Pipe Dreams: One Teacher's Journey

Average customer rating:

Inspirational

This book is inspiring and captivating!

Pipe Dreams: One Teacher's Journey
A. R. Magaletta McClure
Manufacturer: 1st Books Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1403334757

Book Description

A non-fiction memoir of an eight-year journey teaching emotionally disturbed children. Written by their teacher, this unique account is fascinating, humorous, and conveys the inner workings of public school. These kids?

Customer Reviews:

Inspirational.......2003-04-19

Reading this book has inspired me to become the teacher that I know I can be. Mrs. McClure is a truly gifted person and I hope to one day life up to be the type of teacher she is in this book.

This book is inspiring and captivating!.......2002-09-29

Pipe Dreams: One Teacher's Journey by A. R. Magaletta McClure is one of the best books I have ever read. She is captivating as she dicusses her eight years of teaching emotionally disturbed children. You fall in love with each of the children that she discusses and feel as if you are there with them. McClure discusses through the book all of the lessons that these children have been able to teach her. It is impossible to not be inspired by her warm stories and true-to-life struggles. ANYONE who teaches or is connected to children with disabilities in any way will be drawn into this book. This book also traces the different ways in which our public education system has dealt with students with disabilities throughout the seventies and early eighties. For all of these reasons, this book would be an excellent book for teachers to share in a book club and/or for professors to assign their students who are interested in teaching children with disabilities. Readers will find themselves laughing out loud as they hear about some of the various situations and antics that take place and will become emotionally involved with each of the children and their particular struggles. Pipe Dreams: One Teacher's Journey by A.R. Magaletta McClure is a rare find. Once you've read it, you will never look at education or our nation's children the same way again.

Book Description

Forward Soviet! is the first comprehensive account of Soviet documentary output during the years between the "Great October Socialist Revolution" and the "Great Patriotic War." Drawing on previously closed State archives, Graeme Roberts re-views the great examples of Soviet and world non-fiction cinema and uncovers many fine and intriguing little-known films. He discusses the careers of men and women who made them, including Vertov, Shub, Medvedkin and Karmen and investigates the problems of analysis and context, while offering valuable insights into that context. Forward Soviet! is a powerful demonstration of how the history of Soviet non-fiction film can give insight into the agencies that shaped Soviet history and culture.

Book Description

Triskaidekaphobia: fear of the number 13

If thirteen people sit down at a table, will one die within a year? Why did five U.S. presidents join the Thirteen Club? What is the only major New York hotel that has a thirteenth floor?

In 13, a fascinating cultural history-cum-detective story, Nathaniel Lachenmeyer gets to the root of how one superstition—the fear of the number 13—developed among wildly divergent societies. A book about mythmaking, 13 explores why people believe what they believe, and the real reason Friday the 13th is the most unlucky day in the world.

Customer Reviews:

Very superficial almost anecdotal research........2005-09-06

I had to look at the table of contents to make sure that the book the other reviewers rated so highly was the same one that I'm reading now. I'm only finishing it because I compulsively have to complete what I start. I picked up the book while browsing in a bookstore. After recently reading "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife, I was really in the mood for the history of meaningful numbers. Whereas "Zero" was a comprehensively researched piece that discussed the importance of 0 through history and science, this book reads like a high school research paper. The level of research is very shallow, including book sources that are relatively recent, newspaper articles, the internet, anecdotal telephone conversations, and even A&E programs -- nothing that couldn't be found in your local public library. It is essentially a (light) discussion of 13 in modern American culture. For a book subtitled "The Story of the World's Most Popular Superstition," it rarely discusses the number's significance in other cultures, countries or eras.

I find it hard to believe that anyone actually published this book. The first chapter was completely unnecessary, and after the second chapter, everything else is redundant or fluff. I'm very disappointed. While the book is interesting, it in no way compares to the level of research and analysis that I so enjoyed in Zero.

