The Design Hotels Yearbook 2005

Book Description

This stylish book introduces over 120 of the world's most attractive and exclusive design hotels - all of which offer much more than cool lobbies and designer furniture. The properties featured in this unique collection were selected not only for their outstanding architecture but also for their overall aesthetics, exemplary service and successful integration into local ecologies and communities.

The design hotels™ Yearbook 2005 sets a new standard for hotel publications. It contains only those properties that have earned the right to use the internationally respected label "member of design hotels™". In addition to their captivating distinctive style, the individually designed and mostly privately owned premium properties all address the needs of a new generation of discriminating, lifestyle-oriented travelers.

With its stunning images and informative texts, The design hotels™ Yearbook 2005 offers a discerning audience with a strong affinity for design an unparalleled range of worldwide hotels catering specifically to their circumstances and desires. The surprisingly fresh portfolio contains accommodations in familiar cities including New York, London, Milan and Tokyo as well as exciting properties in less-traveled destinations such as China, Estonia, Finland and Poland. It also reveals insider hotel tips in popular vacation spots from Mexico to Greece and South Africa.

Book Description

60 of the best, most representative sequences from original 5,000 prints. Taken at speeds up to 1/6000th of a second, incredibly precise images show undraped male and female subjects against a ruled background, running, walking, leaping, twisting, throwing, many other activities. Views from front, rear and three-quarter angle.

Customer Reviews:

Good references for animation........2005-11-09

This book has a lot of photos for understanding human locomotion.

Great, but a tip..........2000-08-17

Its all covered in "The Human Figure in Motion". If you want Muybridge, may as well get a more comprehensive volume, eh?

one of the great wonders of photography.......1999-11-26

Muybridge's seemingly artless photography sequences are one of the great wonders of photography, fascinating & humorous. How else could one react to a series of photos showing a nude woman stepping on to a chair to pour cold water on to another? Or to two young men playing leap frog?

Here are rather average bodies - by contemporary standards - throwing baseballs, kneeling & turning, heaving rocks, crawling, descending stairs, walking, running, carrying buckets, attempting a somersault while a pigeon crosses the path. The backgrounds of graphs & lines not only provide the artist's units of measurement, but establish a visual continuity more modern than he could have known.

The Male and Female Figure in Motion is a classic collection, beautifully produced & inexpensively priced. Great for artists & lovers of photography, this volume is part of Dover Publication's Pictorial Archive series, which means you are free to use them in your arts & crafts or post them on web pages. Dover also offers a companion collection of Muybridge's important animal locomotion photographs.

Bob Rixon

Book Description

Sure, she's smelly and gross, but she's got a heart of gold!

This book is the first collection of Johnny Ryan's weekly comic strip, Blecky Yuckerella, as seen in the pages of the Portland Mercury, Vice magazine and elsewhere. Blecky is a four-panel gag strip in the tradition of Underworld, Maakies, and Nancy, but with much more generous portions of piss, vomit, snot, farts, toe jam, b.o. and ear wax jokes. Blecky Yuckerella is the ugliest girl in the second grade, and the only one with three-day stubble. The strip's cast of characters also includes Blecky's Aunt Jiggles, her best friend Wedgie, Insanio the Cat, and many other absurdist goofballs, like Rich Bucksley (millionaire and "high class idiot"), Unitard (the last retarded unicorn), the pregnant babies ("we're guaranteed to blow your mind!"), and Quasimodo Rose (the hunchback porn star). This is Ryan's third book for Fantagraphics, collecting over 100 strips for the first time, and his unmistable blend of politically incorrect gags and social satire is as sharp as ever.

Customer Reviews:

Fourth Grader Approved.......2006-10-06

When I was in middle school, I wrote a story called Poopy Man, about a talking piece of doodoo who fought evil soap and my nerdy classmate Andy. I would also write scatological stories about Oddworld that were badly misspelled on purpose. Blecky Yuckerella is about equal in quality to those stories...I love gross-out humour, but it has to be more mature than these simplistic jokes. (I'm over 13, but am writing as a Kid's Review for anonymity.) Try reading a bizarro book instead.

