Lincoln's Admiral: The Civil War Campaigns of David Farragut

Book Description

"Damn the torpedoes. . . . Full speed ahead."

Admiral David Farragut's bold order at the Battle of Mobile Bay has served as a rallying cry for the United States Navy for a century. Described as "urbane" and "indomitable" by contemporaries, and lionized as an "American Viking" by the Northern press during the Civil War, Farragut was considered gallant, brilliant, and humane by friend and foe alike.

Recently discovered primary source material sheds new light on Farragut's life and times. The first full admiral in American naval history, he was small in stature and almost sixty years old at the outbreak of the Civil War. Yet Farragut possessed enormous courage and stamina. He led by example and became an inspiration to the entire nation.

At the start of the Civil War, many thought Farragut—a southerner by birth—would join the Confederate cause. But he had spent almost five decades serving aboard ships that flew the American flag. His unwavering loyalty to the Northern cause was founded in the belief that the South's secession was a first, fatal step toward national collapse.

Thoroughly researched and compellingly written, Lincoln's Admiral examines Farragut's command of the most daring and important assignment of the Civil War: the mission to recapture the vital Southern port of New Orleans. With meticulous detail, Duffy deftly retraces the steps that led up to that critical campaign.

New Orleans's defenses against attack from the Gulf were formidable. In the dead of night, Farragut ordered men to board rebel barrier ships stationed in the river and plant explosives.

"In the rigging of his flagship, the Hartford, high above the mantle of smoke, stood sixty-three-year-old Rear Admiral David Farragut. It was the only location aboard ship that afforded a panorama of the battle. He held a spyglass firmly in one hand, and a megaphone in the other. Bound securely to the mast, Farragut deftly directed the action of his fleet in what would be one of the most important naval engagements of the Civil War. He periodically raised the spyglass toward the bay, keeping a watchful eye on the Tennessee and her able commander and his old friend, Confederate admiral Franklin Buchanan. Had a rebel shell struck the Hartford's mast, a prized target of every Confederate gunner, Farragut would have crashed to the deck, or been catapulted overboard." - from Lincoln's Admiral

Farragut positioned his boats and prepared his men for battle, carefully planning every detail of the fleet's advance. The fleet passed Fort St. Philip and Fort Jackson single file as both forts opened fire with a deafening roar and covered the river with dense smoke. Navigating the treacherous Mississippi and bypassing the defenses, Farragut eventually recaptured the South's largest port, while losing only thirty-seven men.

Lincoln's Admiral also offers new insights into the Battle of Mobile Bay, arguably Farragut's most famous campaign. Farragut launched an attack against one of the forts in Mobile Bay as a ploy to fool the enemy into thinking that he was preparing to capture Mobile itself. His goal was to keep as many troops in and around the city as possible so they weren't diverted north to defend against Sherman's final offensive. It was at Mobile—as the fleet moved into the bay with Farragut's Hartford in the lead—that Farragut uttered his famous command. Unsure of where the enemy torpedoes were, but knowing that to hesitate would mean defeat, Farragut gambled and gave the famous order: "Damn the torpedoes. . . . Go ahead, Jouett, full speed ahead."

An expansive and compelling chronicle of Farragut's career, Lincoln's Admiral traces the brilliant decisions and wartime strategy of one of history's greatest military leaders.

Customer Reviews:

Short biography on Farragut.......2007-06-28

James Duffy's biography on Admiral David Farragut proves to be interesting and easy to read. The book basically summarized Farragut's career without going into great details. The book deals more or less with Farragut's military career with few insights to his personal life. The book gives a pretty clear understanding of Farragut's role in the Civil War and the amazing amount of the time he spent on the Mississippi River after capturing New Orleans. His pet project of taking Mobile had to wait two years. The book was also reflective in revealing his relationship he had with his stepbrother, Admiral David Dixon Porter, another famed Union naval leader. The author believes that Porter was quite jealous of Farragut and tried his utmost to undermined him.

If there was a singular weakness, the book doesn't covered much about Farragut's life during the peace time but then, the subtitle of the book is "Civil War Campaigns of David Farragut" so that where the main focus remains.

