Customer Reviews:
Human nature determines history.......2007-07-24
The civil war does not represent a subject of great interest to me. Americans, killing Americans is basically depressing. This book, though, I find fascinating. It is a concise examination of how things, people, governments work. If you are a student of human nature, you will enjoy it. I continue to pick the book up, and will open to any page and reread passages that stimulate thought. For a civil war "buff", it will place you in deep waters illuminating why things turned out the way they did.
Read this one and get more on the subject.......2003-12-18
Includes a Foreward by U. S. Grant III, retired Major General! That, and the 8-page "For Further Reading" chapter, alone, are worth the price of this book!
I give this book five-stars for being thought-provoking on the general subject of reasons for a military victory ending in 1865, but it is only part of the story.
For the rest of the story, be sure also to read such books as __The South Was Right__ by the Kennedy brothers, and of course __General Lee's Papers__ and Jefferson Davis' own __The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government__. These latter two men were both active participants in the great drama -- there in person as eyewitness accounts -- and also give their reasons in answer to the same question of why the North won.
What might have been?.......2003-07-24
It seems that much more attention is paid to debating the causes of the Civil War, but as this slim volume of essays reveals there are any number of varying and subtle arguments for explaining the outcome of the Civil War.
It is probably the common view that the North winning the Civil War was inevitable, that the overwhelming preponderance of the North in terms of supplies, industrial infrastructure, and manpower ensured victory. Only one of these authors somewhat accepts the thesis of Northern material superiority. These authors are far more mindful of the fact that mismanagement or deep-seated flaws within the losing side of a conflict can be larger factors in the ultimate outcome than positive actions by the winning side.
The authors all note some inherent advantages of the South: a need to only defend territory, the vastness of the South, a transportation network, the ability to produce large quantities of foodstuffs, a commodity, cotton, of great value in the international market, a huge labor force of three million slaves, and a certain psychological advantage in the defense of a way of life.
But these authors discuss any number of factors that led, not necessarily inevitably, to the defeat of the South. The authors point mostly to both military and political malfeasance, as well as personalities and inherent characteristics of Southern society, as leading to defeat. The manner of financing of the War produced tremendous inflation; the supplies of cotton were mismanaged both as a source of revenue to fund the war effort and as a tool to force European nations to recognize the Confederacy; food supplies were confiscated at below market prices; and manpower was poorly utilized both in recruitment to the Southern army and in the deployment of labor on Southern farms.
The states rights and independent political stance of Southerners seemed to prevent a coherent national posture being formulated in winning the Civil War. One of the authors points to the anti-statist views of all Southerners as interfering with producing a disciplined army. Southern units elected their superior officers and were disinclined to follow orders with which they disagreed. In contrast to this aggressive independence, some of the authors point to a general weakening of the Southern psychological state and even a "loss of nerve." The Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, is viewed by one author as a huge factor in the defeat of the South. Davis incompetently micromanaged the war effort, pursued flawed economic strategies, was personally difficult to engage, and exhibited an ineffectual indecisiveness and conservatism in times needing forceful and visionary actions. But the one-party system in the South prevented the rise of an effective opposition that could have addressed the original poor choice of President.
Beyond any material advantage, the authors generally contend that Lincoln and Grant were trump cards for the North. Both were better suited to their jobs both in temperament and competency than anyone in the South. Some would almost suggest that Lincoln and Grant being on the Southern side could have reversed the result.
This book was reissued in 1996 after first appearing in 1960, but it is as readable and relevant as anything being written today. There is some overlap in the material covered in the essays, but the ideas are interesting and challenging. You won't see all of these ideas in a general book on the Civil War.
modest size, MAXIMUM intellect.......2003-06-27
Reissue of a classic collection of essays from the 60's...Currents's "God and the Strongest Battalions" is alone worth the price!...Economic, political, social, etc., aspects are all considering by the "big-gun" historians of 40 years past...Scholarly enough for the serious student, yet very reader-friendly for the novitiate...recommended in the strongest possible terms!
