Book Description
How do millions of people cope with hearing loss? How can medicine and technology help? In this engaging and practical book, social psychologist David G. Myers explores the problems of the hard of hearing from a first-hand perspective. He offers advice for those with hearing problems and their families and friends as well as hopeful information on new technology and surgical procedures.
Customer Reviews:
Valuable book.......2007-08-27
This book is very nice and a valuable source. However, there are some things you ought to know before buying it.
The book is very subjective in the sense that it is written in diary form. The author basically tells you about his experiences with hearing loss. Fortunately, he does have insightful comments with regard to hearing loss.
This book both made me sad and happy at the same time.
The account of this guy made me very happy that there are others out there who do understand what I'm going through, like I'm not alone or just antisocial. Deaf IS an important issue when communicating and relating to others.
Sad because for the first time I fully realized how real this is for me. I just can't keep ignoring it. I need to understand that there are things I must do to become more functional out there as a hard of hearing person.
Why 4 stars?
Well, the book isn't exactally written by a professional advisor on hearing issues. He is a psychologist who happened to be hard of hearing. And as far as I know he does not have a speciallity in hearing therapy or such. What I'm saying is that you should read the book as a valuable testimony from someone's experience, not as a professional help source.
It is important to have this kind of book, because there are people who need to know there are others going through similar experiences. Yet, it is very important you understand this is still a very subjective book.
He also mentions that he is a teacher and all the big time problems he has in his class and conferences. It sure most be hell for him, still what about people who hadn't even had an education to teach and who need to work in even way more demanding (for the hearing impaired) workplaces because they had not had other choices.
Again, the book is good, but keep in mind it is just the very personal account and not a professional source to help you overcome deaf or hard of hearing problems.
Very informative.......2006-07-06
This book has so much to offer for the hearing-impaired and their families. I almost skipped over it because it is the author's story of losing his hearing as an adult. My son was diagnosed at age 4 1/2. I am so glad that I decided to read it! Myers offers a wealth of technical information along with an impressive list of internet resources. Perhaps the most important aspect of the book is the emotional insight in dealing with hearing loss. I definitely learned to be more patient with my son after reading this book. I visited the author's website and emailed him about his helpful book. He even emailed back with more suggestions for my son!
A Heart-Felt, Exquisitely Written Piece!.......2001-04-18
If you have loss of hearing, the prose and memoirs by Dr. Myers will be profoundly familiar. You will find yourself sitting and listening to this friend as he shares secrets you seldom discuss with anyone. The author offers rich experiences in roller coaster rides of emotion. He is insightful, humorous, sensitive, revealing, encouraging--and often painfully honest. You feel his torment and elation, and through it, not only come to know the author, but clearly more about living with hearing loss.
An excellent recommendation for those with hearing loss, and professionals who desire to learn more about the experience.
Dr. Myers leaves you anxiously waiting for his next book. . .
Richard Carmen, Au.D. Clinical Audiologist, Sedona AZ rcarmen27@yahoo.com [and Editor/Author, "The Consumer Handbook on Hearing Loss & Hearing Aids: A Bridge to Healing," Auricle Ink Publishers, 1998]
Exploring hearing loss.......2001-01-02
This book is wonderful and useful in a variety of ways. It deserves all of the praise it has earned. The chapter "Aids and Advice" contains a helpful subsection, "Advice for Friends and Family Members" that is invaluable. Tips such as "invite us to a quiet place," "get our attention," "face the light and face us," "rephrase," "create a context," and "speak slowly" are essential for successful communication with people with hearing loss since, for many people with hearing loss, lip-reading is necessary or at least desirable.
Wearers of hearing aids become particularly vexed by, for example, noisy restuarants. This is because most hearing aids still amplify all sounds without prejudice - the words you want to hear (the signal) along with the crash of dishes three tables away (the noise). Add curtainless windows, uncarpeted floors, background music, and ever-increasing decibel level of voices competing to be heard, and you get a very noisy place. Myers explains this in good detail. He then shares his wonderful fantasy : respite from the "noisy world" of most restaurants and coffee shops via a chain of acoustically thought-out tea rooms and coffeehouses named "A Quiet Place." He quotes various studies and surveys that have shown that a great many restaurant patrons object to excessive noise.
