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2000 Compilations & Reviews: Electronic Workpapers and Reference Guide (Miller Engagement Series)
Larry P. Bailey
Manufacturer: Harcourt
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ASIN: 0156068737 |
Product Description
Based upon 17 years of ongoing research involving more than 40,000 people from over 25 cultures, extensively field-tested, and adopted internationally by Fortune 500 companies, Human Dynamics? is a developmental system that demystifies the complexities of how people function and interact with one another. Human Dynamics presents a powerful framework for understanding the distinct ways in which we process information, learn, communicate, relate with one another, manifest stress, maintain well-being, and develop as human beings. At the heart of Human Dynamics are the three universal principles we all share in different capacities--mental, emotional, and physical--fundamental threads that cross culture, age, race, and gender to unify us all. As we learn to appreciate our commonalities and differences, we can use our unique gifts and apply new understanding to enrich our relationships, heighten "collective intelligence", communicate more effectively, work together more productively, enhance creativity, optimize team learning, and strengthen organizational performance. Actual accounts from major companies including Intel Corporation, Intermountain Healthcare System, and London Life Insurance Company document how Human Dynamics can optimize business relationships, organizational learning, teamwork, and communication.
Customer Reviews:
A Proper Examination and Explanation of Human Action.......2001-01-24
If you have found most personality tests insignificant, unhelpful, or unrevealing, then perhaps this book is for you. Human Dynamics goes into much more depth and provides a greater understanding of human communication and actions than any simple personality test. While people can be placed into certain "dynamics," these dynamics are not nearly as restraining or stereotypical as personality tests tend to be. Rather than explaining one's personality, dynamics explain how groups of people tend to process information, not necessarily how aggressive, passive, or "likeable" they are. This book helped me in terms of personal discovery, and has also helped me understand why it always seemed that so many people "just never seemed to think like me."
Great book.......2000-07-09
Models to describe human personality are presented. Each model has it unique characteristics, its strengths and weaknesses. Each model will respond most effectively to certain modes of communications. This understanding of the different models presented will help a manager, a teacher, a student or just about anybody to understand themselves and people around them better. This will enable better communication of ideas and thoughts. Students will learn better and managers will be able to communicate more effectively with individuals. The models can be taken up to an organizational level. The applications of this book are far and wide. It is also simply and clearly written.
improving teamwork in your organisation,family & community.......1998-11-06
the first time that I have found an approach which looks at humans holistically and systemically. It is not a group of personality characteristics describing superficial behaviours, but a way of understanding and recognising internal processes particular to various human dynamics. It therefore goes much deeper than any other personality assessment technique I have seen and because of this can not be reduced to a paper and pencil test. However, the gift this approach brings is that it can be taught to everyday people and can provide access to better relationships and a greater understanding of how to release our judgement of others. A truly life changing book.
A most complete study of human diversity........1998-08-24
It is obvious that Dr. Seagal has worked extremely hard to confirm her research since 1979. Her style of writing is clear, concise and void of jargon. I found the content easy to absorb, understand and apply. Just the heightend awarness of how diverse we are has made a significant difference in how I work and related to people. I can see some real possibilities for applying in a business context.
A most complete study of human diversity........1998-08-14
It is obvious that Dr. Seagal has worked extremely hard to confirm her research since 1979. Her style of writing is clear, concise and void of jargon. I found the content easy to absorb, understand and apply. Just the heightened awarness of how diverse we are has made a significant difference in how I work and relate to people. I can understand why this work is being applied internationally, especially in business and education.
Book Description
DIVERSITY DYNAMICS IN THE WORKPLACE explores organizational psychology topics such as socialization, leadership, and career development from a diversity perspective in order to convey the challenges and opportunities that diversity presents within organizational domains. DIVERSITY DYNAMICS IN THE WORKPLACE highlights emerging areas of research and practice for the diversity-conscious business leader, researcher, or instructor and is designed to help of prepare you to work effectively in diverse workplace environments. Its brief, paperback format makes DIVERSITY DYNAMICS IN THE WORKPLACE an ideal resource.