A Pervasive Superstion's History.......2005-03-24

We live in a scientifically advanced world, but every time Friday the thirteenth comes around, people notice it. They may shrug it off as silly, but they continue to think that the day has some special portent, and most people think that the tradition goes back centuries. One of the many surprises in _13: The Story of the World's Most Popular Superstition_ (Thunder's Mouth Press) by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer is that although the superstition that the number 13 is unlucky has a substantial history, superstition attached specifically to Friday the thirteenth is no older than the twentieth century. Lachenmeyer's book is an enjoyable tour looking at the different 13 superstitions (there are many of them), trying to make historic sense of why people have adopted this number as some sort of portentous sign. Lachenmeyer came to the subject by chance, reading an article in an old scrapbook about the Thirteen Club, but has never had any particular feeling toward the number: "To me, 13 has always been just a number. I have never believed that 13 is unlucky or been tempted to thumb my nose at fate and make it my lucky number (I don't have one)." He is not a triskaidekaphobe (13 fearer) or triskaidekaphile (13 lover), but there are plenty of both, especially the former, in these pages. In some ways, they have formed parts of the world as we now know it.

Friday the thirteenth is just the most popular, and modern, manifestation of superstitions connected to thirteen, but there is no evidence that thirteen was considered unlucky before the seventeenth century. It first was written about in 1695, in a story involving a dinner at which thirteen were seated around the table. The superstition that one of the thirteen diners would die within the year became strongest during the nineteenth century. It may have had its roots in the idea that thirteen at the table at the Last Supper proved to be bad luck for two of them. There is a hero in Lachenmeyer's book, Captain William Fowler, a Civil War veteran who had fought in thirteen battles in the war, and in a clubbable age, belonged to thirteen social clubs. He aimed to tempt fate if fate there be; in 1881 in New York, he started a new club which would meet on the thirteenth of each month and sit thirteen to a table. This was not enough for Fowler; members had to walk under ladders, face spilled portions of salt, and so on. No one dining at tables of thirteen had any particular ill-luck, and it is quite probably that Fowler helped do away with this version of the superstition. A new version emerged after the publication of a book _Friday, the Thirteenth_, in 1907; unlucky Fridays and unlucky thirteen had not previously been linked, but they were almost immediately after this bestseller, and in 1971, a horror film originally titled _Long Night at Camp Blood_, was renamed _Friday the 13th_ to imitate the calendrically popular _Halloween_. The franchise has spawned ten sequels so far, and the Friday version of the thirteen superstition may have a longer life than the dinner version.

In this entertaining examination of a particular superstition, Lachenmeyer shows that the 13 superstition has come and gone in different versions in the past, and undoubtedly will stay with us, and in newer forms. It is a scary world out there, and for many of us, there are forces at work that we cannot feel or see or understand, but we can feel we are taking some control against the chaos by taking out a small insurance policy. Avoiding thirteens is relatively easy, and those who practice it can always maintain that it is better to be safe than sorry. As Lachenmeyer writes, "Reason governs a much smaller domain in the world of ideas than we are accustomed to acknowledging." This may be so, but his clear-eyed examination of this small aspect of human behavior can only make the domain larger.

Well-researched Reportage.......2005-03-17

There are probably scads and scads of books like 13. I've seen them in libraries and used book stores. They are books that take on one topic and mine it for endless anecdotes and historical curios, but they don't claim that by looking through the prism of the topic at hand, a reader can discern the entire arc of human history. The books are about what they are about, and all you need to do as a reader is sit back and be entertained and informed. John McPhee, who is very good at this sort of thing, once wrote a book entirely about Oranges, for example. Nathaniel Lachenmeyer does this sort of thing well, too. His book is an impeccably researched look at an old superstition. With every turn of the page the reader is presented with another odd relic that Lachenmeyer has dug up for our perusal: the existence of popular superstition-defying "13 clubs" at the beginning of the 20th century, for example. And onward the book moves through Friday the 13th, the missing 13th floor, and all the rest. Taken as a whole, the book is a nifty piece of well-researched reportage bringing to light the many murky progenitors of this now commonplace superstition.

A lively survey of the quirky foundations of the number 13.......2005-02-07

Blend fine historical insights with a fun survey of present-day phobic reactions to the number 13 from the stock market to missing skyscraper floors, and you have Nathaniel Lachenmeyer's 13: The Story Of The World's Most Popular Superstition, a lively survey of the quirky foundations of the number 13, which considers 13 unlucky 13s from 13 perspectives in 13 chapters. Uncovering superstition's origins assumes a lively theme, right down to the book's quirky price, resulting from an unusual add in digits.

