The Retail Lease Vs. Purchase Decision: A High Technology Perspective

Book Description

These 18 case studies are not focused solely on training applications or on electronic performance support, but instead use a more holistic approach to look for examples of applications across the widest spectrum of learning and performance support. The cases represent the courseware and the infrastructure and provide a balanced view of the ways in which software, hardware, and networks are influencing learning support products and services.

Customer Reviews:

HRD.......1999-12-02

i want yo read this book onlin

HRD.......1999-12-02

i want yo read this book onlin

Book Description

Fatal Harvest takes an unprecedented look at our current ecologically destructive agricultural system and offers a compelling vision for an organic and environmentally safer way of producing the food we eat. The Fatal Harvest Reader brings together in an affordable paperback edition the essays included in Fatal Harvest, offering a concise overview of the failings of industrial agriculture and approaches to creating a more healthful and sustainable food system.

Customer Reviews:

Willis review for wrong book.......2005-12-01

Willis' review is for "Fatal Harvest" (ISBN 1559639407), NOT "Fatal Harvest Reader".

Very convincing.......2004-01-16

When I received this book recently as a gift I was completely overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the considerateness of the donor. Overwhelmed by the high quality of the production. Overwhelmed by the large number of "big names" who had contributed. Overwhelmed by the quality and meaningfulness of the photographs. Overwhelmed by the quality of the message that it gets across. Overwhelmed by the ammunition it gives me in my own personal drive for safer, more reliable food. Overwhelmed by how helpful it will be to the waverers who have not yet plucked up the courage to break their links with the chemical establishment.

Let me start with the photos which are not only high quality but extremely helpful because side by side we are given a picture of crops grown under two systems which represent the two poles of producing our food. The text on the left page goes like this: "Industrial Eye: see what you are looking at: MELONS: More than half the melons sold in the U.S. are grown in California where industrial melon farms stretch for miles and miles ... Two of the most heavily used toxins in industrial melon production are ... Life is also difficult for the melon pickers ..." On the right page we have: "Agrarian Eye: See what you are looking at: MELONS: These melons are one crop among dozens at the Live Earth's 23-acre farm near Santa Cruz, CA. The melons are part of a diverse system of annual and perennial fruit and vegetable crops that rely on soil health to support the plant's natural ability to deter pests. But it's not done so easily - there are many challenges ... Coastal fog also poses potential fungal problems for melons, which Broz addresses by using fungal-resistant varieties of melons ... The melons are sold at local farmers' markets and through the farm's community supported agriculture (CSA) program, where families receive a weekly box of seasonal fruits and vegetables throughout the growing season."

Next the text. "Part One: Farming as if Nature Mattered: Breaking the Industrial Paradigm" is composed of seven articles such as "Global Monoculture: The Worldwide Destruction of Diversity". Then "Part Two: Corporate Lies: Busting the Myths of Industrial Agriculture" is composed of articles each addressing one of the seven myths such as "Myth Two: Industrial Food is Safe, Healthy and Nutritious". The book continues through to "Part Seven: Organic and Beyond: Revisioning Agriculture for the 21st Century" with nine more articles such as "The Ethics of Eating: Why Environmentalism Starts at the Breakfast Table."

In these 370 pages we have all the information we need to convince those sitting on the fence that we must reduce our dependence on industrial agriculture. When confronted with this volume it is difficult to imagine how all those involved in the industrial agricultural chain will be able to put up an effective argument. On the contrary, it should be convincing to the thinking service organization that this is where their future profits lie and they should climb on the band wagon helping rather than hindering. For the farmer who is wavering - and probably for good reasons as his livelihood is affected - he will find in this volume the encouragement he needs; others have forged the trail and he can follow in the knowledge that the forerunners have solved the major problems.

Bravo to all those concerned with the preparation of this volume. You have done mankind a great service. It is a long tunnel down which we are travelling, but I for one can now see the light in the distance. Because of your initiative the rest of us will travel our own path with more confidence and with greater speed. At last we can hope for some sanity in our food production. If we can get this volume into the hands of enough people - people who care - then we really can change the world. If Silent Spring was the book that woke the world to the evils of indiscriminate chemical use, then this volume will go down as the one that banged home the last nail in the coffin of industrial agriculture.