Book Description
International Management: Managing in a Diverse and Dynamic Global Environment offers a modern perspective of international management rooted in a recognized framework. The framework follows the generally accepted course structure beginning with the macro-environment, then moves to the firm level, and concludes with the individual manager in the international setting. This traditional framework is embellished with modern chapters on collaborative strategies, managing technology and knowledge, and ethics and corporate social responsibilty. Each chapter has several mini-case examples and full-length, comprehensive cases conclude each part.
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Dynamics of Managing Diversity, The
Gill Kirton , and
Anne-Marie Greene
Manufacturer: Butterworth-Heinemann
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0750644176 |
Book Description
The Dynamics of Managing Diversity:a critical approach takes a fresh approach to the issues of equality and diversity in the world of employment today.
It takes the view that the study of equality now needs to consider not only issues of discrimination, but also the needs of people in relation to their diverse cultures and identities. The text discusses diversity as recognition of the differences and similarities between and among social groups, and how resulting policies must reflect these.
The Dynamics of Managing Diversity offers an integrative approach looking at all the issues surrounding managing equality and diversity in the workplace. Equality and diversity are treated as mutually reinforcing, rather than competitive concepts. Topics explored are firmly placed within the organizational and labour market framework and examined from a sociological perspective. The text draws on European examples and countries which have made a significant contribution to managing equality and diversity.
Divided into two parts, the following topics are addressed:
Contexts and Concepts: background settings; the social contexts, the labour market, theoretical concepts and diversity, equality and discrimination issues at the level of the organization.
Policy and Practice: looks at the role of the State and EU, trade unions, employer policy approaches and a comparative view of policy examples within a European context.
Original approach: equality and diversity are treated as mutually reinforcing rather than competitive concepts
Accessible style which allows for easy explanation of complex issues
Provides theoretical underpinning and contextualisation within organisational settings
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Managerial Promotion: The Dynamics for Men and Women
Marian N. Ruderman ,
Patricia J. Ohlott , and
Kathy E. Kram
Manufacturer: Center for Creative Leadership
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ASIN: 1882197135 |
Download Description
There are subtle but potent differences in the ways decisions are made to promote men and women. This publication looks at these differences through a study conducted at one Fortune 500 company. It discusses the several ways that the promotion decision process can undermine women's advancement and outlines strategies for making balanced decisions.
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Organizational Behavior and Change: Managing Diversity, Cross-Cultural Dynamics, and Ethics
Joseph W. Weiss
Manufacturer: South-Western College Pub
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Leadership: Theory and Practice
ASIN: 0324027095 |
Book Description
Organizational Behavior and Change, 2e provides the reader with a contemporary, real-time, and conceptual approach to understanding organizational change through a concise presentation of current organizational behavior and models. The theme of planned change is integrated with classical organizational behavior topics throughout the text. A major premise of the book is that organizations and individuals must understand and use consultative perspectives on change in order to meet their goals.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Book!.......2005-08-22
Excellent book, textbook style, but an easy read. Tons of valuable information and practical advice for the cross-cultural manager, not just theory.
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- Introduction to farm living and farm business
- Good Overall look at the subject of Hobby Farms
- From gardening the land and handling farm animals to handling the seasons, predators, and more
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Hobby Farm: Living Your Rural Dream for Pleasure and Profit
Carol Ekarius
Manufacturer: BowTie Press
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Chickens: Tending a Small-Scale Flock for Pleasure and Profit (Hobby Farms)
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Barnyard in Your Backyard: A Beginner's Guide to Raising Chickens, Ducks, Geese, Rabbits, Goats, Sheep, and Cows
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How to Build Animal Housing: 60 Plans for Coops, Hutches, Barns, Sheds, Pens, Nestboxes, Feeders, Stanchions, and Much More
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Goats: Small-scale Herding for Pleasure And Profit (Hobby Farms Series)
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Hobby Farms
ASIN: 1931993599 |
Book Description
Whether a weekend gardener or a dedicated small farmer, the Hobby Farmer series epitomizes the idealistic lifestyle of country--living for pleasure and profit.
Customer Reviews:
Introduction to farm living and farm business.......2007-08-20
Carol Ekarius gives a great introduction to farm living and farm business. Ekarius encourages readers to ask themselves probing questions such as whether the farm will be a lifestyle or commercial enterprise. Most importantly, she compels us to ask if we and our families are ready for the country. Are we prepared to work long hours on the land in the spring, summer, and fall in order to have relaxing winters? Are we prepared to go without the amenities of the "big city"? Do we want to make our living off a farm or just live on a farm?