Utter cr@p.......2006-06-30

"Blecky Yuckerella" is a series of one-page, four-panel vignettes in the life of an ugly, disgusting and sick-minded little girl. It's crude. It's mean-spirited. And creator Johnny Ryan obviously believes the toilet (and its associated functions) to be the greatest source of humor known to man.

Sure, toilet humor can be chuckle-worthy in the hands of a talented writer, but there's nothing creative or original here. There's nothing remotely funny -- unless you're the sort of person who f@rts at parties to impress members of the opposite sex. (It hasn't worked yet, has it? Think about that.)

This slim book should be easy to overlook on the shelf. Do yourself a favor and be sure you overlook it.

By Tom Knapp, Rambles.NET editor

Blecky is a nasty little girl........2005-06-19

Johnny Ryan is my favorite cartoonist in the field today. This book collects the best of the Blecky Yuckerella weekly comic strip. Blecky is a nasty little girl with a five o'clock shadow and a bird-eating spider in her underwear. You probably won't see his Blecky Yuckerella strip in your daily newspaper because it is too good. I think the love/hate relationship she has with her best friend Wedgie is endearing. Ryan is at his best when he improvises and the Blecky comic strip is a prime example of his non-sequitor humor.

Like Nancy on acid.......2005-06-06

At first blush, this seems like a silly book. But the deeper into the stink you go, the more it smells like roses. Enchanting and unforgettable!

Average customer rating:

Hilarious Toilet Humor

Back in Bleck: Blecky Yuckerella Vol. 2
Johnny Ryan
Manufacturer: Fantagraphics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1560977906

Book Description

America's stupidest and smelliest second-grader is back!

Sure, she's smelly and gross, but she's got a heart of gold! This is the second collection of Johnny Ryan's weekly comic strip, Blecky Yuckerella, as seen in the pages of Vice magazine and elsewhere. Blecky is a four-panel gag strip in the tradition of Underworld, Maakies, and Nancy, but with much more generous portions of bodily fluids and toilet humor. Blecky Yuckerella is the ugliest girl in the second grade, and the only one with three-day stubble. The strip's cast of characters also includes Blecky's Aunt Jiggles, her best friend Wedgie, Insanio the Cat, and many other absurdist goofballs, like Rich Bucksley (millionaire and "high class idiot"), Unitard (the last retarded unicorn), the pregnant babies ("we're guaranteed to blow your mind!"), and Quasimodo Rose (the hunchback porn star). Back In Bleck collects over 100 strips for the first time, and his unmistakable blend of politically incorrect gags and social satire is as sharp as ever.

Customer Reviews:

Hilarious Toilet Humor.......2007-05-30

Johnny Ryan is a comic genius! No really, he is! I was laughing out loud when I saw this in the store, I liked it so much, I picked it up on the spot! This book is a collection of his weekly comic strip "Blecky Yuckerella." It contains 104 pages of this hilarious four-panel-one-page comic strip.
He manages to put Blecky Yuckerella, into the most disgusting and ridiculous situations, and hilarity always follows!
His illustrations go perfectly with the material, his cartoon characters are well drawn and the style of humor and illustration go together perfectly.
I would say that this collection is NOT for the easily offended, the humor is crude, but hey that's comedy!

Book Description

How do you get sensitive information from an uncooperative interview subject? Why not ask Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein. What is it like to report from a war zone? Jim Wooten, who has broadcast from some of the most dangerous places on Earth, could tell you. Shop Talk and War Stories brings your students into contact with first-class journalists discussing the trials, pitfalls and triumphs of their careers in journalism.