Book Description

Long established as one of the premier references in the fields of astronomy, planetary science, and physics, the fourth edition of Orbital Motion continues to offer comprehensive coverage of the analytical methods of classical celestial mechanics while introducing the recent numerical experiments on the orbital evolution of gravitating masses and the astrodynamics of artificial satellites and interplanetary probes. Following detailed reviews of earlier editions by distinguished lecturers in the USA and Europe, the author has carefully revised and updated this edition. Each chapter provides a thorough introduction to prepare you for more complex concepts, reflecting a consistent perspective and cohesive organization that is used throughout the book. A noted expert in the field, the author not only discusses fundamental concepts, but also offers analyses of more complex topics, such as modern galactic studies and dynamical parallaxes. New to the Fourth Edition: · Numerous updates and reorganization of all chapters to encompass new methods · New results from recent work in areas such as satellite dynamics · New chapter on the Caledonian symmetrical n-body problem Extending its coverage to meet a growing need for this subject in satellite and aerospace engineering, Orbital Motion, Fourth Edition remains a top reference for postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students, professionals such as engineers, and serious amateur astronomers.

Customer Reviews:

Well written, topical survey now too expensive.......2003-01-07

The first (1978) edition of "Orbital Motion" was a revised extension of Dr. Roy's 1965 text "Fundamentals of Astrodynamics", and deserves continuing recognition as one of the better topical introductions to celestial mechanics and astrodynamics. Dr. Roy excels in his ability to elaborate on the practical consequences of celestial motion through his thoughtful and intuitive discussion of pertinent equations. His concise style is easy-to-read and provides for a gentle mix of topics that generally appeals to astronomers and physical scientists, yet also have relevance to engineers interested in problems of Newtonian gravitation.

Although this title draws deserved attention and respect, its longevity has also resulted in some rather dated recommended practices. The 2nd chapter, devoted to the complicated subjects of co-ordinate and time-keeping systems, is abbreviated and approaching obsolesce. Chapter 3 ("The Reduction of Observational Data") emphasizes optical measurement reduction perhaps as it was done three or four decades ago without a computer. And some of the recurring space surveillance systems mentioned, such as Baker-Nunn cameras, have been out of regular service for years...

Any owner of the 2nd edition who purchases the 3rd edition will find the two editions to be practically identical. There are about seven (7) additional pages largely resulting from two new sub-sections: Jacobian co-ordinates for the many-body problem, and three-body stability criterion. A few sentences have also been added to the introductory chapter to reflect c.1988 state-of-the-art, and some tables of constants have been necessarily updated as well. Because of the 3rd edition's extraordinarily high price relative to the 2nd edition (with little additional content), I am reluctantly compelled to subtract an additional star from its rating.

The inappropriate hardcover price and the publisher's lack of new, inexpensive paperback copies makes it difficult to fully recommend Dr. Roy's otherwise excellent treatise. Fortunately, interested readers may be well served by the less expensive, used copies of the earlier edition.

A classic astronomy text.......2002-11-13

Required reading for astronomy students. Only one problem with the new edition of the book: it is pricey. Try to obtain a used copy, or perhaps an earlier edition of the book.

An essential book.......2001-10-18

For anyone interested in the arcane discipline of astrodynamics, this book is essential reading. Obviously, it assumes a good knowledge of mathematics (vector analysis and calculus) but nothing exceptional. So clear and logical are the mathematical arguments that you will be fooled into thinking that the subject is easier than it is! The discussion of the Lagrangian points (places where a small particle can remain in a stable or semi-stable position relative to two more massive bodies) is exemplary. While not everyone will be able to read through and understand this book, anyone who can will learn a great deal.