What I like most about this book is the pictures. The farm scenes with children in orchards gathering apples and caring for livestock, tractors plowing fields, and animals grazing the land were key to getting my family to seriously consider a move to the farm. (I am the only one really into the business aspects right now.) While I cannot remember pictures of junk piles or trash heaps, I do remember Ekarius informing readers that farming culture varies from time and place and that it is important to respect neighbors. (You can trap more flies with honey than vinegar.)
Ekarius' descriptions of farm-related activities such as figuring out which land to buy, farm safety, gardening, livestock, harvesting, and preserving the harvest covers the basics of what to expect after a move to the country before you move to the country. This is a great introduction for anyone interested in going back to the land for either pleasure of profit.
Good Overall look at the subject of Hobby Farms.......2006-08-10
The book was a general look at Hobby Farms. It would be next to impossible for one book to do much else. It certainly gives you a place to start and from there you know what areas you may need to research in more detail on your own. As with all Hobby Farm publications, the photos are so real you feel as if you are on the farm yourself, except no dirt under your fingernails (yet)!
From gardening the land and handling farm animals to handling the seasons, predators, and more.......2005-11-04
Many urban dwellers long to live in the country and dream of owning a small farm: if you're one of them, try Hobby Farm: Living Your Rural Dream For Pleasure And Profit. Author Carol Ekarius' own extensive years of farm dwelling lend to a guide which tells how to not only choose and live on a farm, but how to make some money at the endeavor. From gardening the land and handling farm animals to handling the seasons, predators, and more, Hobby Farm, packed with color photos and insights, covers far more ground than competing farm guides for urban dwellers.
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Reference Materials for Chemical Analysis: Certification, Availability, and Proper Usage
Manufacturer: Wiley-VCH
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 3527301623 |
Book Description
There are many academic references describing how RMs are made, but few that explain why they are used, how they should be used and what happens when they are not properly used.
In order to fill this gap, the editors have taken the contributions of more than thirty RM practitioners to produce a highly readable text organized in nine chapters. Starting with an introduction to historical, theoretical and technical requirements, the book goes on to examine all aspects of RM production from planning, preparation through analysis to certification, reviews recent development areas, RMs for life analysis and some important general application fields, considers the proper usage of RMs, gives advice on availability and sources of information and lastly looks at future trends and needs for RMs.
This book is intended to be a single point of information that both guides the reader through the use of RMs and serves as a primary reference source. It should be on the reading list of anyone working in an analytical laboratory and be found on the library shelf of all analytical chemical laboratories.
Book Description
There was once a time when we could not measure sound, color, blood pressure, or even time. We now find ourselves in the throes of a measurement revolution, from the laboratory to the sports arena, from the classroom to the courtroom, from a strand of DNA to the far reaches of outer space. Measurement controls our lives at work, at school, at home, and even at play. But does all this measurement really measure up? Here, John Henshaw examines the ways in which measurement makes sense or creates nonsense.
Henshaw tells the controversial story of intelligence measurement from Plato to Binet to the early days of the SAT to today's super-quantified world of No Child Left Behind. He clears away the fog on issues of measurement in the environment, such as global warming, hurricanes, and tsunamis, and in the world of computers, from digital photos to MRI to the ballot systems used in Florida during the 2000 presidential election. From cycling and car racing to baseball, tennis, and track-and-field, he chronicles the ever-growing role of measurement in sports, raising important questions about performance and the folly of comparing today's athletes to yesterday's records.
We can't quite measure everything, at least not yet. What could be more difficult to quantify than reasonable doubt? However, even our justice system is yielding to the measurement revolution with new forensic technologies such as DNA fingerprinting.
As we evolve from unquantified ignorance to an imperfect but everpresent state of measured awareness, Henshaw gives us a critical perspective from which we can "measure up" the measurements that have come to affect our lives so greatly.
Customer Reviews:
Reality of Measurement.......2006-11-10
A great explanation of the problems of measuring the unquantifiable. The layman's interests are served with real-world examples.
