Book Description
In this groundbreaking book, the renowned theoretical physicist Lee Smolin argues that physics—the basis for all other science—has lost its way. The problem is string theory, an ambitious attempt to formulate "a theory of everything" that explains all the forces and particles of nature and how the universe came to be. With its exotic new particles and parallel universes, string theory has captured the public"s imagination and seduced many physicists. But as Smolin reveals, there"s a deep flaw in the theory: no part of it has been proven, and no one knows how to prove it. As a scientific theory, it has been a colossal failure. And because it has soaked up the lion's share of funding, attracted some of the best minds, and penalized young physicists for pursuing other avenues, it is dragging the rest of physics down with it. With clarity, passion, and authority, Smolin charts the rise and fall of string theory and takes a fascinating look at what will replace it. A group of young theorists has begun to develop exciting new ideas that are, unlike string theory, testable. Smolin tells us who and what to watch for in the coming years and how we can find the next Einstein. This is a wake-up call, and Lee Smolin—a former string theorist himself— is the perfect person to deliver it.
Customer Reviews:
Cuts through the hype.......2007-10-13
This is an excellently written book, very easy to read,and with only one typo that I noticed. It starts with an excellent overview of physics from a technical point of view, without getting too technical,but a good basic understanding of physics is really needed to grasp what he is writing about, and shows the authors grasp of the technical issues, and then gets into a philosophical view of the state of physics and science generally. As an interested observer of science I have certainly noticed the lack of really big discoveries in the last twenty years or so, and this book confirms my view. Also being more of a creative thinker,rather than a conformist, a 'seer' as the author describes it,I can totally relate to the problems faced by people seeking a career in science, and the need to conform to currently popular programs and research where economic imperitives take precedence over original thinking,or even fundamental work, and where universities operate to build an image to attract students based on hype over substance. Its what put me off a career in science, and a university education, as I'm not interested in doing what others want in return for money,career,etc. The authors comment about some of the best scientists of the past being wealthy enough to support themselves in doing as they pleased is a very important point in showing that creative people are wasted if forced to do the work others want done in order to survive. Which basically leaves only those who want to conform and have an easy life and easy career path, who want to be technical experts rather than big thinkers or explorers of new concepts. It excludes most risk takers and entrepreneurs from a career in science,as you would end up bitter and unsatisfied. This book really just confirmed alot of what I thought, what should be common sense. And it makes an important point that only a few people think creatively,so it would not cost alot to employ these people and take a risk on them, in the hope that long term they will produce big things, while delivering very little of measurable worth in the short term. The book also goes into the sociology of science and scientists. Something I realised along time ago to my suprise was that scientists suffer from all the normal human flaws of bias and blindness, tribalism,etc that average people do,and often end up in religious type devoutness to their beliefs or tribe. I would have thought science would not attract such people, but it does,as the authors experience shows in confirming what I beleived just from watching science shows on TV,etc. Science would be an excellent career if not for the fact it suffers from the same B.S. that afflicts most human organisations and puts people like myself right off getting involved at all. The author is smart enough to realise that science must attract talent and compete with others for it,and his criticisms are done out of love for science and physics,not hate. It is interesting to see how carefully he treads in crisicising others, which just goes to show how religion-like science had become, and how risky it is to be a heretic, which so goes against what science should stand for,like open debate, constant questioning of all beleifs,etc, when ego's start getting in the way you might as well do something else, as its no better than any other politics or belief system. If you care about science this book raises many important points ,although I suspect it will find an audience with those that sympathise with its views and have no effect on those that need to learn from it most,as they will have closed minds and take all criticism as an attack to be defended against.A very enjoyable read.
A superb overview of the state of theoretical physics........2007-10-12
What a superb book. Lee Smolin starts by sketching our progress towards a unified theory, and then critically examines the claims of string theory to be the best contender for that throne. Having demolished our fuzzy belief that string theory has been somehow "proven," he then weighs in on the other candidates for a unified theory, namely quantum gravity and its cousins. These turn out to be little better supported by experimental evidence. The technical concepts are clearly presented, sans equations, as developments in a story peopled with fascinating characters: the great theoretical physicists of the last 50 years. As a non-math person, I found this narrative a positive pleasure to read. In comparison to other authors of books on physics for the lay public, Smolin really knows how to tell a story, without skimping the science.
The real depth of "The Trouble With Physics" becomes apparent when Smolin pulls back to focus on physics itself. Facing the fact that the academy is a human enterprise like any other, he subjects it to the same bold criticism that he applies to scientific concepts. Here are eyeopening revelations about the culture of conferences, recommendations, networks, and above all, the economic pressures that subtly favor "craftspeople" at the expense of "seers." It's a sorry indictment of our universities, the triumph of self-interest over vision, and Smolin explicitly includes himself in the great mass of insincere careerists who choose a safe research program over a risky one, to the detriment of scientific progress. One gets the sense that this book is, for the author, an atonement for having shortchanged his own creativity as a younger man.
But we the readers are the beneficiaries of Smolin's decision to lay all bare. I have read literally dozens of books on physics and cosmology, and this is the first one that has presented the human side of the story as a CONTEXT, rather than in a series of postage-stamp portraits. Smolin shows that tribalism and rent-seeking do as much to shape science as any ideas. It is a lesson that will lend an extra savor, and a much-needed depth of perspective, to every science book I read in the future.
Scientific progress is never cut and dried.......2007-10-08
Lee Smolin presents a harsh critique of the last 30 years in theoretical physics, written by one of its practitioners. He makes the excellent point that science is a human activity like anything else. Progress is always hard to predict; scientists can and do get caught up in dead ends. Smolin thinks string theory is one such dead end, and makes a good case for it.
I think that, if anything, Smolin is a little too gentle on the field. The development of the atomic and hydrogen bombs left a tremendous impression that big money put into physics would bring big results. In recent years that hasn't happened. There are so many unanswered questions out there in science, so many important fields where solutions are desperately needed. When I consider the construction and operation of particle accelerators and other high-tech equipment, I can't help but think of the huge cost. The same amount of cash invested elsewhere might have brought much more in the way of useful results.
