Book Description
As the demand for increased knowledge and new technology continues to unfold, you'll learn how to provide excellent service to research participants with this comprehensive guide.
Amazon.com
"Science," writes physicist Gregory Derry, "is the active and creative engagement of our minds with nature in an attempt to understand." Not to understand anything in particular, mind you--just to understand, to gain a sense of our place in the world. Whether viewed as a body of knowledge, a collection of techniques, or a way of seeing, Derry adds, science is just plain interesting. It is also difficult to live in the modern world, which is so entangled economically and culturally in technology, without some grasp of science, technology's sire.
All that said, Derry states his aim: to show his readers how to think scientifically. In this aim he is quite successful, as his narrative proceeds through case studies that draw on real-world situations to discuss the importance of precise measurement, replicable experimentation, clear research design, logical thought--and imagination. He is quite clear on what constitutes good science, and he profiles a few heroes (Kepler, Einstein, Helmholtz, Joule) to illustrate how that good science is conducted. He is just as clear on what constitutes bad science, which often results when money and politics enter the laboratory. The fundamental virtue required of a scientist is honesty, he remarks, and a scientist who is dishonest or unethical scarcely deserves the name.
Part textbook, part manifesto, Derry's book offers both entertainment and food for thought for readers inclined to learn the ways of science. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
How does a scientist go about solving problems? How do scientific discoveries happen? Why are cold fusion and parapsychology different from mainstream science? What is a scientific worldview? In this lively and wide-ranging book, Gregory Derry talks about these and other questions as he introduces the reader to the process of scientific thinking. From the discovery of X rays and semiconductors to the argument for continental drift to the invention of the smallpox vaccine, scientific work has proceeded through honest observation, critical reasoning, and sometimes just plain luck. Derry starts out with historical examples, leading readers through the events, experiments, blind alleys, and thoughts of scientists in the midst of discovery and invention. Readers at all levels will come away with an enriched appreciation of how science operates and how it connects with our daily lives.
An especially valuable feature of this book is the actual demonstration of scientific reasoning. Derry shows how scientists use a small number of powerful yet simple methods--symmetry, scaling, linearity, and feedback, for example--to construct realistic models that describe a number of diverse real-life problems, such as drug uptake in the body, the inner workings of atoms, and the laws of heredity.
Science involves a particular way of thinking about the world, and Derry shows the reader that a scientific viewpoint can benefit most personal philosophies and fields of study. With an eye to both the power and limits of science, he explores the relationships between science and topics such as religion, ethics, and philosophy. By tackling the subject of science from all angles, including the nuts and bolts of the trade as well as its place in the overall scheme of life, the book provides a perfect place to start thinking like a scientist.
Download Description
How does a scientist go about solving problems? How do scientific discoveries happen? Why are cold fusion and parapsychology different from mainstream science? What is a scientific worldview? In this lively and wide-ranging book, Gregory Derry talks about these and other questions as he introduces the reader to the process of scientific thinking. From the discovery of x-rays and semi-conductors to the argument for continental drift to the invention of the smallpox vaccine, scientific work has proceeded through honest observation, critical reasoning, and sometimes just plain luck. Derry starts out with historical examples, leading readers through the events, experiments, blind alleys, and thoughts of scientists in the midst of discovery and invention. Readers at all levels will come away with an enriched appreciation of how science operates and how it connects with our daily lives. An especially valuable feature of this book is the actual demonstration of scientific reasoning. Derry shows how scientists use a small number of powerful yet simple methods -- symmetry, scaling, linearity, and feedback, for example -- to construct realistic models that describe a number of diverse real-life problems, such as drug uptake in the body, the inner workings of atoms, and the laws of heredity. Science involves a particular way of thinking about the world, and Derry shows the reader that a scientific viewpoint can benefit most personal philosophies and fields of study. With an eye to both the power and limits of science, he explores the relationships between science and topics such as religion, ethics, and philosophy. By tackling the subject of science from all angles, including the nuts andbolts of the trade as well as its place in the overall scheme of life, the book provides a perfect place to start thinking like a scientist.
Customer Reviews:
Facinating book that was mailed in record time.......2005-09-16
This is a book that everyone should read whether or not they like to study and leatn about science. Amazon.com did an excellent job at making sure that the item got to me quickly and efficiently. Thanks.
A great book I might use for textbook.......2001-05-09
Informative, especially for the non-technical people. I am considering using this book for an introductory course to the Art and Literature students in Taiwan.
The book is well written and concise. Well suited for today's short attention-span students!