Telling the Story 2e and Shop Talk & War Stories: Journalists Examine Their Profession

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Telling the Story 2e and Shop Talk & War Stories: Journalists Examine Their Profession
Missouri Group , Janice Winburn , Brian S. Brooks , George Kennedy , Daryl R. Moen , and Don Ranly
Manufacturer: Bedford/St. Martin's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Journalism | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0312417004

Telling the Story and Shop Talk & War Stories: Journalists Examine Their Profession

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Telling the Story and Shop Talk & War Stories: Journalists Examine Their Profession
Daryl R. Moen , Brian S. Brooks , Janice Winburn , Don Ranly , and George Kennedy
Manufacturer: Bedford/St. Martin's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Journalism | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0312407823

Book Description

The diary of a wife who, with their five-year old daughter, accompanied her husband on a three-and-a-half year whaling voyage.

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LIFE CHANGING BOOK

Pain Sufferers Valuable Resource

A lifetime plan

I wonder How This Innovative Therapy Worked, or Did It?

Life changing information on pain

The Pain Cure: The Proven Medical Program that Helps End Your Chronic Pain
Dharma Singh Khalsa , and Cameron Stauth
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Family Health | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
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Brain Longevity: The Breakthrough Medical Program that Improves Your Mind and Memory

Meditation As Medicine: Activate the Power of Your Natural Healing Force

Food As Medicine: How to Use Diet, Vitamins, Juices, and Herbs for a Healthier, Happier, and Longer Life

The Better Memory Kit

The End of Karma

ASIN: 0446675865

Book Description

The Pain Cure offers a comprehensive, proven program for the millions of chronic pain sufferers, combining physical, mental, and spiritual strategies, which help patients lead pain-free lives and regain their sense of personal power and control.

Customer Reviews:

LIFE CHANGING BOOK.......2007-10-02

This book is amazing!! I could not believe FINALLY someone put into words what I was feeling but could not express! (1st chapter) His suggestions are so logical. He is a wonderful dr. and I hope he is educating others in his way of thinking. This is a "must read book" for anyone with chronic pain!!

Pain Sufferers Valuable Resource.......2006-04-29

The `Pain Cure' is a valuable resource empowering you with tools and information for controlling your pain and regaining your life.

It covers an enormous amount of information including nutritional therapy, physical therapies, medication...as well as mind/body exercises, meditation and strength training..... A total holistic approach bringing Eastern & Western medicine together.

During times of pain it is easy to want to hide away & I found comfort & encouragement during my time of need.

Thankfully this combined technique is becoming a more recognizable form of treatment by doctors of today.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone who suffers from pain.

Life Is Too Short .....Regain & Enjoy Your Life!

A lifetime plan.......2005-09-08

This program gives a body, mind, and spiritual (soul) intensive in a sensible and interesting manner. It is delivered by the doctor who gave us Brain Longevity, and it is no wonder that it follows through with a complete and doable program aimed indeed at pain in the human body. He absolutely and logically proves that pain does not exist alone at the site of the pain, but lives within us. It is a thoughtful, and non-invasive book. I feel this book is always there for me, as a reference and a thoughtful,research-based and compassionate friend.

I wonder How This Innovative Therapy Worked, or Did It?.......2005-02-24

To endure life's inevitable roadblocks, we have to strive not for perfection, but contentment, and miraculously all the pain will go away -- for a while. What he calls "curing" I call "coping with." There is no cure for the hardships we all encounter along the way -- becoming a hermit is even worse, as you dwell on what's wrong.

Ultimately, all pain goes through a "receiving center" in the brain, and seratonin blocks the perception of pain and keeps it from "centralizing" in the nervous system. In his diatribute to the ability to be pain-free, he refers a lot to his former book, BRAIN LONGEVITY, on which he collaborated with the same journalist who has written for several medical magazines.

He uses many "deficits" for possible causes of chronic pain, but specifically names seratonin as the worst, depending on one's pain tolerance threshold. He says that women suffer more from chronic pain due to hormonal changes, that two-thirds of all patients at pain clinics are women with migraines. Back pain is three times more prevelant in women, according to this doctor, and chronic muscle pain is ten times more common among the female sex.