Overall, I found this book to be pretty well researched, well written and easy to read. Its easy to introduced this book as a nice introductionary book on the career of Farragut and no doubt, helped put him among the great seamen of our nation's history.

A solid examination of Farragut.......1999-02-04

I was not sure whether I wanted to read a biography of Farragut after having read Loyall Farragut's biography of his father, but I enjoyed Duffy's book. He does not blindly glorify Farragut's memory, but clearly shows why David Farragut's long career in the Navy and perceptive intellect made him one of the most effective military leaders during the Civil War. Duffy is also one of the few authors/historians to portray Adm. David Dixon Porter in a negative light by shedding light on Porter's attempts to upstage and undermine Farragut's accomplishments via his connections in Washington.

A very interesting biography of a Civil War Naval Officer.......1998-03-16

I read this book when it was first published in 1997 and although I had never heard of Admiral David Farragut I had heard "Damn the torpedoes..." from some where (I'm an Australian!). I found this book to be a very easy to read biography of a very interesting man. I have very limited knowledge of naval matters (I was a grunt) but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was enjoyable to read and the battle scenes were vivid and easy to follow. I would recommend this book to anybody who has an interest in the American Civil War.

Customer Reviews:

unfinished.......2006-08-09

I work in health care and can understand the authors problems with the care of her mother. She seems to blame them for delaying treatment which would have resulted in a better outcome for her mother. But what she writes is too brief in content and biased. Most of the book is a copy of her mother's hospital record and even for me hard to decipher the hand writing. Plus the fact that several pages are copied is not helpful. The book
does not have a conclusion or written ending. It is left up to the reader to gauge what happened and who or what was exactly at fault. The health providers do not get the opportunity to explain their care or according to the author their lack of it. This book was not what I thought it would be. It seems that the author blames everyone for her mothers death but does not justify that claim except to produce hospital records that are difficult for a lay person to understand. I was also bothered a lot by the multitude of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Did nobody proof read this book?

to Alex and Ari and mom.......2005-03-04

MOM IT HAS BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE I WROTE THIS BOOK, AND I STILL MISS YOU SO MUCH. ESPECIALLY NOW THAT IM IN THE UK.
WISH YOU WERE HERE BESIDE ME, ALEX AND ARI I MISS YOU SO MUCH, AND IF YOU SEE THIS KNOW THAT YOUR GRANDMA LOVES YOU SO MUCH.
THIS IS A GREAT INFORMATIONA BOOK TO READ TO PROTECT YOUR LOVE ONES AND YOURSELVES.

KD TOWNSEND

Great grandma we love you.......2001-04-29

Grandma is writing what I say to you for us. we miss you, and I know your an angel now. But we want you back. moma says we smile like you. we miss your cookies. love Ari and Alexsandra

I MISS YOU MOM.......2001-04-29

Mom It has been a month short of a year that the hospital took you from me. I miss you so much it aches sometimes. Its almost mothers day and your birthday and I wanted you to know I will never stop loving you!, nor will I stop seeking justice for you that you deserve! Happy mothers day mom Carolyn

Author K.D TOWNSEND

A life that might have been saved.......2001-04-25

I have read both 'Stealing Home' and 'He calls me Caroline'. by MS Townsend. And by far this was a very hard story for me. I lost my father to a stroke, and often felt could he have been saved also. As Ms Townsend portrays the care to her mother was not given at the most cricial time, and by the reports within the book it seems to me that she was right about the lack of her mother's care. It must have taken alot of courage for her to write this book. I think alot of people should read this book for themself's or for a love one so this doesnt happen to them or the ones they love.

Book Description

This multi-faceted study looks in detail at the music and thought of Michael Tippett. David Clarke shows how Tippett has roots in the nineteenth century and also reveals his connections with larger developments in Western cultural thinking. The book is made distinctive by its strong interdisciplinary element. It relates observations on the music to ideas in literature, philosophy and literary theory and addresses issues concerned with modernity and postmodernity. Tippett's homosexuality is also considered as a factor in his makeup as a composer.

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SHERESHEVSKY MOVE OVER

Not just another endgame reference...

buy it!

