Customer Reviews:
Super!!!!!.......2002-10-06
This book was super! I was in Ms. Lehns 1st grade class, and I got to watch the procces of making this book. This book will teach you so much about being a scientist it will shock you!!!! I love this book and presintly own 4 copies! Also My friends and I are in this book. Definitly read this book if you have questions on what is a scientist. Later.
For the Scientist in Every Child.......1998-12-05
Children are natural scientists, as author and teacher Barbara Lehn makes clear in this lovely book. She describes the activities of a scientist in clear and concise words, which are accompanied by color photos of the kids in her classrom doing scientific experiments. The children make observations, pose questions, answer them with follow-up experiments, and most of all, have fun. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to encourage a child's sense of wonder and discovery.
Product Description
Discusses important discoveries about how much babies and young children know and learn, and how much parents teach them. Filled with surprise, this vivid, lucid book gives us a new view of the inner life of children. Paperback, 304 pages.
Amazon.com
A trio of nationally respected childhood-development scientists hailing from Berkeley and the University of Washington has authored The Scientist in the Crib to correct a disparity: while popular books about science speak to intelligent, perceptive adults who simply want to learn, books about babies typically just give advice, heavy on the how-to and light on the why. The authors write, "It's as if the only place you could read about evolution was in dog-breeding manuals, not in Stephen Jay Gould; as if, lacking Stephen Hawking's insights, the layman's knowledge of the cosmos was reduced to 'How to find the constellations.'"
The Scientist in the Crib changes that. Standing on the relatively recent achievements of the young field of cognitive science (pointing out that not so long ago, babies were considered only slightly animate vegetables--"carrots that could cry"), the authors succinctly and articulately sum up the state of what's now known about children's minds and how they learn. Using language that's both friendly and smart (and using equally accessible metaphors, everything from Scooby-Doo to The Third Man), The Scientist in the Crib explores how babies recognize and understand their fellow humans, interpret sensory input, absorb language, learn and devise theories, and take part in building their own brains.
Such science makes for great reading, but will likely prove even more useful to readers with a scientist in their own crib, acting as tonic to pseudoscientific how-to baby books that recommend everything "from flash cards, to Mozart tapes, to Better Baby Institutes." As the authors put it, "We want to understand children, not renovate them." --Paul Hughes
Customer Reviews:
at least 6 stars.......2007-06-27
the most amaizing and surprising book, written
with humour and love ; as a physical therapist i am working with small babies,
i recommend this book to everybody who has a baby or works with
them.
Dull and not what i expected.......2007-01-09
Too much filler, not enough actual content regarding how babies learn and how their brain and minds develop. I found this book boring, repetitive and slow- a real disappointment.
Technical but informative.......2006-11-05
Not written to entertain but to help explain their research into the thoughts of babies and how they learn. Example: Follows their experiment on babies and foreign languages, even though these children can't talk yet!
a must-read for new parents.......2006-08-14
There have been so many times since my son was born that I've wondered just what's going on in there. How we can wordlessly communicate, and how much I think he really understands about what's going on around him. This book does an excellent job of demystifying the mind of a baby and explains it in an engaging way. A perfect gift for new parents.
Well-writen survey of current developmental psychology.......2005-07-08
This book is a concise, readable summary of recent science on baby brain development. A nice antidote to all the urban-legend-based/ new-age/ guilt-and-paranoia/ baby literature out there.
Amazon.com
A thoughtful companion volume to the earlier Surely You Are Joking Mr. Feynman!. Perhaps the most intriguing parts of the book are the behind-the-scenes descriptions of science and policy colliding in the presidential commission to determine the cause of the Challenger space shuttle explosion; and the scientific sleuthing behind his famously elegant O-ring-in-ice-water demonstration. Not as rollicking as his other memoirs, but in some ways more profound.
Book Description
The best-selling sequel to "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!"--funny, poignant, instructive. One of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century, Richard Feynman possessed an unquenchable thirst for adventure and an unparalleled ability to tell the stories of his life. "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" is Feynman's last literary legacy, which he prepared as he struggled with cancer. Among its many tales--some funny, others intensely moving--we meet Feynman's first wife, Arlene, who taught him of love's irreducible mystery as she lay dying in a hospital bed while he worked nearby on the atomic bomb at Los Alamos. We are also given a fascinating narrative of the investigation of the space shuttle Challenger's explosion in 1986, and we relive the moment when Feynman revealed the disaster's cause by an elegant experiment: dropping a ring of rubber into a glass of cold water and pulling it out, misshapen. A New York Times bestseller.
Customer Reviews:
Must-read one.......2007-09-23
This is one of my favourite books.
Interesting life of one intelligent person with atypical sense of humour with interesting style of thinking.
Long part about physics may be boring for some kinds of people, but it still also contain a lot of interesting to read. Either way if you are absolutely out of physics you will maybe close this book on first sites of the second part.
So Much Wisdom in A Small Book .......2007-05-20
As others have noted this is the perfect companion to Reflections...... which I listened to on a long road trip. However this book needs to be read and the content savored while Reflections is more entertainment.
The Challenger investigation shines light on all that is wrong with Washington and the good people who perform despite the system. The book is worth reading if for only these chapters. These chapters are also must reading for anyone who read the 9/11 report and either believes it or completely distrusts it. Sadly the Washington insiders are masters at controlling independent panels from the Kennedy investigation to the most recent policical investigations. The term independent panel simply does not exist in DC. Sadly too many on the Challenger panel were working hard to protect that which most needed to be fixed. I believe the same truth holds true with the 9-11 investigation where the "scope" was carefully crafted to avoid potholes.
