Launching the Imagination, 2D, with Launching CD-ROM

Book Description

Covering the principles of two-dimensional design, Launching the Imagination: Two-Dimensional Design is the ideal text for instructors seeking a colorful and inexpensive introduction to design elements, color, composition, and organization. The material in volume one is enhanced by a thorough discussion of creativity, critical thinking, and concept development that guides students through the often-challenging process of applying the principles of design to achieve practical goals. A free student CD-ROM that provides a hands-on design tutorial, as well as helpful self-test and review features to ensure student mastery of the text material further supports Launching the Imagination: Two-Dimensional Design.

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Lanny R. North

great pinhole book for the beginner or teacher

Excellent reference for fotografers and teachers

The Beginner's Guide to Pinhole Photography
Jim Shull
Manufacturer: Amherst Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Reference | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | How-to | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Equipment | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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Pinhole Photography, Third Edition: Rediscovering a Historic Technique

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ASIN: 0936262702

Book Description

Pinhole photography requires no camera, no lenses, and no focusing-just a tiny hole in a can or box provides the light to make images on photographic film or paper. Richly illustrated with pinhole photographs, this book teaches the principles of photography. Starting with step-by-step instructions for building a camera out of household materials, it gives details on shooting images; developing; printing images in a kitchen, bathroom, or darkroom; and building special features such as wide-angle cameras. A complete discussion of the materials needed is included.

Customer Reviews:

Lanny R. North.......2006-02-21

This book is a delight. Proper balance between technical acuracy and enjoyable reading. Highly recommended for first time adventures into pinhole photography. True beginners might appreciate a bit more detail in the construction of the three camera types but exploration is part of the fun. I should think the book highly suitable for younger readers especially. My daughter-in-law who is the photographer of the family managed a wonderful array of spectacular pictures using this book as a guide. Since I handicrafted her wooden pinhole camera, I also am pleased with the fact the the thing worked and that her pictures were so beautiful.

great pinhole book for the beginner or teacher.......2002-01-09

This is a wonderful introductory text to the world of pinhole photography; Mr. Shull is very clear, and provides easy to follow instructions and diagrams for creating simple pinhole cameras and printing the resultant images. His instructions are well-laid enough for even a photographic novice to use this books as a teaching text, for example for children, as a good science project for understanding light and/or basic photography.

He keeps it simple enough that experienced pinholers will want to look elsewhere for detailed technical information or designs to push the edges of pinhole practice, but this is also the book's strength as a beginner's guide. Strongly recommended.

Excellent reference for fotografers and teachers.......1999-04-05

Jim Shull's second book is an expanded version of the first, 'The Hole Thing', which inspired me to pursue pinhole photography. The new version includes more information and fotografs. Just as the first book, it differentiates between photography and fotografy.

In his folksy, non-technical style, Jim Shull explains the ins and outs of pinhole fotografy. Where technical information must be given, he does so in a very accessible manner. His guide contains essential information enabling beginners to construct and use pinhole cameras. It also shows the minimal equipment needed to process your on pictures and guides you through each step on how to do it.

Many teachers will find Jim's guide an excellent reference.

Thanks Jim! Excellent book!

Book Description

In the fourth installment, Papa Dino Golzine's hitmen meet Max Lobo's ex-wife and search for the missing Professor Dawson. Meanwhile, Chinese crime boss Lee Daai Yan sends the dreaded Yut Lung to deal with the heroes.

Customer Reviews:

Never judge a book by its cover!.......2004-05-25

I picked up vol II of this manga by accident, and it sat in my room collecting dust for a very long time. One day, out of boredom, I picked it up. I remember thinking to myself: what an ugly cover...and that I didn't really like that style of drawing anyways.

However, as soon as I got past the first ten pages...I couldn't stop myself from finishing the manga and wanting more of the story. The plot is wonderfully twisted, there are subtle hints on every page, and the character development is amazing!
Since then, I've collected all the volumes up to #7, and the story just keeps on growing!