Secrets of Chess Endgame Strategy (Chess College S.)
Lars Bo Hansen
Manufacturer: Gambit Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Chess | Board Games | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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Endgame Tactics: A Comprehensive Guide to the Sunny Side of Chess Endgames

ASIN: 1904600441

Book Description

A large proportion of chess games are decided in the endgame or in the transition to the endgame, but chess literature has provided relatively little guidance for players seeking to improve their skill in making the vital decisions in these phases of the game. Building on the ideas introduced in his ground-breaking work Foundations of Chess Strategy, Lars Bo Hansen provides a thought-provoking and convincing treatise on how players can maximize the practical problems for their opponents while emphasizing the strengths of their own position. Under his guidance, chess-players will more easily focus on the key elements in the position, and devise plans for exploiting them to the full, and develop a better understanding of which pieces need to be exchanged, and which weaknesses really matter.

Customer Reviews:

SHERESHEVSKY MOVE OVER.......2007-01-04

This is an excellent book. One one hand, it's an update of Shereshevsky's Endgame Strategy. On the other, it's a compendium of basic endgame principles that also apply to the middlegame. The examples are contemperary and well chosen. His explanation are clear and instructive. His Foundations of Chess Strategy was good,this one outstanding.

Not just another endgame reference..........2006-10-08

Unlike most endgame books this one is not a catalogue of theoretical endgames and standard techniques, such as the Lucena and Philidor positions, opposition and outflanking, or mating with K+B+N vs. K. Instead, the present book is devoted to endgames (and in many cases late middlegames) with plenty of play left on the board. The material is organized into three sections. The first lays out fifteen General Principles of endgame strategy, such as "the principle of two weaknesses," "transformation of advantages," and "king activity." Each principle is illustrated by two to four examples from actual high-level games. The second section, by far the largest, presents more examples of these principles at work, often in combination. These examples are further sorted by material distribution (e.g., bishops of opposite color). The final section is concerned with yet more examples of endgame play, arranged according to the player's style, following a scheme developed by the author in another book. I have reservations about the author's theory on playing styles, but this does not detract from the value of this book.

The final product is a great success. The examples are well chosen, overall very representative of typical, practical positions. Often the example begins in the middlegame, and appropriately examines issues associated with the decision to trade down to an endgame. The explanations include both analysis and wordy text, suitable for above-average players to advanced players. Being focused primarily on strategic ideas, as opposed to brute calculation, there is relatively less reliance on lengthy variations and sub-variations. Of course, tactics and theoretical positions are given their due wherever relevant. Some knowledge of theory is a prerequisite, at the level of Howell's "Essential Chess Endings."

As usual for Gambit Publications the physical and visual qualities of the book are outstanding. There is a player index at the end.

If you are looking for endgame books, you should first get a theory book. The ones I recommend are, from most elementary to more advanced: "Pandolfini's Endgame Course," Howell's "Essential Chess Endings," Rosen's "Chess Endgame Training," Muller and Lamprecht's "Fundamental Chess Endings." (There is yet more for advanced players.) Once you've had a dose of theory, this book by Hansen might be the next step. The classic "Endgame Strategy" by Shereshevsky is the only other book that covers much the same ground - I am not sure it is still in print. The only other possibility that comes to mind is Andy Soltis's marvelous "Turning Advantage Into Victory."

buy it!.......2006-10-07

what a great book! it gives interesting examples, clear explanations, and specific guiding principles for different endgames. normally i find endgames books dull, especially books without puzzles, but this one is fabulous. probably best if you are 1600-2400.

Tactical Chess Endings: Improve Your Chess by Unlocking the Secrets of the Endgame

Average customer rating:

Good Effort
New awareness in the end game

Tactical Chess Endings: Improve Your Chess by Unlocking the Secrets of the Endgame
John Nunn
Manufacturer: Batsford
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0713459379

Customer Reviews:

Good Effort.......2001-10-09

This book is good, but not great. It covers many common endgame themes such as zugzwang, and how to draw, etc. There are a few good examples on tactics, but more examples on common endgame themes. This book is more for the advanced begginer/intermediate player.