What's wrong with IQ?.......2006-11-10
Like the other reviewers, with the exception of one chapter, I enjoyed this book very much. Henshaw has the touch of writing about technical matters with great clarity. I found his chapter on the environment and global warming especially balanced, unlike all the doomsaying emanating from the media.
However, as someone who was involved for more than thirty years with measuring student abilities in various ways, I found Chapter 6, "Measuring the Mind" very unsatisfactory.
In fact, it is the weakest part of the book and might best have not been included. First of all, Henshaw seems to take as his guide Stephen Jay Gould's book, The Mismeasure of Man, a book with a flagrant liberal/socialist bias and totally untrustworthy (for some reason, he uses the 1981 edition. It's just as well because in the edition of 1996 Gould conveniently omits any later research that might weaken his "argument," such as the increasing evidence for a significant correlation between brain size and intelligence.) The liberal mantra is all there in Gould's book: testing bad, IQ bad, ranking people bad, eugenics (however defined, even to the point of avoiding disease) bad, truth is a social construct (see quote below), society controlled by elites, and so on.
Henshaw seems to have taken on Gould's whole agenda, even to the point of endorsing the following view: "Gould argues that `facts' are not objective but are influenced by culture . . .."
Does Henshaw, an engineer, really believe this?
If he wanted to find out about IQ from a real pro, why didn't he use The G Factor by Arthur Jensen?
Unfortunately, Henshaw's (and Gould's) bias has led him to make some mistakes:
1) ". . . intelligence tests are 100% machine-graded . . ." (p. 99)
Not true. The Wechsler is a widely-used individual test and has been around for many years. It's used in clinical diagnosis, to ascertain giftedness and retardation and in many other areas.
2) "The overall size of the skull (and thus the brain) . . .." (p. 102)
There is a significant correlation between brain size and intelligence. See the work of Phillipe Rushton (University of Western Ontario), who reviews all the studies ever done. Gould omits any of these findings.
3) ". . . that attempts to study the heritability of
`intelligence' have been characterized by so much `stupidity'." (p. 129)
Really. Tell Joel Shurkin, author of Terman's Kids, who studied Terman's gifted and their children, and who concluded that intelligence is indeed to a significant extent inherited.
I could go on, but it's obvious that Henshaw's bias has blinded him to much valid and important knowledge about intelligence and intelligence testing, in the broadest sense.
"Before measurement, that is, before a system for numerically characterizing something was developed, what did we have? In a word, ignorance." (p. 187)
Doesn't this apply to mental measurement as well? Henshaw keeps returning to the idea that we don't what intelligence is and so on. That's not the point. Mental measurement is necessary and has proved to be a very effective way of placing people in situations where they will function best.
Surprisingly, Henshaw tells us (p. 89) that in 1989 the American Academy for the Advancement of Science listed the IQ test "as one of the 20 greatest scientific advances of the twentieth century . . .." Maybe he would have been better off listening to them and forgetting about Gould.
Wide-Ranging Perspectives on Measurement.......2006-06-27
This book's strongest point, in my opinion, is the engaging way in which it was written. Writing on a topic that has the potential of being rather boring to many people because of its subject matter, the author, using a very friendly and chatty style, has produced a book that is fascinating to the point of being difficult to put down. The fields and disciplines that are discussed, always with measurement as the focus, are quite wide-ranging, as one would expect, and topical. In discussing so many diverse disciplines, the author has succeeded admirably in portraying the subject of measurement as a science and as an art, i.e., from many different angles. Because the areas discussed are so diverse, this book is sure to have something of interest for everyone. Because of the fact that we are all subjected to many forms of measurement and that measurement in some form or other is an important part of all of our daily lives, I recommend this book to one and all.