On a personal level, Banana Fish really appeals to me because some of the social issues this manga series address are very hard to accept and also very thought provoking. Compared to the life of some of the characters in the story, my life has been a blessing...and I'm learning to re-evaluate myself through personal reflection. Any manga that can hit you that hard is definitely something. But don't get me wrong...there are great humour in it too...it's not just all depressing stuff!

Do yourself a favour and read Banana Fish. I hope you will love it as much as I do!

On the run in LA, enemies behind every palm tree........2002-07-06

After trouble finds Ash and his friends at their Cape Cod hideout, they continue their quest to find the truth behind Banana Fish by heading to Los Angeles, following a lead given to Ash by a dying man. After a less-than-cordial welcome from Max Lobo's ex-wife, the crew heads out to find an address that they think has something to do with the ongoing Banana Fish saga. Little do they know that Papa Dino has worked with his Chinese associates to stage a welcome for Ash and company.

After fending off the would-be kidnappers, and finding a few surprises inside the house, Ash and his friends settle in to do some research into Banana Fish, and what exactly it is, and why everybody seems to want it. Meanwhile, Shorter has problems of his own, what with the Young Master being not quite what he seems. And how about Eiji and Ibe, who are now in the country illegally since their visas have expired?

As usual, all is turmoil, but Ash, Max, and their friends are determined to find the truth behind Banana Fish, and finally put to rest the ghost of Griffin. The story continues to unfold quickly, and new mysteries spring up left and right, drawing you further in. Another fine volume in the Banana Fish series.

Book Description

4 1/4 X 6 3/4 In, 144 Pp, 65 Black & White Illustrations As Long As The Cowboy Has Been The Hero of Our Imaginations, The Cowgirl Has Been Leading Him From Behind. This Charming Gift Book Delivers The Western Woman's Take On Life With Illustrations and Quips Such As "Men-You Can't Live With 'em and You Can's Shoot 'em. " "You Can Warm Your Socks In The Oven, But That Don't Make 'em Biscuits. ""You Can't Keep Trouble From Visitin', But You Don't Have To Offer It A Chair. "

Customer Reviews:

Cowboys like a good laugh too!.......2004-08-13

A good crop of one-liners.At the price of Greeting cards these days;why not give him/her a copy of this little gem.It'll produce a lot of laughs.Personally,I'm dying to pass my copy along.

Great gift for your cowgirl friends!.......2002-04-05

Although short, this hilarious book of quotes will make any country girl laugh until she has tears in her eyes. Highly recommend for anyone who wants a good giggle!

A Gal's Guide to Life.......2000-10-10

From love to bring'in the cows in this book covers it. Full of the sassiest sayings and the best rules to live by, it will never let a gal down. "Don't try and drown your sorrows- they know how to swim!"

never Ask a man the Size of His Spread: a Cowgirl's guide to Life

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never Ask a man the Size of His Spread: a Cowgirl's guide to Life
Gladiola Montana
Manufacturer: Gibbs-Smith Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HMHNT2

Never Ask a Man the Size of His Spread Prepack: A Cowgirl's Guide to Life

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Never Ask a Man the Size of His Spread Prepack: A Cowgirl's Guide to Life
Gladiola Montana
Manufacturer: Gibbs Smith Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0879055669

Average customer rating:

never Ask a man the Size of His Spread: a Cowgirl's guide to Life
Gladiola Montana
Manufacturer: GIbbs-smith Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000NPYFGW

Customer Reviews:

Everything you could ever want to know about the history of film.......2006-12-10

Huge, colorful, beautiful, and endlessly informative.

Open this book to any page, and you will be drawn in to a world gone by, and into the history of one of the greatest creative forms of expression the world has ever produced.

You want to learn movie history?.......2000-03-28

If you are looking for a movie that has everything about movies you've always wanted to know, this is the book you are been looking for. No more boring movie books and reviews, by reading "Chronicle of Cinema", you'll be ready for any movie trivia!