All pain signals ultimately land in the brain, where they trigger thought, emotions, memories, and a complex array of biochemical events aimed at protecting your body from further harm. With chronic pain, the alarm continues to shriek uselessly long after the physical danger has passed.

Seratonin is the body's single best pain-fighter, more important even than endorphins. Seratonin deficit is a major culprit. He emphasizes that suffering is one reaction to pain, but not the only possible reaction -- that it is possible to experience pain without suffering from it. He admits that all lives contain some pain but, when you can experience it without suffering, "your chronic, disabling pain, for all practical purposes will be 'cured'."

Pain is the most common reason people go to doctors. Dr. Scott Fishman, president of the American Academy of Pain Management feels, "We've wandered from the basic philosophy in medicine, where you cure what you can but always treat suffering, to being focused only on curing."

In the section about arthritis, he confirms that the side effects pain medications present are worse than the problem they are supposed to relieve. One example is plain aspirin which, he says destroys the cartilage, the "padding" which keeps bones from rubbing together. This is the most common type called osteoarthritis. It is thought that eighty percent have this type by the age of fifty, progressing as age does. It involves hands, spine, hips, knees and feet (primarily in overweight people), and goes back to the cavemen.

Exercise therapy is touted as a natural substitute for medicine, but I know first hand that this type can cause more pain. Rheumatoid is a disorder or malfunction of the immune system with more inflammation of the joints. He says that this is most often in women between 25 and 50, with no known cure. In this type, you have to learn to "conquer" as opposed to "cure."

He really only stresses what we all know, you just have to live with pain at varying times and in varying intensities. If you try to follow all of his suggestions, not only would you spend all your time trying to locate and consume numerous herbal supplements and expensive foods, but your money, too.

Mort Crim once remarked, "forgiving someone can't change the past but it can transform the future." Dr. Khalsa tried out this intensive program at the University of Arizona. I think he must have had all female subjects. It is not recommended to use this as a substitute for medical care, as needed, only as some suppositions. More research is needed, I feel, and I wonder how long his program lasted. I feel that traditional Pain Management, similar to what I had at Vanderbilt in Nashville is better -- but there is NO cure for pain. That's an illusion.

Life changing information on pain.......2004-05-21

If you or a loved one are suffering chronic pain, you owe it to yourself to read this book! It explains clearly and succinctly about how your body and brain process pain, then it offers effective strategies to regain control of your body and your life.

Before I read this book, I wanted to just close my eyes and never wake up. I've lived with chronic pain for seven years and short of getting a morphine pump implant, I've tried it all. I still have pain, but The Pain Cure gave me the information and support I needed to stop feeling victimized and look forward to living again.

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The Pain Cure: The Proven Medical Program That Helps End Your Chronic Pain
Dharma Singh Khalsa
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MUDR12

Book Description

8-page b/w photo section 6 x 9

"Last Reflections on a War stands as a fine representative sample of Fall's work as a whole; as such, it is nearly as personal as an autobiography. . . . That the collection includes an excellent outline of Vietnamese history, a discussion of the basic issues of the war, and an emotive picture of Vietnam, 1967, speaks to the depth of Fall's knowledge and the scope of his concerns."-Frances FitzGerald, from a 1968 review

Bernard B. Fall was 40 years old when he was killed by a booby trap in northern South Vietnam on February 21, 1967. By the time of his death he had already authored seven books on Vietnam, most notably Street Without Joy (0-8117-1700-3), an indictment of French intrusion into Indochina and a warning to American forces just beginning their involvement. Last Reflections on a War, first published shortly after Dr. Fall's death, is a tribute to his life's work: It contains the only known autobiographical account of his life, several previously unpublished articles, notes for "Street Without Joy Revisited," and transcripts of Dr. Fall's tape recordings, including his last recorded words.

Bernard Fall was born in France and fought with the French Resistance during World War II. Later, as professor of International Relations and accomplished author, he was one of the most influential academic critics of U.S. policy in Vietnam.

