Private Money Management: Switching from Mutual Funds to Private Money Managers

Book Description

If you knew exactly how much money you would need at retirement, you could figure out how much risk you'd have to take to get there. You could stop focusing on finding the next hot investment and set about building your overall net worth. You'd develop a plan to manage your existing assets and future resources to meet your anticipated needs. Private Money Management: Switching from Mutual Funds to Private Money Managers supplies a blueprint of investment objectives that does just that. Private Money Management: Switching from Mutual Funds to Private Money Managers gives you the confidence and ability an ever-expanding, competitive marketplace of investment products demands. From basic investing to advanced planning, you get step-by-step strategies to achieve your financial goals. You will understand which combinations of investments will give you the highest probability of making up any shortfalls, lower your costs, and operate your investment program fully aware of the tax consequences. Get in-depth coverage of: o Investing for retirement o The power of tax-deferral o IRAs and the Roth IRA o Retirement plans for the independent business o 401(k) or 403(b) o Annuities and variable annuities o Social Security: good news to save you money o Financial planning on the Internet o Selecting your financial advisor or investment advisory team o Qualifications you should demand from your money manager o How to analyze an investment and read a prospectus o Invest to pay for college Leave the gambling to others, and base your decisions on accurate information. Your investment program should be designed to meet your financial goals, not beat the stock market. Private Money Management: Switching from Mutual Funds to Private Money Managers provides you with an investment strategy that has the highest probability of achieving the absolute dollars you need, within your time frame, and with the appropriate level of risk - and will teach you how to use it.

Book Description

The organizations of the future will look to the function of purchasing as a core process and an active contributor to their competitive advantage.

Book Description

Dieses Buch, das Standardwerk der juristischen Methodenlehre, stellt in einem historisch-kritischen Teil die Entwicklung der Rechtstheorie und der juristischen Methodenlehre in Deutschland in ihren wichtigsten Vertretern seit Savigny dar. Es behandelt sodann die Lehre vom Rechtssatz, die Bildung des rechtlichen Sachverhalts und die hierfür erforderlichen Beurteilungen, die Methoden der Gesetzesauslegung und der richterlichen Rechtsfortbildung, endlich die Begriffs- und Systembildung in der Jurisprudenz. Die jetzt vorliegende 6. Auflage berücksichtigt die seit der Vorauflage erschienene umfangreiche Literatur und nimmt zu ihr Stellung. Weiter werden durch die Überarbeitung ein höheres Maß an Geschlossenheit und Verständlichkeit erreicht. Die Ausführungen werden durch zahlreiche Beispiele aus der Rechtsprechung, vor allem des Bundesgerichtshofes und des Bundesverfassungsgerichts, verständlich und für die Praxis fruchtbar gemacht. Der Autor zeigt, daß die Jurisprudenz Methoden eines "wertorientierten" Denkens entwickelt hat, die es ihr erlauben, auch da, wo notwendig Wertungen in die juristische Beurteilung einfließen, diese wenigstens bis zu einer gewissen Grenze nachvollziehbar und überprüfbar zu machen.

Methodenlehre der Rechtswissenschaft (Springer-Lehrbuch)

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Methodenlehre der Rechtswissenschaft (Springer-Lehrbuch)
Karl Larenz , and Claus-Wilhelm Canaris
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Law | Subjects | Books

Jurisprudence | Perspectives on Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

German | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Nonfiction | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

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ASIN: 3540590862

Book Description

Der Larenz ist seit Jahren ein Klassiker unter den Lehrbüchern zur juristischen Methodenlehre. Um das Buch auch Studenten zugänglich zu machen, haben sich Autor und Verlag zur Publikation dieser gekürzten Studienausgabe des Buches aus der Reihe Enzyklopädie der Rechts- und Staatswissenschaften entschlossen. Neben der Aneignung von Kenntnissen in den einzelnen Rechtsgebieten und der praktischen Übung im Lösen von Fällen ist der Erwerb des methodischen Rüstzeugs für ein erfolgreiches Studium von besonderer Wichtigkeit. Dies gilt namentlich für die Auslegungslehre, die anhand zahlreicher Beispiele aus der höchstrichterlichen Rechtsprechung veranschaulicht wird. Claus-Wilhelm Canaris, hat das Buch im Geist seines Lehrers Karl Larenz fortgeführt und aktualisiert, teilweise aber auch eigene Akzente gesetzt.