Review.......2000-05-25
The book is good for anyone who wants a quick understanding of certain possibilities of why the North won. However, some of the essays(this is no reflection of the actual book) are not that well justified in my opinion.
Customer Reviews:
Why the Divil War.......2007-08-24
Many books have been written on why the South lost the Civil War or why the North won. Donald's book offers a fresh approach and the most concise expression of the author's views which are bou to make for argument and thoughtful reflection.
Book Description
Together these twenty-one articles on a wide range of today's most leading topics in science, from Dennis Overbye, Jonathan Weiner, and Richard Preston, among others, represent the full spectrum of scientific inquiry, proving once again that "good science writing is evidently plentiful" (American Scientist).
Customer Reviews:
really good.......2007-10-06
This is the first edition of this series that I have read. It's pretty good, although, this is more science reporting than science writing. There is a difference, but the articles were well researched and interesting. And they cover a wide variety of topics. Not as good as the Best American Science and Nature Writing, but a great layman's source for the world of science.
Yay for science!.......2007-06-23
Delivers what it promises; engaging informative scientific papers from the year. Good read! These books get better every year
Good essays, on average.......2007-06-12
The overall result is positive, some essays not that good, some nice, and a few nicer. By the end, it is worth to go through them and discover one by one.
Good Anthology.......2007-01-25
This is a good anthology of high quality science journalism. Most of the writers are professional journalists, some with strong scientific backgrounds, but two of the better pieces are by well known biologists, the evolutionary biologist Allen Orr and the primatologist Frans de Wall. All the pieces are written well and all are at least good, though some are clearly better than others. Some, like the piece on obesity, have been dated by recently emerging data, but the best ones, are quite enjoyable reading.
Easy-to-Read, Interesting Science Writing.......2007-01-14
You don't even have to be an avid science reader to enjoy the 21 well-written science stories contained in this book. I enjoy reading scientific articles in science publications, but admit that they can be dry at times. Science and technical writing can also be choppy, full of jargon, and difficult to read. This is not the case with this book. The writing flows smoothly making the reading simple and enjoyable. The other aspect that I like about The Best American Science Writing 2006 is that I learn new information about our environment. Topics covered in the book are current and relevant to our lives.
The article, Climbing in the Redwoods by Richard Preston, introduces the reader to a sub-environment within our environment that only a handful of people could ever experience themselves. In The Coming Death Shortage, Charles Mann discusses the potential results of our ever-increasing lifespans. At the retail price of $14.95, this book is a bargain. You would pay much more if you were buying these articles individually in magazines.
Book Description
In his introduction to The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2006, Brian Greene writes that "science needs to be recognized for what it is: the ultimate in adventure stories." The twenty-five pieces in this year's collection take you on just such an adventure. Natalie Angier probes the origins of language, Paul Raffaele describes a remote Amazonian tribe untouched by the modern world, and Frans B. M. de Waal explains what a new breed of economists is learning from monkeys. Drake Bennett profiles the creator of Ecstasy and more than two hundred other psychedelic compounds -- a man hailed by some as one of the twentieth century's most important scientists. Some of the selections reflect the news of the past year. Daniel C. Dennett questions the debate over intelligent design -- is evolution just a theory? --while Chris Mooney reports on how this debate almost tore one small town apart. John Hockenberry examines how blogs are transforming the twenty-first-century battlefield, Larry Cahill probes the new science uncovering male and female brain differences, Daniel Roth explains why the programmer who made it easy to pirate movies over the Internet is now being courted by Hollywood, and Charles C. Mann looks at the dark side of increased human life expectancy. Reaching out beyond our own planet, Juan Maldacena questions whether we actually live in a three-dimensional world and whether gravity truly exists. Dennis Overbye surveys the continuing scientific mystery of time travel, and Robert Kunzig describes new x-ray images of the heavens, including black holes, exploding stars, colliding galaxies, and other wonders the eye can't see.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent collection........2007-08-21
This was given to me as a gift and I kept coming back to it. It includes so many different fields, authors and styles of writing that you can't get bored. Almost every essay is excellent, and if you get tired of one the next one will be amazing. One minute it's string theory and the next it's linguistics and the next biology. It's hard to keep up with all that's going on in the science community but this is a great way to hear some of the stories and learn about a broad range of great science. Thoughtful but hardly too technical.
