Customer Reviews:
Sharp, wise and practical.......2000-05-25
I've used this book both as a manager, working with individuals and my work team, and also as a consultant and facilitator working with client groups. It is a fantastic resource for the following reasons: 1. it has a very sound foundational model that is built on trust, organisational learning principles and action research; 2. it has an excellent blend of theory and practice, with heaps of case studies, anecdotes and wisdom acquired through experience; 3. it has a lot of really useful tools, reasources, survey instruments and so on - excellent stuff that helps you apply the ideas easily and straight away; 4. it has a lot of humanity, compassion and profound thought about what it means to be an individual working in a complex, dynamic organisation of today; 5. the ideas in it are built on values and ethics, an unusual, but welcome, approach to me; 6. what it advocates is practical, achieveable and realistic - it's not touchy-feely waffle, it is sound advice and tested approaches. Good on you cobbers!
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- It can help the general reader better understand the cosmos
- A survey of the stars...
- Nice cover but...
- the best general survey and the best authority together
- An enjoyable survey of Cosmology.
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The Scientific American Book of the Cosmos
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The Scientific American Book of Astronomy (Scientific American)
ASIN: 0312254539 |
Book Description
Discover how dinosaurs evolved, how they looked, where they lived, how they behaved, and why they died: the current state of knowledge about the Monsters of the Mesozoic, complete in one volume. Acclaimed dinosaur paleontologist and paleo-artist Gregory S. Paul conducts this definitive tour through the 140-million-year existence of the most exotic and interesting group of animals ever to walk the earth, assisted by the world's leading dinosaur experts. Here you'll find remarkable stories about the first discoveries of dinosaur fossils, the beginnings of dinosaur paleontology, how the field has changed with modern technology, the most sensational finds, and the latest theories. You'll also explore the answers to such questions as: Did dinosaurs have feathers? Did dinosaurs fly? Were the dinosaurs sluggish, cold-blooded reptilians, or something radically different? What are the different dinosaur families, how were they named, and how are they related? What was the dinosaurs' world like, and how did it change during their reign? Are the birds of today the living descendants of predatory dinosaurs? How and why did the major dinosaur famihes become extinct? Filled with spectacular full-color illustrations of dinosaurs in action, plus black-and-white art and graphics. The Scientific American Book of Dinosaurs features the latest information from the field of dinosaur paleontology, presented in a fascinating and accessible format. You'll never think about dinosaurs the same way again! AUTHORBIO: Gregory S. Paul is one of America's leading dinosaur paleontologists and also a gifted artist. For his anatomical accuracy, he is considered among his peers to be the "definitive" paleo-artist. Paul has worked on Disney's animated movie Dinosaur and was a consultant on the motion picture Jurassic Park. His published work includes dozens of scientific papers in magazines and journals, and the books Beyond Humanity, The Complete Illustrated Guide to Dinosaur Skeletons, Predetory Dinosaurs of the World, Dinosaurs of the Air: The Evolution and Loss of Flight in the Mesozoic, and Dinosaurs and Birds. Paul's illustrations have graced dozens of books, periodicals, and televised specials on the fabulous beasts. His art has also been exhibited in the Smithsonian Institution's traveling exhibit and has been displayed in ten natural history museums around the world.
Customer Reviews:
It can help the general reader better understand the cosmos.......2005-05-01
This collection of 'Scientific- American' articles aims to provide a comprehensive guide to our understanding of the Cosmos. It has an opening section with three 'historical articles' .The first is one which revolutionized Astronomy in that it instructed amateur astronomers on how to make important scientific observations. The second by Schrodinger has to do with the nature of Matter. And the third, is an Einstein article on Gravitation.
The volume attempts to explore the Origin and Possible End of the Universe. Its last chapter has a group of speculations on this subject.
It also has an article by Drake and Sagan on exploring for extraterrestial life.
Stephen Gould provides an article on the Evolution of Life on Earth.
There is a section on the evolution of the Galaxies, and also one on the overall evolution of the Cosmos.
Various articles address subjects much written and talked about today from ' superstring theory' to ' the nature of dark matter'.
I am not a person with scientific training or great scientific knowledge. I am not capable of really commenting on the ' scientific level' of most of the essays.
I read as a general reader who wishes to better understand the world.
In this a work like this has much more in it than I am capable of really absorbing and understanding .