I am the mother of a 10-year-old boy attending public school. His instruction sometimes seems to me like a mishmash of well-meaning educational reforms that have been implemented with little or no testing to see if they worked or not. I am frankly disgusted by the quality of most research in the area of education--sample sizes too small, no proper controls, subjects followed for too short a time, etc. The cost of operating a single particle accelerator for six weeks probably exceeds all the funding for educational research around the world for the entire year. Yet which has the most potential for making major progress? Maybe it's time to back off on funding big physics projects for a while.
I would also like to point out that the building and use of instrumentation for high-energy physics is highly dependent on cheap fossil fuels. The future supply of such fuels is by no means guaranteed. The peak oil problem appears to be largely ignored by high-energy physicists today, but has the potential to significantly affect their ability to conduct experiments.
I really enjoyed Smolin's chapters on looking for seers rather than technicians in science. I especially liked his description of how unconventional scientists have built a career without a university job. Smolin points out that a typical professor spends a majority of his week on teaching, grant proposals, administrative tasks, and the like, leaving a surprisingly small amount of time available for actual research. Having a day job outside the field is not as big a hurdle as it might seem.
I tend to agree with Smolin that the big advances of the future are likely to come from completely unexpected directions. I can't wait to see what they are.
physics from many angles.......2007-10-05
This book provided several discussions pf physics and quantum theory. its good because the author speaks of the history the the originators of physics theory and the current champions of thought.
A mixed bag.......2007-10-04
At the moment, string theory appears to have many (possibly an infinite number) of "metastable vacua", each of which would allow for a universe with its own laws of physics. (For a brief, comic, yet essentially correct summary of the history of this idea, see Peter Shor's review here. For those who don't know, Shor is a celebrated quantum-information theorist.) According to the (far from established) inflationary model of cosmology, there is a vast collection of universes (the "multiverse") with diverse laws of physics. Which universe we find ourselves in is a matter of random selection, but of course we must be in a "biofriendly" universe, one whose laws of physics allow for the appearance of intelligent life.
The core argument of this book is presented on page 164-165 (US hardcover edition), where Smolin writes, "when it comes to the biofriendliness of our universe, we have at least three possibilities:
"1. Ours is one of a vast collection of universes with random laws.
"2. There was an intelligent designer.
"3. There is a so-far-unknown mechanism that will both explain the biofriendliness of our universe and make testable predictions by which it can be confirmed or falsified.
"Given that the first two possibilities are untestable in principle, it is most rational to hold out for the third possibility. Indeed, that is the only possibility we should consider as scientists, because accepting either of the first two would mean the end of our field."
I find this to be an astonishing argument. First of all, I don't know what "most rational" is supposed to mean. More importantly, to reject a scientific hypothesis for purely personal reasons (it "would mean the end of our field") is at best novel, and at worst absurd.
Very few string theorists are happy that #1 seems, at this point, to be the most likely outcome of string theory, and many hope that #3 will somehow eventually emerge. But to throw out the whole framework, simply because we don't like the result, cannot be said to be a scientific attitude.
One thing you won't learn in this book (unless you read it very carefully, and between the lines) is that the other approaches to quantum gravity advocated by Smolin have not come any closer to predicting specific experimental results than string theory has. Smolin talks about possible violations of special relativity, but these are not (as he admits on page 237) a definite prediction of loop quantum gravity. He has said (on Peter Woit's blog) that any quantum field theory in any number of dimensions is compatible with loop quantum gravity. If true, this would make loop quantum gravity even less capable than string theory of picking out our particular laws of physics.
Smolin also discusses issues of sociology in physics. On page 335-336, he asserts that the all the truly negative characterizations of job candidates that he has ever heard have had a component of racism and/or sexism. I am on the faculty of the physics department of a research university, and I can only say that my experience has been entirely different. I have simply never heard a racist or sexist denigration of one scientist by another, nor have I ever felt that anyone was being evaluated by criteria other than merit. I think that there are definitely issues of culture and how we can construct scientific communities that have broader appeal, and that there are physicists who are not as sensitive to these issues as they might be, but I cannot accept Smolin's claim that the relatively small percentage of women and blacks in physics is due to "blatant prejudice".
Finally, Smolin discusses the issues of "seers" vs "craftspeople" in science, and argues that we should be supporting more "seers". Among the existing seers, he lists some (such as Roger Penrose and Gerard 't Hooft) who made their reputations primarily as craftspeople ('t Hooft received the Nobel Prize for his work on the renormalization of gauge theories, and Penrose did celebrated work on the singularity theorems of general relativity). Their record as seers has been less successful; none of their recent ideas on modifications of quantum mechanics have panned out as yet. Smolin laments the fact that more attention is not paid to these forays into alternatives to quantum mechanics. But 't Hooft and Penrose do not agree on what modifications are needed. Other seers identified by Smolin propose violations of special relativity, rather than (or in addition to) violations of quantum mechanics. Perhaps this is all deep thought, but there is little to decide, at this point, which if any of these avenues should be pursued. Most physicists have therefore sensibly adopted a "wait and see" attitude.
Even if we accept Smolin's argument that we need new seers, how are we to find them? Smolin writes (page 353) that in order to discover "the visionaries who ignore the mainstream and follow their own ambitious programs", we should "find at least one accomplished person in the candidate's field who is deeply excited about what the candidate is trying to do". So, the candidate's program had better not be *too* far off the mainstream; there has to be at least one "accomplished person" who is "deeply excited" about it. But if one deeply excited professional is good, wouldn't more be better? Wouldn't that up the odds that the program was, indeed, worthwhile? Oh wait, that would be just what we have now ... a system where there is constant debate, emergent consensus on the most promising approaches, and distribution of research funds primarily (but by no means exclusively!) to those approaches that appear, in the consensus view, to be most promising. To paraphrase Winston Churchill on democracy, this system for distributing funds for science may be the worst ever devised, except for all the others.
So, should you buy the book? I feel that it gives a distorted picture, by emphasizing the weak points of string theory while ignoring the (many more, in my view) weak points of the alternatives. It seems to me that the essence of the book's argument against string theory is captured by the excerpts above, and by Shor's review. Then there is a lot of discussion of groupthink in scientific culture. For me, it doesn't add up to an appealing package, but your mileage may vary.