What's refreshing is Feynman's refusal to go along and also the coaching he received from the USAF general along the way.
Non technical, the book is suitable for interested readers from 10-100. Great illustration of how much positive impact can come from one great mind.
I love Feynman.......2007-05-04
Although this isn't quite the same as "Surely you Must be Joking, Mr Feynman", this is still a great read. There's a great account of his involvement in the investigation of the Challenger accident. If you liked the "Surely you Must be Joking" this one is well worth it. Feynman is such a compelling guy, that (along with Douglas Adams) when reading his books I actually get bummed out that they're not still around and contributing to society.
Further travels with Dick Feynman.......2007-05-02
What Do You Care What Other People Think? is sort of a sequel to Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman. As a whole this book is not as good as Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman. Part 1 of What Do You Care What Other People Think? is excellent and is very similar in tone and content to the earlier book in that it contains anecdotes of Feynman's youth, travels, and work at Los Alamos, and a touching account of the untimely death of his first wife Arlene. I recommend it highly (with only one qualm, see below).
Part 2 is an account of Feynman's work investigating the space shuttle Challenger disaster. This part contains some interesting material but it seemed incomplete, technical in odd ways, and I found it hard to follow--actually impossible to understand fully.
Feynman's epilogue on the value of science is simple-minded, and IMO unworthy of publication.
Let me repeat: Part 1 is fascinating and is a valuable supplement to Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman, but one thing that bothered me is Feynman's hostile attitude to philosophy. Here is a particularly annoying example: Feynman is discussing how he helped Arlene with her philosophy homework. Feynman attacks Descartes' proof for the existence of God. Feynman has Descartes' argument summarized fairly accurately and gives one of the standard refutations (offered as his own brilliant idea). All of this is sophomoric, literally, in that it is standard fare in intro to philosophy courses, but Feynman presents it as though he is this daring iconoclast, uprooting the stuffy philosophers. I quote: "Arlene understood me. She understood, when she looked at it, that no matter how impressive and important this philosophy stuff was supposed to be, it could be taken lightly--you could just think about the words, instead of worrying about the fact that Descartes said it." (p. 29)
Of course this is just what philosophers teach in intro to philosophy. This is philosophy! Take nothing for granted, question everything, "The unexamined life is not worth living" (Socrates). Feynman is a brilliant physicist and wonderful story teller, and he's had a wild life, but his attitude to philosophy is uneducated and uninformed. Feynman especially should appreciate our philosophical heritage. One of Feynman's valuable contributions is that he has been something of a gadfly in the spirit of Socrates, the founder of philosophy in the Western tradition.
Finally I find the title annoying. Of course you care what other people think, and so do I and so did Feynman. Why else would he relate his anecdotes, tell us the story of the death of Arlene, and so on? Indeed, Feynman strikes me as quite sensitive and concerned about other people and their thoughts.
Perspectives of Richard Feynman.......2007-03-29
This was my first introduction to Richard Feynman, and it left an indelible impression. The book consists of a collection of essays, ranging from his upbringing, loss of his first wife, a few anecdotes, and even an in depth look at the Challenger disaster. Among other things, Feynman is a great writer, and makes each of these subjects a captivating read. He has a brilliant mind, and an intriguing vantage point for every subject. If you ever wondered what makes some men stand out from the rest, this is a perfect book to read.
Book Description
The ultimate inside story: how bureaucracy, politics, and a disregard of science combined to cripple—perhaps forever—a great American city
As deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, Ivor van Heerden had for years been warning state and local officials about New OrleansÂ's vulnerability to flooding. But like CassandraÂ's, his predictions were ignored—until Hurricane Katrina hit on August 29, 2005. Suddenly, van Heerden found himself at the center of a media maelstrom. Stepping forward to challenge the official version of events, he revealed the truth about the cityÂ's shoddy levee construction.
Now, in The Storm, van Heerden shares up-to-the-minute reporting from his investigations and connects the dots among the Army Corps of Engineers, the bureaucrats, the politicians, and the chain of events—both natural and human—that culminated in catastrophe. An epic of cutting- edge science and systemic bureaucratic failure, The Storm is the first book from a major player in the Katrina disaster and a riveting narrative that brings expertise, passion, and a human viewpoint to AmericaÂ's greatest natural disaster.
Customer Reviews:
The Storm.......2007-05-14
Good description of what happened during Katrina and the causes of it. However, it is a first person narrative with a bit of self-congratulation embedded throughout (which is kind of annoying).
Read This, and worry about your town..........2007-01-09
I am a New Orleanian. I was there, I know the details, and I know this writer has a lot to teach about disasters and personal responsibility to the community. He's a good guy who a lot of politicians tried to gag.
The book does a lot of CYA- people who knew what they were doing during Katrina have taken a lot of bludgeoning from fools. Mostly fools in politics and the Corps of Engineers- who caused the whole damn New Orleans disaster through sheer idiocy.
Rad this book and weep, for us, for yourselves. Where ever you live, there's the same incompetance waiting to fail you.