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A Perfect Day: Carrie Jacobs-Bond, The Million Dollar Woman
Peggy DePuydt
Manufacturer: Global Book Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1588989151
Release Date: 2003-12-04

Book Description

The chronicle of Carrie Jacobs Bond gives reason to confirm that truth is stranger than fiction; her life was a record of struggles against odds and triumphing over obstacles. No easy effort was it to introduce something new at the turn of the Twentieth Century to the American public and make a success. The endeavor required years of arduous, incessant work, for Carrie Jacobs-Bond's success was one of gradual growth from the time that she began her music publishing in one little room to the enormous business that she and her son later controlled, a business known from Chicago to the Antipodes.

Average customer rating:

Everyone wants to sell a product, very few sell real process!

Make Millions Selling Real Estate

Best Real Estate Sales Books Made

Realistic and Useful Guide for Newbies or Old-Timers

A great book

Make Millions Selling Real Estate: Earning Secrets Of Top Agents
Jim Remley
Manufacturer: AMACOM/American Management Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Real Estate | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0814472923

Book Description

Every real estate agent knows that making serious money doesn't happen over night. But Make Millions Selling Real Estate details how agents can completely and forever change how they work, leap-frogging over more experienced agents to become true superstars -- shaving years off of the "pay-your-dues" period and reaping the fruits of their labors while still young enough to enjoy them.

Refreshingly simple and straightforward, this book does not rely on deep philosophy or theory, but instead gets right down to the nuts and bolts. Featuring eye-opening insights from top agents and brokers, Make Millions Selling Real Estate shows how the top earners do it, and reveals secrets and hard-won lessons it might otherwise take an entire career to learn -- and that many agents never learn at all!

Real estate is a tough business. Agents lacking the proper information and tools will quickly fall by the wayside. Make Millions Selling Real Estate can help keep veteran and rookie sellers on top of their game -- and ahead of the curve.

Customer Reviews:

Everyone wants to sell a product, very few sell real process!.......2007-07-04

This book is an excellent handbook in organizing your business and understanding how to measure its effectiveness. Some of the anecdotal moments are poorly written, yet the delineated processes and scripts are absolutely excellent (the guys a salesman...not a writer...). Out of all of the books that I have purchased or read regarding real estate, this would be my first choice to buy.

Make Millions Selling Real Estate.......2007-06-20

Make Millions Selling Real Estate" is truly an eye-opener and full of practical secrets that are so simple and yet so powerful. I enjoyed the
book greatly and it really inspired me to spring forth in my real estate career.

Jim understands the challenge of being a real estate agent and has included lots of secrets of how successful agent have made it in this career. It is even amazing seeing how the painless prospecting can work for you.

Highly recommended for new agent and those who need a fresh approach to real estate sales.

Best Real Estate Sales Books Made.......2007-06-04

Jim Remley's two books, "Make Millions Selling Real Estate" and "Real Estate Presentations that Make Millions" are two of the best books that I have read on Real Estate Sales in my 3 1/2 years in the business. I have read a ton of books. They are hands on, down to earth, and all meat, no fluff. These two books will soon become your profssional bibles. By the way his seminars are pretty cool too. - D. Farmer

Realistic and Useful Guide for Newbies or Old-Timers.......2007-03-09

I buy LOTS of books on real estate sales, but this is the BEST!

This book was written in a down-to-earth and interesting style an tells the in's-and-out's of surviving in a buyer's market.

It gives real-life examples of realor's experiences and really useful plans on how to farm an area and become actively involved and successful in making real estate sales.

A great book .......2007-01-12

I've read a lot of books on real estate sales, but this books is my favorite. Jim Remley offers comon sense ideas that are easy to implement and are being used by real agents. Everyone should read this book.

Average customer rating:

disappointed

A private history

Sanders is an excellent translator of the awe we sometimes overlook...