I liked this collection so much that I bought the 2005 and 2004 collections. 2005 was not as interesting to me, a lot more focused on policy and less thrilling as a whole, though some gems in there. 2004 was somewhere between the quality of 2006 and 2005. A different guest editor each year... looking forward to the next one. Gave 2006 to a friend as a must-read. The most interesting work I've read in some time. Thanks Mr Green and the many authors.
The amazing things we don't (but should) know about our world.......2007-01-01
This is a series I particularly look forward to every year for the thought-provoking glimpses it provides into the role science and technology play in our daily lives and future prospects, from the downside of increasing longevity and the dangers of decreasing autopsies to the evolutionary role of swearing and the scary consequences of indiscriminate antibiotics use.
John Hockenberry has a particularly fascinating piece on military blogs - how the immediacy of the technology affects our view of war and how little the brass knows about how to handle it. What makes this article so riveting is his ability to capture the diverse personalities and strong views of the bloggers and the technology's tantalizing implications for the future.
There are portraits of quirky people doing unusual things, like Kevin Krajick's profile of Arthur Aufderheide who dissects mummies and preserves their tissues for research that can tell us much about how they lived.
And Drake Bennett's visit with "Dr. Ecstasy," Alexander Shulgin, a man who has devoted his life to the study of hallucinogenics. The inventor of Ecstasy (among many other illegal substances), and a man of 4,000 psychedelic experiences, Shulgin was on the government payroll until he decided to publish a how-to book.
The eloquent Oliver Sacks remembers DNA's Francis Crick and Crick's influence on his own career, and John Horgan profiles neuroscientist and brain chip pioneer Jose Delgado whose impressive achievements have been intentionally forgotten.
Since Greene is a physicist ("The Elegant Universe") there are precise and elegant (that is, comprehensible) pieces on time travel (Dennis Overbye), gravity (Juan Maldacena) mass (Gordon Kane), and NASA's X-ray Observatory (Robert Kunzig). There are also articles on Earthquake prediction (Kevin Krajick), indigenous people displaced by conservationists (Mark Dowie), and animal deal making (Frans B.M. De Waal).
One of the book's most moving and fascinating articles is Michael Chorost's essay on his cochlear implant and his pursuit of music. Mostly deaf from birth, he became profoundly deaf as an adult. While the implant allowed him to hear speech, his enjoyment of Ravel's "Bolero," had gone. Working to regain this pleasure he initiates us into mysteries of deafness, the technology of cochlear implants and the nature of music.
Many pieces will spur readers to further reading, depending on their interests, and all are elegantly written and of wide appeal. If you read only one "Best of" book this year, make it this one.
-- Portsmouth Herald
Excellent Journalism for Critical Thinkers From Any Field.......2006-10-11
Every year I eagerly anticipate the publication of another edition of this fine series - and its competitor, the "Best of American Science Writing." Series Editor Tim Folger painstakingly selected 100 articles from American periodicals early this year, all of which attest to the intrigue of science. Sometimes the scientific method is seen to be, as he puts it, "an intensely human endeavor, with nobility and self-sacrifice commingling with self-doubt, ambition, swollen egos, and sometimes outright fraud...Even though the intellectual brawls never stop, charlatans are invariably exposed...[yielding] an understanding of reality impossible to achieve by any other means."
This year's guest editor, physicist Brian Greene, selected the final 25 essays. He suggests that when science writing is done well, it lowers the historical barriers between science and the humanities: "Like master chefs, the best science writers pare away all but the most succulent material, trimming details essential to the researcher that would only be a distraction to the reader."
Natalie Angier: A lesson on the cultural and linguistic analysis of swearing - an underestimated form of anger management. Swearing is present in every culture - men consistently cursing more than women "unless said women are in a sorority."