Worth The Time.......2006-11-15
Let me first start by explaining that Ivor Van Heerden is my step father, and Mike Bryan is my good friend. During the months in which this book was written, my family was not only dealing with the aftermath of Katrina, but the effects of someone with such huge ideas and opinions trying to fit them into a few hundred pages. The amount of time and dedication that went into this book alone was enough to encourage me to read it, but once i did i realized that it's positively genius. The detailes he goes into just to make sure the readers can understand what he is about to discuss definitly sets him apart from other katrina authors. And Mike Bryan's years of writing experience really bring eveything together in this book. All in all I have to say that this book is definitly worth your time, if you want to understand the big picture behind katrina, as well as the things not many people knew at the time.
Eye-Opening .......2006-08-04
Get your dictionary out for acronyms... very confusing at times. Great storytelling in the first half of the book, but much finger pointing at the end. Van Heerden is very passionate about his work and point of view. Story matches reality I guess in relation to this catastrophic, horrible event. Very eye-opening, as our government continues down the same road, levee's ...FEMA... wars..... cover-up after cover-up.... Etc...
The Sad Truth.......2006-07-14
As a former emergency management planner, I found this book to be an excellent analysis of what really went wrong in New Orleans. It is a treatise for government officials to learn what not to do and an outline of what we as citizens should demand from our government leaders. It presents very technical information and scientific analysis in a manner that even an elected official can understand. But, beyond presenting the scientific basis of why New Orleans flooded, it presents an outline of solutions that should and must be considered. It is an great testament to the fact that some issues should be above everyday politics and that some important decisions that a government may be asked to make should be based upon science and not political considerations. This is a must read for every citizen and should be a mandatory read for every elected official.
Dr. Barksdale
Book Description
Experts have spent their careers investigating what makes people happy. While their methods are sound and their conclusions valuable, the results often remain hidden in obscure scholarly journals.At last, social scientist and psychologist David Niven, Ph. D., has cut through the scientific gobbledygook.After examining over a thousand of the most recent and important scholarly studies into the psychological traits of happy people and uncovering their most promising discoveries into the causes of happiness.Dr. Niven presents 100 easy-to-digest nuggets of advice: `Enjoy what you have.' `Believe in Yourself.' Grounded in science, his approach is fresh, useful, and inspiring.
Customer Reviews:
Great reminders in stressful times!.......2007-10-11
I highly recommend this book to everyonde who's planning a wedding right now -- whether you're the bride, groom, parent, bridal party member. As the stress increases during the wedding plans, this great little book will remind you of the insights to happiness. It's a light, easy read that you'll revisit again and again.
100 Simple Secrets of Happy People, The.......2007-05-17
What a fun book! I went to a conference where the speaker referred to this book. Some suggestions are already a part of my habits, but there are some real gems that are new. Get this book and get happy!!
this book helps.......2007-04-07
just buy it, it does help. i suggest highlight the words that you think can really help you. the words that struck you will help you. just buy it, it helps damn it
A good review of literature........2007-03-03
This book is an analysis of many different academic articles, what researchers call a "review of literature". It was a good one. It gives a comprehensive feel for what science has found on the topic. Many journals were mined for their findings. Probably most of the science was survey research. It was enjoyable and provided many useful insights.
Same, but different. Simple, but useful.......2005-11-13
I can understand why some reviewers are quite frustrated with the author's so claimed secrets. If you go through the content page here, you are very likely to get the impression that they are "common sense" or "cliche" repeated regularly in all self help books. What makes this book better is the short conclusions in the end of each "secret" summarizing research findings of social scientists per that "secret", many with statistics quantifying impact of individual factors, say,
The average unhappy person spends more than twice as much time thinking about unpleasant events in their lives, while happy people tend to seek and rely upon information that brightens their personal outlook. Lyubomirsky 1994 (2 Use a strategy for happiness)
Shifting between pre-sleep thoughts was found to be related to difficulty in sleeping and lower sleep quality, which, in turn, were related to unhappiness. Better sleepers are 6 percent more satisfied with their lives than average sleepers, and 25 percent more satisfied than poor sleepers. (10 Limit yourself to thinking about one subject when you lie down to sleep)
An experiment was conducted with a group of women having low life satisfaction.... Those who interacted with others saw a 55 percent reduction in their concerns over time, while those who were left on their own showed no improvement. Hunter and Liao 1955 (18 Dont face your problems alone)
Eating fruit is associated with a number of positive life habits that contribute to both health and happiness, and eating more furit is associated with an 11 percent higher likelihood of feeling capable and satisfied. Heatey and Thombs 1997 (44 Eat some fruit every day)
Perceptions that life is meaningful, and therefore worthwhile, increase 16 percent with concrete thinking. Lindeman and Verkasalo 1996 (46 Think in concrete terms)
Those who viewed changes as inevitable and remained open to the possibility that changes would be positive were 35 percent more likely to be satisfied with their lives than those who did not. Minetti 1997 (57 Be flexible)
In my opinion, the references in each "secret" and their bibliography provided do help. The book is good and concise enough to be placed on a working desk as a tool or first aid kit. In short, well worths the time and the price.
p.s. I had read the author's second book "The 100 simple secrets of successful people" as well. Surprisingly the two books are quite different or not repetitive. If you like this "happy" one, you should get the "successful" one as well.