Customer Reviews:

Last Reflections: No Joy in Being Right.......2004-01-15

In this his final work, the late Dr. Bernard B. Fall chronicles America's ever deepening involvement in Vietnam drawing parallels to his native France's involvement earlier. Published from notes and tape recordings recovered after his death in 1967 from a Vietcong booby trap, he shows the triumph and tragedy of that conflict for both sides. A clear warning emerged: America was headed down the same, "Street Without Joy," traveled by France a few years earlier.

Fall begins with a short history of the country. Vietnam has been dominated, through the ages, by a host of foreign powers: first, China, then France, then, during World War II, Japan, and finally the U.S. The reader sympathizes with nationalist leaders like Ho Chi Minh after reviewing Fall's indictment of the French colonial administration. Feelings change after reading how Franklin Roosevelt allowed the slaughter of his allies, the Free-French forces fighting against his bitter enemies, the Japanese, in order to insure France would never return to Indo-China as a colonial power.

In the post World War II period, America's preoccupation with the U.S.S.R.and the PRC and its vacillating foreign policy regarding Indo-China provided the Communists with numerous opportunities to entrench themselves north and south of the 17th parallel. After France's humiliation at Dien Bien Phu America was left to "contain communism" in Southeast Asia alone. To do this we had to support the repressive dictatorship of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem whose police state tactics had thoroughly alienated the populace. His chapter on, "Viet-Nam's Twelve Elections," is particularly enlightening; call it "democracy" at its absolute worst!

He then examines numerous successful and unsuccessful insurgencies worldwide and shows how conditions were similar or dissimilar in Viet Nam. By simply enumerating the number of South Vietnamese provinces not paying taxes and counting the number of Saigon appointed village chiefs assassinated annually, he predicted the regime would fall. The South Vietnamese government simply did not have the popular support necessary to survive even with massive U.S. support. Sadly, his predictions would be proven true a few years after his death.

Fall's work is a first hand account of the shortcomings of French and America policy that led to a Communist victory. Inspired by the plight of North and South Vietnamese, and later, French and American soldiers in the field, men who bore the brunt of the ill-conceived policies of their leader's, Last Reflections stands as a tribute to the fallen of both sides. Hopefully the spirit of freedom that has motivated the Vietnamese peasant to struggle against domination through the ages is still alive today, even under the repressive, Communist dictatorship currently in power in Vietnam. If so, the present leaders of Vietnam should beware!

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Last Reflections on a War: Bernard B. Fall's Last Comments on Vietnam
Foreword-Don Oberdorfer
Manufacturer: Stackpole Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MC2J96

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Essential reading for debaters

The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; the Art of Controversy: The Art of Controversy
Arthur Schopenhauer
Manufacturer: Paperbackshop.Co.UK Ltd - Echo Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1406800422

Customer Reviews:

Essential reading for debaters.......2005-04-28

Anyone who is interested in debating a topic simply has to read Schopenhauer's "The Art of Controversy" and pay particular attention to his "38 stratagems."

You'll find out about sophisms ex homonymia. And special pleading (if I do it, it's cool, if you do it, it's tacky). You'll see links in a chain of reasoning omitted. And false premises, and omitted premises. And non sequiturs (omitted chains). Suppressed majors. Negated minors. Argumentum ad ignorantiam. Question-begging (sticking your conclusion into a premise).

There is advice about false generalizations. Get your opponent to admit that your examples are true. Do not ask about the validity of the general case, but later act as if this has been admitted as well.

Then there are "false choice" arguments, where you pretend that the only alternative to your policy is some manifestly crazy "straw-man" counterplan. And there are false reductio ad absurdums and false counterexamples. There are also suggestive questions, such as asking why something is true, when it may not be true at all.

There are hidden judgments, as anyone will discover when she calls a city by its name in one language as opposed to another.