Discusses different forms of measurement, how they're translated in society, and where they fail.......2006-06-17
DOES MEASUREMENT MEASURE UP? HOW NUMBERS REVEAL & CONCEAL THE TRUTH should be required reading for any serious high school to college-level course in math or statistics: it discusses different forms of measurement, how they're translated in society, and where they fail. From intelligence measuring to measurement of environment hazards and sports, chapters discuss yesterday's records, today's measurement systems, and areas for foggy interpretation of results.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Book Description
This biography completes a trilogy on the three Navy fighter pilots-Jimmie Thach, Butch O'Hare, and Jimmy Flatley-who developed sweeping changes in aerial combat tactics during World War II. While O'Hare and Flatley were instrumental in making the "weave" a success, Thach was its theoretical innovator, and his use of the tactic in combat at Midway documented its practical application. This portrait of the famous pilot provides a memorable account of how Thach, convinced that his Wildcat was no match for Japan's formidable Zero, found a way to give his squadron a fighting chance. Using matchsticks on his kitchen table, he devised a solution that came to be called the Thach Weave. But as Steve Ewing is quick to point out, this was not Thach's sole contribution to the Navy. Throughout his forty-year career, Thach provided answers to multiple challenges facing the Navy, and his ideas were implemented service wide.
A highly decorated ace, Thach was an early test pilot, a creative task force operations officer in the last year of World War II, and an outstanding carrier commander in the Korean War. During the Cold War, he contributed to advances in antisubmarine warfare. This biography shows him to be a charismatic leader interested in everyone around him, regardless of rank or status. His dry sense of humor and constant smile attracted people from all walks of life, and he was a popular figure in Hollywood. Thach remains a hero among naval aviators, his most famous combat tactic still used by today's pilots. 384 pages. 30 photographs. 5 line drawings. Hardcover. 6 x 9 inches.
Customer Reviews:
How the thin blue line was held in 1942.......2006-11-02
Pacifists and cheeseparers in the 1920s and '30s left Hawaii without adequate defenses when the Japanese attacked in 1941.
As the aircraft carrier Saratoga rushed from California to still smoking Pearl Harbor, the planes of Fighting Squadron 3 had only 24 rounds per gun for their Wildcat fighters -- not even enough to "charge" the guns in preparation for combat.
Within a year, 12 of the 19 pilots in VF 3 were dead, killed partly by Japanese aggressors, partly by American politicians and moralizers.
That more young Americans' lives were not lost in the early days was due in large part to three remarkable Navy aviators, Butch O'Hare, Jimmy Flatley and the commander of VF 3 in December 1941, Jimmie Thach.
Of the three, all subjects of biographies by Steve Ewing, curator at Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum in Charleston, Thach may have been the most remarkable.
O'Hare was the matchless marksman in battle, and Flatley was a superior teacher and lobbyist for new tactics. Thach was the originator of those tactics, a man who figured out how to substitute technique for technology.
His solution, worked out over a kitchen table with matchsticks, was put to the test at the Battle of Midway, and with it a few Wildcats were able to hold off four times as many Japanese Zeros, though they were unable to fulfill their mission of protecting American attack planes.
The maneuver, the "Thach Weave," was a lifesaver in the next year of ceaseless combat in the South Pacific, until newer, better planes were delivered.
The weave was not wholly original with Thach; but his version was superior to the technique adopted shortly before by British pilots fighting the Luftwaffe.
As a staff officer, Thach distinguished himself in the western Pacific, becoming part of still debated controversies about how the war was fought. Ewing dives into this fight with relish, as he has before.
In a long career, Thach rose to the highest position in naval aviation, but possibly even more important, he was the leading tactician as the Navy struggled to adapt antisubmarine warfare to the challenges of fast, nuclear opponents.
During years at Pearl Harbor in the 1960s, his antisub planes and ships tracked Russian opponents as if war might break out any second. He, at least, never forgot the surprise at Pearl Harbor.
But the lessons Thach learned in a long, arduous career have too often been forgotten; and still are. Recalling the early days of the war in the Pacific, he wrote, "Early in the last war it was brought home to me that it is the untrained who are needlessly lost in combat, and who contribute little or nothing to the cause in which they are lost. I would rather have 12 properly trained aviators with me to fight 20 planes of an enemy than to have twice or three times that number of half trained or poorly trained pilots."
Biography falls short of expectations, but still essential.......2006-05-19
Since I was a child, John Thach was my hero. He is only sparsely mentioned in survey history books on World War II. Finding articles about him, or detailed accounts on his history, was always challenging. At age 8, I actually tried calling his house in Coronado, California (he wasn't home).