A definitive volume.......2005-01-11

I can understand some of the obsession around a particular number, since the college I attended has a longtime fascination with "47", and alumni use the number as a way to secretly identify each other. Nathaniel Lachenmeyer's "13", even at a manageable 200 pages, is a very thorough encyclopedia on the number 13. It's filled with facts, history, anecdotes, and period illustrations. I enjoyed reading it. Sometimes I just opened it to different pages and learned new things. It turns out there's an actual word to describe a morbid fear of the number 13: "Triskaidekaphobia". And I always wondered why none of the hotels in New York have a 13th floor (well, except for the Waldorf-Astoria, apparently). You'll have to read the book to find out for yourself why that is. "13" is a pleasant, interesting read, and a great gift.

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AMERICA LEARNS TO DANCE: A Historical Study of Dance Education in America Before 1900
III, Joseph E. Marks
Manufacturer: Exposition Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SJZHKG

Average customer rating:
America learns to dance; a historical study of dance education in America before 1900

Manufacturer: Exposition Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GGEJ3M

Average customer rating:
America learns to dance;: A historical study of dance education in America before 1900 (An Exposition-university book)
Joseph E Marks
Manufacturer: Exposition Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006AV0K8

Book Description

Do you take the shortest route instead of the side roads when you’re trying to get somewhere? Do you choose the streamlined model instead of one loaded with gizmos and gadgets? Do you value ease over extras? WordPerfect 12 is practical software designed to help you create great-looking, readable documents. Whether you’re a recent convert from longhand (welcome to the modern world) or a word processing pro, WordPerfect12 For Dummies covers what you need to know, including:

The basics, like using menus and toolbars, saving, editing, and printing files, getting help, and more
Editing and formatting text, adding page numbers, charts, cool fonts, borders, backgrounds, and more
Using templates to make your life easier
Creating envelopes and labels and doing multiple mailings
Using the compatibility toolbars, Workspace Manager, Office Ready template browser, and wireless office capabilities
Creating and integrating columns, tables and graphics
Creating Web pages, Adobe Acrobat Documents, XML files, and even Microsoft Office documents
Publishing your document as a Web Page

WordPerfect12 For Dummies was written by Margaret Levine Young, David C. Kay, and Richard Wagner, all computer gurus who have written or contributed to other For Dummies books and numerous computer books. After it shows you how to do what you need to do, it inspires you to do things you probably didn’t know you could do, such as:

Changing Workspaces to the WordPerfect Legal mode if you need to create legal documents
Choosing from 26 different tool bars to fit the way you work and what you’re working on
Using WordPerfect Office Ready for 40 additional templates
Printing bar codes
Using Microsoft Outlook contact information in Word Perfect

First you’ll get comfortable with WordPerfect 12, and then you’ll get confident and want to explore more. Whether you are a beginner, need a quick refresher, or want to take advantage of the advanced functions, with its complete index, WordPerfect12 For Dummies will be the reference you rely on.

Download Description

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WordPerfect, the word-processing module of the Corel WordPerfect Office suite, is a value-priced alternative to Microsoft Word that has 18 million users worldwide, many concentrated in government and the legal profession

Completely updated to cover new features in WordPerfect 12, including compatibility toolbars, the workspace manager, the OfficeReady template browser, and wireless capabilities

Walks readers through word processing basics and offers guidance on more advanced topics, such as how to convert files from Microsoft Word, publish files in XML or PDF formats, connect to a Microsoft Outlook address book, and more

Customer Reviews:

So below average.......2007-07-06

I have used WordPerfect since edition 5. This is offensive. I ordered an instruction book to define the features of this edition of WordPerfect 12. These authors glance by benefits of the WordPerfect program and do not expound on features that would be of a benefit to users. These authors are inept, skilless and unknowledgeable. Go some place else for another book. I ordered it and am tossing it.

Wordperfect 12 for dummies.......2005-10-16

Started using WP5 and have found the tech manuels don't simply explain little known but startling facts.

Word Perfect 12 for Dummies Regview.......2005-10-04

Took a long time to come, but now that I have it, it will be very useful.

WordPerfect ® 12 For Dummies.......2005-07-28

It's a good book if one wants a quick reference for the basics.