A very important stratagem is argumentum ad auditores (this ought to be illegal in a debate). Here, you simply make an argument that you and your opponent know full well is totally invalid, hoping to win over your audience. If your audience is a mob, it is called argumentum ad captandum.

You'll learn to blitz your opponent by talking fast (and maybe especially softly or loudly as well). And to extend your opponent's propositions, exaggerate them, and make them absolute.

If you think your opponent has a potentially strong but unusual counter to what you are about to propose, get her to admit the opposite of it before you start your main argument (advice from Aristotle). Try to ask it so that a "no" answer is the one you want. Never tell an opponent that you have won an argument. You do not want to hear her reply. Address victory claims only to the audience.

I've used plenty of Latin here. That's a good idea in general; it makes you look wise even though you are just another plebeian. Don't say "No way!" Say "Non possumus."

You'll learn that the line "That is all very good in theory, but it would never work in practice" is in fact a famous sophism.

And there is much more in this terrific essay. Perhaps the most interesting advice is this. If an opponent comes up with some captious sophistry, try to dispose of her ex concessis rather than ad rem. That is, come up with something just as silly as her nonsense (as long as it is something she can't or won't refute). After all, you are seeking victory, not truth! Schopenhauer assures us that this works better.

I'd be more than a little reluctant to follow this last bit of advice, but I truly enjoyed The Art of Controversy.

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The Art of Controversy - 1921
Arthur Schopenhauer
Manufacturer: Book Jungle
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Travel | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1594624658

Book Description

Controversial Dialectic is the art of disputing, and of disputing in such a way as to hold one's own, whether one is in the right or the wrong-per fas et nefas. A man may be objectively in the right, and nevertheless in the eyes of bystanders, and sometimes in his own, he may come off worst...

The Art Of Controversy: The Essays Of Arthur Schopenhauer

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The Art Of Controversy: The Essays Of Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Essays | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 141916130X

Book Description

Speech and the communication of thought, which, in their mutual relations, are always attended by a slight impulse on the part of the will, are almost a physical necessity. Sometimes, however, the lower animals entertain me much more than the average man. For, in the first place, what can such a man say? It is only conceptions, that is, the driest of ideas, that can be communicated by means of words; and what sort of conceptions has the average man to communicate, if he does not merely tell a story or give a report, neither of which makes conversation?

The Essays of Schopenhauer : Book VII : The Art of Controversy (Classic Reprint Series)

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The Essays of Schopenhauer : Book VII : The Art of Controversy (Classic Reprint Series)
Arthur Schopenhauer
Manufacturer: De Young Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Amazon.com

Early treatments of evolution presented our species' transformation from protohominid to Homo sapiens as an orderly affair, a matter of clear lineages and constant progress. That depiction, archaeologist Jeffrey McKee suggests, is a little too neat. Drawing on recent scholarly views of primate evolution and on chaos theory, he instead argues that coincidence, accident, and dumb luck are critically important components of our species' development.

"Human evolution," McKee writes, "has been the product of many forces that together made us neither inevitable nor probable." The same holds true for other species; with all due respect to Lamarck, McKee adds, the giraffe came to have its long neck by a roll of the genetic dice--but a roll that lent the giraffe a competitive advantage over its shorter-necked browsing cousins, and therefore one subsequently reinforced by natural selection. Illustrating his argument with the well-worn "butterfly effect"--wherein a butterfly flapping its wings in Europe can produce a typhoon half a world away--McKee examines the role of chance in the origin and decline of species, emphasizing how unpredictable the dynamics of life can be, even within the bounds of natural laws.

Within such disorderly circumstances, McKee observes, chance favors species that retain generalized features and behaviors. Whereas "the fossil record is littered with extinct primates that became too specialized," he writes, the ancestors of modern humans were broadly diversified, adapting to different niches and thriving in the bargain. Written well and at an appropriately general level, McKee's book offers a useful survey of current evolutionary thought. --Gregory McNamee

Customer Reviews:

The Riddled Chain: by Jeffrey Kevin McKee.......2003-02-12

The Riddled Chain, by Jeffrey McKee provides the layman reader with insights into human evolution, fossil hunting, and scientific methods. In addition, the author provides novel explanations of the process involved in human evolution. He argues very eloquently and convincingly that chance, coincidence, and chaos have been the driving forces behind human evolution. These forces feed back on themselves, which McKee calls autocatalysis, driving blindly the whole process forward.