As I grew older and read more in-depth histories on Midway and other battles, I learned much more of the significant role Thach played - what a master tactician - but there was no biography on him or any information on his early life or life after World War II.
Finally, there is a biography - sort of. While finally getting detail on the full life and history of this Hero, in every sense of the word, is great, there is a lot missing.
This book, along with Reaper Leader (on Jimmy Flatley) and Fateful Rondezvous (on Butch O'Hare) completes a trilogy on the great Navy fighter pilots in early World War II. Ewing's prime interest is clearly with Flatley, but the three men were good friends and worked closely together so that the research lent itself to creating biographies on each man.
To Ewing's credit, he did help discover a treasure trove of Thach's personal papers, adding a wealth of information to the key role that Thach played in saving Naval Aviation (revolt of the Admirals in response to the USAF takeover of military aviation) and in advancing anti-submarine warfare to counter the serious nuclear threat of soviet submarines. In fact, those who know of Thach from his fighter pilot fame, will be surprised to find how much more he did for naval aviation and the US security AFTER the second world war.
The author traces Thach from his childhood in Arkansas, the son of professional teachers, to his time at the Naval Academy, and solves the mystery of why John Thach was called "Jimmie Thach" when his older brother, who also attended the Naval Academy was named James Thach. Ewing describes his early service and wartime career in detail, and then goes on to describe the 20 plus years of service to the Navy after World War II.
Unfortunately, the book seems stale, almost like a high school report summarizing an entry from an encyclopedia. Stories that should be vivid and memorable, seem remote and cold - like when as a young pilot, Thach exited the cockpit in flight because he didn't have time to go to the bathroom before leaving the field. After reading numerous exploits of young pilots from both world wars, and the fraternity type antics, a reader expects the story to be told as if an old joke or `war story' from somebody who lived it - not as a dry legal brief.
While some of this might be from the author's style, it is more likely due to the challenge of describing an anecdote heard third or fourth person. Both Thach and his wife died in the early 80's, and they were only infrequently interviewed prior to their death. Few of their contemporaries are still around to impart the true and full color of the events.
Therein lies the tragedy of this history and many more - as the "greatest generation" passes, we are loosing a wealth of history told by the people who lived it. This is a tragedy, but there is no government program or agency to `fix' the problem (nore should there be) - it is life.
Still, the book is very worthwhile and thoroughly readable even if somewhat disappointing in the attenuation of the stories that you expect to bring the history to life. History buffs and fans of naval aviation will enjoy the book, or regret not getting it once printing ceases. Ewing justly deserves credit for this book which gives a wealth of otherwise unavailable information on a great American that gave 100% effort and his entire adult life to the security of America.
By the way, as a cordial response to a comment by a fellow reviewer about the Wildcat being "vastly inferior" - inferior, yes, but not vastly so.
It still remained in front-line service well into 1943, equited itself well when in sufficient number with the right tactics (i.e. Thach Weave), Joe Foss thought very highly of it, had a career kill to loss ratio of 7 to 1, and was one of the few pre-war fighters at the beginning of the war still in combat service at the end (the Hurricane and the P-40 were long gone). Give me a break, it wasn't like the Brewster Buffalo, Chance Vought Vindicator, Boulton Paul Defiant, Fairey Swordfish, Douglas Devastator, most of the French and Russian planes, or Bell Aircobra - now those were "vastly" outdated and inferior machines that should never had been put in combat!
Surviving in Inferior Aircraft.......2004-11-02
At the beginning of World War II, the allies were in very poor condition to face the Germans or Japanese. Due to years of neglect, the American fighting forces, generally speaking, had vastly inferior equipment, and in many cases even worse tactics.
Against the Japanese Zero fighter, the Americans fielded the vastly inferior Grumman F4F Wildcat. The Wildcat suffered in three vital areas to the Zero: climb, maneuverability and speed. The Wildcat did have advantages in firepower, due to the excellent .50 caliber Brownings, and in overall toughness. Jimmy Thach was able to come up with a flying mode to take advantage of those points in favor of the Wildcat while minimizing its disadvantages. This was called the Thach Weave after the inventor and the way he conceives of having two planes each fly a serpentine path that brought the planes together facing each other at frequent intervals. Thus any Japanese pilot falling in behind one of the planes would soon be facing the nose, and the machine guns of his partner. This enabled the American pilots to survive in the years it took to get more capable aircraft into service. The Thach Weave continues today, with todays far more capable aircraft but with the same basic principles and the same name.