I believe it will be of value to most people who wish to know and understand the Cosmos in a better way than they do now.
A survey of the stars..........2004-01-16
The Scientific American 'Book of the Cosmos' is a collection of articles from the pages of the respected magazine Scientific American; these articles all deal in way or another with astronomy, astrophysics, planetary science and similar studies. Because it is a collection of articles, it has no particular narrative outline running through each section, but rather each section hangs together by general theme.
The articles are all fairly recent pieces, save for those that are specifically historical in nature. However, given the nature of periodical writing, many pieces are speculative, and some are already outdated -- but such is the danger in science writing. Things are always changing.
The first section draws some key articles from the history of Scientific American, with notable names such as Albert Einstein on gravitation and Erwin Schrodinger on matter. The section begins, however, with Albert G. Ingall's 1925 article that began a revolution in amateur astronomy, urging people to construct their own telescopes. Astronomy remains to this day one of the very few academic disciplines in which amateurs consistently make discoveries of importance to professionals.
The collection of essays then proceeds to looking at theories of the birth of the universe and large scale structures, galactic astronomy, and our own galaxy the Milky Way. From this grand cosmic tour the book looks at planetary science, with articles on the birth of solar system and various components in it, the different planets including the earth and moon, and finally looking at life on earth, and the search for life and intelligence on other planets.
Finally, the articles look at the smallest parts of the universe -- elementary particles, quantum ideas and the early time in the universe, concluding where we started with large-scale cosmological ideas of the universe, and different theories of the inflationary and self-reproducing universe.
As stated before, these articles do not hang together consistently in the way they might if they were written with the intention of being co-chapters in a book. To me, this is not a significant flaw, unless one is looking to this as an 'only' book on astronomy. As someone who has dozens of books on the subject, I find this collection interesting and worthwhile.
The list of contributing authors to this volume is impressive; in addition to Einstein, Schrodinger and Ingalls mentioned above, other authors include Carl Sagan, Frank Drake, Wendy Freedman, Stephen Jay Gould, and many other top names in the scientific arena.
David Levy, the editor of this volume, typifies the respect amateur astronomers receive in the field. Levy is himself an amateur astronomer; if his name seems familiar, it is because he is one of the co-discoverers of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 that plunged into the Jupiter atmosphere with its firey display in 1994. Levy has written a brief introductory piece for each section, outlining the importance of the topic in the larger astronomical field.
This is a good collection to have for the amateur or professional astronomer, and those generally interested in space sciences.
Nice cover but..........2001-02-20
The book fails to offer a comprehensive perspective and is certainly not the definitive work described in the publisher's promo. The "S.A. Book of the Cosmos" is neither up to date nor does it provide a coherent retrospective view. It flits about from topic to topic and leaves important questions unanswered. In my opinion, there are far better books on cosmology for the casually interested reader: Look for titles by Harrison, Gribbon, Davies, Guth, and Thorne.
the best general survey and the best authority together.......2000-12-05
why on earth, no pun intended, would anybody be disappointed in this terrific book that brings together cosmological thought from Einstein to Sagan, all in one package?
This is a rich source for further meditation on the cosmos, nicely designed and illustrated.
An enjoyable survey of Cosmology........2000-12-01
This book is not as bad as others have indicated here. It is more an anthology of Cosmology related "essays" from Scientific American than it is an academic treatment of cutting-edge Cosmology.
If you want hardcore Cosmology, look elsewhere. But if you want brief, easy-to-read overviews of current ideas in Cosmology, this should be an enjoyable book for you.
Yes, there is a general lack of pictures, but the color pictures that are present are very nice. Besides, I am more interested in the content of the text.
I found the first three historical essays to be of special interest. One is by Einstein and concerns Relativity. The most fascinating for me is the one by Erwin Schrodinger titled "What is Matter?". This article alone was worth the price of the book for me. Schrodinger's essay helped me to understand, more than any other book, what we mean by the terms matter, energy, and force.
Product Description
Finally, the entire book of our scientific knowledge is in one definitive volume! Scientific American, the oldest and most popular science magazine in the world has prepared the most comprehensive book on the subject ever! Book includes newly commissioned essays by working scientists at the top of their fields as well as classic writings by Einstein, Francis Crick and Carl Sagan.
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Space Age Crystals: The Art and Science of Crystal Growing on Earth and in Space
Heinz J. Teige
Manufacturer: Kristal Corp.