Corel WordPerfect 12 Quick Reference Card - Handy Durable Tri-Fold Corel Word Perfect 12 Tip & Tricks Guide. 6 Total Pages. Stores Easily. Ultimate Reference for Shortcuts, Tips & Cheats for Corel WordPerfect 12 Word Processing Software. (Software Quick Reference Cards)

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Corel WordPerfect 12 Quick Reference Card - Handy Durable Tri-Fold Corel Word Perfect 12 Tip & Tricks Guide. 6 Total Pages. Stores Easily. Ultimate Reference for Shortcuts, Tips & Cheats for Corel WordPerfect 12 Word Processing Software. (Software Quick Reference Cards)
BrainStorm Inc.
Manufacturer: BrainStorm Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Cards

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
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ASIN: B000NTMGOQ

Product Description

Corel WordPerfect 12 Quick Start Card Six tri-folded pages of pertinent WordPerfect help. Almost every end-user needs to use a word processor. Corel WordPerfect 12 is a versitile program that can help users create virtually any document, including memos, letters, proposals, and multi-level documents--if they know what they're doing. BrainStorm's Corel WordPerfect 12 Quick Start Cards give WordPerfect users a quick and tangible reference to help them perform the most basic to more advanced WordPerfect functions, including: Navigating Your Document, Using Reveal Codes, Formatting Your Document, Inserting Charts and Graphs, Creating a Merged Document & More. This durable laminated tri-fold card is perfect to hang in a cubicle for all-day reference or to take in a laptop bag. The full-color step-by-step illustrated instructions on each of the 6 full pages of content can also reduce the stress new users feel when they learn a new program like WordPerfect.

Corel 12 Office Suite Quick Reference Card Bundle-3 Corel Productivity Software Quick Start Training Cards: Learn WordPerfect, QuattroPro, Presentations. Computer Shortcuts, Cheats, Tips & Tricks Guides. 6 Pages, Tri-Fold. Stores Easily. For Corel 12 (Software Quick Reference Cards)

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Corel 12 Office Suite Quick Reference Card Bundle-3 Corel Productivity Software Quick Start Training Cards: Learn WordPerfect, QuattroPro, Presentations. Computer Shortcuts, Cheats, Tips & Tricks Guides. 6 Pages, Tri-Fold. Stores Easily. For Corel 12 (Software Quick Reference Cards)

Manufacturer: BrainStorm Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Cards

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000PHC9F2

Product Description

The Corel WordPerfect Office 12 Quick Start Card Bundle includes everything you'll need to learn the basic features of WordPerfect 12, QuattroPro 12, and Presentations 12. The following Quick Start Cards are included: Corel WordPerfect 12 Quick Start Card, Corel QuattroPro 12 Quick Start Card, Corel Presentations 12 Quick Start Card

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WordPerfect 12 for Dummies

Manufacturer: HUNGRY MINDS (TWLD)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

Homes and Libraries of the Presidents identifies, describes, and provides sources of additional information to almost one hundred homes, libraries, and museums that commemorate one or more of the presidents of the United States. Each president's life and home is put into personal and historical context. The book has three sections and contains 121 b&w figures and 37 color plates.

Section one provides an overview of the historical significance of presidential homes and museums, discusses restoration and preservation efforts, and traces the federal governments' role, through the National Park Service and the National Archives, in administering and maintaining these sites.

Section two-the most extensive part of the book-presents short anecdotal biographies of each President, followed by a description of the relevant home, museum or library sites. Basic location and access information is also provided for each site.

Section three identifies sources of additional information related to the theme of the book, as well as a list of presidential birthplaces, burial sites, and other attractions associated with the presidents.

Customer Reviews:

Not Really Unique.......2004-05-15

I didn't read the entire book, and most people I would guess also wouldn't read it cover to cover. This book is more like a travel guide to the burial sites, libraries, and birth homes of the presidents. I was interested in the book to see if there were any presidential sites near me (there are only 2), so the usefulness of this book was limited by the fact that I cannot visit 99% of the places discussed. For each of the presidents the author gives a brief snapshot of the person. There is about 1-2 pages devoted to each of the `lesser known' presidents and about 5-10 pages for the likes of Washington, Lincoln, etc. You are also given travel information - city/street maps to locate the places (which aren't very helpful), and museum hours, admissions, etc. The best part of the book were the color photos of the presidents' homes and the US map that shows the distribution of the presidential monuments. I'm not really sure I even get the purpose of this book - it doesn't offer any information that is new or interesting. I wouldn't recommend this book because all of the information it contains can be found with far better accuracy and depth on the Internet; via the museum or library websites you would get much more background information about the President you need information on with up-to-date info on hours, admissions, etc. *This review is for the 1995 edition*

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Completely Hygienic!

