Virus: My Search for the Origins of AIDS

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What drives science forward--ruthless competition, altruistic cooperation, or a bizarre amalgam of our highest and lowest aspirations? Some insight can be found in the search for the cause of AIDS, a scientific struggle in which the personalities and problems involved are equally dramatic. The Pasteur Institute's Luc Montagnier, one of the leading lights in the long fight against AIDS, tells his story and looks to the future in Virus, a combination scientific detective story and memoir. From his childhood in war-torn France to his dogged pursuit of HIV (or LAV, as he called it), he shows the passions and obstacles that guided him to his present position as one of the foremost experts on the virus and syndrome that continues to devastate the world.

Montagnier writes of his fabled rivalry with American researcher Robert Gallo, and the often-frustrating difficulties he faced in contributing to the global conversation about the then-mysterious killer AIDS. The competition has mellowed a bit now that the author has finally been given his due by the scientific establishment. Much of his book is devoted to explaining what we know about HIV and AIDS and what we can expect to see in the near future, using language that is clear, precise, and engaging. Readers come away from Virus with the sense that ultimately scientists are more interested in doing good than in getting ahead, and that we are better served by keeping things that way. --Rob Lightner

Book Description

A firsthand account of the controversial discovery of the cause of AIDS. In the early 1980s the slender body of evidence for a virus of epidemic proportions was becoming irrefutable. The hunt for its cause was on and brought with it a race against time to identify the virus. In this autobiographical tale of that dramatic search, Dr. Luc Montagnier, one of the world's preeminent virologists, relates the Pasteur Institute's leading role in investigating the AIDS virus and his group's success in identifying it before the National Institutes of Health team. Filled with insights into controversies that arose over the questions of who discovered what, and when --a subject that generated almost as much news coverage as the disease itself --the book also conveys with crystal clarity the scientific aspects of the disease and its devastating course throughout the world since its discovery. Montagnier's unique insider's perspective presents a rich snapshot of the greatest plague in modern history. Along the way, he provides thoughtful commentary on critical subjects such as the possibilities for a vaccine, the current therapies available to AIDS patients, and prospects for winning the battle against this deadly germ.

Customer Reviews:

Accessible science.......2001-09-05

A very interesting and readable history of the science behind HIV and the AIDS epidemic. Despite a previous customer review suggesting the contrary, Dr. Montagnier clearly explains (and supports) the linkage between HIV and AIDS. He also presents this very complex virus in a language that most people can understand. Anyone interested in AIDS and the public/scientific response to it should read this book.

A Principle Speaks.......2000-05-19

Rarely does one have the opportunity to to read the candid history of a compelling real-life story told by one of the principles, Dr. Luc Montagnier. Here is the step-by-step and blow-by-blow of the unpeeling of the hidden cause of the most catastrophic virus to attack modern humanity--told by its discoverer! And here also the author tells the whole story of his efforts to accord to himself his rightful position as discoverer of this virus, and of Gallo, the usurper who tried to steal it away, masking his devious acts with scientific charades! The news media ran with this story for many months, but here, now, is the whole truth.

The author gives a compelling history of his life, gives a clinic on the disease, and foretells much of what to expect as this disease ravages humankind. He also comments on the current state of medical treatments, and notes with some degree of alacrity that a vaccine will probably not be the ultimate solution. However, he does subscibe to a brighter future, but only if all nations, large and small, rich and poor would pool their efforts to educate all humans to take precautions, to live within the presence of AIDS, and to ultimately outlast it.

I found this personal account to be compelling, of heroic proportions, told in a reasoned, quiet manner, when one could honestly scream at the foul acts to be confronted. Here is a person deserving of the highest honors we could bestow upon a member of our race, a true human hero.

Book Description

World War II was the defining event of the twentieth century. For everyone it was a time of confusion and fear, destruction and death on a scale never before seen. Much has been written of the generals, campaigns, and battles of the war, but it was young, ordinary American kids who held our freedom in their hands as they fought for liberty across the globe. Forgotten Heroes of World War II offers a personal understanding of what was demanded of these young heroes through the stories of rank-and-file individuals who served in the navy, marines, army, air corps, and merchant marine in all theaters of the war. Their tales are told without pretense or apology. At the time, each thought himself no different from those around him, for they were all young, scared, and miserable. They were the ordinary, the extraordinary, the forgotten. Multiply their stories by hundreds of thousands, and you begin to understand the words of war correspondent Martha Gellhorn: "There are! those who received brief, poor, or no recognition, all those history leaves unmentioned, not because they are lesser but because they are too many." Recorded more than fifty years after the war, the stories in Forgotten Heroes of World War II were shared quietly, shyly, honestly, and often painfully by these extraordinary ordinary Americans. All of them begin with similar statements—"There's really not much to tell. I was just there like everyone else. All I wanted to do was get home…" Each was uncomfortable for being singled out to speak of experiences he felt were common to so many others. None of these heroes see themselves as heroes. Indeed, the word seems to embarrass them. Yet they and thousands like them stood their watch and did their duty in spite of fear and danger. One by one they are leaving us. It will soon be too late to thank them. It will never be too late to remember what they did.