Book Description
A brilliant assault on our obsession with every difference except the one that really matters—the difference between rich and poor
If there’s one thing Americans agree on, it’s the value of diversity. Our corporations vie for slots in the Diversity Top 50, our universities brag about minority recruiting, and every month is Somebody’s History Month. But in this provocative new book, Walter Benn Michaels argues that our enthusiastic celebration of “difference” masks our neglect of America’s vast and growing economic divide. Affirmative action in schools has not made them more open, it’s just guaranteed that the rich kids come in the appropriate colors. Diversity training in the workplace has not raised anybody’s salary (except maybe the diversity trainers’) but it has guaranteed that when your job is outsourced, your culture will be treated with respect.
With lacerating prose and exhilarating wit, Michaels takes on the many manifestations of our devotion to diversity, from companies apologizing for slavery, to a college president explaining why there aren’t more women math professors, to the codes of conduct in the new “humane corporations.” Looking at the books we read, the TV shows we watch, and the lawsuits we bring, Michaels shows that diversity has become everyone’s sacred cow precisely because it offers a false vision of social justice, one that conveniently costs us nothing. The Trouble with Diversity urges us to start thinking about real justice, about equality instead of diversity. Attacking both the right and the left, it will be the most controversial political book of the year.
Customer Reviews:
Part I to The Trouble with Injustice.......2007-09-22
I think this is an excellent and highly original, even brilliant, analysis of how special interest or identity groups result in, or at least result in acceptance and the ignoring of, economic injustice. The book analyzes, with astute insight, this problem or "trouble." On that score, the author is very persuasive. The problem is the absence of any cogenly presented solution to the problem. This may have been intentional, and I could even respect the author's decision to limit his contribution. In fact, I think the author may be quite right that he is not qualified to present a proposed solution. It seemst to me that there are two paths to addressing the problem, economic and religious. Either one by itself will not work. An economic calculation on how to obtain utopia and end human injustice is not only hopelessly unrealistic, but in the end tends to result in inhumanity, as in the Marxist attempted solution to the problem. Spritual charity in needed as an internal part of justice. Neither liberal individualism, as is increasingly common today and obviously a failure in terms of addressing injustice, nor collectivism, the failure of the past, will work and combining the two will only lead to further failure, IMHO. Living Christian social justice is probably our best bet at this point. If only governmental authorities and the people they supposedly lead also sought justice, together more could be done.
Literature professor tackles Big Problem.......2007-08-24
This is one of the dumbest books I've not finished reading. A professor of American Literature with a family income of $250,000 tackles the Big Problem: Economic Inequality is the Basic Social Problem facing this country--but he's not giving any of his money away. In fact, he says he wrote the book so he could make more money. He advocates closing all private schools and other nonsense as solutions to the problem. He claims that the only meaningful equality is equality of outcome. Sure, we all have the right to be doctors and lawyers and so forth if we want to be.
What he has to say about race is not worth summarizing.
It's a silly book. Don't waste your money..
Resource distribution, not income distribution.......2007-05-23
This book has been analyzed extensively. So I'll be brief:
WBM's suggestion to ameliorate income disparity is NOT income redistribution. It is RESOURCE (healthcare and education) redistribution.
Real estate taxes fund schools - so wealthy suburbs have better public schools than low income neighborhoods. How does an individual parent solve this? Move to the better neighborhood!
Healthcare is ones own responsibility. The actual cost of this for a mediam income family of 4 is 10-20% of income (depending on who you listen to). How does a family deal with this? Suck it up and pay!
In both cases policies for the provision of what are normally considered to be public goods have been outsourced to the marketplace in the US.
If you believe that education and health are the ticket to a better life, then you have no choice but to agree w/ WBM that this is effectively not avaialble to those in the lowest quintile in the US.
US society papers over this by harping on diversity.
The studies showing that social mobility in the US is the LOWEST among OECD nations confirms this.
Runs out of Steam.......2007-05-17
The main idea is that too much focus on diversity has allowed the schools/press/government to take their focus off the more critical issue of levelling the ECONOMIC playing field, rather than the absurd and meaningless "diversity" playing filed, which plays into the elite/rich right's (and left's) hands.
I agree with the author that too much focus is put on race (the author makes the point that race really "shouldn't matter", and may not even really exist); indeed there are some interesting views made on Plessy vs. Ferguson. However, towards the end of the book, when the author branches out to say that the USA's language, and culture (and, by extrapolation, borders) "don't matter" either and shouldn't be the subject of any argument, it became clear that the author had already run out of useful subject matter in this relatively small book.
Readable, sometimes Brilliant, but Glib.......2007-02-05
This is an engaging, sometimes brilliant, book that is also deeply flawed. It is wonderfully well written. The author can turn a phrase and produce the occasional memorable maxim. For example, he says "Diversity, like gout, is a rich person's disease" (p108) and he says regarding the diversity obsession in elite American institutions that "the supposed left has turned into something like the human resource department of the right, concerned to make sure that women of the upper middle class have the same privileges as the men"( p114). The early chapters on the biology of race and "Our Favorite Victims" (which argues that our obsessions with race and gender have obscured our vision of economic inequality) are especially subtle and illuminating.
Still the book suffers two flaws: whenever it treats hard sociological facts the interpretation is typically glib, and the author offers few if any concrete proposals to address the problem of economic inequality. Regarding the first problem, three examples will suffice.
1 On page 98, the author provides the average SAT scores for students in 10 income categories, ranging from less than $10,000 dollars (872) to more than $100,000 dollars (1115). The average SAT goes up with each step up the income ladder. The problem he fails to note, however, is that race or ethnicity is even more important than income in accounting for variation in SAT. In 2006 Blacks averaged 863 and Asians scored 1088 on the SAT, and Asians from families earning $20,000-$30,000 outscored blacks from homes earning over $100,000 by over 60 points. Income is important but ethnicity is more important. In terms of school achievement, "it is more important to be born Asian than born rich," as Lawrence Steinberg once put it.