Book Description
Many people have heard two things about Archimedes: he was the greatest mathematician of antiquity, and he ran naked from his bath crying â€~Eureka!’. However, few people are familiar with the actual accomplishments upon which his enduring reputation rests, and it is the aim of this book to shed light upon this matter. Archimedes’ ability to achieve so much with the few mathematical tools at his disposal was astonishing. He made fundamental advances in the fields of geometry, mechanics, and hydrostatics. No great mathematical expertise is required of the reader, and the book is well illustrated with over 100 diagrams. It will prove fascinating to students and professional mathematicians alike.
Customer Reviews:
Remembering Archimedes for more than his naked stroll.......2001-02-19
The thought of a man running naked through the streets shouting with joy over a physical and mathematical discovery is one to warm the hearts of all who value knowledge. When Archimedes experienced this flash of joy, little did he know that his actions would become the genesis of a legend that would last for thousands of years. However, he should be remembered for so much more than that and several of his significant mathematical contributions are explored in this book.
It is really amazing to realize how close he was to inventing calculus 22 centuries ago, which was 18 before Newton and Leibniz. With notation that was minimally expressive, he was able to solve problems using a technique that demonstrates at least a rudimentary understanding of the concept of a limit. While many different problems can be solved using calculus, it only takes one breakthrough solution to demonstrate how it can be applied to so many of the others. It can be plausibly argued that algebraic and decimal notations would have been the tools that would have allowed him to overcome those last barriers. One can only speculate on how that would have changed history.
The book is not exhaustive and no attempt is made to make it that. Ten of his most significant discoveries are presented and the solutions are those of Archimedes, although modern notation is used. While the proofs are generally easy to follow, one is often left in awe as to how he thought of how to approach some of these solutions. The explanations are succinct, yet thorough, which is the signature of a solid storyteller.
Given the answers to the question posed in the title of this book, one can pose another that logically follows. Was Archimedes the greatest mind of all time? If the legends are correct, then the answer is probably yes. However, even if the unconfirmed stories are false, the mathematical and mechanical discoveries should make him a legend for more than one short stint of becoming a 'natural man.'
Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.
Recommended for all mathematicians and scientists.......2000-02-26
The author's aim is to make what he views "as Archimedes' most mathematically significant discoveries accessible to the busy people of the mathematical community." In this he succeeds admirably. The book is not only understandable by anyone who "recognizes the equation of a parabola," but is also very well written in a style that brings out the beauty of the mathematical ideas discussed, as well as the power of Archimesdes' creativity. As the author points out, the book treats most of Archimedes' mathematical discoveries. The presentation cleverly integrates Archimedes' own writing with the author's modern explanation of the ancient discoveries. Frequently, before a main idea is introduced, a quotation from Archimedes' own writing is presented in which the master reveals his thinking about what he had accomplished in that particular topic.
In addition to providing the scientific community with a detailed account of Archimedes' main mathematical discoveries and an insight into the ancient master's thinking, this book, I believe, can be useful in the classroom in a variety of ways. The most obvious use, of course, would be in designating it as a textbook or a reference in courses on the history of calculus or, more generally, on the history of mathematics. But it would also make an excellent textbook for a course on axiomatic mathematics: the book starts with a few axioms from which Archimedes had developed the theory of center of gravity and used it throughout a good part of the material covered in the book, including the development of the volumes of a paraboloid and a sphere and the theory of floating bodies.
In sum, this is an excellent book that should be within reach of any person interested in mathematics or science.
Book Description
What are the essential qualities of a great relationship? What do people in healthy and happy relationships do differently? Scientists and academics have spent entire careers investigating the nature of relationships, dating, and marriage, yet their findings are inaccessible to ordinary people, hidden in obscure journals read only by other academics. Now the bestselling author of the 100 Simple Secrets series has collected the most current and significant data from more than a thousand studies on relationships and spells out the key findings in plain English. The advice is not based on one person's unique experiences or opinions, but offers for the first time the research of noted scientists studying the lives and loves of average Americans. Each of the findings is accompanied by a true story that shows the results in action.
- Love is hard to calculate: Researchers have proven that a partner's age, income, education, and religion are unrelated factors in the likelihood of relationship satisfaction.
- Always trying to win can lead to a major loss: People who feel a sense of competition with their partner are 37 percent less likely to feel that their relationship is satisfying.
- leave the past in the past: More than 40 percent of people report that jealousy over a previous relationship is a source of conflict in their current relationship.
Customer Reviews:
Wow! I wish this was required pre-marital reading!.......2007-09-24
I have read all of Dr. Niven's books and have found EVERY one of them to be FANTASTIC! People, Relationships, Best Half of Life, Happy People, etc have all been wonderful ideas with the research the idea is based on. As a psychologist, I hate suggesting books (bibliotherapy) that is half-baked or some crap off Opera. David Niven's is concrete, shouldn't offend anyone with a 'religious' overtone (get over it anyways), and not likely to lead them off to some cult or guru. Just plain, safe, reliable and healthy perspectives. Truly "what scientists have learned and how you can use it."
a silly book.......2007-05-12
This book is fairly silly and simple. Basically the other uses one line from a research study and ties a story to it to prove the point. Definitely not a book of any depth or great insight, but can be enjoyable.
"Very Informative With Good Common Sense Advice".......2007-02-15
I have not read the whole book yet but from what I have read the book is very informative and has some good common sense advice on how to have a great relationship.