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ASIN: 0963352504 |
Book Description
Why are men, like other primate males, usually the aggressors and risk takers? Why do women typically have fewer sexual partners? Why is killing infants routine in some cultures, but forbidden in others? Why is incest everywhere taboo? Bobbi Low ranges from ancient Rome to modern America, from the Amazon to the Arctic, and from single-celled organisms to international politics to show that these and many other questions about human behavior largely come down to evolution and sex. More precisely, as she shows in this uniquely comprehensive and accessible survey of behavioral and evolutionary ecology, they come down to the basic principle that all organisms evolved to maximize their reproductive success and seek resources to do so.
Low begins by reviewing the fundamental arguments and assumptions of behavioral ecology: selfish genes, conflicts of interest, and the tendency for sexes to reproduce through different behaviors. She explains why in primate species--from chimpanzees and apes to humans--males seek to spread their genes by devoting extraordinary efforts to finding mates, while females find it profitable to expend more effort on parenting. Low illustrates these sexual differences among humans by showing that in places as diverse as the parishes of nineteenth-century Sweden, the villages of seventeenth-century China, and the forests of twentieth-century Brazil, men have tended to seek power and resources, from cattle to money, to attract mates, while women have sought a secure environment for raising children. She makes it clear, however, they have not done so simply through individual efforts or in a vacuum, but that men and women act in complex ways that involve cooperation and coalition building and that are shaped by culture, technology, tradition, and the availability of resources. Low also considers how the evolutionary drive to acquire resources leads to environmental degradation and warfare and asks whether our behavior could be channeled in more constructive ways.
Download Description
Why are men, like other primate males, usually the aggressors and risk takers? Why do women typically have fewer sexual partners? Why is killing infants routine in some cultures, but forbidden in others? Why is incest everywhere taboo? Bobbi Low ranges from ancient Rome to modern America, from the Amazon to the Arctic, and from single-celled organisms to international politics to show that these and many other questions about human behavior largely come down to evolution and sex. More precisely, as she shows in this uniquely comprehensive and accessible survey of behavioral and evolutionary ecology, they come down to the basic principle that all organisms evolved to maximize their reproductive success and seek resources to do so.
Low begins by reviewing the fundamental arguments and assumptions of behavioral ecology: selfish genes, conflicts of interest, and the tendency for sexes to reproduce through different behaviors. She explains why in primate species--from chimpanzees and apes to humans--males seek to spread their genes by devoting extraordinary efforts to finding mates, while females find it profitable to expend more effort on parenting. Low illustrates these sexual differences among humans by showing that in places as diverse as the parishes of nineteenth-century Sweden, the villages of seventeenth-century China, and the forests of twentieth-century Brazil, men have tended to seek power and resources, from cattle to money, to attract mates, while women have sought a secure environment for raising children.
Customer Reviews:
A book with to many numbers and figures.......2006-08-06
I bought this book to learn some interisting new facts that I have not heard about before. Well this book didn't do that. Most of the stuff in this book I have read in other places and it was written better. Like The "Red Queen" by Matt Ridley & "Why is Sex Fun" by Jarod Diamond.
This book relies to heavely on statistical data to come up with anything very interisting. I found myself skipping complete pages and chapters because of the boredom for having to read to many statistics.
If you are looking to use this book as a resource to quote statistics about sex then you are in good shape, this book will give you plenty of that. Other wise i recomend that you stir clear of this book.
Brilliant, if dense, review of human behavior.......2003-07-21
Basically, I'm of much the same opinion as most of the other reviewers. It's a thoroughly fascinating book, which actually looks at human behavior as it should be seen: the ecology and interactions of highly inteligent, highly communicate, mostly bald apes. Well worth the read. That said, I must say that without at least some background knowledge in evolutionary biology, you'll find it tough to digest. But such is the way of scientific works, and, frankly, I prefer it as is, rather than loaded down with explanations of things I already know from my classes.
Definitely a book worth not only read, but keeping around as a reference.
Falls Short.......2002-09-22
This topic is extremely complex and professor Low , in my opinion, falls short of further elucidating this field. It's breadth is impressive and stimulated me to pick up the book, however, it doesn't seem to be researched comprehensively. There were several significant omissions. For example, the "group selection muddle" is only a problem for biologists who fail to understand group selection. I admit, alot of prominent biologists don't get it, however, any valid review of the topic should reference David Wilson and Elliot Sober. Also, Low should add that Charles Darwin accepted group selection as an evolutionary mechanism. Another example involves the gender and war section. Again, Low knows more about this subject than most biologists, however, the field of military psychology encompasses more than Clauswitz and Keegan.