2 Michaels assumes that white suburban schools are better funded than black/urban schools (p87, passim), and that this accounts for differences in student performance but the evidence is quite clear that more money is spent on urban schools per student than any other type of school. Schools with 50% or more minority students spend 9% more than those with 5% or fewer minority students. My area would be typical. Atlanta City schools spend 50% more per student than suburban counties such as Cobb and Gwinnett but the latter greatly outperform Atlanta on standardized tests. The school district that spends the most in the country is Washington DC and it is arguably the worst school district in the country. There is no relationship between expenditures and student performance, something we have known since the Coleman Report of 1966. Family variables, especially family composition, explain most of the variation in student achievement.
3 The author observes that the academic left has claimed that domestic abuse occurs in every social class but that in fact poor women are 7 times more likely to be abused than wealthy women (pp.117-119). This is true but it hides what is the real variable of importance--marital status. According to the Justice Department and the National Crime Victimization Survey, single women are 4 times more likely to be abused than married women, and divorced and separated women are 10 times more likely to be abused than married women. The income findings are largely a function of the fact that married couples have much higher incomes than single/separated/divorced households.
Regarding the paucity of concrete policy prescriptions, one has to assume that Michaels wants to increase taxes on the rich and distribute the money to the poor but that is no guidance at all. He does seem to prefer that affirmative action shift from race/ethnicity/gender to social class, but as many have observed, such a shift would benefit whites and Asians disproportionately. The single concrete proposal he makes is reparations for slavery. Of course, this is rather ironic, given that the main point of the book is that obsessions with race and gender have blinded us to issues of income inequality, but the larger problem with such a proposal is contained in statements like "reparations are a technology for trying to create a world that comes as close as possible to the world we would have had if neither slavery nor Jim Crow had happened" (p128-129). You have to work very hard to be that facile. Had slavery never happened the descendents of those who in fact were enslaved would be living in West Africa and yet the 37 million people currently living in the US of African descent have a combined income much larger than the combined income of the 650 million sub-Saharan Africans. The typical person living in Western Africa lives on less than 2 dollars a day. By the author's logic, the descendents of slaves are the ones who should be paying reparations. Did I say "glib?" That is absurd.
Brad Lowell Stone
Book Description
While many complain that wealthy nations turn a cold shoulder to the poorest continent, Robert Calderisi exposes the startling degree to which Africas problems come from within. He reveals the shortcomings of foreign aid and debt relief, and proposes his own radical solutions. Readers will be shocked to learn that Africa has steadily lost markets by its own mismanagement, that even capitalist countries are anti-business, that African family values and fatalism are more destructive than tribalism, and that African leaders prey intentionally on Western guilt. This urgent wake-up call is aimed at those who are critical of the U.S. and other rich countries for not doing more to help. Coming from an outspoken high-level official, this is a message that will create intrigue and outrage and spark a timely debate.
Customer Reviews:
How nice that the suggestion be made,"take responsibility" for our own actions........2007-09-27
I have enjoyed the candor of this book. While it can be said that the author looks at things via the rose glasses of "elite life" in Africa I do agree with much of what he has stated. Care must be taken however to see that many expatriates who throng the shores of Africa do so with fat salaries and exclusive housing to live lifestyles that would never be possible in America or Europe. This behind the wire lifestyle has the tendency to jade the our view and corrupt our ability to look clearly from ground level. I have spend 17 years in Africa, not behind the Ivory towers and five star hotels but in the bush and with the people carrying out aid projects that do make a difference because they are done at a local level and with families rather than governments.I would also note that, while governments in Africa balk against accountability so do our friends in the IMF and World Bank. Money is handed out like toilet paper and little is done to truly assure its proper use. After all its not my money.
An excellent study.......2007-08-25
As a student of history, I had to wonder why Africa, which was mostly freed from its colonial past by the 1960s, has steadily deteriorated since then. This book systematically and succinctly explains many of the issues that have plagued the continent and has explained away many of the excuses that have served to keep Africa from developing economically and politically.
I particularly liked Calderisi's deflating of the slave trade argument. The slave trade is one era removed from modern Africa, with the 150 years or so of the colonial period between now and then. And yet is is used to explain away a lack of devlopment in Africa as if people today are still traumatized by a memory they cannot possibly have, any more than I have an "ancestral memory" of my people being slaves to the Romans. Slavery has not been, unfortunately, unknown in human history. And yet, peoples have managed to go forward and continue to build and have great dreams.
Africa needs help, there can be no doubt of that. Despite significant mineral wealth and agricultural potential the continent continues to fall deeper and deeper into poverty. Only by undertstanding the root causes can we work a solution.
The only weakness to this book is Calderesi's insistence on putting his own personal life into discussion, which really has nothing to do with the subject matter of the book.
Candid, brave, caring, & most importantly - relevant........2007-08-09
Brilliant. Well-written. Superbly addresses the point (why foreign aid isn't working in Africa). Calderisi obviously cares very much - enough to say what needs to be said.
I read this book a year ago and still remember it vividly, which attests to how succinctly Calderisi conveys important information.
a few insights and some great stories mixed with sloppy analysis.......2007-03-04
Calderisi states early on that this book is "a personal essay." That turns out to be code for "This doesn't have to be particularly coherent, nor do I have to back up my recommendations with systematic evidence." Finally, the writing is not particularly inviting, with lines like, "unlike photographs, economies cannot be developed in a dark room" (p. 171) or "Africa has been in my blood since the age of fifteen" (p. 35).
However, Amartya Sen once wrote that "there is a strong case for judging a book by its best contributions, not its weakest points." [1] Calderisi worked for the World Bank in Africa for many years: he has many interesting stories and a great deal of perspective. He gives the World Bank's perspective on the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline, the now notorious Structural Adjustment Programs of the 1980s, and many more personal stories. While there is certainly more to these stories than the Bank's perspective, understanding the Bank's reasoning is insightful.
In addition to these stories and perspectives, the author makes ten recommendations, many of them unfortunately unsupported by the body of the book. Most of the recommendations seem sensible (as do many recommendations that haven't worked, as William Easterly has indicated [2]), but Calderisi gives no detail as to how one would implement them nor does he successfully build up to them. I may not be confident that Jeffrey Sachs's plan [3] would be successful, but I give him credit for having thought it through and outlined it in significant technical detail.