A Note from the Author:

A Private History of Awe
Scott Russell Sanders
Manufacturer: North Point Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0865477345
Release Date: 2007-03-06

Book Description

An original and searching memoir from “one of America’s finest essayists” (Phillip Lopate)

When Scott Russell Sanders was four, his father held him in his arms during a thunderstorm, and he felt awe—“the tingle of a power that surges through bone and rain and everything.” He says, “The search for communion with this power has run like a bright thread through all my days.” A Private History of Awe is an account of this search, told as a series of awe-inspiring episodes: his early memory of watching a fire with his father; his attraction to the solemn cadences of the Bible despite his frustration with Sunday-school religion; his discovery of books and the body; his mounting opposition to the Vietnam War and all forms of violence; his decision to leave behind the university life of Oxford and Harvard and return to Indiana, where three generations of his family have put down roots. In many ways, this is the story of a generation’s passage through the 1960s—from innocence to experience, from euphoria to disillusionment. But Sanders has found a language that captures the transcendence of ordinary lives while never reducing them to formula. In his hands, the pattern of American boyhood that was made classic by writers from Mark Twain to Tobias Wolff is given a powerful new charge.

Customer Reviews:

disappointed.......2006-07-24

For a long time I have been an admirer of Scott Sander's prose. He brings to bear so many beautiful and rich metaphors to people and moments from his life. For instance the parts of this writing where he talks about his mother's decline as it is juxtaposed with memories of her as a caring and complex figure during his growing up, those are excuciatingly rendered pieces. In addition his wrestling with who his father was gave me a new word for how a gifted writer makes someone engaging and vivid--Angularity. Sanders , at least with those he loves, can draw out the layers of personality that honor what it means to be a human being. Unfortunately there is another part of his writing that detracts from what I have written so far: his continual and relentless ability to take himself so seriously on issues related to the environment and politics. When talking about those things he can come off appearing to think of himself as a moden day windmill chaser. Hell ,I agree with his stances. But he seems to one-up himself all of the time to his in-laws and others. His autobiography would have been more powerful to me if he had raised up more of his own humanness rather than be condescending toward those who had a different perspective than his own. I kept reading all of the way to the end, hoping that he would turn some of his gift at detecting nuance onto his own capacity for self-righteousness. Alas, except for a few nods to his immaturity, he never came through.

A private history.......2006-04-09

Near the end of A Private History of Awe, Scott Russell Sanders writes about his early days of teaching, when he looked for stories "in which a husband and wife love one another deeply, feel grateful toward their parents, look forward to becoming parents themselves, and then welcome into their marriage a child who arrives like an emissary straight from glory land." In the end, he finds no great novels about happy families, so he settled "for books whose authors clearly loved the world in spite of its darkness, and who held out hope for humankind in spite of our faults." This is one of those books. A deep pleasure to read, a record of human love.

Sanders is an excellent translator of the awe we sometimes overlook..........2006-03-27

I initially bought this book for a friend--I knew he admired Sanders work. The more I looked at it, the more I decided I wanted to buy it and read it myself as well. I had read Sanders' "Hunting for Hope" and had been very inspired by his writing. He is very down-to-Earth and places himself not in the viewpoint of an expert offering advice and sage wisdom to a novice, but rather as a fellow questioner of the universe and the workings within. Upon reading this book, which I did in less than two days, I found that he has continued his style here, using his life's experiences to illustrate some things that he has questioned and learned, allowing the reader to take what he or she will from it. In talking about the past, Sanders often writes from the tone of the limited wisdom he had at whatever age he is illustrating, bringing forth the same questions he had then (and sometimes still has); this method of writing brings forth a kinship between Sanders and myself, a young man struggling with the meaning of life and questioning the consensus of values handed down by society. Reading this book assures Sanders' other books a spot on my to-read list for the near future. It is my wish that all of you take the time to read this book (and "Hunting for Hope", if not others). You'll find yourself nodding your head, laughing, empathizing, crying, smiling, and digging up the awe-some moments of your own life.

A Note from the Author:.......2006-02-17

A Private History of Awe is a coming-of-age memoir, love story, and spiritual testament. I never thought I would make such a book, wary as I am of memoirs and spirit-language. For years I shied away from writing about religious experience, in part because of the hostility that many literary readers show toward all references to spirituality, in part because these matters have always seemed to me better left private. Yet the questions I've kept returning to in my adult life are essentially religious ones, and I found myself unwilling to abandon this terrain to the televangelists and fundamentalists.