New awareness in the end game.......2001-05-03

This is my initial book review for amazon.Previous to reading Nunn's opus,I've always assumed endgames were of a strategical nature.Kotov in "Think like a grandmaster" tells a story about Capablanca's endgames.He claims to have met him at some chess event where a lecture was being given about endings.Capas basic claim was that planing the optimum location for the chess pieces in the ending was more important than the tatical variations.One gets the impression that the tatical variations just become automatically apparent once the strategical plan via piece place comes to fruition.Therefore the endgame can be fathomed intuatively with only a minimal effort of analysis.Nunn's book dispells that notion entirely by claiming endgames can be tatical.They can also be strategical like any other part of the game.Many strong grandmasters overlook many combinative possibilities in this part of the,because of such sterotypic thinking as mentioned above.This book can help one approach the ending with a fresh pair of eyes.From a personal perspective I have always over looked opportunities in combinative endgames assuming they do not exist.Now I know better.This book has freed me of such generalized thinking.A paradox I have seemed to stumble across is that apparently simple end games even appear to be more tatical than complex ones.Nunn by accident in his introductory statement seems to have also made a beautiful distinction between strategy and tactics. The former being the creation of plans and the latter being it's execution once it's apparent.The games are classics.Many include ideas such as mates, Stalemates, Promotion, Positional draws,fortresses ect.

Customer Reviews:

Easy to read and helpful if you apply it.......2002-01-27

The reality is that 95% of sales people don't read any supplemental information about the sales process and how to improve themselves. Of those that do (or are forced to go to seminars) 90% of people don't apply what they are taught or read so the failure rate of these books/seminars is around 99% because people don't have the internal drive to seek and learn new tools and THEN IMPLEMENT THEM to move their sales career forward.

I found this book enjoyable but not as good/entertaining as other books I have read about sales/customer relationship. How to be a Rainmaker, by Jeffrey Fox and the Little Book on successful selling by Brian Tracy are two sales-related books that I got more out of and thought were easier to read.

This book does have its good points though.

1) I thought Chapter 3 on customer feedback was very well done as most sales people and their companies don't focus enough on this element.

2) Chapter 4 was about customers telling people how to sell and

3) Chapter 5 was some good questions to ask yourself as far as customer service goes.

They key to getting long-term value out of a book like this is to practice what you read essentially. The book is only 120 pages long and is very easy to read. Whether you are in sales or not you are selling everyday. You sell yourself to your family, friends, co-workers, etc. You are creating an image in that person's mind of what they associate you with (pain or pleasure).

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Comprehensive but not very helpful for understanding Paracelsus

Shifting Cultural Plates

Fascinating portrait of Paracelsus but with avoidable errors

Great if you already know about the Renaissance, weak otherwise

Paracelsus too elusive for this biographer

The Devil's Doctor: Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance Magic and Science
Philip Ball
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Medical | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0374229791
Release Date: 2006-04-18

Book Description

Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, who called himself Paracelsus, stands at the cusp of medieval and modern times. A contemporary of Luther, an enemy of the medical establishment, a scourge of the universities, an alchemist, an army surgeon, and a radical theologian, he attracted myths even before he died. His fantastic journeys across Europe and beyond were said to be made on a magical white horse, and he was rumored to carry the elixir of life in the pommel of his great broadsword. His name was linked with Faust, who bargained with the devil.

Who was the man behind these stories? Some have accused him of being a charlatan, a windbag who filled his books with wild speculations and invented words. Others claim him as the father of modern medicine. Philip Ball exposes a more complex truth in The Devil's Doctor—one that emerges only by entering into Paracelsus’s time. He explores the intellectual, political, and religious undercurrents of the sixteenth century and looks at how doctors really practiced, at how people traveled, and at how wars were fought. For Paracelsus was a product of an age of change and strife, of renaissance and reformation. And yet by uniting the diverse disciplines of medicine, biology, and alchemy, he assisted, almost in spite of himself, in the birth of science and the emergence of the age of rationalism.