Good Book!.......2004-03-16
This book shows you how to improve your relationships. Even if you currently have a great relationship-you can still learn a thing or two from this neat little book on how to make it an even better relationship. Easy read. Highly recommended.
Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works: How to Get Motivated and Stay Motivated
PS here is a sample (Secret number 1)
The Mundane Is Heroic
Some tasks we think of as difficult and their achievement noteworthy. Others we think of as boring and their achievement insignificant. Of course, the tasks that are noteworthy are often built on a foundation of the mundane. Firefighters study lifesaving techniques and firefighting protocols for years on end, and then one day they are called on to use their skills and knowledge to save a building and the people in it. Without the years of mundane commitment, there would be no moment of great achievement. We recognize that having a long-standing healthy relationship is an achievement. If you are married long enough, the local newspaper will take your picture and write up your story. But that achievement is built on a nearly infinite series of actions, including a daily, hourly, moment-to-moment commitment to each other. It is certainly not always easy, and the rewards are not always immediately apparent, but sacrificing your immediate preferences and being committed to sharing, caring, and listening are mundane but heroic steps toward your lifetime relationship goal.
- - -
Even before they dated, Kathy and William began working out together. Later, after they married, their interest and success in running led them to set a goal of running together in the Boston Marathon. After training for three years together working toward that goal, Kathy's best time qualified her for the race and William's did not.
William could have reacted in a variety of ways, all of them perfectly normal, given human nature. He could have wallowed in self-pity, dragging both himself and his wife down and making her feel somehow guilty for his exclusion. He could have asked Kathy to wait until they could run together. He could have resented his wife's ability to achieve and tried to sabotage her.
"A big part of me wished I was out there running the marathon, of course," admitted William. "So what did I do on race day? I went out to five or six locations and cheered her on." William chose to encourage rather than discourage. "I lived vicariously through her. Her success is my success."
William says that in working out together, as in life together, jealousy, envy, and other unpleasant emotions can visit relationships, but the most important thing to remember is that "we're a team every day -- race day, too. We have to be able to give each other the freedom to be able to develop our own talents. To not stand in each other's way, but to stand with each other, helping if we can, watching if we can't."
- - -
The ability to maintain open, healthy communication in a relationship is associated with strong levels of such highly regarded personal qualities as self-restraint, courage, generosity, commitment to justice, and good judgment. --Fowers 2001
How to Lie with Statistics.......2003-03-02
Many college graduates have read the book, How to Lie with Statistics. One has to be extremely careful about writing a book based on "case studies."
While I would believe that 90% of this book is accurate, several of the "secrets" are down right wrong. Sure, you can create any case study to prove your point or even find 100 people somewhere to support your opinion even if you think the moon really is made out of blue cheese.
I book I read a couple of years ago had better and more honest "secrets." I think you can still get it at 50secrets. com -- it is called 50 Secrets of Blissful Relationships.
Get both and evaluate them yourself.
Book Description
From the author of The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People comes this remarkable new book that distils the latest and most important research to date on success into accessible and valuable advice. This book offers 100 straightforward, practical examples all backed by scientific research on how we can achieve success.
What are the keys to success? Scientists have studied the traits, beliefs, and practices of successful people in all walks of life. But the answers they find wind up in stuffy academic journals aimed at other scientists.
The 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People takes the best and most important research results from over a thousand studies and spells out the key findings in ways we can all understand. Each entry contains advice based on those findings, a real life example of what to do or not to do, and a telling statistic based on scientific research. Engaging and enlightening, this is the perfect gift for friends and family all year round and especially at graduation柠winning combination of practical advice backed by scientific facts.
Download Description
noneWhat are the keys to success? Scientists have studied the traits, beliefs, and practices of successful people in all walks of life. But the answers they find wind up in stuffy academic journals aimed at other scientists.
Customer Reviews:
ONE OF THE BEST IDEA COMPILATIONS FOUND!.......2007-09-24
I have read all of Dr. Niven's books and have found EVERY one of them to be FANTASTIC! People, Relationships, Best Half of Life, Happy People, etc have all been wonderful ideas with the research the idea is based on. As a psychologist, I hate suggesting books (bibliotherapy) that is half-baked or some crap off Opera. David Niven's is concrete, shouldn't offend anyone with a 'religious' overtone (get over it anyways), and not likely to lead them off to some cult or guru. Just plain, safe, reliable and healthy perspectives. Truly "what scientists have learned and how you can use it."
A Great Bathroom Book or Instant Fortune Cookie.......2006-12-24
We all want to be successful. We all want it to be simple. Are there secrets we can get from a book? Hurrah, talk about easy!
This book combines those human desires with another one - the need for silly trivia. This bathroom-perfect-book has 100 different bizarre studies, telling you that 64% of people who felt they failed felt it was someone else's fault. 70% of successful long term managers focus on an even keel in daily life, rather than focussing on highs and lows. 90% of people feel they'll someday hit their career goals.
Each of the studies is accompanied by a little blurb that sometimes relates to the study - and sometimes does not. You also get a short illustrative story featuring a person who comes to an insight about their job or life.
None of the items here are life changing ideas. They're all common sense, and some of them are quite silly. You learn that "it might get worse before it gets better" - so stick with it. On the other hand, maybe you should reevaluate your goals and decide on new, better ones. Who knows which is the better course. After all, "your goals are a living thing." Be sure to "find your own path" - but "don't want everything" - just the things that you should want. "Write down the directions" too - in case someone else is following along behind you and wants to follow your path, towards your goal. Which is changing.