The book begins much worse than it ends. In the first chapter, "Looking for Excuses," the author argues that many traditional arguments for African poverty are false; but the reasoning tends to be specious. Speaking of both the Cold War and colonialism, he argues that it is difficult to make the link between those events and Africa's problems, but then he attributes clear causality to what he calls the "benefits" of the Cold War and colonialism: it's not clear how we know that they caused benefits but not that they caused problems. In his argument that the manipulation of African peoples by Cold War movers is not responsible, he says, "there is little evidence that the superpowers did more damage than African states themselves." Even if they did the same amount of damage, that would be double the damage African countries would have done on their own. Elsewhere in the book, Calderisi relies on a few select quotes to demonstrate that every month in recent African history is "replete with tyranny and injustice" (p. 63). True or untrue, a statement like that deserves a decent standard of evidence.
I'm not sorry that I read this book, but I'd recommend you put William Easterly's White Man's Burden and Jeffrey Sachs's The End of Poverty higher on your list.
[1] Amartya Sen, "The Man Without a Plan," Foreign Affairs, March/April 2006.
[2] William Easterly, The Elusive Quest for Growth, MIT Press, 2002.
[3] Jeffrey Sachs, The End of Poverty, Penguin, 2006.
The Trouble with Africa.......2007-01-08
Having recently traveled to Africa for the first time, I left that continent, as did my fellow travelers, wondering what could be done to better the lives of the people we met. It seemed that the troubles were monumental, and that solutions would be nearly impossible. As I read Mr. Calderisi's book, I felt that here were the concrete, rational ideas that are needed to begin the transformation. It made me wish I had the expertise and leadership abilities to get started on it NOW and I only hope that in the very near future that someone with Mr. Calderisi's insight and knowledge will make this a priority and start implementing his ten ways of changing Africa. A truly thought-provoking and inspirational book.
Average customer rating:
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- How To Outsmart Trolls
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Book Description
Treva's trouble with trolls begins when she climbs Mount Baldy with her dog Tuffi. The trolls who live there long for a dog, and they try to kidnap him. But Treva is brave and quick-thinking. She outwits one troll after another until she reaches the very top of the mountain, where five trolls are waiting--and they want her dog! From underground to mountain peak, Jan Brett's story is filled with adventure and eye-catching detail.
"With the flavor of a Scandinavian folktalke, this engaging picture book has lots for little eyes to spy....Playful and funny, with a valiant female protagonist, this is a first-rate read, wintertime or anytime." --Booklist, starred review
* An IRA-CBC Children's Choice Book
* A Child Study Children's Book Committee Children's Book of the Year
* Book Links "A Few Good Books" of the Year
* A Picture Puffin
* Full-color illustrations
* 32 pages
* Ages 3-8
Customer Reviews:
A fun read.......2007-08-05
A little girl named Treva tells her story wen she had trouble with trolls. She lives on the slopes of Mount Baldy and was hiking it to visit her cousin who lives on the other side. With her is her dog Tuffi. Trouble happens along the way as a troll will jump out and declare "I want dog"
She tricks them into taking pieces of her clothing but eventually she reaches the top and discovers they still want the dog. She declares she can fly with her skies but needs all her cloths back. She asks for a push but they can't since they are holding Tuffi. She offers to hold the dog and away she skis to the cries of "Dog, Dog, Dog!"
This is a fun little story and my little girl has taken to it. Probably because the artwork is very good!
There is also a small side story of a hedgehog who wanders into the home of the trolls.
This is a sweet well written and drawn story that will make for any child's bedtime reading. Be prepared to hand over the book so the pictures may be viewed.
How To Outsmart Trolls.......2004-11-25
Treva lives on the slopes of Mount Baldy. One day she goes to visit a relative on the other side. She will climb up with her dog and then ski down the other side. But on the way up she runs into the trolls. Each troll she meets is interested in her dog. Treva manages to trick each of them into taking some of her clothing instead (mittens, hat, sweater, boots). But just at the top the trolls decide they still want the dog. Treva has one more trick up her sleeve and winds up same with her dog and all of her clothing. The ultimate fate of the trolls is quite interesting.
This is a very nice story with an intelligent and quick-thinking protagonist. Troll legend has been change a little. There is no mention of the trolls wanting to eat the dog (a la Billy Goats Gruff) but instead to help warm them and act as a pack animal. Their fate is also one I am unfamiliar with. Many stories have trolls turn to stone in the sunlight but this transformation is quite interesting.
The illustrations are just what you expect from Jan Brett; beautiful and packed with detail. Earrings and hair ribbons should be paid attention to as well as the happy hedgehog who invades the trolls' home. A truly delightful story from an author who has written more stories about clothes than you can imagine (The Hat, The Mitten, Armadillo Rodeo, Etc).
WOW, don't hesitate, read this book.......2003-10-29
As parents, bibliophiles, and teachers, we are always on the lookout for good children's books and books with positive girl characters are always needed. This one is fabulous. Treva is smart, creative, courageous, loving, strong, competent and clever. This is exactly the kind of child that we would want our 2 1/2 year old son to be exposed to. It's a fun adventure story that shows how a child can be creative and use their imagination and other intellectual abilities to problem solve and come up with a plan in a tough situation (without resorting to physical force) and then use their physical and creative skills in executing their plan. The last few sentences of the book also add a more abstract, creative idea that expands the depth of the book depending on the age and abilities of the child who's hearing the story. The illustrations are well done - they're good and easy to follow and help the child to understand the story, They also provide additional details and threads for the child to explore. And, something I'm always on the lookout for, it was a great alternative troll story. On the chance that most of his fellow schoolmates would be talking about pirates, superheroes, fairy tale characters and such, I didn't want my son to have no idea what others were referring to simply because we tended to avoid such stories because they tend to be completely objectionable in terms of their values and characters. So, I'm always on the lookout for good alternatives, and this was a very positive way to introduce him to a troll. (As a side note, a good alternative for superheroes is "Max" by Bob Grahm; for pirates try "Pirate Pete", "Edward and the Pirates" and "Pirate Pink"; and there are many fractured fairy tales which are clear winners over the traditional sexist, violent, etc fairy tales, e.g. "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig", "Wolf" by Becky Bloom, "The Big Bad Wolf is Good", "The Emperor [Penguin] has no clothes", and on video - CinderElmo - where Elmo goes to the Princesses ball). This was my first exposure to Jan Brett and I'm looking forward to more books.