Customer Reviews:

Comprehensive but not very helpful for understanding Paracelsus .......2007-08-24

The voluminous study written by P. Ball bears evident mark of his profession, that is of his being physicist. One has to appreciat how many historical topics he was able to cover in his book, less impressive is, nevertheless, his ability to discover the most important ones and to explain Paracelsus thought on the ground of the historical context so carefully described. Author's basic despise -- at least that's what I feel in his book -- for questions of theology and religion that, according to him, have at best a historical importance seems to prevent him from better understanding of real problems of Paracelsus, and even of real meaning of his "magic". Well, according to the title, Ball wanted to describe Paracelsus in the context of the "renaissance magic and science", yet this picture would be, and is, distorted if the effort is not made to understand the complex of his thought from his perspective, to find out what for him is important.
Another thing is that Ball works only with english anthologies and even, if I'm not mistaken, only with english written sources in general. Sure, it's not very easy to read Paracelsus in the original Swiss German dialect, yet to me it seems inevitable if one wants to get out of beaten tracks of long rooted, sometimes superficial opinions, and to get inside the text and thoughts.
So, if you want to read a reliable and better balanced study on Paracelsus' natural philosophy as well as on his theology (and you are not craving for an "esoteric" interpretation) read rather Andrew Weeks' nicely short monograph on Paracelsus and keep reservation about Ball's book: historically he seems to have found the proper sources to use, but systematically he's then not going deep enough to discover the "real" Paracelsus. If you read in German check the brand new and very valuable, although a little difficult-to-read, book by M. Bergengruen (Meiner 2007). Or just reach for the old, eventhough also partly one-sided "Introduction" by W. Pagel to add some more insights in the paracelsian thought.

Shifting Cultural Plates.......2007-07-29

The Devil's Doctor is a remarkably well written biography of Paracelsus as well as social history of his life time, that period in European History when the Scholastic mindset of the Medieval was being challenged by the coming Enlightenment. Ball, who writes with great clarity and skillful organization shows Paracelsus as a unique individual in the middle of this social revolution, not seeing the whole picture, but living on both sides of the split.

An alchemist who grew up in a mining region of Switzerland where the manipulation of metals was prevelant he received a scolastic education in medicine. He left early because he realized that the medicine of the Greeks no longer served. He sought out the best teachers and herbalists to educate himself and was recognized as one of the best doctors of his time. He grew up in the Roman church, but thought, wrote, and preached independently his own brand of spirituality barely escaping condemnation for heresy.

I had read bits and pieces about Paracelsus over the years, but gathered almost nothing about the man. By putting Paracelsus in his time and many places (the man traveled a get deal for the times), Ball has made him real and his significance to European, and so world, history understandable.

I can't say I disliked anything about this book. Except, maybe, the fact that Paracelsus was associated with so many interesting characters who deserved books of their own, which I'll probably never find. I highly recommend this book to those interested in this period of history even if they scoff at alchemy. If they scoff, Ball will give them a better understanding of its significance to the period.

Fascinating portrait of Paracelsus but with avoidable errors.......2007-07-19

I read the *The Devil's Doctor* in conjunction with *Renaissance Magic and the Return of the Golden Age: The Occult Tradition and Marlowe, Jonson, and Shakespeare* by John S. Mebane. I read them to learn what magic meant to people in the sixteenth century - so that I could better appreciate Shakespeare's play, *The Tempest*.

In the *The Devil's Doctor*, Philip Ball gives a fascinating portrait of a man who believed in both science and magic. In fact, in his medical practice he did not distinguish the two. Paracelsus used both in his attempts to cure diseases and to gain mastery over the external world - which, of course, includes other human beings.

While I cannot judge the accuracy of Dr. Ball's historical and biographical claims about Paracelsus, his misunderstanding of fairly basic Christian teachings surprised me. Here are three examples:

1) Ball states that it was not "his (Paracelsus') intention to say anything that ran contrary to the established position of the church - he was indeed intent on defending the divinity of the mother of Christ, against suggestions that she was mortal." Hello. The Catholic Church does not and did not teach the "divinity" of Mary. Nor does the Church teach that she was not mortal. (The doctrine of the Assumption does not mean she was immortal like a goddess.)

2) In describing how people at that time viewed the spirit world, Ball asserts: "Christian dogma insisted that supernatural beings were universally evil." It did? What about St. Michael and the other angels, not to mention the Communion of Saints?

3) Regarding demonic influences, Ball states: "Paracelsus briefly mentions the *Obsessi*, who are obsessed (possessed) by the devil." Paracelsus, like any sixteenth century Christian, would have known that obsession and possession refer to two very different conditions.