Myers offers some great trivia, such as the fact that umpires' hand signals were invented in 1892 by William Hoy, the major leagues' first deaf player. In addition, Myers cites the works and writings of others (whom he names) - Oliver Sacks, linguist William Stokoe, Alexander Graham Bell, for example - leading his reader further into this interesting field, should one wish to read on. He also mentions, though not in much detail, some current research and developments, using lay person's terms. There is an appendix of resources for the hard of hearing, and an index. No bibliography, unfortunately.
A great book and thoroughly worthwhile.
Encouraging!.......2000-11-02
The vulnerability of hearing loss is being replaced with the confidence of new discoveries and the promise of exciting advances in hearing technology. David G. Myers takes us through his journey to the silent world. He has lived through the panic of searching for a replacement battery for his hearing aid and responded to words that were never spoken. Later he realized what he had misunderstood or laughed at what he thought he had heard.
Like a comedy of "ears," he recounts the humorous and sad "errors" in his life due to hearing loss and takes us through a myriad of experiences with various hearing aids. Many of these accounts are laugh out loud funny, while others tell of a world where words are garbled, sentences lack clarity, and the sound of his own voice sounded strange and hauntingly distorted.
Many in the silent world compensate with sign language, learn to read lips, or use computer technology to communicate effectively. The denial of the hearing impaired also points to the fact that it can at times be embarrassing. In his journal-style writings, David draws on his own experiences and explains the dread he feels when he must ask for a sentence to be repeated. He tells of the isolation he feels when he must mimic others laughing around him even though he didn't hear the punch line, or how he is determined to see his life from different eyes than his mother saw her own silent life.
You will be amazed at the patience and love his wife shows as she finally convinces David to seek out an audiologist. Through a great love for each other, they manage to maintain an optimistic outlook, show immense patience, and stay emotionally connected. Together they offer sage advice on how friends and family can encourage hard of hearing relatives and friends to seek treatment.
In the first part of this book, I laughed. In the middle, I felt well informed. The ending left me hopeful. I was pleased to see a comprehensive resource guide for further study. David is well known for cutting the facts down to size and for explaining them in a way that makes you feel enlightened, or at least very well informed. You will learn how sound travels from the ear to the brain, see a picture of the hearing mechanism, find out what 16 thousand hair cells are doing inside the cochlea, and finally wonder where your biology teacher was and why she never taught you this! (pages 120-128)
"Why not do today's kids a huge favor and make information about hearing an essential part of their health education curriculum? Listening to loud music can have devastating repercussions." --David G. Myers
After reading "The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty," also by David Myers, I believe his writings should be in every library, home and school. He has the amazing ability to discover what America needs to hear. Through his writings, he has inspired me in my own life's journey and always leaves me with a sense of hope for the future. If you know someone who is dealing with this issue, I could not recommend this book any more highly. Not only will his words inspire empathy, you will gain a higher appreciation for your own "hearing." I loved all the Web site information and thought it would be perfect for further study.
You will be amazed at how many medical conditions cause hearing loss and realize how hard it would be if you had to choose between being deaf or blind. While my little cat was dozing off next to me and purring contentedly, I closed my eyes, so I could focus in on a sound David can't hear. I was also listening to a CD and while my eyes were closed, I still felt very connected to the world.
Then, I opened my eyes and closed my ears with my fingers. I closed out the music, I closed out the cat purring, I even closed out the sound of the TV downstairs. When I focused on how it would feel not to be able to hear I became more aware of what it would be like to live in a glass jar with the lid sealed on tight. The longer I resisted hearing, the more closed in I felt. Yet, I still could not decide which I would choose if I had to. Fortunately, with the new advances in science, many will be able to find great help in the future, and perhaps hearing loss will be a problem of the past.
"A Quiet World" is a book which will bring awareness to a growing problem in our society. It will help anyone become more sensitive to hearing loss issues.