I don't mean to tease this book too much. I did enjoy it. It had nice little thoughts in it that certainly were good to think about. They are like zen koans, things to think about and ponder. Maybe each morning you wake up you could flip the book to a random page, read its message, and then see how it applies to your life. Like "exercise and eat right". That sounds like a good one that could apply to every day. So could "hope springs eternal".
Then again, you could go to a website that gives you a random feel-good idea each day, and accomplish pretty much the same thing. So it all depends if you have a computer screen in your bathroom, or if this book satisfies that need for you.
Success!!!.......2006-11-26
Good, easy to read book while on the move. Can be picked up anytime. Inspirational as well as logical. Useful to success-driven people who still want act and feel like themselves.
A must for your personal success library........2006-07-31
When asked the question, "How do you define success and what are you doing to achieve it?" most people respond with with a blank stare or a shrug and an "I don't know."
Well, here is the book for those who are struggling to define their ideal of success and anxious to chart a course to achieve that success. David Niven's book is a collection of research, anecdotes, and life changing stories of real people who will inspire, but more importantly, give you concrete tools to help you lay the foundation for achieving your own personal success.
100 Simple Secrets reads like an instructional manual, in which you can turn directly to the chapters most relevant for you and read a short, inspiring piece pertaining to your area of concern. I recommend reading an excerpt of this book every morning to charge your brain and get you ready for the day ahead. It's the perfect companion to breakfast or your first cup of coffee.
The top three lessons I gleaned from this book are found in the chapters, "It's Not How Hard You Try," "Be an Expert," and "Only You Can Say if This Is a World You Can Succeed In." I particularly enjoyed these chapters because I was trying to relate these three lessons to someone who was seeking my advice. Now I have a book and specific chapters to which I can steer them.
The chapters are brief and can be read quickly, making this a very efficient investment of time. A chapter a day will keep you moving toward your goals in both your personal and business life. I highly recommend this for your self help section of your personal library.
Same, but different. Simple, but useful.......2005-11-13
I can understand why some reviewers are quite frustrated with the author's so claimed secrets. If you go through the content page here, you are very likely to get the impression that they are "common sense" or "cliche" repeated regularly in all self help books. What makes this book better is the short conclusions in the end of each "secret" summarizing research findings of social scientists per that "secret", many with statistics quantifying impact of individual factors, say,
Those who sacrifice their individual beliefs and backgrounds ultimately express one third less satisfaction with their jobs and almost two thirds less satisfaction with their lives. FRanklin and Mizell 1995 (22 Remember who you are and where you are)
Those whose careers continute to have momentum are 53 percent more likely to engage in healthy life habits than those whose careers are stalled. Roberts and Friend 1998 (41 Exercise and Eat Right)
Those who spend a lot of time worrying about their jobs are 17 percent less productive than workers who seldom or never worry about their job. Verbeke and Bagozzi 2000 (47 You'll get what you're afraid of)
The productivity of employees who score high in dedication to their career is 33 percent less likely to be affected by the quality of thier managers than is the production of low dedication employees. Pollock 1998 (87 Learn to lead yourself)
Managers of production facilities who are meeting their quality targets actually invest 2o percent more time in improving their practices than managers of facilities that are falling short of their goals. In other words, the better off work harder to get even better. Coulthard 1998 (89 People who have it right work harder to make it better)
Successful people spend t least fifteen minutes everyday thinking about what they are doing and can do to improve their lives. Sigmund 1999 (94 Keep goals where you can see them)
Those who do not feel they are taking steps toward their goals are five times more likely to give up and three times less likely to feel satisfied with their lives. Elliott 1999 (99 Take action)
In my opinion, the references in each "secret" and their bibliography provided do help. The book is good and concise enough to be placed on a working desk as a tool or first aid kit. In short, well worths the time and the price.
p.s. I had read the author's first book "The 100 simple secrets of happy people" as well. Surprisingly the two books are quite different or not repetitive. If you like this "successful" one, you should get the "happy" one as well.
Book Description
In Listening to Whales, Alexandra Morton shares spellbinding stories about her career in whale and dolphin research and what she has learned from and about these magnificent mammals. In the late 1970s, while working at Marineland in California, Alexandra pioneered the recording of orca sounds by dropping a hydrophone into the tank of two killer whales. She recorded the varied language of mating, childbirth, and even grief after the birth of a stillborn calf. At the same time she made the startling observation that the whales were inventing wonderful synchronized movements, a behavior that was soon recognized as a defining characteristic of orca society.
In 1984, Alexandra moved to a remote bay in British Columbia to continue her research with wild orcas. Her recordings of the whales have led her to a deeper understanding of the mystery of whale echolocation, the vocal communication that enables the mammals to find their way in the dark sea. A fascinating study of the profound communion between humans and whales, this book will open your eyes anew to the wonders of the natural world.
Customer Reviews:
Listening to Whales By: Alexandra Morton.......2005-12-01
'Listening to Whales' was a touching story of how a women's life was enchanted through her passion for marine life. We follow the author, Alexandra Morton, through her life and career- which often go hand in hand- as she evolved as a marine scientist and a woman devoted to her love: the orcas. We are taken from her first job as an acoustics expert in Marineland to her more profound passion which is to examine the killer whales in their natural habitat; the open ocean. This book was not only captivating, but as I read through it I learned so many fun facts about orcas and dolphins and the life of a marine enthusiast.