Customer Reviews:

The Ordinary Soldier In An Unforgettable Way.......2003-10-08

A quick search of books about World War II on Amazon.com lists 11,982 titles. ''Forgotten Heroes of World War II - Personal Accounts of Ordinary Soldiers'' by Thomas E. Simmons is the one book you should not miss.

As someone who never served in the military - or in war, to me, these personal accounts by a dozen 'ordinary soldiers' many times make the ordinary seem surreal.

Simmons captures the mundane routines and retells the edge-of-your-seat dramatic tension that makes you stop reading, look up and say to yourself, 'I'm glad I'm only reading this.'

Sometimes these scenes trigger your willing suspension of disbelief and you simply credit Simmons with craftily bringing the ordinary soldier into the big picture with a well-told scene-painting or technical description (such as a battleship refueling a destroyer in rough seas), or by weaving facts of
the outside war into the events at hand.

Each story is more engrossing than the last, pulling you in deeper and deeper to these nearly lost accounts of 'ordinary soldiers'

Bruce Creekmur at Pearl Harbor - tapping to locate survivors of USS Oklahoma, a ''turned turtle.'' He first cut a small hole into the hull and pumped in fresh air ... hauled eight men out.

A detail of the ''rainbow colored tears'' makes these men stand out, but it could be the editor's interpretation.

Edward Anderson, who ended up in the Navy as part of an April Fools' joke, commands Tugboat LT-430, the first of several that are shot out from under him in the South Pacific.

Anderson's mission is simple: to rescue shipwrecked seamen and downed Allied pilots, and put coast-watchers on ''certain islands.'' He learned by doing whether or not the islands were occupied.

You have Oswald Smith the merchant marine stranded in one of Stalin's labor camps somewhere above the Arctic Circle. And his perilous return across 900 miles of hostile territory.

The tales are well told of Fred Koval the B-17 pilot, Fred Moyce the D-Day artillery spotter and pilot Mike Kelly towing gliders on D-Day.

Ensign Owen Palmer is aboard the ship that rescues pilot George Bush; then refuels (or tries to) in a typhoon. Even big ships such as destroyers are susceptible to the weather, as 800 perish in the storm.

Harry Bell and Knox White live through different sagas at the Battle of the Bulge. Bell survives a Nazi prison camp at Bad Orb returning to humanity at 90 pounds. White's recon unit helped defend Saint-Vith which delayed the Germans' attack on Bastogne.

Bomber pilot Amos Pollard's shot up plane survives to fight another day saved by the timely appearance of the RedTails - Tuskeegee Airmen, ''We gonna take care of Fritz.'' And they do.

Marines ''Dee'' Hamilton and Joseph Urby fight their way across the South Pacific islands.

And for effect, and a different view of the fighting, Simmons includes excerpts from the diary of a Jap medic Tarao Kawaguch who picks up a gun for defense.

These soldiers' tales - and all the services (even the Merchant Marines) are covered - easily absorb the reader into the action. You sense a closeness with the teller of the tale, as he's revealing unspoken memories to you alone.

Simmons brings you close up to this war. Maybe closer than you've ever wanted to be, but you remember ''Forgotten Heroes,'' long after you've put away the book.

Fourteen intensely personal perspectives.......2003-01-06

Compiled and edited by Thomas E. Simmons, Forgotten Heroes Of World War II: Personal Accounts Of Ordinary Soldiers offers contemporary readers with fourteen intensely personal perspectives of individual rank-and-file soldiers, aviators, and seamen who were quite ordinary people thrown into the extraordinary and often horrific demands of World War II combat. Of special interest is "The Diary Of Tarao Kawaguchi" which relates the perspective of a Japanese soldier stationed in Saipan during 1944. Also of interest is concluding chapter "The Home Front". Their strength and valor are commemorated in this moving, compelling, informative, and highly recommended contribution to the growing library of World War II military histories.

