AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A BAREFOOT BUSINESSMAN: THE STORY OF A REAL GODFATHER

Book Description

The reader will enjoy and appreciate the author's account of his rise from relative obscurity in one small Calabrian town to being a major factor in the Italian olive oil industry. His career spanned a period of much change in Italian society which began at a time when nineteen century customs and values were still dominant to the present day at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Throughout he maintained a strong commitment to family in periods of adversity as well as in good times. He provides a close look at small town thinking and customs as he moves from times of scarcity to times of well-being. Lessons he learned early imparted to him by mother and teachers were reinforced by dealings with neighbors and businessmen. He was truly a "barefoot businessman" not taken too seriously at first but who made good and won admiration.and some envy. But all was not business. He did not hesitate to take action against someone who he thought impugned his sister Maria's honor and paid for it. For a time like many of his countrymen he sought to make his fortune in a new world, in this case, Australia. There he learned as well as gave some lessons. But the love of fiancée, family and country was too strong and he returned. He survived the loss of his eldest brother to whom he was deeply devoted and the parting with his younger brother. Very early he gained the respect of a lawyer (his consigliere) on whom he relied for advice and support for much of his life. He was asked to manage the local soccer team for several seasons and now owns two teams. Matteo Giuseppe earned and kept the respect of neighbors and associates alike and competitors found him a tenacious opponent.

Book Description

In 1971 she was the most promising woman golfer in the world, before alcohol took control, almost killing her. Now on the road to recovery, Baugh speaks candidly about her lifetime of pain, pressure, and perseverance.

Customer Reviews:

I wondered whatever happened to her........2007-03-26

I'm about the same age as Laura Baugh. When she burst on the golf scene, I followed her career for two reasons: 1. I like golf. 2. She was very cute.
Call that last remark sexist if you will, but Laura, in this book, is frank about the fact that she took advantage of her looks to earn a living from endorsement money. She was a very lovely girl and woman, as many photos in this book show.
Unfortunately, her golf earnings -- while not bad for the time in which she played -- were limited by her failure to win a tournament. She is honest, too, about the reasons for that failure, despite numerous second-place finishes. Sometimes the wins were snatched away by an opponent. Sometimes she handed them to her opponents by failing to close the deal on the last few holes.
Of course a prime reason for the book is for Laura to tell the tale of her battle with alcoholism -- a battle that almost cost her life when she was about 40. The most chilling passage in the book is the one in which she describes having shaking hands (from nerves) during the last couple holes of a tournament that she should have won, but lost right at the end. After the round she went into the clubhouse bar and chugged a glass of wine -- and noticed that the trembling stopped. That was the beginning of her long battle.
A very readable account about a career filled with both triumph and tragedy.

TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE.......2006-08-17

Only someone who does not suffer from alcoholism would question the ability of a small woman to drink insane amounts of alcohol. I have no doubt that Laura Baugh drank every drink she says she did - I have been there. I, too, abstained during my pregnancies, it was the one time when I didn't struggle with myself over drinking or not drinking. This is a great story and I admire Laura for pulling herself out of the despair she felt - I know, I have felt it also.

This bio seems contrived........2006-06-01

I find it very, very hard to believe that anyone, especially a small woman, could drink to the degree that Laura Baugh did and not sustain liver damage. She also says she abstained during her pregnancies...did she know the instant she was pregnant? I think not. I guess writing is an easier way to make a buck than playing golf.

A VERY DRAMATIC STORY.......2003-10-05

THIS IS THE STORY OF LAURA BAUGH, RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC, PRO GOLFER, AND MOTHER. SHE DOES A GREAT JOB DESCRIBING HER LIFE AND CAREER. HER STRUGGLE WITH INNER DEMONS, BROKEN MARRIAGES, AND PRESSURES IS VERY INTERESTING. HER STORY IS A MIRACLE. AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF THE 12 STEP PROGRAM OF AA AT WORK. LAURA HAS BEEN BLESSED BY GOD AND THIS IS A GREAT READ FOR ALL RECOVERING AND PRACTICING ADDICTED PEOPLE. I REMEMBER WHEN LAURA FIRST CAME ON THE PRO TOUR IN THE EARLY 70'S, SHE WAS THE HOTTEST HOTTIE IN SPORTS. GLAD TO SEE SHE HAS CONFRONTED HER ADDICTION AND DEALS WITH IT ONE DAY A TIME. SHE IS STILL HOT AND CERTAINLY PROVEN TO BE A BABY MACHINE. MUST READ.