A pretty good book........2000-05-23
If I could summarize my opinion of this book in a single word it would be "ambivalence." The book definitely has its good points, but it lacks closure on many themes, is open ended in many ways, and it's a little of order. Perhaps Derry wanted it that way because scientific progress often goes the same route. This is supposed to be an explanatory text, though, and I would have organized it differently.
The book begins with a chapter consisting of several stories from the history of science, including the discovery of the structure of Benzene and the development the Smallpox vaccine. There are five in all, and each illustrates a different application of the method of science to discovery. The one thing lacking from this chapter (and from the book, for that matter) is a cohesive summary of the principles brought out through these examples. I think Derry wanted his readers to figure it out themselves, and so he shuns summary tables and lists as a way of making the reader think. Part of the author's message is that science does not work according to a given set of rules -- the kind of rules you might have learned in grade school. Instead, Derry presents science as a more fluid construct. I agree, but telling the stories had a point, and I believe he should have been more succinct in bringing out his opinion about what the point was suppose to be, especially in relationship to the stories meant to illustrate how science works.
The next few chapters list some important methods used by scientists -- some of which are illustrated in the examples from chapter 1. For example, chapter two describes how looking for patterns in nature provides important clues in scientific exploration. Chapter three describes the importance of instrumentation in scientific work, primarily in allowing scientists to observe phenomena in which they would be otherwise unaware. Chapter four explains how sometimes small discrepancies between observation and theoretical prediction often leads to the abandonment of old theories and the development of new ones.
Chapter five is a condensed history of astronomy, from the early Greeks through Galileo and Newton (the book uses examples from many branches of science, but mostly from physics, Derry's field of expertise). This chapter brings together many of the unifying concepts in science, but (again) they must be found and understood by the reader -- the author does not deliver them point-by-point in list or table format (even in summary).
Chapter six begins the second part of the book (there are four) by describing models, modeling, and approximations. This chapter is definitely long on "how science works" and short on "what science is." Reading the chapter on models, for example, might leave the reader with the impression that truth and reality are almost irrelevant and that the objective of science is to simply develop models that predict the outcome of experiments. I agree that models are important. However, I think it's safe to say they are more important in applied science and engineering than they are in pure science, and that there is still some expectation by scientists that fundamental scientific theories somehow give us a window into the way the universe "really is."
Chapter seven is among the best, and deals with the way logic, reason, critical evaluation, and evidence are built into the scientific method. This chapter describes deductive and inductive logic, the importance of documented (and repeatable) evidence, and evaluating causality. It also has some really good stuff on bogus arguments, giving examples of half-a-dozen or more common techniques used by people to fool themselves and/or mislead others.
There is also a chapter on science and religion, as well as science and how it relates to society and ethics. Both these chapters have little to do with the book's thesis (what science is, and how it works). The chapter on science and religion, in particular, is brief and tends towards reasoning based on semantics.
Another good chapter (12) deals with pseudoscience and how to recognize it. Derry offers "claims for perpetual motion" and "creation science" as examples of pseudoscience. Unlike other examples in the book, Derry shows exactly how and why these two inventions of human imagination ought to be classified as pseudoscience, and how they are fundamentally different from modern science. Chapter 13 describes boarder-land areas like cold fusion and parapsychology. These, Derry argues, qualify as science, but (especially in the case of cold fusion) illustrate ways in which science can (and sometimes does) go awry.
The third part of the book ends with chapters 14 and 15, which deal with the philosophy of science. Here Derry actually explains the important parts of theory formation, but only briefly. Most of this chapter deals with things of a pretty philosophical nature, such as questions about what causes scientific revolutions and how we know things. The nuts and bolts of theory formation are in the chapters on modeling -- chapters that unfortunately and amazingly virtually never mention the word "theory."
The last part seems almost like a separate book, and consists of six chapters that supposedly describe unifying concepts. While I could certainly find unifying concepts in the examples, I'm not at all sure that these are the best examples. For example, one chapter describes how volume grows faster than area, which grows faster than length, and how this determines maximum sizes for some animals. Another describes the importance of symmetry in mathematics and in art. Yet another describes thermodynamics and the "arrow of time." Finishing off the list are chapters on feedback loops, linear dependence, and exponential growth.
For me, this book started out slow, but ended up being reasonably interesting. Overall I don't think it's a great book on the nature of science, but it's okay and certainly has its good points.
Great Science Book.......2000-04-29
This book is incredibly well-written and imformative. It spans all of the sciences, and describes many breakthroughs and issues in the sciences, both current and from centuries ago. It delves into topics both simple and complicated, from symmetry to pseudoscience. Derry writes in language both simple enough to understand and interesting enough to keep you raptly engaged. One of the best books spanning general science. All levels.