Essays on the Motion of Celestial Bodies

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Essays on the Motion of Celestial Bodies
V.V. Beletsky
Manufacturer: Birkhäuser Basel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3764358661

Book Description

The development of the mechanics of space flight brought to life a whole series of fascinating and novel problems. The purpose of this book is to present some interesting and often unexpected achievements that have allowed some classical problems to be reconsidered in a new light. In order to reveal the beauty of the research process leading to the results, the emphasis is put on the analysis that can be carried out on the level of graphs and drawings, and sometimes numbers. Whenever possible, the investigation relies on maximally intuitive, elegant geometric tools. The book can be read profitably by anyone with the mathematical background typically offered in the first few years of undergraduate studies in mathematics, physics and engineering, including students, teachers, scientists and engineers. From the review of the first edition in Priroda by V.I. Arnold and Ya.B. Zeldovich: "...For a solid scientific monograph, V.V. Beletsky’s book is out of the ordinary in many respects. Without exaggeration we can say that it marks the affirmation of a new style in the scientific literature. The author explains in a frank and detailed manner the reasons behind each calculation, its difficulties, and the psychological side of research. ...The general impression that the "Essays" make is not that of a boring lesson, but rather a discussion with a brilliant, knowledgeable and wise interlocutor."

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I wish, I had it early in my life

Music the nector of life
Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SJQ0HU

Product Description

Refined music is not just a medium of entertainment or a mode of soothing effects on the mind-body ensemble. Rather, as author adeptly conveys, it is a source of spiritual enlightenment. The sadhana of Nada Brahm is a super level spiritual experiment that upon success enables ultimate realization of the eternal sound of Oamkara and sublimation of the individual consciousness up to the divine realms. The manifestation of Nada Brahm in the swaras of music and its creative expression the sastriya samgita has been an angelic boon for the human society. The book has brought us an opportunity to be blessed by this nectar of life.

Customer Reviews:

I wish, I had it early in my life.......2007-09-16

I am really impressed with the information given in the book about the significance of good music in life. It gives a lot of references from the vedic text and recent scientific experiments conducted in reference to the effect of music on different aspects of life including plant, animals and human. I think this book can create a revolution in the music world by directing the composer to create more refined music for the people which can have great impact on subtle level of consciousness.

Orbital Space Flight the Physics of Satellite Motion

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Orbital Space Flight the Physics of Satellite Motion
Howard S. Seifert , and Mary Harris Seifert
Manufacturer: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KEDISC

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Orbital Space Flight. The Physics of Satellite Motion

Manufacturer: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000I9IQ54

Product Description

Explains the dynamics and mechanics of the first orbital space flight. Directed towards students or individuals with little or no background in this field.

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Orbital Space Flight: The Physics of Satellite Motion
Howard S & Mary Harris Siefert
Manufacturer: Holt Rinehart Winston
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000Q6BKR0

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Theory of Orbital Motion
Arjun Tan
Manufacturer: World Scientific Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 9812709118

On modelling of long waves in the Lagrangian and Eulerian description [An article from: Coastal Engineering]

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On modelling of long waves in the Lagrangian and Eulerian description [An article from: Coastal Engineering]
J. Kapinski
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000P6ODWA

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from Coastal Engineering, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Long wave equations derived by means of the Lagrangian and Eulerian methods are discussed herein. For both approaches differences are pointed out as well as a transition from one to another description is presented. First, selected examples of the small-amplitude wave theory are given. They concern cases of a shallow-water area and a swash zone. Some analogies between the linear Lagrangian wave and the 2nd Stokes' wave are shown as well. Finally, a simple finite-amplitude model elaborated in the Lagrangian manner is presented and tentatively compared with its Eulerian counterpart. Some discrepancies in the solution for both methods are also noticed in this case.

AAS/GSFC 13th International Symposium On Space Flight Dynamics proceedings of a conference held at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, May 11-15, 1998 (SuDoc NAS 1.55:206858/V.1-)

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AAS/GSFC 13th International Symposium On Space Flight Dynamics proceedings of a conference held at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, May 11-15, 1998 (SuDoc NAS 1.55:206858/V.1-)
NASA
Manufacturer: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center National Technical Information Service, distributor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B000110E7M

Analytical investigation of the dynamics of tethered constellations in Earth orbit (phase II) quarterly report # 6, for the period 22 June 1986 through 21 September 1986 (SuDoc NAS 1.26:178953)

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Analytical investigation of the dynamics of tethered constellations in Earth orbit (phase II) quarterly report # 6, for the period 22 June 1986 through 21 September 1986 (SuDoc NAS 1.26:178953)
NASA
Manufacturer: Smithsonian Institution Astrophysical Observatory National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Technical Information Service, distributor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00010OVB8

Book Description

Supramolecular chemistry involves the study and synthesis of very large molecules which are used in complex chemical reactions, and have great potential in areas such as medicine, electronics, and optics. Offers a comprehensive overview of crystals and supramolecular entities.