Drake Bennett: The story of Alexander Shulgin, an American chemist who has spent his life legally synthesizing hundreds of psychedelic compounds. On the door of his lab is a sign that reads, "This is a research facility that is known to and authorized by the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office, all San Francisco DEA Personnel, and the State and Federal EPA Authorities," with phone numbers. He posted the sign after the second raid (the agencies later apologized).
Larry Cahill: Within the past ten years, research has revealed an astonishing array of structural, chemical, and functional variations between the brains of males and females - many of them existing at birth. The assumption that researchers can study one sex and apply findings to both is no longer an option.
Michael Chorost: This article is one of my favorites. The author was born almost deaf and didn't learn to talk until he got hearing aids at age three and a half. At age 15 he somehow got hooked on the "Bolero," a famous orchestral piece known for its dynamic crescendos. From that time on, he judged each new hearing aid by listening to his favorite rendition of "Bolero." Then for unexplained reasons he became completely deaf at age 38. The story of how a cochlear implant brought back his hearing ranges through engineering, computer science, physics, ear physiology, and the continued use of "Bolero."
Daniel Dennett: Explains eloquently how no intelligent-design hypothesis has even been ventured as a rival explanation for evolution. "You haven't explained everything yet" is not a competing hypothesis.
Frans de Waal: Humans descended from group-living, highly social primates. Like them, we are highly motivated to fit in with those we live and work with. He calls "Behavioral economics" an evolutionary explanation for why we interact as we do - embracing the golden rule not accidentally, but as a result of our history as co-operative apes.
David Dobbs: Nothing reveals errors like an autopsy. The author quotes studies showing that when an autopsy was done, 25% - 40% of the time the cause of death was not correctly diagnosed. Unfortunately, forces stacking up against the autopsy - regulatory, economic, and cultural - overcome attempts to revive it.
Mark Dowie: Another of my favorites. A small group of leaders representing indigenous tribes from all over the world have a pneumonic for their biggest enemy - BINGO. This stands for Big International Nongovernmental Conservation Organizations. Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and others - are well-funded and have been paying poor governments to establish national parks as fast as they can. Indigenous people always live in these locations, are almost always left out of the negotiations, and are almost always robbed of their land and their culture. This lamentable outcome is frequently barely discernable behind a smoke screen of slick promotion.
John Hockenberry: A fascinating survey of US soldiers in Iraq whose hobby is blogging about the war. Nearly all of the contributing bloggers say the current system of limited restrictions can't possibly last. The policies are currently under Pentagon review.
John Horgan: Remember the dramatic 1963 photograph depicting Jose Delgado calmly standing in the path of a charging bull? With a hand-held transmitter, Delgado stopped the bull by stimulating electrodes in key areas of the bull's brain. This is the dynamic story of his field in the 60's and its rebirth in the 21st century.
Gordon Kane: Another favorite of mine, but qualified* - the physics-impaired reader may have trouble. This is a concise summary of the particles of the Standard Model and how the Higgs field gives them mass - complete with teasers about dark matter, string theory, and the "Theory of Everything."
That's a paragraph about each of the first 11 essays out of 25. To keep this review from being any longer, I'll do only one more - another favorite:
Paul Raffaele - Primitive tribes that barely know we exist live deep in the Amazon, not far removed from the stone age. Sydney Possuelo represents the Brazilian government in protecting these indigenous people and their land from the "whites" (anyone else), and has made first contact with seven different tribes. The author spends a dangerous week with Possuelo visiting the Korubo tribe, otherwise known as the headbashers. Possuelo's advise: "Be on your guard at all times when we're with them, because they're unpredictable and very violent."
The remaining 13 essays are just as invigorating as these. Some readers will say there's too much fluff - others will side-step the hard science, but any critical thinker from any field will find many articles they love. Top Notch, as usual.
This popular science book will blow your mind!.......2006-10-09
I was struck by something Brian Greene says in the intro to this
enjoyable book: more or less, that it's generally acceptable for
people with degrees in the humanities not to know anything about science;
and that that's not good for us as a scientifically competitive country.