Great Science Book.......2000-04-29
This book is incredibly well-written and imformative. It spans all of the sciences, and describes many breakthroughs and issues in the sciences, both current and from centuries ago. It delves into topics both simple and complicated, from symmetry to pseudoscience. Derry writes in language both simple enough to understand and interesting enough to keep you raptly engaged. One of the best books spanning general science. All levels.
Average customer rating:
|
Applications of HAZOP and What-If Safety Reviews to the Petroleum, Petrochemical and Chemical Industries
P.E. Dennis P. Nolan
Manufacturer: Noyes Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Industrial & Technical
| Chemistry
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Safety
| Chemistry
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Safety & Health
| Technology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Chemical
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Petrochemical
| Chemical
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Safety
| Chemical
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Industrial, Manufacturing & Operational Systems
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Safety & Health
| Industrial, Manufacturing & Operational Systems
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Petroleum
| Petroleum, Mining & Geological
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0815513534 |
Book Description
This publication is intended to provide guidance to HAZOP (Hazard and Operability) and What-If review teams associated with the petroleum, petrochemical and chemical industries. It describes the nature, responsibilities, methods and documentation required in the performance of such reviews. This ensures the reviews are conducted in a timely, effective and professional manner as may be prescribed by a company's Process Safety Management (PSM) Policy.
This book can be used as a practical reference to prepare the safety review requirements for these industries and their process safety management systems.
HAZOP and What-If reviews are basically a communication exercise. Information is presented, discussed, analyzed and recorded. Specifically the safety aspects are identified, to determine if adequate design measures have been taken to prevent major accidents.
The safety of petroleum and chemical facilities is an important part of a company's operations. Recent worldwide petrochemical safety regulations and a company's own process safety management policies would require that a process hazard analysis (PHA) review of its existing and proposed petroleum operations be accomplished. The limits of hazardous substances cited by both the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations dictate the applications of process safety management elements at almost all of a company's facilities.
These reviews are intended to reduce the probability and/or consequences of a major incident that would have a detrimental impact to the employees, the public's well being, onsite or offsite properties, the environment, and most important to a company itself, its continued business operation and survival. Process hazard analysis reviews are not intended to identify the minor "slips, trips, or falls"; these are the responsibility of the company's general safety requirements and are well established. The process hazard analysis is looking for the major incidents which have the potential for severe impacts.
HAZOP and What-If reviews are two of the most common petroleum and chemical industries qualitative methods used to conduct process hazard analyses. Up to 80% of a company's process hazard analyses may consist of HAZOP and What-If reviews with the remainder 20% from checklist, Fault Tree Analysis, Event Tree, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, etc. An experienced review team can use the analysis to generate possible deviations from design, construction, modification, and operating intent that define potential consequences. These consequences can then be prevented and/or mitigated by the application of the appropriate safeguards.
Book Description
From Beethoven's connection to plumbing to why rotten eggs smell like sulfur, the technical explanations included in this scientific primer tackle 99 chemistry-related questions and provide answers designed to inform and entertain. What jewelry metal is prohibited in some European countries? What does Miss Piggy have to do with the World Cup? How can a cockroach be removed from a human ear? The quirky information offered incorporates scientific savvy, practical advice, and amusing anecdotes.
Customer Reviews:
Dr. Joe has the answers!.......2005-06-28
The "Dr. Joe" books are all very readable, interesting, informative, and bring some much-needed scientific rigour to the realm of "popular science." As a chemistry professor at McGill University, one of Canada's most prestigeous schools, Schwarcz brings a couple decades worth of authority to his books. That's not to say that they are dry and simply factual - they are extremely user friendly and require no science background to understand. That is the genius of Dr. Joe's books - they are easy to read but never scientifically wrong.
This particular book contains a number of short (usually ~1 page long) questions and answers on everything from the origin of the green colour in potato chips to the use of dirt in treating tuberculosis. With 177 short essays, there is something to interest everyone. Unfortunately, they are numbered 1-177 and proceed with no other subdivisions. While this makes it easy to read in short bursts (it's ideal for city bus rides, for example), the book lacks cohesion. There are some interrelated questions that are separated in the book, when links between them would help the explanation of each observation. What he loses in coherence, however, he makes back up in variety.
In short, this is a fun book for anyone interested in how the physical world works. It also contains a number of ideas for science fair projects, for example, and so could become a valuable reference in addition to an interesting read.