~TheRebeccaReview.com
Customer Reviews:
A "must-read" for anyone coping with hearing loss.......2003-11-15
Marcia B. Dugan is a hearing-impaired person who has formerly served as a president and currently a member of the Board of Directors of Self Help for Hard of Hearing People. In Living With Hearing Loss, Dugan provides the reader with a straightforward guidebook and reference to day-to-day life and adaptation to hearing loss. From recognizing the early signs of hearing loss, to information concerning types of hearing loss, hearing aids, cochlear implants, tinnitus, speech reading, strategies and techniques for dealing with common situations and more, Living With Hearing Loss is a "user-friendly" resource and a "must-read" for anyone coping with hearing loss in themselves or a loved one.
Average customer rating:
- Coping with Hearing Loss and Hearing Aids(Coping with Aging Series)
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Coping With Hearing Loss And Hearing Aids (COPING WITH AGING)
DEBRA A. SHIMON
Manufacturer: Singular
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Customer Reviews:
Coping with Hearing Loss and Hearing Aids(Coping with Aging Series).......2005-10-22
As a health professional I found the information on hearing loss and hearing aids excellent, enabling me to better help the residents of the nursing home where I work.
Amazon.com
The War of 1812 gave the United States some of its finest military moments: Admiral Perry's victory on Lake Erie, Andrew Jackson's lopsided triumph at the Battle of New Orleans, the immortal words "Don't give up the ship!," and Fort McHenry's defense of Baltimore (which inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner"). At the same time, the fighting didn't go especially well for the Americans. Their invasion of Canada failed and the British burned the White House to the ground. The conflict ended in a draw. With The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict Donald R. Hickey offers what may be the most comprehensive treatment of the war, and includes many colorful anecdotes. For example, shortly after the mortally wounded James Lawrence uttered "Don't give up the ship!," his men did just that. Their vessel was hauled off to England, broken up, and its timbers used in the construction of a flour mill. The subtitle calls the War of 1812 a "forgotten conflict"; Hickey's excellent book shows why it's worth remembering.
Customer Reviews:
A Good Detailed Summary.......2006-12-08
I boought this book to fill in my mental gap between the revolution and the civil war, and it filled the bill. The writing is clear and the subject covered very well. The research is deep and well documented. The writing style is dry and without any human interest, which is why I began life without an interest in history. Fortunately that changed, but this book won't turn around any students life in the way mine was by an excellent teacher. Regardless it is worth a buy.
A Concise Look at a Forgotten War.......2005-11-01
The War of 1812 is without a doubt one of the more forgotten episodes of American History. Most casual students of history can name only a couple of facts about a conflict that was the first American declared war after the Revolutionary War. Yet this important conflict deserves much more attention by historians than it is given justice, especially in light of current world events and contemporary politics, which in many ways the War of 1812 reflects.
This book would serve both the casual student of history as well as the serious academic researcher, for it's readability along with its comprehensiveness. There is a wealth of information, including all the major campaigns, as well as the politics and economics behind the conflict.
The only real criticism of this work comes in the form of its conciseness, that is, it occasionally glosses over some topics, which deserve more tribute. This oftentimes, however, is unavoidable when writing nonfiction due to the limited amount of source material.
It has been said that the book gives an uneven assessment of the conflict, because it doesn't give enough information from the British point of view. This may be true, however, this is a book about American History, and is intentionally written with an American audience in mind. Either way, it still gives an objective assessment of a great conflict in American History that is, sadly, too often overlooked.
quick delivery.. great price.......2005-07-09
Right book.. delivered quickly at a great price.. what more could you ask for?
History Repeating Itself.......2005-05-06
Imagine a war where the majority political party railroads the minority party into joining it, where the rationale for declaring it is hastily revised when the original purpose is exposed as reckless, where the imagined economic benefit morphs into an economic hardship. Imagine a war with prison scandals and party rancor and restrictions on civil rights, a war so unpopular the military has trouble recruiting soldiers. Imagine a war where plenty of lives are lost but the entire exercise returns you pretty much to where you started. Sound familiar?
One of the dangers of ignoring history is that you are doomed to repeat it.
The other day, as I was checking into a hotel, a young man noticed what I was reading. "Oh," he said, "The War of 1812, wasn't that against the Mexicans?"
"No," I told him. "The British. It was our second war against the British."