A delightefull tale of an adventurous hike.......2003-10-08
Treva, a girl in Norway wants to go visit her cousin on the other side of a mountain near her home so off she goes with her dog, and her skis straped to her back. Her little hike soon meets with excitement when a troll tries to kidnap her dog! She comes up with a clever scheme to trick this troll, and several more trolls afterwards. At the end, she manages to trick all the trolls again at once, and gets back her mittens, gloves, hat, sweater, skis and of course, her dog!
The illustrations are absoutely beautiful, and really bring life to the story.
Trouble with trolls.......2002-10-31
This book Trouble With Trolls is a great book for both readers young and old. It is about a girl named Treva who decides to take a hike over a mountain to see her cousin. On the way up the mountain Treva runs into some trolls who want her dog,but she tricks them by giving them her boots and things like that. In the end she gets away with her dog and all her stuff back. I enjoyed this book alot myself and if you have kids I'm sure they would enjoy it to.
Average customer rating:
- The Trouble With Tink
- Alright, but seems to teach an odd lesson...
- A great book!
- Trouble With Tlnk
- A Great Book
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The Trouble With Tink (A Stepping Stone Book(TM))
Kiki Thorpe , and
Judith H. Clarke
Manufacturer: RH/Disney
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0736423710
Release Date: 2006-01-10 |
Book Description
Tinker Bell is supposed to be the best there is at fixing pots and pans, but when she loses her hammer, her talent goes with it. Tink is desperate to reclaim her skill. But does she have the courage to face up to her past?
Customer Reviews:
The Trouble With Tink.......2007-02-23
I read TheTrouble With Tink.The Trouble With Tink is a book I love.I love this book because it makes me curious about whether Tink will lose her talent or not.I wonder this because I read'', So it's true,Tink thought. Everone is saying I've lost my talent''.This helps convince me that it was a good book!000
Alright, but seems to teach an odd lesson..........2006-09-19
I bought this as an audiobook for my daughter, and she enjoyed it. I thought it was alright. I just found it increasingly frustrating, as Tink refused to tell anyone what her problem was (it was only an accident!) or to ask for help. What's the moral here - if you have an innocent accident, better to lie, and refuse to ask for help, and get deeper into trouble, than risk embarassment? Is she that afraid of her "friends"? Yeah, I know, reading too much into a kids' book, but it just seemed a bit odd. :)
A great book!.......2006-05-24
I have read all the Disney Fairy books to my 5.5 year old daughter, and she loves them! I also think they are fun books. It's nice that each Disney Fairy book focuses on the story of one specific Fairy, telling the story from that Fairy's viewpoint.
We also love the pictures, and my daughter, who doesn't read a lot yet, always looks ahead to see what she can find in the pictures.
Definitely a fun book for anyone who loves fairies!
Trouble With Tlnk.......2006-05-23
I picked this book beacause it had discrption like no other. It showed detall in the pictures and uesed graet words,( I could really understand it). My favorite part was when Tink went to Peaters house to find the hamer that she left ther one night and Peater scared Tink (and the friend that was with her). My least favorite part was when Tink fownd out that she was mabey going to lose her job if they don't get the hamer.
So now I am going to leave the rest for you to read and fined out.
A Great Book.......2006-05-11
Opinion: this book is great! I loved the idea of "fairy tag" that the author came up with. I think that anyone who likes Peter Pan will love this book. However, I don't think that it is better than Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg.
Summery: When Terrance invites Tinker Bell to play fairy tag, Tink is delighted! Fairy tag is much more complicated than Clumsy tag, but when Timk loses her tinkers hammer, her life is practicly ruined! Tink is the best pots-and-pans talent in all of Pixie Hollow. She can't possibly fix anything without her tinkers hammer! The worst part is that she has a spare hammer, but when she went to visit and live with Peter Pan and the lost boys, she left it there. Tink hasn't talked to Peter since he brought Wendy to Neverland. He broke Tink's heart that day. Now, she is faced with the biggest decision in her life, talk to Peter, or lose her talent!
Amazon.com
As a professor of biology and neuroscience at Stanford and a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant," Robert Sapolsky carries impressive credentials. Best of all, he's a gifted writer who possesses a delightfully devilish sense of humor. In these essays, which range widely but mostly focus on the relationships between biology and human behavior, hard and intricate science is handled with a deft touch that makes it accessible to the general reader. In one memorable piece, Sapolsky compares the fascination with tabloid TV to behavior he's observed among wild African baboons. "Rubber necks," notes the professor, "seem to be a common feature of the primate order." In the title essay of The Trouble with Testosterone, Sapolsky ruminates on the links, real or perceived, between that hormone and aggression.
Customer Reviews:
Thought Provoking.......2007-08-31
In "The Truth About Testosterone", Robert Sapolsky combines his knowledge and experience in biology and neuroscience to make sense of certain human behavior patterns and biological reactions. The chapter on testosterone dispels many myths surrounding the impact of this hormone on aggression. Experiments have shown that increase in testosterone level as high as 3-4 times the norm, for example, does not alter human behavior in a noticeable way. An increase of 10 times is accompanied by a marked increase in aggressive behavior. When adult test subjects are castrated, aggressive behavior disappears. When testosterone levels are reverted to their original levels, aggressive behavior returns to its previous intensity level.
Sapolsky saves the best for last in the chapter on "Circling the Blanket for God". He discusses a controversial take on the origins of religion, and asks the reader to either stop reading at that point if he/she finds the material offensive, or finish the chapter if he/she chooses to continue.
Sapolsky's writing is easy to understand, and his ideas are thought provoking. This is definitely an educational as well as an entertaining piece of work.
Another Great one from Sapolsky.......2007-04-03
Robert Sapolsky writes great articles that people who aren't scientifically inclined can still enjoy. His works is funny, informative and very interesting. You don't have to have an in-depth knowledge of anything scientific to enjoy this book. He covers a vast array of topics in fairly short essays, most of them relating to behavioral biology, all of them interesting and humorous. Highly recommend.