Who's In Control?.......2001-02-25

Isn't that the question since we were chldren? Who's in control here? Some figure it out quicker than others and learn the lesson better. For others, like Laura, it takes time and pain. But in the end, gain.

Her pain and gain, here exposed for all the world to see, is for the comfort and strength she gives through this book to those who find themselves or loved ones in -- out of control.

Frightening and shocking is the realization that such substances take over and dominate such intelligent, talented people. The fight will always be there. Close by though, more powerful than those unrelenting enemies are Laura's strengths she's learned to rely upon and live for, God and children. May both bless her.

She's a winner in more important events than just LPGA championships.

Average customer rating:
Out of the Rough; An Intimate Portrait of Laura Baugh and Her Sobering Journey

Manufacturer: Rutledge Hill Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000I2UPBE

Book Description

Covering the rich film production of Belgium, Switzerland, Quebec, the Caribbean, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa, this book brings together films that might otherwise be divided by questions of race, gender, genre, period, or nation, in a valuable comparative study of a diverse corpus. Individual countries, film-makers, and films are treated separately in order to emphasize their specific identities or those which are represented in their films, and key films are examined within a well-developed historical context. Clearly written and accessible to the specialist and general reader alike, this informative book is a valuable reference source.

Book Description

The diversity of New York City's people, cultures, religions, and backgrounds make it the indicator of American sexuality. It is black, white, gay, straight, rich, poor, rough, and tender all at once. From Margaret Sanger's dissemination of birth control to the Stonewall riot of 1969, New York City has repeatedly seen its sexual dynamics changed and American and international culture follow suit. Published to coincide with the much-anticipated opening of the Museum of Sex in New York, NYC Sex features conversations between major cultural figures and historians on sexual topics, including Grady T. Turner on "Sodom on the Hudson"; Martin Duberman and Joan Nestle on queers; Timothy J. Gilfoyle, Xaviera Hollander, and Tracy Quan on whores; Karen Finley, Luc Sante, Gene Simmons, and Art Spiegelman on the underground; and Vanessa del Rio, Legs McNeil, and Annie Sprinkle on porn. And what's a book about sex without pictures? In between the steamy conversation, NYC Sex posts photographs by Mapplethorpe, Ferrato and Gatewood; 19th-century drawings and photographs; film stills; posters; magazine pin-ups; and images of sex symbols past and present. It's a treat the whole family can enjoy. NYC Sex is the official book of the inaugural exhibition of the Museum of Sex, which will open in New York in September.

"Well before New York was regarded as a center for high art, the Bowery was already the capital for popular and fringe culture...the Bowery was an open valve that functioned as a release in New York City. Anything might go on in the Bowery, and be marginally tolerated as long as it was sufficiently concealed." --Luc Sante

Essay by Grady T. Turner. Conversations with Martin Duberman, Joan Nestle, Timothy J. Gilfoyle, Xaviera Hollander, Tracy Quan, Karen Finley, Luc Sante, Gene Simmons, Art Spiegelman, Vanessa del Rio, Legs McNeil and Annie Sprinkle.