Methodenlehre der Sozialwissenschaften (Forschungen aus Staat und Recht)

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Methodenlehre der Sozialwissenschaften (Forschungen aus Staat und Recht)
Felix Kaufmann
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

German | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Nonfiction | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

All German Books | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 3211831266

Book Description

Mit der "Methodenlehre der Sozialwissenschaften" von Felix Kaufmann wird die Folge von Publikationen österreichischer Pioniere der Rechts-, Staats- und Sozialwissenschaften fortgesetzt. Eingeleitet wird dieses zu Unrecht aus dem heutigen Blickfeld verschwundene Werk von Günther Winkler. Dieser gilt mit zahlreichen eigenen Publikationen zu Methodenfragen (Forschungen aus Staat und Recht Bde 32, 46, 85, 90, 95, 105) als einer der prominentesten Denker auf diesem Gebiet. Mit diesem Buch liegt ein weiteres Werk vor, das allen nur empfohlen werden kann, die sich einen Einblick in die Wurzeln heutiger Sozialwissenschaft verschaffen wollen und die weiterhin gültige Anregungen suchen.

Soil survey of Washington County, Oregon
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Soil survey of Washington County, Oregon
E. B Watson
Manufacturer: G.P.O
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Soil Science | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0008AWI0C

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Soil survey of Washington County, Oregon
George L Green
Manufacturer: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Agricultural Sciences | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006EBWDE

Soil survey of the Hood River-White Salmon River area, Oregon-Washington
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Soil survey of the Hood River-White Salmon River area, Oregon-Washington
A. T Strahorn
Manufacturer: U.S. Govt. Print. Off
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Soil Science | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B00087KYF6

A Question of Chemsitry : Creative Problems for Critical Thinkers
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You've spent time learning the terms and facts, now practice thinking using all that learning

A Valuable Resource for Innovative Chemistry Teachers

A Question of Chemsitry : Creative Problems for Critical Thinkers
John Garratt , Terry Threlfall , and Tina Overton
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General & Reference | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Science | Subjects | Books
General & Reference | Chemistry | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0582298385

Book Description

`It must be more important to be skilled in thinking, than to be stuffed with facts.'
Edward de Bono

This innovative book has been designed to teach its readers how - and not just what - to think: to question, critically and creatively, and to make judgements. De Bono's philosophy is that it is possible to learn these skills, and the authors' aim has been to provide an active, problem-solving text written to inspire students of chemistry to think both effectively and professionally.

Customer Reviews:

You've spent time learning the terms and facts, now practice thinking using all that learning.......2006-09-21

In many courses students invest vast amounts of time and effort learning oceans of information and developing facility with a technical vocabulary. What teachers also want them to develop is the ability to reason using all this information and vocabulary. In the real world, one isn't asked questions simply to provide the correct answer. Often, there is not simple answer. This book is designed to teach such reasoning and help them develop the ability to make creative judgments using the field and language of chemistry.

And it does require that the student already have a year of chemistry and some comfort with general science under their belt. Without the knowledge of what the chemical formulae mean and how one puts various elements and compounds together, or what certain processes do to molecules, well, you won't be able to work the problems.

They are all various kinds of multiple choice or multiple task problems. The student is given some material and then asked questions and then provided a list of items to select from or a list of tasks to report on, but the purpose and method of selection differs depending on what kind of problem the student is being asked to solve. It is important to note that most of the questions do not have one and only one correct answer. When the authors provide their choices they discuss them as their preferred choices. They agree that there are other approaches. For this book, it is the process rather than the end that is usually the point.

There are five sections of questions followed by commentaries that provide the authors' answers and commentary on the problem. The sections are: 1) understanding an argument (how to critically evaluate an argument made by others), 2) constructing an argument (developing a logical sequence with appropriate linking words knowing the reasons for the sequence given), 3) critical reading (learning to evaluate the quality of the argument made - is the evidence appropriate to the conclusions and are the conclusions correct - do they make appropriate assertions or should they provide something else by way of support?), 4) making judgments (how to make choices when, as in most real world cases, there is no single "correct" answer), and 5) reference trails (this helps the student develop a feel for how to track down the important and desired information in a field with multiple oceans of information even in specialized areas).

This is a very useful book for the right audience. If you have a good basic understanding of chemistry and want to sharpen your reasoning skills using the technical information you have worked so hard to develop, this is a fine choice. Teachers can use this book to teach their students and use the questions to supplement their regular chemistry course to enrich the learning experience of their students.