Beginning with childhood intuitions of spirit in nature, the narrative recounts an education in ultimate things. My ethics were formed in conversation with the Midwestern landscape, the Bible, rural Methodist churches, science, literature, and family. Those influences prepared me to hear the wisdom in such inspired human beings as Tolstoy, Thoreau, Gandhi, Einstein, Rachel Carson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thomas Merton, Thich Nhat Hanh, and the Buddha.

During the writing of this book, I spent many hours caring for my mother, as she suffered physical and mental decline, and caring for my first grandchild, as she launched into life with the marvelous energy and beauty natural to all healthy children. Together, the dwindling elder and burgeoning youngster made their way into the book, adding their twin stories of painful departure and exuberant entrance to the narrative of my own formative years.

I'd like to believe that A Private History of Awe belongs to the tradition of American wisdom literature running from Emerson and Thoreau to Wendell Berry and Annie Dillard. I set out to describe my own brushes with the ground of being, the holy source of all that rises and passes, and to record my search for a language and way of life adequate to those experiences. The resulting book may irk true-believers at one extreme and militant secularists at the other. But I hope that readers who dwell between those extremes will find, as the Quakers say, that A Private History of Awe speaks to their condition. --SRS

Book Description

“Jones handles the narrative details of the campaign in good fashion. He sets the context of events, with full appreciation of the command question involved, and includes the reactions of individual officers and enlisted men. . . . Excellent.” -American Historical Review

Customer Reviews:

The Campaign that Captured Jeff Davis........2004-02-07

In the spring of 1865 Union General James Wilson mounted a cavalry campaign designed to destroy the industrial sections of Alabama and Georgia that were still untouched by combat. From the Tennessee River to Selma and Montgomery Alabama and on to Columbus and Macon, Georgia this campaign was lightening fast, crushing everything in its path.

Moving 14,000 men over 500 miles in just a month is a remarkably uncommon feat. So is fighting 4 major battles along the way. But General Wilson's forgotten campaign not only defeated and captured Nathan Bedford Forrest but also captured Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens as well.

This book is the study of a massive Union cavalry operation that was executed with impunity, one that destroyed what little was left of the Confederacy. It is also the campaign that captured the Confederate government!

James Pickett Jones details this event exceptionally well. You will not be disappointed.

A vividly reconstructed account tracing Wilson's run.......2001-03-11

In the spring of 1865, Major General James H. Wilson and 14,000 Union cavalry troops destroyed key Confederate industrial facilities in what had been, until then, relatively unscathed areas of Alabama and Georgia. Yankee Blitzkrieg: Wilson's Raid Through Alabama And Georgia is a vividly reconstructed account tracing Wilson's lightning run south and places the campaign within the larger context of the last days of the Civil War. Historian James Jones describes in detail the strategic background of the raid, covers the raid from both sides, and notes the economic significance of the industrial facilities destroyed. Jones' description of Wilson's capture of Jefferson Davis is the standard interpretation of what happened when Davis was taken by Union forces. Yankee Blitzkrieg is superb reading for Civil War buffs and students of Civil War history.

An Excellent study of one of the most ignored campaigns!.......1997-04-08

Yankee Bltizkrieg is one of the most enlightening studies of Wison's raiders in their finest hour. The book follows Wilson and his men from rain drenched northern Alabama to a triumphant capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Irwinville, Georgia. It explores how Wilson effectively moved over 12,000 men for over 500 miles in the span of about a month. A feat which would have made Guderian proud! It is a must for Civil War enthusiasts and military strategist

Yankee Blitzkrieg: Wilson's Raid Through Alabama and Georgia

Average customer rating:

Yankee Blitzkrieg: Wilson's Raid Through Alabama and Georgia
James Pickett Jones
Manufacturer: Univ of Georgia Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QFRR5K