Paperback, 8.25 x 10 in., 224 pages, 150 color

Publisher: Scala Publishers

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NYC SEX: HOW NEW YORK CITY TRANSFORMED SEX IN AMERICA
Unknown
Manufacturer: SCALA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SCYBCS

Average customer rating:
The Two Towers Sourcebook (The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game)
Scott Bennie , and Matt Forbeck
Manufacturer: Decipher Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Role Playing & Fantasy | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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Narrator's Screen (The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game)

ASIN: 1582369593

Book Description

Provides readers with end-to-end shell scripts that can be used to automate repetitive tasks and solve real-world system administration problems
Targets the specific command structure for four popular UNIX systems: Solaris, Linux, AIX, and HP-UX
Illustrates dozens of example tasks, presenting the proper command syntax and analyzing the performance gain or loss using various control structure techniques
Web site includes all the shell scripts used in the book

Customer Reviews:

Highly recommended.......2007-09-08

I thought the book was excellent. Each example program is thoroughly explained. The example programs are very useful and well written. The examples will work for the most common Unix variants. A library of functions are provided that can be used to build more complex programs.

I am a seasoned system administrator with a lot of programming experience but I have a limited amount of experience with Unix and AIX. This book helped me get up-to-speed with common system administration tasks such as resource monitoring and notification.

Very satisfied........2007-07-04

This title provided me with what I needed to write Kron scripts. This will allow me to automate many of the task I need for Oracle Administration. This and the Unix shells by example have provided me with what I needed.

Excellent Book .......2007-02-21

This is a good book, with all the practical examples we need for day to day Korn Shell Scripting.

Its good for the persons who has bit of knowledge on UNIX.

This book will be handy for the UNIX programmers as a reference book for day to day use.

Enjoy reading this book

Cheers
SAM

This guy is really, really smart.......2006-11-17

This guy is really, really smart. (I read this book from cover to cover.) For those interested in speed/efficiency, the chapter entitled "Twelve Ways to Process a File Line by Line" is helpful. Korn shell users might want to consider "Korn Shell: Programs for Your Survival at Work" by Larry L. Smith. Bash users might want to consider "Bash Shell: Essential Programs for Your Survival at Work."

It is a WONDERFUL book........2005-06-23

It is the book. It is one. It is one of the best book on shell scripting ever saw. It requires some UNIX background and if you need one, take "UNIX Essentials" DVD. It is a complete course for a beginner but for a scripting skills it is second to none book.
highly RECOMMENDED.

Average customer rating:

Mastering Unix Shell Scripting
Randy Michael
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Average customer rating:

Wonderful Reference Tool

For those of us that didn't pay attention in History Class

informative, rewarding, educational, historical accounts

The Dictionary of Global Culture: What Every American Needs to Know as We Enter the Next Century--from Diderot to Bo Diddley
Kwame Anthony Appiah
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Reference | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books
General | World | History | Subjects | Books
General | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books
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What Can She Know: Feminist Theory and the Construction of Knowledge

ASIN: 0679729852
Release Date: 1998-12-29

Amazon.com

This work, edited by two of America's most accessible public intellectuals, from Harvard University's Afro-American studies department, is a scholarly yet easy-to-read reference that serves as a cultural-literacy primer for the third millennium. Multicultural in scope, it contains concise and timely essays on everything from the Islamic origins of algebra to Chinua Achebe, the Dalai Lama, John Coltrane, Frida Kahlo, and Fannie Lou Hamer. Gates and Appiah also include figures of popular culture such as Amy Tan and J.R.R. Tolkien. What makes the work most impressive is the editors' search for "an understanding of other cultures that enriches without displacing" the achievements of Western civilization, showing how African, Afro-American, Hispanic, Asian, and European writers, politicians, and artists have all contributed. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Book Description

Reference/World History

"Consistently informative, lively, and accurate . . . a pathbreaking achievement."                 --The New York Times Book Review

s the world's axes of population, power, and commerce shift from North to South and from West to East, the old Eurocentric model of culture is giving way to a new global paradigm. This dictionary, which has been compiled by two of our most esteemed scholars, is the first work of its kind to devote equal emphasis to the cultural contributions of the non-Western world alongside those of Europe and North America.
        Prepared by regional experts from five continents (including both scholars from other cultures and Western scholars of other cultures), the book's more than 1,200 entries include:
Chinua Achebe  ¸  Aeschylus  ¸  Bo Diddley   ¸  Denis Diderot   ¸  Martha Graham  ¸  The Great Leap Forward  ¸  Igbo  ¸  Inanna  ¸  Jainism  ¸  Henry James  ¸  John Milton  ¸  Yukio Mishima  ¸  Ramayana  ¸  Raphael  ¸  François Toussaint L'Ouverture  ¸  Trail of Tears  ¸  Zionism  ¸  Zydeco
Vast in scope and lucidly written, The Dictionary of Global Culture is an indispensable reference for students, businesspeople, or anyone seeking a foothold in the civilization of the next millennium.