This book is written in an excellent prose, with enjoyable anecdotes that seem to express the good-natured personality of the author.

Anyone interested in human evolution, or the complexities of evolution theory should read The Riddled Chain. One does not have to be versed in biology, paleoanthropology, or the like to enjoy this book. The Riddled Chain provides an interesting thought provoking perspective into the process that lead to a fascinating and incredibly complex species, ourselves. Unless you have predispositions regarding how humans emerged, or with evolution theory itself, I bet you will not be able to put this book down.

Problems with Principles.......2002-04-24

The Riddled Chain has problems that impact the message of the author. The first problem is math. In the book the author states his chance of being born a boy was 12.5 percent. He reasons that the first child has a 50/50 chance of being a boy, and - if it is a boy - the next child has a 25 percent chance of being a boy etc. This is totally wrong as at each stage the chance of a boy is 50 percent. Like tossing a coin, after 100 heads the chances of the next toss being a head is 50/50. Thus, the author makes a basic error in math and this causes one to think he may have made other serious errors.

His computer program for example. How can we be sure he programmed the machine correctly if he makes such basic math errors?

Another problem is his "proof" that evolution is choas based. His computer models "prove" the elimination of even one person from the gene pool may result in the elimination of the entire population. Then he points out that evolution is much more complex than the computer models because two or more modifications may have to take place in the organism at the same time (human brain enlargement and pelvis enlargement in women for berth purposes). After all this he says we know it occurred because we are here. This is blind acceptance of a theory. His own models show how unlikely it is that we are here and how unlikely it is that evolution explains our presence, yet he goes no further in his reasoning.

This type of reasoning is why little advance is being made in evolutionary thinking. One cannot look at the results and then say something must have happened according to a theory because we can look at the results. Ancient societies had good explanations for how the solar system worked. They were wrong, but if all they had to say was "look up at the sun, it is there, so you can see we are right" no challenge would ever have come along.

What is really needed is some scientific study on new pathways to explain how we got here. Evolution is filled with problems that "science" fails to explain. Dogma is not an explanation. Perhaps nature itself has invented man to fill a void other mechanisms have not filled. Nature abhores a vacuum. Go to Death Valley and even there life abounds. Perhaps nature has a built in mechanism that will try to create a living creature that will build machines to leave this planet and fill the void of space. Like a plant reaching for the sun, nature may reach for the stars and the sole purpose of human beings may be to fill the planets that are avilable and able to sustain life. If such a mechanizm exists I doubt anyone is looking for it because it does not fit evolutionary models.

Who knows? As long as no one is looking for other explanations no research or analysis will take place that may lead to a better understanding of how we arrived at our current set of circumstances. Darwin may have been wrong. The debate on other solutions has been mired in the evolution vs creation debate for too long. This book does not advance any really new solutions or ideas, and that is its major failing.

An excellent overview of evolution theory.......2002-03-21

"The Riddled Chain" is an excellent book for non-experts who wish to get an overall view of human evolution. I emphasize "human" because it does not go into any microbiology that might explain the evolution of first life. It does begin with the basic notions of human evolution; chance, chaos, and natural selection. McKee then devotes a large portion of the book to his own experiences in Africa digging, mostly fruitlessly, for early Hominids. Finally, he addresses some issues that evolution has, by his own admission, not addressed very well: such as the development of the human brain. In doing so he discusses autocatalysis, a concept new to me, as well as chaos and coincidence. He is an exceptionally good writer for a scientist. He uses analogies and examples that are very well chosen to clarify his points.

