASIN: 1405117567

Book Description

The living world today contains all kinds of creatures that do unexpected things-- we have come to expect that there were complex and unusual ways of life in the past, and that evolution took some unexpected turns at times. Entertainingly written for students, History of Life 4th Edition takes you to the edge of current knowledge.

This text is aimed at students and anyone interested in the history of life on our planet. It explores the "whys" of events that occurred and, in this newest edition, it takes a closer look at the evolution of the physical earth and the strong interactions between organisms and environment. The book's coverage includes geography, climate, atmosphere, ocean, and land (a changing stage) while following the interplay between organisms. Also new to this edition is a dedicated website which explores additional environmental factors and supplemental topics, and provides interactive exercises, a detailed glossary, key links and all art in downloadable form. The art is also available to instructors on CD-ROM in PowerPoint and Jpeg formats.

Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives
Average customer rating:

wow

Gee Whiz Science

Incredibly stimulating

Evolution as religion

gnaw this juicy bone!

Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives
David Sloan Wilson
Manufacturer: Delacorte Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books
Organic | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Science | Subjects | Books
General | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Biology | Biological Sciences | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
General | Evolution | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science

Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved (The University Center for Human Values Series)

The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God

Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society

ASIN: 0385340214
Release Date: 2007-03-27

Book Description

What is the biological reason for gossip?
For laughter? For the creation of art?
Why do dogs have curly tails?
What can microbes tell us about morality?

These and many other questions are tackled by renowned evolutionist David Sloan Wilson in this witty and groundbreaking new book. With stories that entertain as much as they inform, Wilson outlines the basic principles of evolution and shows how, properly understood, they can illuminate the length and breadth of creation, from the origin of life to the nature of religion. Now everyone can move beyond the sterile debates about creationism and intelligent design to share Darwin’s panoramic view of animal and human life, seamlessly connected to each other.

Evolution, as Wilson explains, is not just about dinosaurs and human origins, but about why all species behave as they do—from beetles that devour their own young, to bees that function as a collective brain, to dogs that are smarter in some respects than our closest ape relatives. And basic evolutionary principles are also the foundation for humanity’s capacity for symbolic thought, culture, and morality.

In example after example, Wilson sheds new light on Darwin’s grand theory and how it can be applied to daily life. By turns thoughtful, provocative, and daringly funny, Evolution for Everyone addresses some of the deepest philosophical and social issues of this or any age. In helping us come to a deeper understanding of human beings and our place in the world, it might also help us to improve that world.

Customer Reviews:

wow.......2007-10-02

David Sloan Wilson is riiight. It's so simple! Oh thank you, jeez! My eyes are opened! Hey everyone, I'm an atheist! No, I totally get it now! Evolution explains everything! There is no great mystery to life, just evolution and God's a spaghetti monster! Thank you, David!

/sarcasm

Gee Whiz Science.......2007-09-06

I've never met David Sloan Wilson, but he strikes me as one of those professors we've all had at least once. You can imagine him clasping his hands together, looking straight through those large glasses and shouting with joy, "gee isn't that great!" "Evolution explains everything." Okay, maybe he didn't exactly say that, but the take home message is implied. A more accurate statement might be that most everything has been shaped by the forces of selection.

In his book, he sets out to show us that not only is biology best explained by natural selection but so is art, medicine, politics, war, economics, infanticide and religion. That's quite a tall order for one book, but in places he does uncover some nuggets, especially in group selection theory. Some of this ground has been covered before and if you can get past his gee whiz enthusiasm coupled with his goofy braggadocio, he is at times an engaging and entertaining writer.

Unfortunately, his anecdotes and case histories of art, dance and music rest on pretty shaky scientific grounds. And it is precisely this weakness that makes it hard to know who would benefit from this book. The evolutionists already know this is probably right, but the antievolutionists will be inclined to select his weakest arguments to bolster their case.

Nevertheless, I must admit that his intellectual journey provided a stimulating ride. Surely, he's no Dr. Feynman, but you come to realize that Wilson himself is the culmination of some rather curious selection forces.