"Detailed, accurate and solid. . . . It contains much to interest and inform."                                                       --Baltimore Sun

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful Reference Tool.......2000-08-10

This book is a great reference book to get the basic idea of an important person, place, or philosophy. It really is a book of global culture. It has many important western references as well as non-western or non eurocentric references. I like to just open the book for a few minutes whenever I am sitting near the bookshelf and learn something new. Each entry is about a half a page on average. Some are less some are more. There is really so much to learn about the world that our western education dosn't teach us. For example you can get a consice description of the French Revolution, or learn about Kuukai (774-835), a Japanese religious leader, or read about Macumba, an Afro-Brazilian religion. It's all here.

For those of us that didn't pay attention in History Class.......2000-02-04

This is my first time recommending a book and I couldn't have chose a better reference tool! As an American living in Europe, having never been intrigued by history, I often refer to this book during or after discussions as a fact checker. Highly recommended!

informative, rewarding, educational, historical accounts.......1998-09-12

I read this book this summer and the insight I gained cannot be paralleled. This book gives detailed accounts of people, places, and events of major influence in our time and in history. No one should be allowed to call himself/herself "educated" until she/he has read this book. What a wonderful resource!

The Dictionary of Global Culture : What Every American Needs to Know as We Enter the Next Century - From Diderot to Bo Diddley

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The Dictionary of Global Culture : What Every American Needs to Know as We Enter the Next Century - From Diderot to Bo Diddley
Anthony; Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. (editor); Vazquez, Michael Colin (editor) Appiah
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JWNTSE

Book Description

Only Malachi Martin, consummate Vatican insider and intelligence expert, could reveal the untold story behind the Vatican's role in today's winner-take-all race against time to establish, maintain, and control the first one-world government.

* Will America lead the way to the new world order?

* Is Pope John Paul II winning the battle for faith?

* Is the breakup of the Soviet empire masking Gorbachev's worldwide agenda?

The Keys of This Blood is a book of stunning geopolitical revelations. It presents a compelling array of daring blueprints for global power, and one of them is the portrait of the future.

Customer Reviews:

A must read if you want to understand where we are today.......2005-11-29

This book is a masterful analysis of modern geopolitics. It is different from other books on the subject in that it adds a vertical or spiritual ingredient to the often horizontal only analysis of history. This allows the author to delve deeper into the meaning and consequences of world politics as they exist today. It also provides plausible explanations to modern world events. Malachi Martin rightly contends that unless one takes into account the fact that there is a spiritual warfare going on at the same time, modern history and geopolitics make no sense.

The book seeks to look at history through the eyes of John Paul II, a pope and a master in geopolitics. John Paul II, Martin contends, was a man singularly prepared for his time through life experience, nationality, culture and education, much like St. Paul was the best man to christianize the world through his combination of Jewishness, Roman citizenship and Greek education. John Paul II was aware of his role and place, and once Martin explains the centrality of the history of Poland and the identity this provides to John Paul II, his fixation with geopolitics as his battle field for man's soul becomes a lot clearer and many a question is answered regarging John Paul II's papacy.