Average customer rating:
|
The Delphic Boat: What Genomes Tell Us
Antoine Danchin
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Molecular Biology
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Genetics
| Evolution
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Chemistry
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
| Alkaloids
| Analytic
| Biochemistry
| Catalysis
| Chemical Engineering
| Chemical Physics
| Chromatography
| Clinical
| Crystallography
| Environmental
| General & Reference
| Geochemistry
| Industrial & Technical
| Inorganic
| Metals
| Molecular Chemistry
| Nuclear Chemistry
| Organic
| Photochemistry
| Physical & Theoretical
| Polymers & Macromolecules
| Safety
| Solutions & Colloids
| Spectroscopy
| Stereochemistry
| Surface Chemistry
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| History & Philosophy
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Natural History
| Nature & Ecology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Molecular Biology
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Genetics
| Evolution
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Systems Biology: Properties of Reconstructed Networks
ASIN: 0674009304 |
Customer Reviews:
Great Book on Genetics!!.......2007-08-27
Ever since I bought this book, I thought it was very helpful in understanding genetics. I recommend it to anyone interested in understanding genetics. But I will warn you, it's not an easy read.
Average customer rating:
|
What is chemistry?: A chemical view of nature
Joseph Nordmann
Manufacturer: Harper & Row
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General & Reference
| Chemistry
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General & Reference
| Chemistry
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0060448547 |
Average customer rating:
|
Sexual Chemistry: What It Is, How to Use It
Julius Fast , and
Meredith Bernstein
Manufacturer: M Evans & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Developmental Psychology
| Psychology & Counseling
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Psychology & Counseling
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sexuality
| Psychology & Counseling
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Body Language
-
Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women: Romance Writers on the Appeal of the Romance (New Cultural Studies Series)
-
The Way Of The Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Woman, Work, and Sexual Desire
-
Comedy Writing Secrets, 2nd Edition: The Best-Selling Book on How to Think Funny, Write Funny, Act Funny, And Get Paid For It
-
How to Make Love to a Woman
ASIN: 0871314177 |
Customer Reviews:
very intelligent.......1998-09-05
This book is incredible; there hasn't been anything like it since the Story of O and, frankly, if you were turned on by Lolita, here's a User's Guide that would probably make Heidi Fleiss blush. Take it from me, I'm the author.
Average customer rating:
|
What Doctors Don't Get to Study in Medical School
B. M. Hegde
Manufacturer: Anshan Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Hospital Administration
| Administration & Policy
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Education & Training
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Medical Ethics
| Physician & Patient
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Clinical Chemistry
| Pathology
| Specialties
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Hospital Administration
| Administration & Medicine Economics
| Medical
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1904798845 |
Product Description
This book provides part of the important and formative reading a medical student must do outside the prescribed requirements for a degree, and is also equally valuable to qualified practitioners and medical professionals. Here, laid out clearly and concisely, are all the well-established potholes and pitfalls in current medical thinking and practice. It is a thought provoking challenge to modern medical practice and research and is intended to encourage us to consider the way medicine is taught. Modern medical practices are driven by science, technology and consumerism, with the cost of treatment weighted in favour of the doctor rather than to the benefit of the patient. Dr Hegde confronts the issue, and proposes an alternative humanistic attitude to education and treatment. Drawing on a huge range of resources from Sanskrit texts, Green and European philosophers, ancient and modern healers, to the most up to date Western research and publications he has written a book that is both scholarly yet easy to read, a polemic against and an appreciate of the art and practice of medicine, and which will appeal to everyone involved in medicine whether students, practitioners or patients.
Books:
- Concepts in Wine Chemistry
- CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 87th Edition (Crc Handbook of Chemistry and Physics)
- CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 87th Edition (Crc Handbook of Chemistry and Physics)
- Electrochemical Methods: Fundamentals and Applications
- Enzyme Kinetics and Mechanism
- File System Forensic Analysis
- Food Additives: A Shopper's Guide to What's Safe & What's Not (2004 Revised Edition)
- General Chemistry: An Integrated Approach (3rd Edition)
- Handbook of Chemical Engineering Calculations
- Handbook of Inorganic Chemicals
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Chance Encounters: A First Course in Data Analysis and Inference
- Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games
- The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
- The Gift of Truth: Gathering the Good
- The God of Small Things
- The Twilight of Sovereignty : How the Information Revolution Is Transforming Our World
- Villers-Bocage Through the Lens
- Forest Plants Of The Southeast And Their Wildlife Uses
- The Life of Faustina Kowalska: The Authorized Biography
- The Manuleae: A Tribe of Scrophulariaceae
Fundamentals of Clinical Trials
Conducting Clinical Research: A Practical Guide for Physicians, Nurses, Study Coordinators, and Investigators
Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Practice (2nd Edition)
A Step-By-Step Guide to Clinical Trials
eClinical Trials: Planning and Implementation
RESPeRATE Blood Pressure Lowering Device
Airborne Effervescent Health Formula, Original Orange, 10 Tablets (Pack of 3)