A Valuable Resource for Innovative Chemistry Teachers.......2001-03-27

As the opening paragraph of the Introduction explains: "The idea behind this book is simple. We wanted our students to learn how to think and not just what to think... to recognize that learning to be a chemist involves more than learning chemical facts..." Questions that challenge students to think critically and creatively are not easy to construct, so this collection of over 200 such questions, very few requiring advanced chemical knowledge, is a significant contribution. Commentary on about half the questions is in the concluding section, and suggestions for classroom use are in the introduction.

The book is divided into five sections. In the first, Understanding an Argument, a passage is given followed by a multiple choice question related to its conceptual base, its underlying assumptions, or some aspect other than informational content. Generally more than one of the five choices is a correct statement, but may be unrelated to or inconsistent with the passage, so a correct statement may not be a "right" answer. In the second section, Constructing an Argument, three related chemical statements are given in random order, and the task is to place them in a logical sequence. In most cases there is more than one logical sequence, so an important aspect of the answer is the justification students give, and to recognize what assumptions they might, unknowingly, be making.

Section 3, Critical Reading, presents passages from a chemistry textbook, or an article from a journal or magazine, followed by one or more questions often about assumptions (sometimes mistaken) the passage makes about the reader's knowledge. Some involve interpreting tabular or graphical data. Others involve writing, especially for non-scientists. Common to all is thinking beyond the information in the passage.

In the professional workplace, problems often lack single, unequivocal answers, and section 4, Making Judgements, reminds students of this. Some involve "back-of-the-envelope" estimations when precise data is lacking (How many molecules of Caesar's last breath were in your most recent one?). Others involve recognizing that the same word can have different meanings in different contexts, for example, "pure", "concentrated", "perfectly safe." All require thought, judgement, and justification; few have single "right" answers.

Each question in Section 5, Reference Trails, gives a specific reference from the published literature and a series of questions that can be answered either in the reference or earlier cited ones, developing valuable research skills for upper division and graduate chemistry students. Unlike earlier questions, these have single unequivocal answers somewhere in the reference trail.

Although certainly worthwhile for the questions it contains, this book's greatest value may be to emphasize the important skills these kinds of questions develop and to encourage teachers at all levels to keep this in mind in their own efforts. As a model for innovative questions, this book is a gem. "A Question of Chemistry: Creative Problems for Critical Thinkers" belongs in the library of every chemistry teacher from high school to graduate school.

Book Description

Digital signal processing has become an integral part of observational seismology. Seismic waveforms and the parameters commonly extracted from them are strongly influenced by the effects of numerous filters, both within the earth and within the recording system. With the advent of numerous software tools for the processing of digital seismograms, seismologists have unprecedented power in extracting information from seismic records. These tools are often based on sophisticated theoretical aspects of digital signal processing which, to be used properly, need to be understood. This book is aimed at observational seismologists and students in geophysics trying to obtain a basic understanding of those aspects of digital signal processing that are relevant to the interpretation of seismograms. It covers the basic theory of linear systems, the design and analysis of simple digital filters, the effect of sampling and A/D conversion, the calculation of 'true ground motion', and the effects of seismic recording systems on parameters extracted from digital seismograms. It contains numerous examples and exercises together with their solutions.
CD-ROM Included
The second edition contains the Digital Seismology Tutor by Elke Schmidtke (University of Potsdam) and Frank Scherbaum, a Java applet with all the tools to reproduce and/or modify the examples and problems from this book. Furthermore, a treatment of sigma-delta modulation with new problems and exercises has been added.

Customer Reviews:

Of Poles and Zeros.......2001-10-25

This is an excellent introduction to modern seismic measurement systems. Basically all what you need to know is covered here. Starting from functioning of seismometer, analog-to-digital techniques and digital filtering. All from the point of view of seismological interests, i.e. everything is all the time nicely linked with seismological practices which other "signal and systems" books obviously lack. Also the CD included is very educative when learning what poles and zeros actually mean.

Pictures could be a bit better from time to time. It seems that straight window-captures have been used when some further image processing would have been required.

Nevertheless, this is a must for any seismologist dealing with measuring systems.

Book Description

Becky Steele has a black belt in tongue fu. She holds the Girl's Night Out record for the shortest amount of time between meeting a man and going to bed with him ( nine minutes). So why is she getting married? Sure, Julian's the right man, but has she had enough wrong ones? Jilting Julian at the alter, Becky embark's on a wild affair with a young rap star, who's as raunchy as hubby, a human rights lawyer, is stodgy. Complications arise, however, when Julian winds up representing Becky's new boy toy in an obscene lyrics suit and starts doing the horizontal tango with Becky's best friend. Will Becky get in touch with her Inner Adult? Will Julian learn to give good hedonism. Is it okay to have an affair with your own husband? Sex, lies, and relationships angst play out to hilarious consequences in this absolutely fabulous, sexy comic novel.