In the book, Martin identifies the two main players vying for world domination in the spiritual sphere today and thus lays the ground for his historical analysis: materialism with the East and West in their communism and capitalism, which Martin places on one side together -- and the Catholic Church, the only truly geopolitical spiritual organization in existence today. One of the two sides must win, for they cannot coexist. Either materialism coopts or conquers the Church or the Church ends materialism and Christianizes man again. Martin treats his subject always with this Christian spiritual dimension and point of view in mind, therefore you will read modern history through the eyes of the papacy as it stood with John Paul II, taking into account the message of Fatima, the role of Poland in Christianity and several other often neglected aspects of history that cleary show the "hand of Providence" and how God is truly the Lord of History. The book is a great resource for students of Church history, modern events and the Catholic Church. It is also a great resource for those non Christian or non believers seeking to understand John Paul II better and why the Catholic Church reacts(ed) as it does(did) in modern times. Martin has a masterful section on the silenced history of Poland, its central role in Christian history, how it was the first republic and example to Europe and a wonderful analysis of the Messages of Fatima and what they may mean in today's world.

Malachi Martin was a gifted author (died in 1999), priest (ex-Jesuit), Vatican insider and exorcist. He claimed, and substantiated his claims in his writings, to know the inside story. Much of what he wrote about has come true (for example, Martin wrote about the homosexual priest problem within the Catholic Church long before any reporter in the media knew about it) and his analysis is logical and intelligent. In the "Keys of this Blood" Martin weaves into the context of modern history the Catholic Church's claim to be Christ's true Church (hence the Keys of Christ's Blood) with the papacy at its head and its central role in modern politics, whether modern man wants it or not. It is a must read for anyone seeking to understand the modern world and the forces shaping it.

Keys of this Blood.......2005-10-27

Mega tons of information, but very technical and sometimes meandering in content but overall a very good read.

Now quite dated, but still useful in some respects.......2004-02-19

Written in 1990, this book shows its age, especially in its now-obsolete emphasis on Mikhail Gorbachev and traditional Leninist Communism. Perhaps its most useful content concerns the Third Secret of Fatima, specifically that part which many experts say has still not been made public. The author, a priest who worked deeply within the Vatican during the pontificate of John XXIII, has claimed in interviews that he was present for the reading of the secret; and hence, the book's comments on this topic, though presented in speculatory form to avoid violating the author's oath of silence, may have particular weight.

Intrigue at it's best.......2004-02-04

Martin wrote this book over 12 years ago. We live in a totally different time today, yet, to understand where we are today geopolitically, this book would make a great addition to any research library.

Martin was awaiting the pope to rise to take back the church from its sense of slumber. He hoped that until his death.

This book was a real symbol of the cold war just before its end. To understand some of the machinations of the cold war, the alliances, the ideologies and the world that the pope came out of and the church that he was placed in charge of at a critical juncture, you need to read this book in that perspective.

If the church continues to make an impact on geopolitics, if the USA continues as the only superpower, if Russia regains its former prowess and desire for world conquest, well this book will be as timely as ever, only the names of individuals will have changed.

Yet with United Europe on the scene, the church will have other issues to attend to. Martin addresses some of that in his Novel, Windswept House.

John Paul II is the "Servant of the Grand Design".......2000-08-11

Malachi Martin's work is a veritable "tour de force." With authority (he was one of the world's foremost Vatican Scholars), skill and erudtion he meticulously traces the geopolitical ambitions of Rome from beginning, i.e. Christ's alleged comments to Peter that upon him the church would be built, to end where the Vatican winds up in charge of the One World Government. Martin posits that anyone who was under the age of 70 at the time this book was written would be alive to see the day when the nation-state, as we know it, would cease to exist.

What will be most surprising to most readers is how intimately involved the Papacy is in world politics, all for the purpose of establishing the Catholic Church as the One World Government. (See Revelation 13, 17).

Whether or not Pope John Paul II turns out to be the eventual ruler of the One World Order is irrelevant. Dr. Martin's book goes into exhaustive detail how this Pope, more than any of his predecessors in this century, has worked feverishly to keep the Vatican on the world stage as a major player. Karol Woytila has had a clear-eyed view of what the church's role should be in world affairs dating back to the time when he was a priest during the Second World War working undercover for the US Government. He learned well at the feet of the master in this regard; Stephen Cardinal Wysinzski took the young cleric under his wing during the formative years of his priesthood, and the account of his tutelage of Woytila is spellbinding.