Clean and Decent: The Fascinating History of the Bathroom and the Water-Closet
Lawrence Wright
Manufacturer: Penguin Global
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
Social History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books
General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Porcelain God: A Social History of the Toilet

Warm and Snug: The History of the Bed (Sutton History Classics)

Who Cut the Cheese: A Cultural History of the Fart

The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (Vintage)

ASIN: 0141390352

Book Description

Who would have supposed that the Romans had lagged hot-water pipes? That Queen Elizabeth I had a valve water-closet? That Louis IV had cushions in his bath? This informative and hilarious book leads the reader to believe that more may be learned about the past from bathrooms than from battlefields, and that patterns of social history are mirrored in the bathwater.

Customer Reviews:

Completely Hygienic!.......2003-01-24

Who would have thought there was so much to learn about toilets and bathroom culture? This is a great primer for those who wonder just how people did bathe and perform 'ablutions' before the days of indoor plumbing and water-trapped toilets for all (or at least those of us in western countries). Written in 1960, it assumes a bit more familiarity than most of us have with English-style boilers and toilets, and more knowledge of history than the average high school graduate would have today. The language is a bit old-school, but in a descriptive fashion, and is never difficult to follow. It does contain several quotes in French and Latin without translations, but they are short, and not essential to the enjoyment of the book.

Clean & Decent is at its best when sharing tidbits and historical anecdotes (such as story of a householder how discovered that his royal houseguests had used his hallways, landings and cellars for their toilets). In the Penguin Classic History edition, an old fashioned font has been used, which, along with numerous black and white illustrations (not all of them very well produced or labelled, unfortunately), gives the book a great "old fashioned" feel.

It is sometimes uneven in its technical data. Some diagrams have quite full explanations, and others none at all. However, it never pretends to be a technical book, and provides a very extensive bibliography for anyone who's interested in the how-to's. Some diagrams and drawings also suffer in reproduction, and aren't very clear. The arrangement of the book isn't very intuitive, and it seems to jump back and forth in time, but then, so did humanity's knowledge of and desire for hygiene.

This is enjoyable light reading, especially for anyone interested in 'every day' history who wonders just how people went about at least one aspect of their daily business. It will also provide you with a never-ending supply of did-you-know's. While it's a shame that it wasn't revised and updated to include those other fascinating periods in bathrooms - the 50's and 60's - it's publication as a reprint of the original makes it a great piece of literary history on it's own.

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CLEAN AND DECENT: The fascinating history of the bathroom and the water closet and of sundry habits fashions and accessories of the toilet principally in Great Britain France and America.
Lawrence Wright
Manufacturer: University of Toronto Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000G3HSQA

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Clean and decent: The fascinating history of the bathroom & the water closet and of sundry habits, fashions & accessories of the toilet principally in ... France, & America (Routledge paperback)
Lawrence Wright
Manufacturer: Routledge & K. Paul
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006DDO0E

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Clean and decent: The fascinating history of the bathroom & the water closet and of sundry habits, fashions & accessories of the toilet, principally in Great Britain, France & America
Lawrence Wright
Manufacturer: University of Toronto Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | France | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
General | England | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
History | Fashion | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007JGJEA

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CLEAN AND DECENT: THE FASCINATING HISTORY OF THE BATHROOM & THE WATER CLOSET.

Manufacturer: BCA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HKVQNS

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CLEAN AND DECENT: THE FASCINATING HISTORY OF THE BATHROOM & WATER CLOSET.