Book Description

This book provides an introduction to the mathematical theory of homogenization, which describes the replacement of a real composite material by a fictitious homogeneous one. The aim of the theory is to describe the macroscopic properties of the composite by taking into account the properties of the microscopic structure. The first four chapters cover variational methods for partial differential equations, which is the natural framework of homogenization theory. The text then discusses the homogenization of several kinds of second order boundary value problems. Particular attention is given to the classical examples of the steady and non-steady heat equations, the wave equation and the linearized system of elasticity. All topics are illustrated by figures and numerous examples.

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An Introduction to Homogenization
Diona; Donato, Patrizia Cioranescu
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MY6IVE

Product Description

Book relates through contemporary first person accounts exactly what the mood and thought of the country was during the beginnings of theyears in both Union and Confederate states. Reader gains a sense of excitement felt throughout the country, the peril experienced in Washington and the general preparations for the coming struggles. Included are excerpts from speeches, entries from diaries, personal letters, and official records of proceedings. Insights into events of that time include those of the highest ranking officers as well as those of volunteers.

ROBERT E LEE VOLUME 1 (Robert E Lee Hre)

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I CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS WORK HIGHLY ENOUGH
No Question About It...THE Biography of Lee For All Time...

ROBERT E LEE VOLUME 1 (Robert E Lee Hre)
D Freeman
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Board book

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ASIN: 068415482X

Book Description

This four-volume work won the 1935 Pulitzer Prize in Biography.

Customer Reviews:

I CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS WORK HIGHLY ENOUGH.......2006-07-23

As anther reviewer stated, this is by far the best biography of R.E. Lee. Still, after all these years, no one has been able to top it. The four volumes cover the life and career of Robert E. Lee and do it in a manner that you simply do not want to stop. I enjoyed each and ever page of each volume. Freeman's research is almost beyond question and of course he had the advantage of being much closer to Lee (time wise) that other, more recent biographers. Freeman's style is extremely readable, particularly when you consider the era in which it was written. Yes, the four volumes are a bit intimidating when you look at them on the shelf, but is is quiet surprising how fast they read and how much important, interesting and useful information the author has packed into them. Strange as it may sound, these volumes are real page turners. Anyone interested in the Civil War and R.E. Lee in particular should indeed read this work. I highly recommend.

No Question About It...THE Biography of Lee For All Time..........2002-11-29

The story is well told how Douglas Southall Freeman went on to write this four volume magnum opus. Born in 1886, the son of Confederate veteran Walker Burford Freeman, young Douglas grew up in the sunny remembrances of Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. He received his Ph.D in history at the tender age of 22 and earned an early reputation as a Confederae scholar with Calendar of Confederate Papers. Then followed Lee's Dispatches, which he edited. He wrote an introduction to Lee's Dispatches that was so brilliant, Scribner's signed him on to write a biography of Lee. Freeman believed he could complete the job in two years.

20 years later, he was finished. In that time, America fought in a world war, women won the right to vote, and the original editor who signed Freeman on died and left the legendary Maxwell Perkins in charge.
All through it, Freeman labored on the biography like a demon. He discovered early on that most of the major sources were either never consulted or only skimmed over. He searched far and wide. He carried on a schedule that would have killed a lesser man. He awoke at 2:30 every morning, put a full day in at the Richmond Newspaper where he was an editor at, delivered two radio addresses each day, then back home to work on the biography.

After twenty years and four massive volumes, he was done. Unanimous praise was heaped on his book and rightly so. It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in biography in 1935. It was and still remains the most thorough biography of Lee ever done and will probably never be surpassed.

Readers looking for a book that will take R. E. Lee to task will be disappointed. Freeman is an unabashed admirer of Lee. Longstreet admirers will find Freeman's highly critical remarks of him in volume 3 during the Gettysburg Campaign aggravating. Freeman's Lee is a great man. Plus, why spend 20 years of your life reading and writing about a man you loathe?