Readers will be fascinated to learn just how much the Vatican was behind the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, and just how closely the US and Vatican work on foreign policy issues.

This book could very well be subtitled "Prophecy Made Clear by Modern Events." John Paul II is the "Servant of the Grand Design;" papal hegemonist ambitions are in plain view. A blockbuster!!

....

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great collection

This is science AND nature writing

excellent reading

Good collection of eclectic science writing

Editorials not Science

The Best American Science & Nature Writing 2000

Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books
General | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books
Essays & Commentary | Science | Subjects | Books
Nature Writing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0618082956

Amazon.com

Editor David Quammen's approach with The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2000 is broad. So broad that he juxtaposes Mormon archaeology with wild African dogs, computer science with the origins of HIV. As a whole, the collection should be awkward, but it's not. Quammen's insistence that nature is bigger than we think, that science rests within culture, which rests within nature, allows each of these pieces to fit. The focus is on good writing, writing that might change your mind, or make you shout "YES!" or even make you angry. In narrowing the field, Quammen considered straight science reporting, book reviews and excerpts, and articles published in 1999.

One of the best pieces in the book is Natalie Angier's essay "Men, Women, Sex, and Darwin"--which became Woman: An Intimate Geography--a lucid and sharp challenge to the prevailing notions of evolutionary psychologists about what women want. Wendell Berry's "Back to the Land" praises the notion of an agrarian mindset, in contrast to the prevailing industrialism, and urges no less than a consumer revolt. Atul Gawande addresses the myth of the cancer cluster, Anne Fadiman recalls her reaction to a young boy's drowning, and Edward Hoagland imagines life in the third millennium in his elegant piece, "That Sense of Falling:"

Science is not sluggardly yet seems devoid of grief, because this would be a life without Mozart or other succulent choices at our fingertips, but oddly truncated, with so little sky and green and random sound or scent blowing in. We may need to grow not only hydroponic vitamins, but also oxygen, if the forests and oceanic vegetation are mauled beyond resuscitation: breathing units, to complement what may be denoted as affection units once the components of a child's emotional needs have been mapped precisely.

Millennialism drives several of the works, as a testament to our 1999 obsession with Y2K. Brief chronicles of the year's scientific revolutions are here, like Paul Ewald's work on microbiological evolution, as are more personal accounts, like Peter Matthiessen's pure naturalist prose and Oliver Sacks's "Brilliant Light," telling of his childhood obsession with chemistry. Browsers will find wonderful excerpts from the two major schools of science and nature writing that Quammen calls "Stay Home and Observe with a Gentle Heart" and "Go Forth and Observe with a Probing Mind." This collection is a very worthy addition to Houghton Mifflin's Best American series, and a science reader's dream come true. --Therese Littleton

Book Description

With The Best American Science and Nature Writing, Houghton Mifflin expands its stellar Best American series with a volume that honors our long and distinguished history of publishing the best writers in these fields.
David Quammen, together with series editor Burkhard Bilger, has assembled a remarkable group of writers whose selections appeared in periodicals from NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, SCIENCE, and THE NEW YORKER to PUERTO DEL SOL and DOUBLETAKE. Among the acclaimed writers represented in this volume are Richard Preston on "The Demon in the Freezer," John McPhee bidding "Farewell to the Nineteeth Century," Oliver Sacks remembering the "Brilliant Light" of his boyhood, and Wendell Berry going "Back to the Land."
Also including such literary lights as Anne Fadiman, David Guterson, Edward Hoagland, Natalie Angier, and Peter Matthiessen, this new collection presents selections bound together by their timelessness.