"We fought the British twice?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yes," I told him and couldn't help thinking this kid probably knows someone fighting in Iraq but doesn't know the first thing about the single American war which most resembles our current conflict. He is not alone. Ignorance about the war of 1812 is rife, thus the name of Donald Hickey's engrossing work The War of 1812, a Forgotten Conflict, and this is one of the reasons it's so interesting.
What could make a country want to forget one of its wars? Is it that we suffered an embarrassing drubbing at the hands of an inferior foe, ala Vietnam? Nope. Could it be that not much of interest happened and it was over in a hurry, ala Grenada or Panama? Nope. Could it be that it produced no lasting heroes, nothing of any consequence to recall? Wrong again. In fact the War of 1812 ended in a virtual draw with a superior foe, reflecting well on the courage and ability of the underdog, who was us. It lasted two long years and involved many grueling battles, and it produced many notable figures and at least one bonafide hero who went on to become the President of the United States. So why have we forgotten it? Because any objective observer from this vantage would have to conclude it was rash and ill considered, driven largely by vindictive spite and the lure of political bounty supposed to accrue by giving the bad guy a sharp rap on the snout. But just like the current dust up, the War of 1812 backfired, causing embarrassment and chagrin, putting unnecessary pressure on the economy, and very nearly carrying us into a broader conflict which we were unprepared to deal with.
One of the myths of the War of 1812 is that the British were mounting a second American revolution, trying to get back what they'd lost in 1776. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the British were largely distracted with a much bigger conflict against Napoleon's armies on the continent of Europe and America chose this moment to prosecute some fairly minor grievances, in affect yanking their tail while they were in a fierce dog fight with France. The fact that they didn't turn around and rip us to pieces, particularly after the war in Europe ended and they could devote all their attention to us, speaks well of their restraint - as well as their national exhaustion after years of fighting. It is one of those miracles of our growth and survival as a nation that the recklessness of our leaders didn't result in our national destruction. And this is why the war has been forgotten.
No nation wants to believe that it's so much at the mercy of the whims of its leadership that it can be carried into a conflict with such devastating potential to rectify such ill conceived grievances and end up, after all, having accomplished very little.
Hinkley's book is well written, adequately structured and thorough. It drags a bit in the portions dealing with the financial implications of the war and asks a basic knowledge of the period, particularly when dealing with financial issues, but it is nevertheless worth delving into, if not for the fascinating subject matter, than for the uncanny resemblances it has with the current conflict, reminding us once again why we should never forget, lest we travel the same path again.
A political history, entirely from the U.S. point of view.......2003-11-29
Hickey's history of the War of 1812 is easily readable - to the casual reader like myself. Likewise, the academic is likely to find the book extremely useful due to the index and footnotes - the author has done his homework! Remarkably, his discussion of bills/laws and the actions of Congress are not too boring to read - this feat in itself deserves a 4-star rating. However, I've only given it three stars because of three things that struck me as I got about 40 pages into the book:
#1. It is told completely from the point of view of the U.S. - the lawmakers, the generals, the civil reactions, etc. Not once is there any mention of the very substantial "fifth column" in the Canadas that openly supported the annexation of the Canadas into the U.S. It was not until Brock's victories at Detroit and Queenston (and to a lesser extent, the seizure of Makinac Island) that the civil authorities in British North America felt they could rely on the civilian population at large to fight the invaders. Likewise, the unification of the native peoples under Tecumseh and the Prophet is given as a fait accompli, without any background into the years of treaties and effort put in by these two native leaders.
#2. It is heavily political - there are 20 pictures of people in the book but only three maps - strategic ones, showing the location of cities and forts, without a single tactical map describing a campaign or battle. Likewise, the text heavily emphasises congressional debates and gives only a cursory description of battles. Even discussions of generals are given in terms of their personalities and links to politicians, rather then their tactics on the battlefield.
#3. On the positive side, it is heavily referenced and indexed, and it is a very useful and readable account of the War of 1812, the previous two caveats notwithstanding.
Interestingly, as the book progressed, I started seeing some parallels between this war and George W. Bush's war in Iraq - both deeply unpopular to a large constituency, both initially declared by the U.S. (although not without provocation), both started on dubious legal pretexts. Sailors' rights, the putative cause of the War of 1812, are not even mentioned in the eventual peace treaty, while Weapons of Mass Destruction have been all but forgotten in Dubya's Iraqi war.