Great stuff, only a little dated.......2006-03-23
Great science writing designed to reach out to the general public - in particular, students in college who aren't science majors. I use it in my own biology classes as extra credit work for advanced students. The author finds a way to relate biology, and science in general, to the average (highly educated) person's life.
The only fault is a bit too much political correctness in some of the essays - this makes them feel oh so 1990s. I like Sapolsky's newer books, which seem to have less of this too-careful presentation of biological reality.
A great collection of essays by a brilliant writer.......2005-12-30
Is it possible for a man who has won a MacArthur genius grant to be underappreciated? Reading this set of essays I have to wonder why Sapolsky is not as widely read and commented on as Dawkins, Sacks, Gleick and those other few at the absolute pinnacle of popular science writing.
The tales here cover his familiar subjects: the mind and emotions (one is tempted to say the soul), stress and our reactions, and how brain chemistry effects us every day. He also relates anecdotes from his baboon observations, and in the most touching essay talks about his father's life and death. The essays are gathered from several years and several magazines and each stands on its own...there is no particular theme beyond the aforementioned subject matter. The best is probably about how we sometimes take on the identity of another: illustrated by an anecdote where he watched Stephen Hawking give a lecture "through" the voice and body of a vigorous young graduate student, and Sapolsky's own odd reaction to his father's death. It is interesting, mildly disturbing and raises some ideas about individuality I certainly had never considered. In another essay, Sapolsky describes why so many illnesses have the same symptoms (its because it is our own immune systems that make us feel so crummy). Elsewhere he draws parallels betweens kids going off to college and male baboons switching tribes, and in yet another essay compares aging in baboons and humans.
So, should you read this book?
"Yes", if you have read other Sapolsky books and are looking for more.
"Yes", if you have heard about Sapolsky and want an introduction before diving into one of the larger works (though I still think 'A Primate's Memoir' is the best place to start).
"Yes", if you are interested in the brain and/or like good science writing.
A marvelous read to squeeze between scholarly articles.......2003-05-19
Robert Sapolsky has written a wonderful, fun and terribly informative book, and it's a lovely break to anyone who wants to put their endocrinology articles aside for a night and read something a little smoother. I loved "Curious George's Pharmacy" so much I devoted a day in my Great Apes syllabus to a discussion of pharmacognacy and assigned that chapter as a reading. I also quite enjoyed the last chapter on the "heterozygote's advantage" of schizotypal disorder as the root of major world religions (and read the bit about Martin Luther's clear obsessive-compulsive behaviors aloud to my boyfriend, where we both got a good gasp and a laugh). As an anthropologist and a student of primate endocrinology myself, I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the biological basis of human behavior.
Amazon.com
The Trouble with Normal argues passionately against same-sex marriage, but here's the twist: not because it denigrates the institution of marriage, but because it perpetuates the cultural shame attached to sex between consenting but unmarried adults. When gay men and lesbians try to claim that they're just like "normal folk," Michael Warner writes, they do a profound disservice to other queer folk who choose not to live in monogamous or matrimonial bliss and who believe that the solution to being stigmatized for your sexuality is not to pretend it doesn't exist. Same-sex marriage advocates, he continues, often seem to be willfully blind to the cultural ramifications of their position, viewing marriage as "an intensified and deindividuated form of coming out." They don't seem to realize that if society validates their relationships, other types of relationships will by necessity be invalidated. (He also makes a strong case for the fight against sexual shame's being more than a queer issue, citing 1998's presidential impeachment crisis: "[Bill] Clinton, certainly, was not the first to discover how hard it is in this culture to assert any dignity when you stand exposed as a sexual being.") Extending his analysis, Warner shows how the championing of married gays and lesbians as "normal" is part of the same cultural climate that leads to "quality of life" crackdowns against queercentric businesses--as is already underway in New York City--and a deliberate sabotage of safer-sex education that puts millions of Americans at continued risk of exposure to HIV. Warner's precise, straightforward argument is enlivened by numerous sharp zingers, as when he accuses Andrew Sullivan of "breath[ing] new and bitchy life into Jesuitical pieties" about sexual morality. The Trouble with Normal is a bold, provocative book that forces readers to reconsider what sexual liberation really means. --Ron Hogan
Book Description
Michael Warner, one of our most brilliant social critics, argues that gay marriage and other moves toward normalcy are bad not just for the gays but for everyone. In place of sexual status quo, Warner offers a vision of true sexual autonomy that will forever change the way we think about sex, shame, and identity.
Customer Reviews:
wow.......2007-07-16
This book is for any gay rights activist who finds themselves wondering "why I am so ambivalent about gay marriage?"
I was recommended this book on amazon because one of my favorite books is Here Comes the Bride by Jaclyn Gellar. What that book does for marriage and straight women, this book does for marriage and the gay community.
It is completely and utterly vital work that Warner did.
a little over the top.......2007-01-09
i bought this for a queer theory class and read it and found it interesting. i don't think i would have picked it up just to read, though. it's definitely something that the average jane would need to discuss to get the most out of (at least i did), but as a class text it was good... parts of it were a little over the top for me, but informative and stretched my mind for sure.
A great and powerful demolition of the puritanical elements of the gay movement.......2006-09-15
Warner presents a highly valuable and enjoyable polemic against the increasingly LGBTQ movement or what would be better termed the growing "embourgeoisment" of the queer liberation movement represented best by such petty reactionaries as Andrew Sullivan, Michelangelo Signorile, and Larry Kramer. It certainly makes you think more about how sexually liberated we in our 'enlightened' age truly are.
A different perspective.......2004-07-14
In this excellent book, Michael Warner explains how gay and lesbian activists are pursuing the wrong goal by advocating and working for the right to be legally married.
Warner points out that, instead, the focus ought to be on separating certain legal benefits and perks that are now only available to those in a legal marriage from one's marital status. Such marriage-linked benefits not only discriminate against gays and lesbians, but also heterosexuals in nontraditional relationships, and singles of all categories. I found quite a bit in this book that was relevant and useful to me as a nonmonogamous heterosexual. Highly recommended.