Customer Reviews:

Incredibly Crude.......2005-08-26

Maybe I'm missing something by quitting halfway through, but I found the book annoying and disgusting. (And it's hard to disgust me)

LOL.......2005-07-11

Lette is a great comic author from Australia. Her writing style is deliberately "hiccupy" in order to illustrate her main characters bumbling lifestyle. Few books have made me laugh out loud like this one. Though I'm sure many may misunderstand her illustration of a may-december interracial relationship, yet as an African American woman myself, I found it hilarious.

Darkly hilarious to the core!.......2003-08-05

Altar Ego is one of the funniest chick novels ever written! Rebecca Steele is the perfect anti-heroine - dissatisfied, obnoxious, adulterous - and she stumbles upon trouble throughout the novel as she makes one ill-fated decision after another.

Having jilted her lawyer fiance at the altar, Rebecca makes the added mistake of having a sizzling liaison with a gorgeous rap star. No sooner does she embark upon the affair than she discovers that her boy toy is one of her boyfriend's exclusive clients. With the help of her eccentric friends, Rebecca tries to figure out a way to get out of the situation without hurting anyone. Will her boyfriend find out? Will Rebecca be able to resist the rap star's tenacious nature? Will she ever grow up? There are some fun twists in the novel.

I roared with laughter at Rebecca's relationship angst and ironic humor. Kathy Lette is a great comic author. Her writing style is sort of sloppy, which makes it all the more entertaining. I couldn't put this book down and I look forward to reading more from this talented Australian author.

Naughty but Nice.......2003-04-01

Becky is in her 30's and about to get married, but at the last minute...she asks herself, "Am I really ready to be with just one guy for the rest of my life?" No more one night stands? No more lustful encounters?" And this is where the book takes off...with Becky and her journey through love, lust, marriage, divorce, betrayal, friendship, and well LIFE!

Poor Julian, Becky's fiancée, doesn't know what hit him with Becky runs off with Zach, a new and upcoming rap star she meets in London - who is much younger than her to boot! Where will life take her? Who will she choose? Who will have her? Well, you will have to get this book because I am not going to give all of it away!

This book has everything and will have your head in a spin! Your stomach will hurt with laughter! I highly recommend this book! I can not wait to read my next book by Lette! If you like Brit Lit - you will most defiantly like this book (Lette is Australian, but the book takes place in London)

Worst book I've ever read?.....Maybe........2002-11-10

Honestly I tried to give this book a chance. I struggled through to the end of this book despite the fact that I kept telling myself to just put it down and never pick it back up again. But unfortunately I did pick it back up and it never got any better. I do not get offended easily, however, as an African-American woman I found parts of this book to be very offensive but, sorry to say, that was not the only downfall of this book. `ALTAR EGO' was not very funny, the characters were totally unlikable (to the point where I almost didn't even care what happened to them next), and the ending was completely unbelievable.

Becky, the main character of this book ditches Julian, her fiancé, at the altar feeling overwhelmed by the idea of commitment, despite this Julian takes Becky back into his life and his home. But at a friends wedding Becky meets an American rap star and begins a long-term affair with him. Throughout this book Becky proceeds to hurt everyone in her life from her lover and fiancé to her best friends and yet Lette expects us to feel sympathy for her when things don't go her way. I am a big fan of British humor but `ALTAR EGO' is not a good example of a `BRIDGET JONES DIARY' style of book. And the portrayal of this Lenny Kravitz type rap star (a combination that is unbelievable enough by itself) was a completely inaccurate representation of American culture. Simply put `ALTAR EGO' was just plain bad, 1 star!!

Book Description

A new light on a major Civil War figure.

Customer Reviews:

Great biography, poor battlefield guide.......2006-06-07

If you're looking for biographical information on one of the most successful Union generals of the American Civil War, this is a great resource. If you're looking for information on the battles in which Logan participated, you definitely want to look elsewhere. Ecelbarger places Logan one mile away when the fighting broke out at Raymond, Mississippi, which is ludicrous. He also claims that Logan spontaneously ordered forward the Union line at Champion Hill, when in reality the assault that swept Champion Hill was carefully organized by Grant across the entire northern front (from Hovey to Stevenson).