I don't want to make a big deal out of these errors, as if there was something unique about Philip Ball. When reporters, university professors and others write about the Catholic Church, their IQ seems to drop 20 or 30 points. It's hard to know exactly why since today we have this great thing called the Internet. A simple Google search would have enabled Dr. Ball to avoid the above errors.

Great if you already know about the Renaissance, weak otherwise.......2007-03-27

I think some of the other reviews, especially those by Haines and Hardy, describe very well what is contained in the book. So I'll review the book more than the actual material in it.

I came to this topic not knowing anything about the Renaissance and the movement at that time from "magic" to science. So, on the one hand, the book was incredibly interesting. However, on the other hand, while Ball is a good researcher he is not a great author. Thus it is really tough for a novice, such as me, to gain a good general grasp of Paracelsus from this book. For instance, Ball never presents a general guide to help put everything in perspective. If you already have some knowledge of Paracelsus and/or his world, such a guide isn't necessary. But if you are a neophyte, such as me, this omission makes the book very hard to follow, especially because of two traits of Ball's writing. First, on virtually every page Ball introduces 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or ... more people, most of whom show up for a paragraph or two and then wonder off stage, never to be seen again. A few, however, emerge as more important. But without any general guide, it's impossible to know in advance who will be important and who will be a flash in the pan. Second, this fact combines with the point that Ball frequently goes off on a tangents. But, once again, without any general guide it is impossible to determine if the topic is a tangent that will, indeed, be tangential or if the topic is a tangent that will be a major factor in Paracelsus' life and/or importance. As a result, if you are a novice to the Renaissance it is a constant struggle to see and to grasp the "big picture" about Paracelsus' life and importance. Instead, you will read many very fascinating small points about Paracelsus, the Renaissance, medicine and doctors in the 16th century, and alchemy. But the big picture is, at best, elusive. It takes literally until the last chapter, where Ball writes about Paracelsus' followers and the eventual replacement of Paracelsus' beliefs with modern science, for the general picture to start to emerge. And even then, it's a struggle to put together the pieces that are being presented.

If the key material in last chapter had been presented and expanded upon in the first chapter, I'd happily give the book 5 stars. Alas, however, it was not. And so the book gets 3 stars. If you want a source of really neat trivia about Paracelsus or the Renaissance, this is your book. If you want an understanding of the importance of Paracelsus and do not already have a good foundation on this topic, prepare to work.

Paracelsus too elusive for this biographer.......2006-08-31

I was very excited when I first learned that this biography was going to be published, because there is really not much out there about Paracelsus, and only a small portion of his vast number of works have been published in english. I read Manly P. Hall's small but masterful work, but there is not too much else, in print anyways and easy to obtain.

On the plus side, Mr. Ball does a great job of capturing the historical background to Paracelsus, and he includes many detailed descriptions of life during the Renaissance into the 17th century, and he also illuminates the personalities of many figures that I either have never heard of, or have found only brief information on. In many ways, this is a kind of travel book, and I was fascinated by the amount of traveling Paracelsus did throughout his life, and how many different and exotic places he visited. This portion of the book reads like the movie "Forest Gump", as Paracelsus seems to be at every great event and happening during the height of the Renassaince.

That said, Mr. Ball misses the mark in elucidating the true genius of Paracelsus, and does not explain very well, many of his revolutionary and profound ideas. This is because Mr. Ball either does not understand them himself, or he is just not sympathetic to them. In my opinion, it is a combination of both. At the end of the book, he devotes a mere paragraph for his conclusion, which only highlights where he missed the mark.