But back to the book. I don't want to sound negative - what the book sets out to do, it does very well. It presents the facts clearly and without bias. It rightfully debunks the notion that it was a Second War of Independence (ultimately it was a War of Independence of British North America from the U.S. that allowed the current nation of Canada to be formed). He also rightfully points out that the U.S. can be fairly said to have won the peace - Great Britain never again interfered in the U.S.'s wars (with Spain, in the Civil War, etc.). It ultimately defined the direction of U.S. expansion westward to the Rockies and southward into Mexico and Florida (and simultaneously doomed the Native peoples in those areas). It created everlasting peace on the U.S.'s northern border. And so, in the ultimate analysis, the War of 1812 is an important milestone in North American history, and this book helps fill in the very considerable knowledge gap about the war. It basically falls from 4-star status to 3-star status by representing itself as a comprehensive history of the entire war, not a specific civil examination of the U.S. government during the war.
Average customer rating:
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Claudian Policymaking and the Early Imperial Repression of Judaism at Rome
H. Dixon Slingerland
Manufacturer: University of South Florida
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Book Description
This work is a highly interdisciplinary examination of Republican and early imperial policymaking in relation to Roman Jews and their cult. While there has been a modern presumption of early imperial favor toward first century Roman Jews, this author argues that under the emperor Claudius Roman Jewish life became practically impossible. Moreover, this came about not because of the supposed turbulence-prone character of Roman Jews but because of the combination of absolute imperial power with profoundly tendentious upper-class and imperial attitudes toward the Jewish cult in Rome. Scholars interested in Diaspora Judaism and/or Roman studies will clearly benefit from this book. It should also prove useful as a text for courses in Judaism and first century religious life in the Roman empire.
Amazon.com
Few scientific disciplines are as ripe for ethnographic study as artificial life, known as a-life, a hybrid, high-tech field with practitioners who routinely suggest that the self-replicating computer programs they design not only mimic but actually are living creatures. As Stanford anthropologist Stefan Helmreich convincingly demonstrates, it takes more than just chutzpah to advance such a claim--it takes a powerful belief system. The belief system Helmreich fingers is the complex web of historical, mythical, and religious narratives that form the fabric of modern Western culture.
Of course, a good deal of solid science goes into a-life's elaborate digital simulations of the biological world, and Helmreich takes care not to let his cultural analysis drown that science out. Indeed, his descriptions of the theories and techniques behind some researchers' attempts at concocting artificial life--ranging from simple computer viruses to Tom Ray's globally distributed Tierra system for breeding digital "organisms"--are occasionally more compelling than his own attempts to read disturbing racial and sexual mythologies into those experiments.
Ultimately, though, what fascinates Helmreich about a-life is neither the biology nor the mythology, but the way this unique discipline highlights the intersection of the two. A-life researchers may or may not have created new organisms, but what they have created, Helmreich argues, points the way to a new and more sophisticated understanding of the delicate relationship between science and culture. --Julian Dibbell
Book Description
Silicon Second Nature takes us on an expedition into an extraordinary world where nature is made of bits and bytes and life is born from sequences of zeroes and ones. Artificial Life is the brainchild of scientists who view self-replicating computer programs--such as computer viruses--as new forms of life. Anthropologist Stefan Helmreich's look at the social and simulated worlds of Artificial Life--primarily at the Santa Fe Institute, a well-known center for studies in the sciences of complexity--introduces readers to the people and programs connected with this unusual hybrid of computer science and biology.
When biology becomes an information science, when DNA is downloaded into virtual reality, new ways of imagining "life" become possible. Through detailed dissections of the artifacts of Artifical Life, Helmreich explores how these novel visions of life are recombining with the most traditional tales told by Western culture. Because Artificial Life scientists tend to see themselves as masculine gods of their cyberspace creations, as digital Darwins exploring frontiers filled with primitive creatures, their programs reflect prevalent representations of gender, kinship, and race, and repeat origin stories most familiar from mythical and religious narratives.