My favorite aspect of the book was the way she explained how her extreme passion for orcas came to be. I loved learning about how her love for marine life evolved from her love of frogs and grew from there. I find it so fascinating that as a small child something like loving frogs has evolved for decades and turned into her fulltime career. It proved how dedicated she has been to her work for so long and how there is constantly so much more to learn. I loved how she dedicated her young life to follow her dream, and this story showed how far you can come if you are persistent and dedicated.
There wasn't any specific part of the book I didn't like. It was a story of this brilliant woman's dreams and stories, I don't think anyone is to say there was something wrong with it; it's an unedited, unchangeable story of her life. I think she had a good balance of her life-stories and experiences and her knowledge and history of her life with the whales. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in marine life or anyone who has a passion that they want to persue. It's a very inspiring story, which makes the book good for almost anyone.
Listening to Whales.......2005-11-30
The novel "Listening to Whales: What the Orcas Have Taught Us" tells Alexandra Morton's story of how she dedicated her life to studying marine mammals, in particular killer whales, in captivity and in the wild. In addition, it describes the struggles she encountered along the way, such as caring for her young son on her own. After finishing this novel, the reader feels like she is an expert on killer whales, due to the clear descriptions Morton gives on the lifestyle, habits, and traits of the species. I felt that for the parts of the novel when Morton described her life aside from the whales, though, that she skipped over details, making it seem like events occurring over a long period of time were instead occurring over a matter of a few days. I would definitely recommend this book, especially to anyone interested in learning about killer whales and how important it is for people to protect their species.
learning about whales.......2005-11-30
Alexandra Morton's book, "Listening to Whales" is a fantastic story of how she came to study and love dolphins and killer whales. Morton grabs the reader's attention from the beginning by telling of her childhood and how she came to love animals and research. She was first intrerested in frogs, then snakes, then moved onto dolphins and eventually to killer whales. Morton's story of how she started her career was fascinating, and all about meeting the right people at the right times. She started slow but her passion willingness to learn kept her going. After years of tedious work, Morton finally landed a job at Marineland where her first job was to study the sounds that dolphins make. By using a hydrophone, Morton was able to listen to the dolphins, but there were many problems in her studies. One problem was that the dolphins were too fast for her to write cooresponding notes, and also, she wasn't able to figure out which dolphin was making which noise. Two killer whales that also happened to be in Marineland started Morton's true interest on killer whales.
Morton's career has let her listen to these killer whales, witness a birth, and uncover habits of these creatures that no one at first believed. Morton then goes into the wild to listen to and observe these beauties in their natural habitats. Morton continues to study killer whales in the wild and learns a lot from listening to these whales communicate.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought it was interesting that Morton gave a lot of information on her personal life and background and told the readers of how she started her career. I thought the way she opened the book got the reader's attention from the start and built up her ethos. The only weakness to the book I'd say is that it is a little slow at the beginning. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning about killer whales, or anyone who wants to hear the story of how a young, animal loving girl, grew up to be a wonderful scientist. This is story is one of "following your dreams". Morton did what she loved and knew she wanted to do, even when discouraged by others. Aspiring scientists and whale lovers would love this book.
amazing.......2005-11-29
Listening to Whales is a wonderful story of a woman's life in the wild and the beautiful creatures she has devoted her life to. This auto-biography of the life of Alex Morten follows her journey through studying dolphin noises to captive dolphins to captive orcas and finally spending 25 years in the wilderness off the western coast of Canada studying killer whales in the wild. This story is so powerful and definitely shows us how important and intelligent these creatures are. Aside from retelling the moving story of how the whales thrived in those empty waters to completely leaving the same land with the coming of fish farms, this novel teaches the reader so much about this whale species, their culture and their environment. This is a must read for anyone interested in the preservation of the once pristine waters that are home to the killer whales and other marine animals--such as dolphins, porpoises, salmon, seals and otters--and for anyone who finds these beautiful and smart animals at all intriguing. Morton will make any reader fall in love with orcas as she takes the readers out on the waters in her boat, watching the whales live, play, love, and die. The end of the novel becomes more of a commentary on the industries--fish farming in particular--that destroy natural ecosystems. Morton leaves the touching story of her whales as they leave the once peaceful waters near her home, and throws a lot of political jargon at the reader. Though what she has to say is quite shocking, and definitely will leave the reader understanding the terrible effects of such an industry, the constant barrage of numbers and statistics that Morton uses to get her point across can become quite tiresome. However, it makes the final beautiful pages of this novel all the more emotionally touching. This book is amazing, and will definitely leave any reader feeling the same love that Morton does towards killer whales.
A researcher's life study of the complex marine mammal, the killer whale.......2005-11-29
The book, Listening to Whales: What the Orcas Have Taught Us, is a spellbinding story of a woman's stuggle through life as she relentlessly studies killer whales. She brings us with her through her life's work of note taking and photo identification of the whales as she raises children, survives as a single mom in the wilderness, and falls in love. Alexandra Morton also teaches us of our human errors and our insensitive treatment of nature, as we do whatever is needed to fill our own pockets with more money, acting naive to how it is affecting the world around us. I especially enjoyed the peace and serenity of the novel. The setting and the whales themselves calms the nerves. I think it makes us all somewhat jealous of life outside of busy streets and many people. However, like with all autobiographies, the author can not control what has already happened, which makes the story move slow at the times when not a lot happened in the author's life. I would definitely recommend this novel, especially to anyone wishing to learn about whales and to anyone who loves reading about the serene and complexity of nature.