It is in his explanation of how it is (by his theory) autocatalysis, rather than natural selection, that accounts for many human characteristics that, in my opinion, McKee's explanation is not as complete as it might be. In his explanation of autocatalysis he almost implies that one mutation, e.g. the reduction of face size, causes another, e.g. increase in brain size. I know (I think) that is not what he meant. The changes are always the result of chance mutations. I believe he meant that the one mutation accommodates the other rather than actually causing it. However, I think it could be misread as a cause and effect relationship.

Reading from a physicist's view, I found that his concept of good science differed somewhat from mine. Speaking of a conference he attended, he makes the following statement:

"We were struggling to decipher fossil clues about how evolution works, or at least how it used to work..." "Sitting around a table for five days, we discussed and argued and thought, and changed our minds a lot. This was real science at its best."

Discussing, arguing, and changing people's minds is not my idea of science at its best. I seem to see more rationalism and less empiricism than I find acceptable in science. I realize that evolutionists do not have the benefit of being able to reproduce the processes they are studying as a physicist or chemist might. Nonetheless, intuition can never replace observation in science. Anthropologists seem to state their conclusions with a lot of certainty and authority considering the inordinate role played in their science by interpretation and intuition.

To McKee's credit, he is quite open in admitting that there is an almost inescapable tendency for anthropologists to "find what they are looking for" in studying fossils. At least he is aware that great care must be exercised in drawing conclusions from the generally ambiguous data anthropologists have to work with.

The last part of the book is devoted, unfortunately, to the claims that because of the actions of mankind species are becoming extinct at an alarming rate. I say unfortunately because McKee does not do much to corroborate the accuracy of the numbers he uses.

I do not wish my view of the book to seem negative, however. Jeffrey McKee has written an understandable book on some very complex ideas. I enjoyed the book and learned much from it. I highly recommend it.

Autocatalysis as a theory for Human Evolution.......2001-09-11

"The Riddled Chain" provides a balanced review of current theories concerning human evolution. The author, Jeffery McKee, intuitively explains how the theory of `Autocatalysis' by means of Chance, Coincidence and Chaos can bridge the gulfs between the theories of Phyletic Gradualism, Turnover-Pulse (Climate) and Punctuated Equilibrium. The occasional use of mathematical and computer model explanations for evolutionary theory is refreshing twist in a book written with the layman in mind. McKee is obviously in touch with the past and current trends in human evolutionary theory, in that he is able to articulate past foundations and modern discoveries into a coherent history of the study. This book reads more as a popular science magazine article than as an anthropology text but is useful and enlightening nonetheless.

Good, but ultimately a little disappointing.......2001-06-15

I bought this book based on previous customer reviews and was partially disappointed. It is well-written and has a good summary of evidence from paleoanthropology and recent and current theories about human evolution. The author's emphasis on chance, coincidence, and choas in evolution is a good antidote for past speculations about environmental or other "causes" of human evolution; but ultimately I didn't find major new insights about the relation between chance and natural selection. And I was disappointed with the final chapter that speculates about future human evolution but focuses entirely on potential genetic changes. I am more interested in cultural evolution which is likely to be the dominate influence in our future.

Human evolution in search of an explanation. (Book Review).('The Riddled Chain: Chance. Coincidence, and Chaos in Human Evolution') (book review): An article ... Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science

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Human evolution in search of an explanation. (Book Review).('The Riddled Chain: Chance. Coincidence, and Chaos in Human Evolution') (book review): An article ... Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science
James T. Bradley
Manufacturer: Alabama Academy of Science
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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This digital document is an article from Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science, published by Alabama Academy of Science on October 1, 2001. The length of the article is 1555 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Human evolution in search of an explanation. (Book Review).('The Riddled Chain: Chance. Coincidence, and Chaos in Human Evolution') (book review)
Author: James T. Bradley
Publication: Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science (Refereed)
Date: October 1, 2001
Publisher: Alabama Academy of Science
Volume: 72 Issue: 4 Page: 275(3)

Article Type: Book Review

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