Fascinating breakdown of the politics of marriage.......2004-07-02
As a straight woman and a strong advocate for gay marriage, this book did not at first appeal to me. What could I learn from a book by a gay man arguing against gay marriage? It turns out that I had a lot to learn. Although I still believe that anyone who wants to marry should have that right, after reading this book I no longer want to get married. This breaks down the descriminatory nature of marriage and the politics of sexual shame in such an interesting way. This should be required reading for everyone--gay, straight, single, married, whatever. It's not an argument that you hear very often, but it's a very important one! Read this book--it might upset you, but it will force you to examine ideas like homosexuality, marriage, and sex in new ways.
Book Description
Humans on the space frontiers may have enough problems with befuddled bureaucrats, rules that don't fit the realities of very dangerous situations, and general rear-echelon incompetence without bringing in unfriendly aliens, but it's that kind of universe. On the other hand, as master satirist Christopher Anvil makes clear, the aliens are anything but omnipotent and have plenty of problems of their own. * Here for the first time the stories and short novels of the war with the Outs are collected into a novel-length chronicle. The Outs had mental powers they could use to make humans see illusions and convince them to change sides. Obviously, they were unbeatable-until some troublesome humans found their Achille's heel. * Another set of aliens arrive to conquer the Earth with the promise of eternal youth and healthfulness, and might have won, if some humans weren't too plain ornery not to be suspicious. * Who's the best human envoy to deal with aliens who can read minds and learn anything their opponents know-the man who knows little or nothing, of course, including why he was sent there. * When an investigator was hired to find out the reason for the strange events in a palatial mansion, he quickly solves the case-until he wakes up and finds that his solution was only a dream and the case is still unsolved. And the same thing happens again every night. * These and other stories of human/alien conflict fill this large volume by the master of wryly sardonic science fiction adventure.
Book Description
"Girls in Trouble with the Law offers readers a brilliant window for re-viewing the gender, race, and class politics of juvenile justice. Readers will be filled with outrage, and yet fueled by Schaffner's passionate sense of possibility and vision for 'what must be.'"--Michelle Fine, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, The Graduate Center, CUNY "This is a superb work, intermingling poetry, narrative, interviews, and examples to create a fascinating overview of what girls experience in the juvenile corrections system, as well as how they are perceived by the people entrusted with their care. Schaffner's book is well-conceived and beautifully written."--Lynn Chancer, author of High Profile Crimes: When Legal Cases Become Social Causes In Girls in Trouble with the Law, sociologist Laurie Schaffner takes us inside female detention centers and explores the worlds of those who are incarcerated. Across the country, she finds that an overwhelming majority of young women are from ethnic or racial minority groups, and most have experienced some form of sexual or physical assault. Focusing on the girls' experiences of violence and the inequities of the juvenile corrections system, Schaffner explores three central questions. How have changing social norms of sexuality and emotional expression influenced adolescent girls' trangressions? What do authority, consent, and choice mean to urban women in trouble? How do they experience and understand violent episodes in their lives? Offering a critical assessment of what she describes as a gender-archaic juvenile legal system, Schaffner makes a compelling argument that current policies do not go far enough to empower disadvantaged girls so that they can overcome the social limitations of gender, sexual, and racial/ethnic discrimination that continue to plague young women growing up in the contemporary United States. Laurie Schaffner is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. A Volume in the Rutgers Series in Childhood Studies, edited by Myra Bluebond-Langner.
Book Description
Her classroom was the last stop for a group of troubled kids. Teacher LouAnne Johnson, the petite ex-Marine of Dangerous Minds, was their last chance. The boys, like handsome Latino Julio Escovar, expected to end up in jail. The girls, like regal, golden-skinned Simoa, often mysteriously disappeared. But not in LouAnne Johnson's class.Risking her life, and her heart, LouAnne cajoled, bribed, and loved these teens. She went out on tough urban streets to track down Simoa, she faced a dangerously angry father to get pretty, talented Araceli into art school, and she fought drug pushers, trouble-making dropouts, and burned-out teachers to leave her kids alone. Her goal was to get her kids to graduation. Her method? Believe in them....until they believed in themselves.
Customer Reviews:
Amazing and inspirational.......2006-07-28
I've worked in high schools for the past several years, and now am trying to get a job as a teacher. This book will be on my shelf to assist me with dealing with my class. Her methods are great! Too many teachers are so uptight that they are the cause of their own classroom problems. This author shows that great results can be had with compassion, a sprinkle of humor and a true love of her students.
Feel the LOVE!.......2006-01-17
What a wonderful book, for teachers, students, parents, anyone who might need to be reminded of how much we have to give, if we just "will". The author shows her love for her students in every passage, and it was well written, witty, and a wonderful read.
Highly recommended as an entertaining, and insightful, book on teaching children who need love desperately.
Fine Teaching.......2002-03-15
I had the wonderful chance of reading this book. This book made me laugh and cry and jump in suspense. Ms. Johnson is a wonderful teacher who deserves awards beyong awards. The book taught me to see other parts of education. I really enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to anyone who is going into the education field
I can relate!.......2001-12-09
This should be required reading for every education major. I teach in an urban school; Ms. Johnson had something some of my young colleagues who quit teaching after a year do not have--resolve, persistance, and determination. There are no "bad" kids, there are kids who do "bad" things or come from "bad" environments, but as Ms. Johnson writes, it is possible to save the kids by giving a lot of ourselves.
How can she bear such a heart pain?.......2001-02-21
I'm also an English teacher who have been teaching teen-agers for 10 years. Teaching teenagers is hard work, very stressful, depressed by themselves and the surrounding of them. I don't have such energy of love to my students as Louanne Johnson. But I can feel her pain in heart because I myself love my students. They are devils and angels at the same time. If they were devils, I could ignore them. If they were angels, I could just smile, do nothing, and just ignore them. But they are irresistable.
I agree with Hal, her master teacher. He said to her, "Teenagers are supposed to be ungrateful little brutes. They're supposed to trample your tender feelings, break your heart. It's their job." He is always right. I wish he would be with me!!!
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