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YANKEE BLITZKRIEG: Wilson's Raid through Alabama and Georgia.
James Pickett Jones.
Manufacturer: Univ of Georgia: 1976 1st prtg. 256p.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KIGWR2

Book Description

Twenty years ago the world slept, confident that biomedical science would protect it from devastating plagues. Our wake-up call sounded at the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic. Then came more unfamiliar pathogens in its wake, such as the West Nile virus. Meanwhile, the neglected diseases of the third world, including malaria and African sleeping sickness, festered—their victims salvageable only by unaffordable, patent-protected drugs. Robert S. Desowitz traces the histories of these diseases and the issues we must confront—the morality and legality of patent laws, the effect of global warming on epidemics, public support for the commercial biochemical industry, the growing dissociation of clinicians and public health professionals, and the terrifying shadow of bioterrorism.

Customer Reviews:

Summary of recent parasitology efforts, worldwide.......2006-08-17

Robert Desowitz has been associated with many of the recent efforts to control various diseases which are faciliated by parasites; I found his comments quite interesting.

Desowitz makes another hit!.......2004-04-05

Anything written by Robert Desowitz is always a worthwhile read and his most recent (and sadly, last) book, "Federal Bodysnatchers and the New Guinea Virus: Tales of Parasites, People, and Politics," is no exception. His expertise on human infectious diseases is impressive and thorough. He discusses the little known behind the scenes intrigues involved with the attempts to deal with malaria, West Nile virus, sleeping sickness, and several others. He also discusses the effects of global warming on the spread of infectious diseases and the roll of DDT in suppressing malaria specifically.

His earlier book "The Malaria Capers" (1991) should be read to completely understand the political and even criminal problems that developed within the malaria vaccine research program. These problems landed some researchers in jail and certainly have added little or nothing to the development of a real vaccine. The vaccine is tough to produce (over 70 years has so far been spent on the search) because of the fact that Plasmodium falciparum (the main target of vaccines as it is the main, if not sole cause of death from malaria) is a much more complicated organism than the viruses and bacteria that are usually the target. Because of its complex life cycle and ability to avoid antibodies and parasite-killing cells, malaria soon escapes any vaccine so far developed. A Colombian researcher is supposed to have a 100% effective vaccine, but Desowitz is rightly skeptical. As I have not heard of the vaccine being a success, I will have to agree.

The problems with DDT discussed by Desowitz demonstrate that there are no easy ways out. DDT was banned for agricultural use pretty much worldwide within a decade or so of the publication of "Silent Spring." It has since been used for malaria control in many tropical countries and has been more than a little effective, even though resistance had built up in mosquitoes in many areas (Desowitz notes that some researchers think that resistance was helped by the huge amounts of DDT used in agriculture). There is little doubt that DDT was an ecological disaster when it was broadcasted throughout the environment. However, there is a movement to ban it even for anti-malarial use and Desowitz thinks that this may be wrong-headed. I am not sure about this, but I have to admit that it is not my children that are at stake (at least for the present time!) However, if global warming continues (and neither Desowitz nor I am under any illusion that it will not) we may be staring at a lot of new and old diseases (including malaria- which has already made some incursions) that we never thought possible in the United States. Then we may sing a different tune!

This book should be read by everyone concerned about emerging diseases, whether brought by terrorists or (much more likely) by human movement and trade. It should also open anyone's eyes to the lack of efficiency of many organizations charged with the protection of world and national health.