But Artificial Life does not, Helmreich says, simply reproduce old stories in new software. Much like contemporary activities of cloning, cryonics, and transgenics, the practice of simulating and synthesizing life in silico challenges and multiplies the very definition of vitality. Are these models, as some would claim, actually another form of the real thing? Silicon Second Nature takes Artifical Life as a symptom and source of our mutating visions of life itself.
Customer Reviews:
What a revelation!.......2004-04-18
I must admit that it took me repeated readings to appreciate the depth of the research that has gone into this insightful book. Dr. Stefan Helmreich's critique of the tribe of Artificial Life scientists is right on, courageous and extremely thought provoking.
(...)
Inside Stefan's head.......2002-06-10
The cover blurb says "Anthropologist Stefan Helmreich's look at the social and simulated worlds of Artificial Life" and it turns out to be horribly true. I hoped to learn how the programmers viewed their simulated worlds, and how that relates to their culture. Instead I found how Stefan looks at the programmers, and what he thinks of science. The background description of individuals and institutions isn't bad. The rest is.
Camille Paglia is not usually classified as an anthropologist, but this book reminded me of her - if she couldn't write well and ignored the culture she wrote about. This book has little bearing on its purported subject, and the author's personal views of science aren't interesting (largely because he's speaking on a subject he clearly doesn't understand). If you want Camille Paglia, read Camille Paglia. If you want an actual anthroplogical study of science or A-life, don't waste your time here.
An entertaining disappointment.......2002-05-29
Stefan Helmreich presents an entertaining glimpse into the culture, the lives, and the musings of many of the leading voices in the field of artificial life. One of the real strengths of this book is his ability to offer a perspective from 'inside' the discipline--a view not only of the history and present status and future direction of the field of artificial life, but of the scientists and researchers responsible. That, plus his personal fascination with the subject matter and his obvious writing skills, strike you within the first few pages. This was at times a literate and enjoyable read.
Unfortunately, it was also frustrating and, ultimately, disappointing. Frustrating because it is patently obvious that the author approached his subject matter with his ethnographic conclusions firmly in place prior to ever examining the evidence. There is no other way one can explain the lengths he goes to convince the reader that white, heterosexual, male-dominated mythologies lurk under every bush he came across in Santa Fe. As such, truly interesting questions he raises--such as the religious aspect of silicon-based creation--are either left unread by the reader long since turned off by his biased approach, or else unfairly dismissed as equally prejudiced.
And disappointing, because in the long run most of his efforts are either irrelevant, or trivial. Computational studies in evolution are at bottom a matter of binary code. Zero's and one's. They are neither black nor white, Baptist or Buddhist, straight or gay, male or female. Now, clearly the researcher at their computer may indeed be any of the above--but that does not change the code itself. So in this sense Helmreich's observations are irrelevant. On the other hand, no one would argue the fact that personal bias may well contaminate interpretations of computational results. Personal bias may well contaminate almost everything we say and do, to one degree or another. But that is a rather trivial observation to make--one that has everything to do with human beings, and next to nothing to do with the science of computational evolution, which is what I had assumed from the title "Silicon Second Nature" that this book was about.
Inpenetrable.......2001-10-15
The best I can say about this book is that it is the most outstanding example of academic pretentiousness I've ever encountered. The author's acknowledgments alone cover six pages and include over 185 names.
My own background includes a college education (philosophy and mathematics) and ten years as a college instructor in computer science. I'm quite used to reading and comprehending technically sophisticated literature, often poorly written. I can even claim to have understood much of Microsoft's documentation for their developer products. Nevertheless, I found Mr. Helmreich's prose quite inpenetrable. If his goal was to explain the people and culture behind the new field of Artificial Life to a lay audience, he has failed miserably.
To be fair, I must admit that I put the book down after struggling through the first thirty pages of the main text. The book's cover states that Mr. Helmreich is a professor at NYU. If the prose in his book is any indication of the lucidity of his lectures to his students, they have my deepest sympathy.
Wonderful study of ALife social-contextual issues.......2000-04-27
The book is easy-to-read and yet profound. It delineates some of the biases, givens, and constants that may exist and are unperceived. The book also serves as an excellent intro to ALife studies at one of the worlds major thinktanks and research centers.
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