Incredibly stimulating.......2007-09-03

I really appreciate this book. Well written, funny, precise, documentated and full of anecdotes. Undoubtedly a must read. I recommended it to all my friends and collegues.

Evolution as religion.......2007-08-14

I'm a broad reader and an evolutionist. I'd read a review, bought the book, read it and am truly disappointed. Wilson brags constantly about a previous book he wrote, saying he described religion in evolutionary terms. Sadly, he's doing the reverse in this book: Describing evolution as an acolyte rather than a scientist.

He spends too much time making a claim, waving a wand, and claiming he's proven something. His chapter on laughter is a good example: Lots of muttering, no scientific linkage and then a claim it must be evolutionary. He writes well so even that might have been passable and he does have occasional real examples that are worth reading (keeping this review from being a 1).

What's bad are the sections that completely lack logic, such as on page 184, where he's claiming the importance of dance in evolution. Not only does he show no evidence, he makes a false logical claim while talking about the military. As he writes: "The visceral power of dance made it possible for armies to be formed out ot people who had no objective reason for fighting. Merely by marching in time and other intense communal activities, they become emotionally bonded to each other. ... J. Glenn Gray puts it this way in 'The Warriors: Reflections on Men in Battle': 'Many veterans who are honest with themselves will admit, I believe, that the experience of communal effort in battle ... has been the high point of their lives...."

Notice, first, that he's quoting one man's opinion ("I believe") as factual support. More importantly, notice how Gray is specifically describing the effects of shared combat. Not dancing. Not marching. Not "other intense communal activities." Combat.

I hate it when people on my side are just as ignorant and pompous as the people I oppose. I'm afraid that people will not learn about evolution from this book, only that some evolutionists believe in it as strongly as others believe in the false science of ID. This book damages our cause, and I suggest people avoid it.

gnaw this juicy bone!.......2007-07-27

Some books you don't so much read as gnaw on like a hound with a particularly juicy bone. This is such a book. Some authors, far from remote figures lurking behind their texts, become much-valued friends. David Sloan Wilson is such an author. The title, Evolution for Everyone, is deceptive. While in fact very apposite, it suggests at first sight an over-simplifying textbook, an `Idiots Guide to Darwin'. No such thing. Wilson gives us a passionate and yet affably urbane argument for evolution as a kind of general theory of everything. He sees evolution as relevant to most aspects of human existence. For example, why do humans enjoy music? Why do they enjoy dancing? Wilson suggests that making rhythmic sounds and dancing may well have preceded speech among our remote simian ancestors. Peoples who communally dance unite in co-operation rather than exterminate themselves in fratricidal fighting. A rabble of a hundred individuals can be transformed into an effective regiment of soldiers working as one by drilling together (never more so than when accompanied by martial music). So also literature: it plays an essential role in cultural evolution. Wilson observes: "the primary human adaptation is for our behaviour to be acquired less and less directly from our genes and more and more from other people". Narratives, whether literary or historical, play a part in this process. These are only a few of scores of hares Wilson's engagingly fertile mind puts up for us to pursue. Good hunting!

Historical Geology: Evolution of Earth and Life Through Time (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac)

Average customer rating:

strong explanation of evolution

Historical Geology: Evolution of Earth and Life Through Time (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac)
Reed Wicander , and James S. Monroe
Manufacturer: Brooks Cole
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Biology | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Children's Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Children's Books | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Historical Geology: Interpretations and Applications (6th Edition)
Laboratory Studies in Earth History
Evolution of the Earth
Bringing Fossils To Life: An Introduction To Paleobiology
Earth System History

ASIN: 0534392873

Book Description

HISTORICAL GEOLOGY: EVOLUTION OF EARTH AND LIFE THROUGH TIME teaches students basic geologic principles as well as how scientists apply these principles to unravel Earth?s history. Wicander and Monroe present a balanced overview of both the geological and biological history of Earth as a continuum of inter-related events. These events reflect the underlying principles and processes that have shaped our planet. The authors also explain the historical development of these basic principles and processes, and their importance in deciphering Earth history. Three major themes?time, evolutionary theory, and plate tectonics?are woven together throughout the book. These themes help students link essential material to enhance their understanding of historical geology.