The decision to read this book should be based on the value of learning about Logan's life. Not only was he one of the most successful Generals of the war, he was the most conflicted, having spent the pre-war years fighting against what he viewed as a dangerous and foolish Republican agenda. The district that he represented in congress before the war was staunchly pro-southern, and many members of his family actually volunteered for and helped raise Confederate regiments from Southern Illinois. Logan, an observer at the First Battle of Bull Run, took a rifle from a fleeing soldier, and was immediately sold on the idea of fighting for the Union. When he returned home and announced his intention to raise a regiment for the Union, half of his family stopped speaking to him, including his own mother.

Bottom line: buy this book for the rich biographical detail, and take the battle descriptions with a block of salt.

An objective biography.......2005-10-21

This is an objectively-written biography of one of the few successful political generals of the Civil War. Logan was a complex character, with some opportunistic, unattractive aspects to his personality. He was also intelligent, hard-working, and, in battle, brave and resourceful. The author does a good job describing his early life, Civil War career, and political life. Logan changed his views on several subjects during his public life, and the author explains these issues in depth. He also writes in an exciting yet accurate manner about Logan's battlefield performances. Family life played a large part in Logan's development, and this subject is not neglected. Worth the effort to read about a skilled officer and politician, who is not well-known to most of today's readers.

Well Written Biography of a Little Known General.......2005-08-19

Abraham Lincoln had a lot of trouble finding generals. And his real problem was political generals, particularly Democrats who seemed to have both little capability as generals and who spent too much time as politicians. Burnside and McClellan come to mind.

By far the most successful of the Democratic political generals was Black Jack Logan. A Congressman at the start of the war, he was one of those who went out with the Union army to watch them smash the Rebels at Bull Run/Manassas. Unlike the rest of the observing congressmen, he grabbed a rifle at the start of the battle and followed a Union unit into battle.

Afterwards he entered the Union Army and by its end was a Major General in command of the Army of Tennessee. He was arguably the most competent of the volunteer generals, the political generals.

After the war, he became a confidant of Grant and was supported by Grant for the presidency. Frederick Douglas was another supporter. All in all he was the odds on favorite to win the 1888 election but unexpectedly died.

This is a very well written biography of one of the little known but most effective generals of the American Civil War.

Scientific Conversations: Interviews on Science from The New York Times
Average customer rating:

Thumb-nail sketches on the cutting edge of science

The best cocktail party

Very interesting reading--highly recommended!

Science Made Easy and Fun

Probing the Scientist

Scientific Conversations: Interviews on Science from The New York Times
Claudia Dreifus
Manufacturer: Owl Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books
History of Science | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Reference | Science | Subjects | Books
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The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science

ASIN: 0805071806

Book Description

In these thirty-eight interviews, originally published in the weekly Science Times section of The New York Times, Claudia Dreifus brings all of her colorful personality to bear on her subjects, as well as an arsenal of philosophy, literature, and current events, and an unmistakable curiosity. As each conversation unfolds, we learn surprising and fascinating things about some of the most intriguing figures and issues in science today.Dreifuss outsider status in the world of science is perhaps one of her greatest interviewing strengths. A political journalist for much of her career, she stumbled into a position at the Science Times section. With little more scientific background than the average person, she scrambled to prepare for her meetings with some of the greatest minds in a broad range of disciplinesfrom astronomy to geology, from biology and medicine to computer science and mathematics. She soon found herself in a refreshingly candid environment, so unlike the one she had known on the political beat. It is from this perspective that she makes science tangible, accessible, and entertaining.

Customer Reviews:

Thumb-nail sketches on the cutting edge of science.......2002-07-14

This collection of interviews from the New York Times by one-time political journalist Claudia Dreifus works well as an introduction to various areas of current scientific interest.

Each of the 38 conversations (11 with women) includes a two and a quarter by one and a half inch black and white photo of the interviewee, an introduction, some Q and A, and a postscript in which Dreifus reports on a follow-up. The persons being conversed with are mostly scientists, but there are medical practitioners, a couple of politicians, an AIDS victim, and some administrators. There are some superstars (Martin Rees, Arthur C. Clarke, Freeman Dyson, Stephen Jay Gould, Roger Penrose) and some others who are not very well known outside their area of expertise (e.g., Luis F. Baptista, Birute Galdikas), and still others who are perhaps best known for being in the public eye (Princess Diana's psychiatrist, Susie Orbach; National Public Radio's Ira Flatow; maverick science writer John Horgan). One has the sense that the conversations have been distilled from a larger essence.