Book Description

This is the first comprehensive introduction to multiagent systems and contemporary distributed artificial intelligence that is suitable as a textbook. The book provides detailed coverage of basic topics as well as several closely related ones.

Unlike traditional textbooks, the book brings together many leading experts, guaranteeing a broad and diverse base of knowledge and expertise. It emphasizes aspects of both theory and application, and provides many illustrations and examples. Also included are thought-provoking exercises of varying degrees of difficulty and a twenty-page glossary of terms found in the study of agents, multiagent systems, and distributed artificial intelligence.

The book can be used for teaching as well as self-study, and is designed to meet the needs of both researchers and practitioners. In view of the interdisciplinary nature of the field, it will be a useful reference not only for computer scientists and engineers, but for social scientists and management and organization scientists as well.

Contributors: Gul A. Agha, Kathleen M. Carley, Jose Cuena, Edmund H. Durfee, Clarence Ellis, Les Gasser, Michael P. Georgeff, Michael N. Huhns, Toru Ishida, Nadeem Jamali, Sascha Ossowski, H. Van Dyke Parunak, Anand S. Rao, Tuomas W. Sandholm, Sandip Sen, Munindar P. Singh, Larry M. Stephens, Gerard Tel, Jacques Wainer, Gerhard Weiss, Michael J. Wooldridge, Makoto Yokoo.

Customer Reviews:

A comprehensive monography.......2005-09-07

This is one out of very few books that exist on multiagent systems and distributed artificial intelligence which won't take for granted the reader. It has really taken me from elementary concepts up to industrial applications, passing over the actual "nitty gritty" of programming an agent. Many papers on artificial intelligence are just too mathematical for many readers, and those which have any application would describe what the program does, but only sometimes you get into knowing *how* the program does the trick. I personally would say the book is a "must-have-it", not only for those seeking to understand in concrete distributed artificial intelligence or multiagent systems, but also for any mathematician, physicists, computer scientists and engineer whose background touches somehow the concepts of artificial intelligence as a whole. Come to think of it, even any cunning philosopher of science could take real advantage of this book. Now then, concerning those industries which would like to have this book on their shelves, they would have to take in mind that this book is a departure point. A good one, but nevertheless only the start for deepening towards a concrete application the industry would have in mind.

Excellent Theoretical and Practical Book.......2001-10-31

Not a beginner's book: The technologies presented are relevant to (gasp) some real life problems. The treatment of Distributed Constraint Satisfaction problems was well written and usable. The initial treatment of all subjects was broad, delving into details after laying a sound foundation. Assumes a bit of mathematical sophistication on the part of the reader, but on the whole, well written, well organized and well worth it.

Great Textbook.......2001-08-27

While perhaps this should not be your first book in AI, it should definitely be your first book on agents. It took me years to accumulate the knowledge present in this book, and it's a great survey of the field for the beginning investigator. However, while this is a great way to get started in agents, understand how agents can be used in intelligent applications (from distributed AI type problem solving, to resource optimization problems), and "get the agent paradigm," coverage of agent software engineering techniques is light. This is not a fault of this book - you will simply need other resources to understand the difficulties and current research in engineering multi agent systems (or indeed any concurrent distributed system). So if you are trying to figure out what to do with agents, or how agent systems work, this is the book for you. If you already know that and want help with formal specification of an agent, verifying your agents meet the specifications, etc. this is not the book for you. Understand that to build systems you will need both!

Great book.......2000-07-03

I have been using this book probably for an year now, and this has become indispensable to my work. The collection of authors in this book reads as an 'who's who' in multiagent systems and distributed AI research. Although, its' difficult to maintain continuity in edited books, the editor has done an commendable job. The authors provide a readable introduction to their area of expertise, and supplement them with an excellent bibliography...enough to get u started fast.

It is a useful book that covers all aspects on the subject........2000-03-28

Thogh edited the book looks like a single authored text. The definitions are clearly presented with illustrations. The presentation is highly comprehensive. The book is thus highly readable with minimum effort. I liked the chapters on distributed problem solving and planning (Chapter 3),Learning in multiagent systems (chapter 6), Formal methods in DAI: Logic based representation and reasoning (chapter 8)and Groupware and computer supported cooperative work (chapter 10) very much.Readers of diverse interest in distributed artificial intelligence will find the other chapters equally interesting and useful.The book should be on the desk of anyone interested to learn the concepts of multiagent systems and technology.