Customer Reviews:

strong explanation of evolution.......2006-02-17

The authors give a strong explanation of biological evolution, from its earliest unicellular origins to the present. Much fossil and DNA evidence is summarised. Including recent findings in fossil digs from the 90s.

They point out that many so-called missing links are not. For relations between genera, families, orders and classes, the intermediate forms ("links") are often present in the fossil record. Amongst the cases cited are the origins of whales and sea cows.

More generally, the book has numerous instances where transitions found in fossils are explained in terms of limbs or bones developing, or suchlike, so that you can clearly see how one fossil is the evolutionary ancestor of another later fossil. As in the early fishes. Where those who developed jaws with bones were then more able to hunt other fishes; a strong evolutionary advantage. While the move onto land is shown in fossils that had fins with muscles. This allowed for propulsion above water, where the original advantage was to let the fish move around under water, in mud or vegetation.

Geology is also emphasised. Often giving rise to various ore and petroleum bodies found today. Plus plate tectonics is shown to account for the continental drifts and the breakup of Gondwanaland.

The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology

Average customer rating:

Fantastic insight into a possible, plauible future of humans and the universe
Look-out future here we come
hold onto your hat
Not for non geeks!
Most important book of the next 50 yrs

The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
Ray Kurzweil
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Biotechnology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books

Social Aspects | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books

Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever
The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence
Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds, Our Bodies -- and What It Means to Be Human
On Intelligence
The 10% Solution for a Healthy Life: How to Reduce Fat in Your Diet and Eliminate Virtually All Risk of Heart Disease and Cancer

ASIN: 0143037889

Book Description

For over three decades, Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future. In his classic The Age of Spiritual Machines, he argued that computers would soon rival the full range of human intelligence at its best. Now he examines the next step in this inexorable evolutionary process: the union of human and machine, in which the knowledge and skills embedded in our brains will be combined with the vastly greater capacity, speed, and knowledge-sharing ability of our creations.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic insight into a possible, plauible future of humans and the universe.......2007-10-07

This is one the the favorite books I have ever read. It is not an easy read for a non-scientist, but absolutely rewarding. It is surprisingly accessible, despite the technical and intellectual scope. The logical and insightful nature of Kurzweil's arguments make it a compelling and inspirational read. The book has had a huge impact on my thinking and introduced me to the whole subject of futurism. It is affecting my investment and career decisions. There were numerous mind-bending, mind-expanding moments during reading this as the gravity of the concepts sank in. Garreau's book, Radical Evolution, is a great follow-up read, comparing and contrasting Kurzweil's optimism with the pessimism of others. It is a joy and luxury to be exposed to the visions such "big thinkers".

Look-out future here we come.......2007-09-10

I read this book with such optimism for our future. I only hope to live long enough to see some of the exciting events in our future on this planet. Just when you think you have seen it all, you "ain't seen nutt'n yet". Come on world let's work together and solves some of the mysteries that are tearing us apart.

hold onto your hat.......2007-08-29

the future is going to be wild.

ray kurzweil is the leading guru of the not so far off world where key technologies merge to allow us to turn ourselves into non biological humans.

no crack pot he. when kurzweil presented his thesis at MIT the arguments centered on the when, not the if of kurzweils predictions

Not for non geeks!.......2007-07-26

Although the reading is tedious for someone who is not that scientifically or computer oriented, the concepts and ideas the book presents are fascinating and a bit scary!

Most important book of the next 50 yrs.......2007-07-25

At some point I hope that people will stop paying attention to Paris Hilton and read this book. Our species is at a crossroads and we have some very important decisions to make in the next few decades. This book more than any other will prepare us to make the right choices. Read it now, or be devoured by a swarm of nanobots in 2029 when Skynet takes over.