Average customer rating:

This is not a reader-friendly book

An authoritative look at the politics of infectious disease

Federal Bodysnatchers and the New Guinea Virus: Tales of People, Parasites, and Politics

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: B000I5YUO4

Book Description

Twenty years ago the world slept, confident that biomedical science would protect it from devastating plagues. Our wake-up call sounded at the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic. Then came more unfamiliar pathogens in its wake, such as the West Nile Virus. Meanwhile, the neglected diseases of the Third World, including malaria and African sleeping sickness, festered—their victims salvageable only by unaffordable drugs. Robert S. Desowitz traces the histories of these diseases and the issues we must confront—the morality and legality of patent laws; the effect of global warming on epidemics; public support for the commercial biomedical industry; the growing dissociation of clinicians and public health professionals; and the terrifying shadow of bioterrorism. 8 b/w illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

This is not a reader-friendly book.......2003-02-09

I'm fascinated by the ongoing war between us humans and the bacteria, viruses and other pathogens that plague us. So, I was eager to dive into Robert Desowitz's interestingly titled book, Federal Bodysnatchers and the New Guinea Virus: Tales of Parasites, People and Politics. The book jacket told me that Desowitz is a leading epidemiologist and the author of four other books in the area. I was hoping to get his insider's view of epidemic or emerging diseases, what's being done about them, and the politics of drug development and distribution.

There was certainly some interesting information in the book. I hadn't known, for example, that the global ban on DDT that flowed from Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring inadvertently had a devastating effect on the worldwide effort to eradicate malaria. Desowitz points out that spraying DDT in the houses of people living in malaria-ridden regions was the mainstay of the eradication program, and was very successful. DDT sprayed inside houses did not contribute significantly to the thinning of birds' eggshells that was a key feature of Carson's argument, but saved the lives of millions of people. Unfortunately, this anti-malaria use of DDT was swept away along with other more destructive uses.

Desowitz also provided an interesting blow-by-blow description of the 1999 outbreak of West Nile Virus in New York. Given the risk of bioterrorism, it's sobering to learn that it took from May 21 to September 25 for health authorities to notice and begin to get a grip on the outbreak. Each of twenty or so local, state, and Federal agencies noted one piece of the puzzle--the death of wild birds, the death of birds at a zoo, and human illness and deaths, but it took forever for anyone to see the whole picture. Let's hope that our health agencies have improved both their alertness and their inter-agency communication. If not, we're in big trouble if bioterrorists strike again.

And, in his defense, Desowitz doesn't pull any punches whether he is criticizing health authorities for their failure to communicate, drug companies for their greed or environmentalists for their sometimes one-sided zeal.

What the book does not offer is coherency or consistency. In the midst of presenting one topic, Desowitz jumps into another, and as often as not interrupts that with a wisecrack about something else entirely. Early on, he describes his fellow epidemiologists as cranky and idiosyncratic. That's exactly how he comes across in the book. For me at least, that idiosyncratic style really got in the way of what he was trying to say. I kept comparing this book to Richard Preston's The Demon in the Freezer, which is a model of devoted reporting, clear thinking and vivid writing. The contrast with Desowitz's book could not be stronger. I had the impression that Desowitz basically phoned this one in, with predictable results.

Robert Adler, ...

An authoritative look at the politics of infectious disease.......2003-01-10

Epidemiologist Robert Desowitz gets a few things off his chest in this free-swinging frolic through the world of infectious disease with an emphasis on politics, economics and human stupidity. In particular he is not happy about the fact that Big Pharma doesn't find it cost effective to work on drugs that might save lives in Third World countries, especially sub-Saharan Africa, home of not only Ebola and AIDS, but perennial killers, malaria and sleeping sickness. He also doesn't care for the bad press that DDT has endured since "Saint Rachel" (p. 57) published her manifesto, averring that "Nothing has ever equaled DDT" for controlling "the spineless blood-suckers" (mosquito, fly, and tick vectors) that bring dengue, plague, typhus, malaria, sleeping sickness, etc. to our bodies, and that "no essential public measure [the use of DDT] has been so irrationally denied."

He makes a good case. It seems that in saving the ospreys and the eagles and other creatures of the wild we have allowed disease vectors to flourish resulting in countless millions of human lives lost. This surprising point of view, however, made me realize once again the false dilemma that we often put ourselves into, that of "them or us." At some point our rapacious desire to increase our numbers at the expense of our planet home must cease otherwise we will find ourselves alone with our mice and rats, our cows and pigs, our cockroaches and our sheep, our fields of soy and wheat and selected parasites, the rest of nature gone the way of the dodo. Do we need more humans or do we need to save the rainforests? My answer is that we must reduce our numbers and live in concert with nature. Desowitz does not consider this larger point of view in his book. I wish he had.