On the positive side, I believe professor Low handles the nature-nurture question well. Several sections were informative. Unless one is an expert in this area, they will certainly learn a few new things.
Great but not an easy read.......2002-04-13
Although a talented scientist, Bobbi Low is not a talented writer. This is a great book for those with some foreknowledge of the subjects of sex and evolutionary psychology, but it might be a little obtuse for the casual reader. Her writing style is somewhat stilted and dry, and she quite often assumes the reader is familiar with prior studies and concepts that are germaine to her point, without explaining those concepts, or at best doing so very obliquely. There is a wealth of information here, though, for those willing to decipher what she's saying.
New book with some new stuff!.......2001-02-21
The title of this book is a little misleading, because it is an excellent book on evolution in general. That is, it is much broader than the title implies, is very well written, and brings some new perspectives to the subject of human behavior and evolution. It is one of the better books that covers the subject as completely as possible and I would recommend it as an introduction to the subject for the novice or for additional reading for those already versed in the subject.
Therefore, rather than giving and overview of the book, I will comment on just a few points Low makes that I found especially interesting. He advances the recent research that has been done on group evolutionary strategies. That is, we have evolved our higher intellect not for dealing with a harsh environment but for the sake of competing with each other. Humans, forming cohesive groups thousands of years ago, cooperated together to compete against other groups. That included genocide, warfare, etc. The smarter and more cohesive the group, the more likely it would win out over the less cohesive or less intelligent group.
He also sheds light on our irrationality or our illogical behavior. As a species that evolved in social groups, we are far too responsive to the rare events that we feel threatened by. This means we are quick to pass laws or try to remedy problems that are essentially quite rare but become sensationalized in the press. We as a species are also quick to blame others for their bad behavior based on their flawed character, while our own failures are attributed to circumstances. We have an incredible ability to rationalize our own shortcomings. In addition, we are easily led by people with status, and are easily duped by their explanations of social situations. That is, we believe too readily what we are told by leaders.
His covering of war and deception is also rich in explanations and insight. With regards to a one world government he states, "In a major work on the kin selection roots of warfare, after eloquent analysis, the authors are reduced to calling for 'some form of world government, some management force that might stabilize the most immediate threat to humanity --- nuclear destruction.' The entire work, however, is an acknowledgment that the power of in-group amity and out-group enmity would likely force any such world government to be a conquest state, a chilling prospect."
It is refreshing to read an evolutionist that both understands our genocidal nature as part of our journey into modernity, but does not fall for the egalitarian solutions that so many of these authors try to put forth to save us. Low understands how such simple solutions will bring us once again into the folds of the totalitarian state.
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Darwinians Look at Rape, Sex and War.(Review): An article from: American Scientist
Craig B. Stanford
Manufacturer: Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
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ASIN: B0008HBOGY
Release Date: 2005-07-28 |
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Extensively revised edition of a much-respected work examines thermodynamics of irreversible processes, general principles of statistical thermodynamics, assemblies of noninteracting structureless particles, and statistical theory. 1966 edition.
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Booing the Bishop & Other Stories
Jude Collins
Manufacturer: Blackstaff Press
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ASIN: 0856405671 |
Books:
- Explicit Cost Dynamics: An Alternative to Activity-Based Costing
- Financial & Managerial Accounting/Managerial Accounting: Working Papers for Exercises and Problems : Chapters 14-28 and Appendixes A-D
- Financial Markets Theory: Equilibrium, Efficiency and Information (Springer Finance)
- Financial Planning for the Utterly Confused
- Financial Products: An Introduction using Mathematics and Excel
- Financial Products: Taxation, Regulation and Design (2007 Supplement) Three-Volume Set
- Financing Technology's Frontier: Decision-Making Models for Investors and Advisors (Wiley Finance)
- Forced Saving: Mandating Private Retirement Incomes
- Fundamentals of Intermediate Accounting, Excel Working Papers
- Fundamentals of Quantitative Business Methods: Business Tools and Cases in Mathematics, Descriptive Statistics, and Probability
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