Average customer rating:

Richly detailed overview of modern evolutionary thought
No what I expected!!
If only Campbell were the author...
Makes evolutionary biology interesting
horrible

Evolutionary Analysis (4th Edition)
Scott Freeman , and Jon C. Herron
Manufacturer: Benjamin Cummings
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

Organic | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Essential Genetics: A Genomic Perspective
Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach, Eighth Edition
The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time
Brock Biology Of Microorganisms
Ecology: Concepts and Applications

ASIN: 0132275848

Book Description

By presenting evolutionary biology as an ongoing research effort, this best-seller aims to help readers think like scientists. The authors convey the excitement and logic of evolutionary science by introducing principles through recent and classical studies, and by emphasizing real-world applications. Features a new chapter on Phylogenomics and the Molecular Basis of Adaptation (Ch. 15). Offers an earlier presentation of Reconstructing Evolutionary Trees, reflecting the growing importance of this topic in the field. Includes the latest research and examples, giving students access to the most current developments in the field. Includes full-color photographs, diagrams and data-graphics throughout, developed by the author. Undergraduate courses in evolution

Customer Reviews:

Richly detailed overview of modern evolutionary thought.......2007-04-14

I have used all three earlier editions of this text for my undergraduate 'Evolution' course (I am a college Professor of Biology) and have witnessed the various changes made over the years. The new version has updated much of the information on molecular evolution; the authors should be commended for their very thorough literature review. With the veritable explosion of research into evolutionary phenomena, this must be difficult indeed! The initial chapter on HIV still remains a wonderful introduction to your typically "human oriented" undergraduate and serves to generate interest in the topic early on. The phlogeny/evolutionary tree chapter was moved earlier to the "Introduction" part of the text; not sure why this was done. It was also nice to finally see mention made of reaction norms in the 'Adaptation' chapter (at last!), but there are still no examples of phenotypic plasticity from the vast botanical literature. The 'Evolution and Human Health' chapter is excellent for the medical student. Rather oddly, the important topic of speciation is near the book's end (Chapter 16) and glosses over the many fine examples from the plant evolution literature (polyploid speciation is virtually ignored, except for two paragraphs on p.159). My students are fascinated by the 'evolution of wheat' story, but don't look for that example of speciation here.

My primary complaint with this, and the preceding editions, is still the overwhelming amount of extraneous detail. How I wish I could use my editorial hand on this one! Does an undergraduate student really need over 20 pages on linkage disequilibrium? Are the final details of QTL mapping really necessary at this level of student education? Do we really need 4 pages on the 'fallacy' of the bell-curve (interesting advanced topic, but...) Also, there is an over abundance on phylogeny and systematics (useful for the future molecular systematist, but probably just confusing to the general biology major).

In any event, a great book, a little overwhelming, but well written and free of errors...I'll probably order the lastest (4th) edition anyway for the next 'Evolution' class...

No what I expected!!.......2006-11-13

Advertisement for this book is misleading. I thought it was the actual book, however its merely a workbook full of vocabulary. Not helpful at all!!! Save your money, you will still need the real book anyway!!

If only Campbell were the author..........2005-11-14

There's not much to say. The book isn't confusing because the material is too technical--it's often confusing because the author doesn't go in enough depth; it's frustrating when a crucial concept is presented, such as Hamilton's Law, but no examples on its applications are put forth. I find myself frequently searching the internet to suppliment this textbook. It also doesn't help that the book doesn't come with a cd-rom, or any additional material, unless you purchase the teacher's edition...reading this textbook makes me yearn for Campbell.

Makes evolutionary biology interesting.......2004-05-04

Evolutionary biology can be extremely tedious for undergraduate students if one insists on teaching the more arcane debates as Fisher versus Shifting Balance. That might be good for a second course for future professionals, but if one starts with such stuff, students will lose all the interest in evolution they came with.
Evolutionary Analysis is interesting, wel-informed and up to date, and is meant for general biologists. It cannot be used as a reference book for neo-darwinian debates, so the better.

horrible.......2004-03-05

Bought this one for Evolution class. It is a horrible excuse for a textbook. Do not buy this book unless it is for a middle school student. If the authors think this book has been written for an advanced audience, then I would suggest that anyone interested in learning evolution not attend University of Washington.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books