Mr. Thach survived the war and went on to ever higher positions within the Navy. This book uses just about half of its 338 pages on The World War II era, and the rest on his work at improving the Navy's aircraft afterward.
Awesome.......2004-09-11
To start with I will admit that I am only half way through this book but wanted to rate what I have read so far and I can say that what I have read is very interesting. For those who are interested in Naval history and its heroes in particular will enjoy this book. Its nice to be able to learn more about Jimmie Thach because there aren't may books on the guy and he has a fascinating life that needs to be told. I would also highly recommend Steve Ewing's book on Butch O'Hare titled "Fateful Rendezvous". I do know that I will soon be ordering the third book in this trilogy on the Reaper leader Jimmie Flatley.
Amazon.com
In this outstanding collection of stories and "lessons," Pamela Grim, an emergency medicine physician, reveals the painful truths learned from the daily witnessing of the underside of life, where most who enter are addicts, idiots, drunks, and psychotics whose poor choices have led them to the end of the line. The ER is a more tragic, chaotic, and weird place than any TV show has ever portrayed. A man walks in with a butcher knife imbedded in his skull, a teenage girl asks incredulously, "I'm pregnant?" after delivery, and the best kind of cop dies on the table while his killer is saved in the next room. Grim brilliantly captures the adrenaline-fueled chaos of code calls in inner-city ERs, where the unrelenting pressure puts doctors and nurses alike in a perpetual state of shell shock. In this environment, doctors must make split-second decisions under the specter of malpractice suits and the knowledge that every moment weighs in on whether the patient will live or die. Fortunately, Grim is the sort of storyteller who can make a reader cry then laugh out loud in a matter of pages. She is a no-nonsense doctor--and author--whose compassion and wisdom are as unexpected and brightly illuminated as the resurrection of the 4-year-old with no pulse who was crushed by the family car.
Between the pressure and the bruises left by each death, burnout is inevitable. Grim's response is to head for Nigeria with Doctors Without Borders, and later to Bosnia and a Kosovar refugee camp, where once again she is "awestruck by the suffering God can inflict." The dearth of technology and supplies and the low survival rates make a shocking contrast to the miracles achieved in American hospitals. Grim considers some profound issues--the nature of grief, the humanitarian aid paradox in which helping out can indirectly enable corrupt governments, and the despair of trying to save lives when so many are dying. Ultimately, she realizes that the answer is in the particular; it is saving individual lives that makes her work--and life itself--meaningful. This is one powerful page-turner with the potential to change minds as well as lives. --Lesley Reed
Book Description
In this outstanding collection of stories and "lessons," Pamela Grim, an emergency medicine physician, reveals the painful truths learned from the daily witnessing of the underside of life, where most who enter are addicts, idiots, drunks, and psychotics whose poor choices have led them to the end of the line. The ER is a more tragic, chaotic, and weird place than any TV show has ever portrayed. A man walks in with a butcher knife imbedded in his skull, a teenage girl asks incredulously, "I'm pregnant?" after delivery, and the best kind of cop dies on the table while his killer is saved in the next room. Grim brilliantly captures the adrenaline-fueled chaos of code calls in inner-city ERs, where the unrelenting pressure puts doctors and nurses alike in a perpetual state of shell shock. In this environment, doctors must make split-second decisions under the specter of malpractice suits and the knowledge that every moment weighs in on whether the patient will live or die. Fortunately, Grim is the sort of storyteller who can make a reader cry then laugh out loud in a matter of pages. She is a no-nonsense doctor--and author--whose compassion and wisdom are as unexpected and brightly illuminated as the resurrection of the 4-year-old with no pulse who was crushed by the family car.Between the pressure and the bruises left by each death, burnout is inevitable. Grim's response is to head for Nigeria with Doctors Without Borders, and later to Bosnia and a Kosovar refugee camp, where once again she is "awestruck by the suffering God can inflict." The dearth of technology and supplies and the low survival rates make a shocking contrast to the miracles achieved in American hospitals. Grim considers some profound issues--the nature of grief, the humanitarian aid paradox in which helping out can indirectly enable corrupt governments, and the despair of trying to save lives when so many are dying. Ultimately, she realizes that the answer is in the particular; it is saving individual lives that makes her work--and life itself--meaningful. This is one powerful page-turner with the potential to change minds as well as lives. --Lesley Reed
Customer Reviews:
Just here trying to save a few lives.......2007-08-25
This was an excellent book, great material and well written. You could actually put yourself in the authors shoes.