Customer Reviews:

great collection.......2003-03-23

Of all the annual `best of' anthologies, Houghton Mifflin's Best American Science and Nature Writing has to be the best. I know it has only been out a few years, but in every anthology, 90% of the essays are phenomenal. In the 2000 edition I thought only Wendell Berry's and Wendy Johnson's essays didn't belong (I'm not sure that you could qualify Johnson's piece as science or nature writing). Otherwise you have great pieces by Natalie Angier, Richard Conniff, Paul de Palma, Helen Epstein, Anne Fadiman, Atul Gawande, Brian Hayes, Edward Hoagland, Judith Hooper, Ken Lamberton, Peter Matthiessen, Cullen Murphy, Richard Preston, Oliver Sacks, Hampton Sides, Craig B. Stanford, and Gary Taubes (most of them I had never heard of). And they range over all aspects of science, nature, and technology. Great collection.

This is science AND nature writing.......2002-09-05

It was an interesting choice to try and include the country's best science writing and its best nature writing in one volume. It, to me, was a mostly successful gambit; the writing in this anthology is top-notch.

Quality writing is one part of the story, though. Especially in science where content is king. How do the works here stack up? There are three main styles the entries take: literary journalism, persuasive advocacy, and reflective self-narrative.

Those pieces in the literary journalism category are by far my favorites. Helen Epstein's "Something Happened" is a penetrating look at the science behind the emergence of AIDS in Africa in the 1950s. Cullen Murphy takes us to the desert of Dubai in "Lulu, Queen of Camels", his fascinating vignette about British woman Lulu and the camel breeding-program she's begun. Richard Preston's "The Demon in the Freezer" post-"eradication" history of the smallpox virus is unquestionably the scariest thing I have ever read.

The persuasive advocacy pieces are sometimes ...failures, like Natalie Angier's "Men, Women, Sex, and Darwin" or Wendell Berry's "Back to the Land". Angier argues against evolutionary psychologists who claim that women are _biologically_ attracted to rich and influential men, but her piece is so long-winded and overblown the merits of her argument are easy to miss. Berry's piece is the kind of fact-free politicized "nature" writing whose prevalence is lamented by editor Quammen himself in his introduction.

The quality of the reflective self-narratives is high, if you like that sort of piece. In "Brilliant Light" Oliver Sacks offers a fond reminiscence of his boyhood love of chemistry, and in the process managed to stir my own sense of chemical wonder. And although it doesn't seem to really be nature or science writing, Ken Lamberton's "The Wisdom of Toads" is a sort of "mini-memoir" and look into the conscience and daily life of a convicted sex offender.

Biology and medicine are slightly overrepresented, which is par for the course here in America, but the styles and viewpoints of each of these pieces are unique enough that you don't get bored. The other contributions range in subject from particle physics to Mormon archaeology, a breadth perhaps unparalleled by any other contemporary outlet for science and nature writing. That is the real strength of this anthology. Of course all these writers can put together a few engaging sentences, but what makes this collection good is the diverse array of interesting and important topics the stories here present.

excellent reading.......2002-01-06

This is a fine read. Many great short articles and several longer ones. The book is written largely for the layman. If you have general science knowledge and are reasonably current with world events, you can enjoy this book. Two articles in particular are "must read" status: "African Wild Dogs," and "The Demon in the Freeze," which is a chilling account of the current status and history of smallpox. Hey, it costs 10 bucks...buy it.

Good collection of eclectic science writing.......2001-09-06

A good book with a fair mixture of diverse science topics. Some of the areas are very interesting, however some fail to interst me. I have read many other science writings that would beat many of the topics covered in this collection, but then my views are biased by my interest in certain fields of science.
Overall a good book. Definitely worth a read.

Editorials not Science.......2001-06-23

This is a deeply flawed and disappointing collection of polemics revealing the editor's "watermelon" politics, (green on the outside, red in the middle).

Compiling On.(Review): An article from: American Scientist

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Compiling On.(Review): An article from: American Scientist

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

General | Science | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

What are the challenges facing public interest groups as a result of their transformation from the small, grassroots groups of the 1960s into the large, professionalized, multi-billion dollar industry of the '90s? How might public interest groups meet these challenges as they move into the next century? Focusing on national environmental organizations, including Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, The Wilderness Society, and Environmental Defense Fund, Voices and Echoes for the Environment demonstrates how the demands of organizational maintenance encroach on the goal of effective policy influence.

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