Average customer rating:
- An Excellent Book
- A Case for Gratitude
- Inspirational and Illuminating Book
- A scientist bravely confronts mortality
- Important to individuals and to the human species
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What is Death?: A Scientist Looks at the Cycle of Life
Tyler Volk
Manufacturer: Wiley
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Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships
ASIN: 0471375446 |
Book Description
what is death?
A Scientist Looks at the Cycle of Life
Answering the question "What is death?" by focusing on the individual is blinkered. It restricts attention to a narrow zone around the individual body of a creature. Instead, how expansive is the answer we receive when we look at the context of death within the biosphere. Death now is tied to all of life, via the atmosphere and ocean. Death supports the awesome biological enterprise of making abundant the green and squiggly life. Talk about death has headed us straight into a contemplation of life, not only individual life, but big life, life on a global scale. Death and life are neatly dovetailed by the supreme cabinetmaker of evolution. Again, the crucial feature is not the death of any one creature per se, but rather what is done with death. To reach into the meaning of death, we must reach out into the wider context of which death is a part.
Customer Reviews:
An Excellent Book.......2006-08-31
This book caught my eye when I was walking down an aisle in the library, what are the odds? But I am so glad that I found it. Volk is a really great writer and his insight about death from the standpoint of a scientist makes me feel at peace. Highly recommended
A Case for Gratitude.......2004-11-10
There is nothing morbid about this book. Tyler Volk's openness and sincerity about the sometimes difficult topic of death had just the opposite effect. My understanding of life, and my gratitude for it, was enhanced. - In just over 200-pages, Volk covers a lot of territory. In three parts, he sensitively explores what neurologically makes us a conscious self, warmly discusses cultural attitudes, and knowledgeably looks at how the myriad forms of death make biological life possible. - If you enjoy reading about the natural sciences or social-cultural topics, you will enjoy this book. Because I enjoy both, I had a great time. It brought to mind cell biologist Ursula Goodenough's "The Sacred Depths of Nature," which I also found edifying. - As the author of "What is Death?," Tyler Volk comes across graciously human and without pretense. Unlike an aloof scientist narrowly consumed with a field of interest, I experienced Volk as down to earth and someone who shares the foibles and joys of being alive. Like each of us, he also is trying to come to terms with his own life and death. Volk's honesty in relating some of his personal journey enhances this fine volume.
Inspirational and Illuminating Book.......2003-06-29
Interestingly, I found this book to be inspirational. Even though the book flies in the face of religion, it does have a certain spirituality about it. For example, one of the book's messages concerns living in the "present". I.e. being present in our world right now and experiencing life to its fullest. The author even includes a beautiful poem by William Blake to bring the point home.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the science including the explanation of programmed cell death and basic biology which was all new to me. In addition, the psychological perspective was interesting as well. Here Mr Volk does a nice job explaining "terror management" and the primal clash.
The book really whetted my appetite for these and other topics. Luckily Volk also includes a nice bibliography for further study.
A scientist bravely confronts mortality.......2003-05-21
In an era when religion's malignancy is becoming increasingly apparent, we urgently need to be shown that spirituality is quite compatible with a rational, scientific, areligious worldview. This task has been taken on by some very good books recently, notably "The Problem of the Soul" by the philosopher Owen Flanagan and "The Sacred Depths of Nature" by the biologist Ursula Goodenough. Another excellent addition to this genre is "What Is Death?" by the biologist Tyler Volk. He begins his narrative on a personal note, describing how a near-death experience left him anxiously pondering his mortality. We then follow him as he explores death from many different perspectives-genetic, neurological, ecological, cultural-and eventually arrives at a better understanding of how vital death is to life. Particularly fascinating is Volk's discussion of recent research showing how death influences our thoughts and behavior even when we are not consciously thinking about it, often by making us cling more tightly to our beliefs. These findings obviously have tremendous relevance for understanding post-9/11 events. "What Is Death?" has not entirely dissolved my fear of mortality; I don't think any book could do that. But after reading it, I felt more sympathy with the lines that end Robinson Jeffers's great poem "Night": "A few centuries/Gone by, was none dared not to people/The darkness beyond the stars with harps and habitations./But now, dear is the truth. Life is grown sweeter and lonelier,/And death is no evil."
Important to individuals and to the human species.......2002-04-06
Although beautifully written, "What is Death?" may be a challenging read for some because Tyler asks us to confront our mortality. The book is worth every second you spend with it.
Tyler presents information which is powerful and important to us as individuals. Equally important in this time when we are all confronted with the causes and effects of terrorism, Tyler presents important research about what all human beings do when confronted with mortality--which includes defending our worldviews more fiercely...
Books:
- A Wrinkle in Time
- Ace the IT Resume!
- America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
- Biology: Concepts & Connections with Student CD-ROM (5th Edition)
- Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management
- Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture
- Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification
- Building Community: Social Science in Action
- Calculus and Its Applications, Eighth Edition
- Calculus: Early Transcendentals
Books Index
Books Home
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