Manufacturer: Routledge & Kegan Paul
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HJ3V0K

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Clean and Decent;: The Fascinating History of the Bathroom & the Water Closet and of Sundry Habits, Fashions & Accessories of the Toilet Principally in Great Britain, France, & America
Lawrence Wright
Manufacturer: Routledge & Kegan Paul
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000URIMRG

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Clean and decent;: The fascinating history of the bathroom & the water closet and of sundry habits, fashions & accessories of the toilet, principally in ... America (Canadian university paperbooks, 59)
Lawrence Wright
Manufacturer: University of Toronto Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Exercise & Fitness | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006CV7VS

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Clean & Decent the Fascinating History of the Bathroom and the Water-Closet
Lawrence Wright
Manufacturer: Penguin Global
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJ9Z94

Average customer rating:
Clean and Decent : The Fascinating History of the Bathroom and the Water Closet
Lawrence Wright
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KXO87S

Book Description

In a thought-provoking and entertaining exploration of The Five Biggest Ideas in Science, authors Charles Wynn and Arthur Wiggins provide a panoramic view of the questions scientists seek to answer about the natural world:

Do basic building blocks of matter exist, and if so, what do they look like?
BIG IDEA #1: Physics' Model of the Atom
What relationships, if any, exist among different kinds of atoms?
BIG IDEA #2: Chemistry's Periodic Law
Where did the atoms of the universe come from,and what is their destiny?
BIG IDEA #3: Astronomy's Big Bang Theory
How is the matter of the universe arranged in planet Earth?
BIG IDEA #4: Geology's Plate Tectonics Model
How did life on planet Earth originate and develop?
BIG IDEA #5: Biology's Theory of Evolution

Get set for a lively and informative discussion, as you also learn how to evaluate potential applications of these and other scientific ideas.

Customer Reviews:

Ideas that are the foundation of a science discipline.......2005-01-26

There are some ideas in science that are so all-encompassing that they can be considered to form the basis of an entire discipline. This book examines what the authors believe are the five biggest of those ideas, and I can't say that I strongly disagree with any of their choices. They are:

*) The physicist's model of the atom.
*) The periodic table of the elements.
*) The big bang theory.
*) The geological theory of plate tectonics.
*) The biological theory of evolution.

The model of the atom is the fundamental principle of particle physics and is the one that has changed the most over the last century. One hundred years ago, there were positive and negative particles in the nucleus of an atom. Now, there are neutrons, neutrinos, mesons and the even smaller quarks. The periodic table of the elements is the unifying principle of chemistry, and hasn't fundamentally changed for several centuries.
All of cosmology is based on the initial event known as the big bang; every principle and theory of how the universe operates is based on this initial event. While there are other ideas used in geology, the concepts of plate tectonics are the biggest. Finally, the development of new species over time via evolution and natural selection is the unifying principle of biology and is used to explain a great deal of human behavior.
The only one of these big ideas that I would even come close to questioning is plate tectonics. If I were to make the choice, I would replace it with the biggest idea of all, which was the earliest scientific discovery. Namely, that point in time when humans first realized that nature was not fickle, but operated according to predictable laws. It was this idea that made all of the others possible, and was quite literally the birth of science.
The explanations of the ideas are very well done and Sidney Harris cartoons are interspersed in the text. He is the premier scientific cartoonist; they are very funny, although at times it is necessary to understand the science to get the whole point. The last part of the book is made up of forty short items called idea folders. They are short explanations of other scientific ideas, such as Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, matter vs. antimatter, special and general relativity, chaos and extraterrestrial life.
Written at a level that everyone can understand, the authors explain science by describing some of the most significant conclusions ever reached. They also point out that these ideas sometimes took thousands of years to reach their current form. This is significant, as it makes you realize that science continues to advance even though a general idea may form the foundation for the discipline. It also entertains you while the science is explained.

Five biggest ideas goes over big.......2000-06-15

"The Five Biggest Ideas In Science" is a great summary of intricate scientific theories. Cartoons, diagrams and humor help explain in lay terms what makes the five theories BIG to scientists and how the scientific method works. Lively discussions and relevant examples clearly define the topics for readers. Contributions of scientists that led to the current theories also give important historical information. Idea folders associated with each chapter lead readers in search of more information. This is a must read for anyone interested in how science works.

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The Five Biggest Ideas in Science

Manufacturer: Barnes & Noble
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0760745072

Product Description

The atom, the Periodic Law, the Big Bang, plate tectonics, evolution...get a handle on these ideas and you're well on your way to a better understanding of life on earth and in the universe! An essential science book.

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