Spatial Cognition: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Representing and Processing Spatial Knowledge (Lecture Notes in Computer Science)

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Spatial Cognition: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Representing and Processing Spatial Knowledge (Lecture Notes in Computer Science)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 3540646035

Book Description

This book constitutes the documentation of the results achieved within a proirity program on spatial cognition established by the German Science Foundation (DFG) in 1996 involving 13 research groups in Germany and leading scientists from abroad.
The 22 revised full papers included were first presented during a colloquium in fall 1997 and then went through a second round of thorough reviewing. The book is organized into three parts on spatial knowledge acquisition and spatial memory, formal and linguistic models, and navigation in real and virtual worlds. All in all the book is a unique report on the state-of-the art in the interdisciplinary research field of spatial cognition and its potential applications.

Computer-aided Reasoning, Volume 1: An Approach (Advances in Formal Methods)

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Computer-aided Reasoning, Volume 1: An Approach (Advances in Formal Methods)
Matt Kaufmann
Manufacturer: Kluwer Academic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0792377443

Book Description

Computer-Aided Reasoning: An Approach is a textbook introduction to computer-aided reasoning. It can be used in graduate and upper-division undergraduate courses on software engineering or formal methods. It is also suitable in conjunction with other books in courses on hardware design, discrete mathematics, or theory, especially courses stressing formalism, rigor, or mechanized support. It is also appropriate for courses on artificial intelligence or automated reasoning and as a reference for business and industry.
Current hardware and software systems are often very complex and the trend is towards increased complexity. Many of these systems are of critical importance; therefore making sure that they behave as expected is also of critical importance. By modeling computing systems mathematically, we obtain models that we can prove behave correctly. The complexity of computing systems makes such proofs very long, complicated, and error-prone. To further increase confidence in our reasoning, we can use a computer program to check our proofs and even to automate some of their construction.
In this book we present:

A practical functional programming language closely related to Common Lisp which is used to define functions (which can model computing systems) and to make assertions about defined functions;
A formal logic in which defined functions correspond to axioms; the logic is first-order, includes induction, and allows us to prove theorems about the functions;
The computer-aided reasoning system ACL2, which includes the programming language, the logic, and mechanical support for the proof process.

The ACL2 system has been successfully applied to projects of commercial interest, including microprocessor, modeling, hardware verification, microcode verification, and software verification. This book gives a methodology for modeling computing systems formally and for reasoning about those models with mechanized assistance. The practicality of computer-aided reasoning is further demonstrated in the companion book, Computer-Aided Reasoning: ACL2 Case Studies.
Approximately 140 exercises are distributed throughout the book. Additional material is freely available from the ACL2 home page on the Web, http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/moore/acl2, including solutions to the exercises, additional exercises, case studies from the companion book, research papers, and the ACL2 system with detailed documentation.

Uncertainty Models for Knowledge-Based Systems: A Unified Approach to the Measurement of Uncertainty

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Uncertainty Models for Knowledge-Based Systems: A Unified Approach to the Measurement of Uncertainty
Irwin R. Goodman , and Hung T. Nguyen
Manufacturer: Elsevier Science Ltd
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0444877967

Artificial Intelligence: A Knowledge-Based Approach

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Artificial Intelligence: A Knowledge-Based Approach
Morris W. Firebaugh
Manufacturer: Boyd & Fraser Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0878353259

Approaches to Knowledge Representation: An Introduction (RSP Series in Knowledge Based and Expert Systems)

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Approaches to Knowledge Representation: An Introduction (RSP Series in Knowledge Based and Expert Systems)
G.A. Ringland , and D.A. Duce
Manufacturer: Research Studies Press Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

An Artificial Intelligence Approach to Test Generation (The International Series in Engineering and Computer Science)

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An Artificial Intelligence Approach to Test Generation (The International Series in Engineering and Computer Science)
Narinder Singh
Manufacturer: Springer
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0898381851

An Artificial Intelligence Approach to VLSI Design (The International Series in Engineering and Computer Science)

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An Artificial Intelligence Approach to VLSI Design (The International Series in Engineering and Computer Science)
Thaddeus J. Kowalski
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 089838169X

Critiquing Human Errors: A Knowledge Based Human-Computer Collaboration Approach (Knowledge-Based Systems Book Series)

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Critiquing Human Errors: A Knowledge Based Human-Computer Collaboration Approach (Knowledge-Based Systems Book Series)
Barry G. Silverman
Manufacturer: Academic Pr
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Binding: Hardcover

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Developing Expert Systems for Manufacturing: A Case Study Approach (Intelligent Technologies Series)

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Developing Expert Systems for Manufacturing: A Case Study Approach (Intelligent Technologies Series)
Julie Wallin Kaewert , and John M. Frost
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Companies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0070336369

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