He claims that Paracelsus would have been pleased with where science has ended up today, giving us, "sober professionals whose aspirations were typically modest and mundane.. a medicine that works, and understanding of the chemical composition of the macrocosm and microcosm, and (liberation) from the tyranny of the stars.. (putting) our fate into our own hands." Paracelsus would approve of scientists like Heisenberg and Einstein, but what the author is referring to is the athiestic, deconstructionist type scientists who rely on hyper-rationality as a means of "discovering" scientific facts. In fact, he does not even discuss physics in the 20th century as a bridge to Paracelsus, which is a big miss in my opinion. He does not grasp the healing theories of Paracelsus, nor does he discuss the real legacy of his ideas which are not modern medicine, which he seems to point too. If anything, modern medicine is just the old galenic medicine that has been repackaged for our time. Yes, modern medicine uses some of his ideas, but they have selfishly made them to conform to their own ways of thinking and doing. I am sorry Mr. Ball, but it is not "a medicine that works", when the number one killer in this country is iatragenic medicine (doctor induced). Alternative medicine such as homeopathy, naturapathy and polarity therapy would be more what Paracelsus was pointing to. He also does not grasp the real meaning behind astrology which is really about magnetics, polarity and energy theory, not fortune telling or superstition. We are influenced by the stars, the sun and moon via magnetics, and that is what Paracelsus was trying to convey. Again, this book is a great storehouse of historical facts and figures, but very weak on comprehending and elucidating Pracelsus' ideas and theories.

The Devil's Doctor: Paracelsus And the World of Renaissance Magic And Science

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The Devil's Doctor: Paracelsus And the World of Renaissance Magic And Science
Philip Ball
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J4XE1Y

Book Description

The pace of American society has quickened exponentially since the Founding Fathers first mapped the constitution. Information travels at the speed of light; so does money. We can hop from one side of the country to the other in a matter of hours, contact our elected officials instantaneously, and share our views with thousands of people at the touch of a button.

Both academia and the popular media have grappled with the consequences of this acceleration on every aspect of contemporary life. Most pressing, however, may be its impact on political life. In Liberal Democracy and the Social Acceleration of Time, William Scheuerman offers a sophisticated assessment of the implications of social and technological celerity in the operation of liberal democracies. Specifically, he asks what is acceleration's main impact on the traditional liberal democratic model of the separation of powers?

According to Scheuerman, high speed has created an imbalance. The executive branch was intended to react with dispatch; by contrast, legislatures and the courts were designed to be more deliberate and thoughtful. While this system of checks and balances was effective in the age of horse and buggy, Scheuerman argues that the very features that were these institutions' strengths may now be a liability. Throughout this book, Scheuerman offers a constructive critique which articulates ways in which "liberal democracy might be recalibrated in accordance with the tempo of modern society."

Book Description

The toxic legacy of Love Canal vividly brought the crisis in industrial waste disposal to public awareness across the United States and led to the passage of the Superfund legislation in 1980. To discover why disasters like Love Canal have occurred and whether they could have been averted with knowledge available to waste managers of the time, this book examines industrial waste disposal before the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970.

Colten and Skinner build their study around three key questions. First, what was known before 1970 about the hazards of certain industrial wastes and their potential for causing public health problems? Second, what were the technical capabilities for treating or containing wastes during that time? And third, what factors other than technical knowledge guided the actions of waste managers before the enactment of explicit federal laws?

The authors find that significant information about the hazards of industrial wastes existed before 1970. Their explanations of why this knowledge did not prevent the toxic legacy now facing us will be essential reading for environmental historians and lawyers, public health personnel, and concerned citizens.

Customer Reviews:

For Responsible Decision Makers.......2001-01-23

This is an outstanding book that deals with the history of industrial hygiene and risk management. In a step-by-step fashion, the authors walk the reader through the development of large-scale chemical production plants and their need to deal with the waste associated with their production process. The changes from prior to 1930s to the 1950s and into the 1970s shows distinct changes in how industry addressed industrial waste. It is a refreshing approach to see an explanation of how industry slowly developed their procedures based on their dealings with the public and government, without the usual bias against management as evil-doers and tree-killers.

The authors discuss the understanding of industrial wastes and developing rationale with no appologies, but do it in a concise fashion that is readable to the layman as well as professionals. The section discussing how decision makers can be influenced by this information is particularly good-reading. The authors end by discussing several case studies (of course, Love Canal is one of them) and identifying the mistakes made in each case. This is the real lesson of the book - if we can't learn from our mistakes, how will we ever improve?

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The Road to Love Canal: Managing Industrial Waste Before the EPA.: An article from: American Scientist

Manufacturer: Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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ASIN: B00097ONPW
Release Date: 2005-07-28

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The Road to Love Canal: Managing Industrial Waste Before EPA
Peter N. Skinner, N. Skinner Craig E. Colten
Manufacturer: University of Texas Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OS6GGU

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