True Picture of the ER.......2007-07-31
As a medical student and a former employee of the emergency department, I found this book to be a very realistic, while heartrending account of what actually occurs in the ER. Dr. Grim lays out a beautiful picture of the unseen (to everyday society) tragedies that occur on a daily basis. I loved her writing style and accounts of her overseas ventures. She painted a picture of a Macedonian refugee camp so vivid, I feel like I have been there. I hope that she continues to write. I think medical students, especially those interested in emergency medicine, and others in the medical field will love this book as much as I did.
disappointing .......2005-06-16
Overall the book is an OK read - it would have been much better if the author could get over herself. I'm glad she became a doctor and I'm glad she helped out in areas of the world that desperately need medical professionals. If the writting had been more about the situations themselves and less about getting the reader to worship or pity the author then it would have been a good book. Many of her comments made me feel sorry for those who had her as a doctor - I hope that the treatment of those patients was more caring than the write ups.
a grear look at emergancy room life.......2005-02-03
In "Just here trying to save a few lives" Dr. Pamela Grim paints us a vivid picture of life in the ER. As an EMT student I found the book captivating and informative. The book started a little slow but quickly picked up the pace. As we travel with Dr. Grim from hospital to hospital and from country to country we see the struggles and trials that doctors face every day. There was a lot of medical language that, had I not been an EMT student I would have not understood but would still be able to follow the story. Overall this was a very good book and I would recommend it to any one interested in going in to the medical filed or to anyone who is curious of what doctors face in their profession.
Grim determination to make a difference.......2004-09-12
Seasoned ER doctor Pamela Grim gives us a bleak and visceral view of her experiences in the ER and doing voluntary service for Medecins sans Frontieres. Unlike glossy TV programs and other stylised reports from these hostile territories, she does nothing to glamorise her work.
Dr Grim tells us of both the miracles and great "saves" in the ER and the senseless deaths from self-destruction, homicide and accident. She does not sweeten the pill. Her colleagues are cynical, sarcastic and burnt-out; hardened by a daily diet of disaster. Nor does she focus on the big action all of the time - the tension pneumothorax "catch", delivering clapped-out crack babies, cracking the chest - she reminds us of the daily grind of sniffles and sore throats who won't wait to see their GP, of sprained ankles demanding to be seen despite the polytrauma patient in the resus room. She sees patients who have been shot because of drugs; cop colleagues gunned down in the line of duty; and is herself threatened with a gun by an irate sprained ankle patient who is fed up of waiting - before then saving that same man's life when he is taken down by the police. Death, it seems, and ER doctors make no moral judgments.
Understandably, she is ambivalent about her role in the ER department and watching those around her burn out. Volunteering in response to her own burn out, she travels to warzones and alien environments to do what she can as a doctor. In Nigeria, Bosnia and Macedonia she finds herself poorly equipped, despite the organisation's efforts, to deal with disease, displacement and devastation on a large scale. Simple lack of drugs and basic equipment make delivering anything more than basic medical care impossible. She quickly neutralises any romantic notions of "saving the world" and scratches together what she can to save a few lives. In the middle of a meningitis epidemic the team do what they can with oily chloramphenicol, a couple of other drugs and iv lines labelled "TOUCH THIS IV AND YOU DIE". For another endemic disease, tetanus, (which she knows could have easily been prevented with a simple vaccine back home) she finds the limits of her drugs exceeded: there is not enough valium in the hospital to stop the patient's spasms and no quiet, dark room in which he can die. In the grand scheme of things, she can make only the smallest impact, but finds that she can (sometimes) help individuals: the bus driver's daughter, the teacher's mother.
dr_sasp
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