He does however realize that we need more doctors and that medical schools ought to let more people in. He notes that "Innovative teaching methods can now accommodate double the student intake," wryly adding that "This may force some of the doctors in the new, bigger pool to switch from BMWs to Buicks." (p. 56) He also wants the World Health Organization reformed, calling it "a too-politicized body, best at furnishing slogans." (p. 124) Additionally, he would like to see the big pharmaceutical companies rearrange their priorities. He laments how a drug called DFMO is being manufactured for use as a depilatory to rid women of "uglifying facial hair" (with glossy ads in Cosmopolitan, Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines) when it could better be used to fight sleeping sickness in Uganda and Sudan. (p. 146) One of his pet peeves is the way our patent laws work in respect to genetic material--part of a "patent or perish" syndrome. (See page 203.) He quotes then US secretary of commerce Ronald Brown to the effect that genetic material can be taken from you and patented for the enrichment of someone else and there is nothing you can do about it. (p. 200) Some people call this "biopiracy." (p. 193)

In the later chapters (which are among the most readable in the book) Desowitz considers the possibility that global warming will result in tropical diseases moving north. There's not only that possibility, but with the rise in the sea level and the flooding of rivers, temperate-zone sewers may back up just as they do in, e.g., Bangladesh, and we will have cholera right here in River City.

Desowitz, who is retired and therefore free to say what he thinks without fear of losing some grant or offending those who could torpedo a career, lets the chips fall where they may. Near the end of the book he recalls a Nigerian who supplemented his income by selling human waste. It seems that the Nigerian "pagan farmers...believed that the white man's protein-rich diet made his feces a superior fertilizer"(!) He ends the book with a not so facetious suggestion that maybe we ought "to exploit this bounteous natural gift" to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. (pp. 241-242)

This sort of candid, tell-it-like-it-is expression is the strength of this mostly readable book. Its weakness is that sometimes Desowitz loses awareness of his readership and gets too technical and too minuscule in his delineation of disease politics. He has a few axes to grind and sometimes stays too long at the wheel. Furthermore it is apparent that sometimes he is addressing other professionals and working out old disputes in a way that the general reader cannot fully appreciate.

Bottom line: Desowitz is authoritative and unbeholden to political correctness; he is passionate and writes with verve and a sometimes striking expression, and he is clearly an expert on the material covered.

Book Description

The migratory habits and migration schedules of waders can better be understood by analysing their measurements. Therefore, we need a clear characterization of breeding populations and the proper statistical tools. In this book the morphometrical variation of the following species was studied with multivariate statistics: Ringed Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Eurasian Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Red Knot, Sanderling, Curlew Sandpiper, Purple Sandpiper, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Redshank and Ruddy Turnstone. The taxonomy of most species was revised. The Black-tailed Godwit was split into two species. The same was done with the Whimbrel. Four new subspecies were described in, respectively, the Grey Plover (Wrangel Island), the Purple Sandpiper (Hudson Bay) and the Bar-tailed Godwit (Taymyr, Anadyr). The characteristics of the various subspecies and/or populations were quantified. Outside the breeding areas these characteristics can be helpful in producing estimates of the population composition of migrating and wintering populations throughout the world. Individuals can be predicted to resemble any of the quantified breeding populations by using POSCON analysis. These statistics can be helpful when studying the migration habits of waders anywhere in the world. POSCON predictions can also be useful on the breeding grounds, when one wants to know a bird's sex. This book has a worldwide coverage of nearly all breeding populations and tries to fill the gap between descriptive and predictive statistics.
It is of interest for all those people handling waders, whether in the museum or in the field when trapping. It is also interesting for taxonomical researchers and workers dealing with breeding studies. People studying other species than waders can also use this book, since they can construct their own databases and produce their own predictions with the POSCON programs enclosed on disk.

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