My three favorite articles: "Dr. Ecstasy", "His Brain, Her Brain",
and "Remembering Francis Crick", by Oliver Sacks. That last looks like a
sedate title, but this coverage of the correspondence between
Sacks and Crick, who discovered the double-helix of DNA, is not only a great adventure; but if you haven't read Oliver Sacks before, it is a good,
broad overview of what his writing is about. I've read some Sacks books, but this made me want to read all the rest.
Book Description
The Best American Political Writing 2006 is an annual compendium that culls from the nation's most influential news sources to provide the most incisive, controversial, and entertaining writing about the notable names and events of the previous year. Selections come from the nation's top political commentators.
Customer Reviews:
Not what I had hoped........2005-02-09
Be aware that this book is not from the same publisher as the well regarded "The Best American Series" by Houghton Mifflin. I had hoped for equal, in-depth and fair analysis of political issues that would increase my political IQ. Instead I felt that each essay was based more on opinion than facts, although selective facts can be used to support just about any opinion. And I don't think they were chosen with balance in mind. There is only one article which is negative about the Bush tax cuts but not a corresponding positive article. There are 6 articles on Gay Marriage however.
If possible, look closely at the sources of the articles (listed in the table of contents) and read the brief descriptions by the editor at the beginning of each article before buying this book.
Nice to know some still care.......2003-10-12
This book is filled with topics that should be at the forefront of the national conversation but are falling on the deaf ears of an apathetic populace. Doesn't anyone care anymore? This is the important stuff, folks. Hard facts and important ideas on the issues that are vital to our future are being drowned out by the legions of bickering, partisan loudmouths with an axe to grind. This book is one of the dying breed that is not for only conservatives or only liberals but for AMERICANS, lest we forget we're all in this together. Highlights for me included the essays, such as Paul Kruger's "For Richer," that reveal how the interests of the wealthy have hijacked our government to a degree never seen before and why our politicians play along, despite overwhelming public opinion against it and the damage it does to our country. Also recommended is Robert Kuttner's reminder of all the promises George W. Bush made to us during his campaign opposed to what he's actually delivered. There could hardly be more distance between the two. Since it helps to know something about your reviewer, I'll tell you that I'm a Democrat, but you'll find a mix of serious conservative, liberal and independent voices here, though not from the extreme fringes. There's no shortage of other books you can look to if that's your thing. Left, right or center, you will find that the writers whose essays make up this book care deeply about which they write and that's what we could all use a lot more of; more caring and less squawking. If you care about your country but are tired of the shrill war of words and conspiracy theories that pass for political writing these days, this book is a beacon in the dark night.
Something for everyone.......2002-12-24
I know what they say about yesterday's newspaper, but these pieces from 2001, beginning with that mind-bending election and with a special section on September 11, are a slice of history such as we hope not to see again. And besides, many are think pieces from magazines like "The New Yorker" and "The Nation," "Vanity Fair," "salon.com" and "The Atlantic Monthly."
The book is divided into six parts, each followed by a "National Conversation," with column-length opinion pieces. Election 2000 includes five pieces from the likes of Vincent Bugliosi (liberal) and Charles Krauthammer (conservative); Politics in the Bush Era features Margaret Carlson and Nicholas Lemann, with columns from Molly Ivins and Paul Krugman. Lani Guinier and Frank Rich sound off on (Not) Politics As Usual, then Barbara Ehrenreich and David Brooks give their View from Main Street. The second half of the book concentrates on September 11 and the War on Terror and we hear from Richard Perle, Fouad Ajami, Richard Rodriguez, Jeane Kirkpatrick and Henry Kissinger. Among others. The writing is lively and forceful, of course, and if the predictions are sometimes wrong, it's nice to know such opinionated people aren't right about everything. For political junkies of all persuasions.
Average customer rating:
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The Best American Science Writing 2006.(Book review): An article from: The Humanist
Kenneth W. Krause
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Title: The Best American Science Writing 2006.(Book review)
Author: Kenneth W. Krause
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The Humanist (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 67
Issue: 2
Page: 42(2)
Article Type: Book review
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Implementing Domestic Tradable Permits for Environmental Protection (Oecd Proceedings)
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