The most striking interview is with Dr. Nawal M. Nour, a Sudanese-born gynecologist who treats African-American women in the Boston area who have been mutilated by so-called "female circumcision." Dreifus asks Nour if "These operations" are used "as a means of social control."
Dr. Nour's surprising response is that "the people who are perpetuating the practice are usually the women themselves." She adds, "I find that people do it because of a deeply ingrained belief that they are protecting their daughters. This not done to be hurtful, but out of love." (pp 171-172) Dr. Nour's prescription is to dispel such grotesque ignorance with education.

One of the most interesting interviews is with medical researcher Polly Matzinger, whom I've read about elsewhere. She is the ex-Playboy bunny and waitress who famously began her scientific career when a UC Berkeley professor, Robert Swampty Schwab, to whom she was serving beer, realized her talent after hearing her ask, "Why has no animal ever mimicked a skunk?" She is currently a leading proponent of the exciting idea that it is not "self" and "non-self" that our immune system distinguishes between, but instead between the benign and the dangerous. This is a radical idea that is "turning the world of immunology upside down." (p. 191)

Perhaps the most unusual "scientist" interviewed (at least in terms of his occupation) is self-styled "forensic mathematician" Charles Brenner. He does the mathematical calculations necessary to analyze DNA evidence.

The interview with physicist Freeman J. Dyson is interesting mainly because Dreifus got him to voice lukewarm support for the idea that Werner Heisenberg, Hitler's most talented physicist (and subject of the recent play Copenhagen) in part kept the bomb from the Nazis by not giving the project "the kind of push it needed." Dreifus also elicited Dyson's opposition to Bush's new Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars redux) "because the system doesn't work, mostly because it can be easily outwitted." (p. 22)

As a sometime sampler of "food supplements" I was interested in the conversation with Stephen E. Straus, the virologist who serves as Director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine in our government's National Institute of Health. He has a $90-million budget to test alternative approaches to medicine. This is significant because no one else has the resources do this sort of research on a scale large enough to be worthwhile. The drug companies will not do extensive research on food supplements because they can't patent the supplements and therefore feel such an investment will not pay off.

I enjoyed reading this collection and was intrigued to see how much Dreifus did with the limited space she had available for each interview. Her disarming style with a sharp sense of how to probe often overcame the inevitable superficiality inherent in conversations lasting only about six pages each. A case in point is the question she springs on celebrity psychiatrist, Susie Orbach: "Your highly influence 1978 book, Fat is a Feminist Issue, posited the idea that some women had eating disorders because they had been undernurtured by their mothers. Do you still believe that?" This is the kind of question--like "Do you still beat your wife?"--that one doesn't have to stick around to hear the answer to. The point has been made. Orbach does allow that if she were writing that book today, she "wouldn't write it in the same way."

The best cocktail party.......2001-12-22

What comes through loud and clear from Dreifus's interviews is how much fun her subjects are having doing cutting-edge science. They love their work and love talking about it, and Dreifus manages to convey their enthusiasm to the reader, incidentally passing on a good bit of information from the scientific frontier. You're hooked from the beginning, when Dreifus asks Sir Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal of Great Britain, "So what's your sign?" Think of this as the best cocktail party you've ever been to.

Very interesting reading--highly recommended!.......2001-12-18

Claudia Dreifus has done a tremendous job in compiling interviews from a vast array of scientists of various expertise. The interviews are generally provacative and allow the reader (better than any other book of this kind that I have read) to understand the mind and passions of the scientists. Very highly recommended!!!

Science Made Easy and Fun.......2001-12-17

This upbeat book about thirty eight fascinating figures in contemporary science, makes their universe accessible to the outsider. The pieces are easy to get in to, witty and--dare one say it?--FUN. Suggestion: this is the book for a young person interested in a science career--as well as for routine science buffs.

Probing the Scientist.......2001-11-23

An exploration of our great scientists from the unique perspective of a New York Times writer. Dreifus's knack is to draw out her interviewees and distill complex subjects into compelling, easily understood science. I never miss her interviews in Science Times.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Parks & Recreation, published by National Recreation and Park Association on February 1, 2005. The length of the article is 3205 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Paving over parkland: cash-strapped communities are trading green space for greenbacks.
Author: Maya Avrasin
Publication: Parks & Recreation (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 1, 2005
Publisher: National Recreation and Park Association
Volume: 40 Issue: 2 Page: 40(7)

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