I never believed Lee was the saint certain Confederate veterans painted him to be. He was a human being and he had his share of flaws. But he was a good man who did what he thought was right and a great general. Freeman's research is awesome and his writing style (which Shelby Foote once described as a sort of "jog trot prose") while dated in some aspects (Freeman loves to use "whither" and "tither" whereas "where" and "there" would have been better), and the Freeman's overly critical treatment of Longstreet not withstanding, it is still an awesome book. Lee's campaigns are exhaustively detailed, and the maps are profuse and always keep the reader informed as to what the Army of Northern Virginia was doing at any given time.

I would strongly recommend readers use Ezra Warner's "Generals in Gray" in conjunction with this work. I did and when Freeman parades the various personalities of the Army of Northern Virgina in front of the reader, the names can be confusing. Warner's book will give you illustrations of the men of Lee's command, and you will glad you got it. The book will come alive which is the purpose of all biographies.

Lastly, Thomas Connelly's "The Marble Man" will give the reader a good counterbalance to Freeman. Still even Connelly admitted to someone once that "R. E. Lee" was still "the greatest biography ever written." I have to agree. At four volumes, I didn't want to stop. Give Freeman a chance, you'll be glad you did.

One last note. You might also wish to start with "Lee" a one volume abridgement. Freeman's understudy, Richard Harwell did a painstaking abridgement and it is a wonderful one volume work. Of course, the superb maps that went with the 4 volume set are gone and replaced by more general maps, still it's a good bet in case 4 volumes are too daunting.

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Sowers Series Biography Collection (The Sowers, Volumes 1-26)
variety
Manufacturer: Mott Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Lincoln, Abraham | ( L ) | People, A-Z | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Lee, Robert E. | ( L ) | People, A-Z | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Washington, George | ( W ) | People, A-Z | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000NKN9W8

Product Description

Great for book reports, school projects, and reading pleasure, these biographies will appeal to kids from 5th thru 8th grades. Included in this collections are: Abigail Adams William Jennings Bryan Robert Boyle George Washington Carver: Man's Slave Becomes God's Scientist Christopher Columbus: Adventures of Faith George Frederic Handel Mahalia Jackson Stonewall Jackson Johannes Kepler Francis Scott Key Jason Lee: Winner of the Northwest Robert E. Lee: Gallant Christian Soldier Abraham Lincoln Samuel F.B. Morse Isaac Newton Florence Nightingale Louis Pasteur: The Founder of Modern Medicine Samuel Francis Smith Billy Sunday Teresa of Calcutta George Washington Noah Webster Daniel Webster The Wright Brothers Susanna Wesley David Livingstone: African Explorer 26 Paperbacks / 128 pages each.

Stereoscopic atlas of slit-lamp biomicroscopy. Volumes 1 & 2

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Stereoscopic atlas of slit-lamp biomicroscopy. Volumes 1 & 2
Alison E. Braley , Robert C. Watzke , Lee Allen , and Ogden Frazier
Manufacturer: Mosby
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Ophthalmology | Specialties | Medicine | Subjects | Books

WEIRD TALES - Volume 6, number 1 - July 1925: The Werewolf of Ponkert; The Death Cure; Farthingale's Poppy; The Unnamable; The Wonderful Thing; The Stranger from Kurdistan; Spear and Fang; Servants of Satan: The End of Horror; The Dream of Death

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WEIRD TALES - Volume 6, number 1 - July 1925: The Werewolf of Ponkert; The Death Cure; Farthingale's Poppy; The Unnamable; The Wonderful Thing; The Stranger from Kurdistan; Spear and Fang; Servants of Satan: The End of Horror; The Dream of Death
Farnsworth (editor) (H. Warner Munn; Paul S. Powers; Eli Colter; Harold E. Somerville; Arthur Thatcher; H. P. Lovecraft; Robert E. Howard; R. G. Macready; Henry S. Whitehead; John Lee Mahin; W. J. Stamper; Seabury Quinn; Alphonse Daudet; Jan Dirk) Wright
Manufacturer: Girasol Collectables
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

R. E. Lee (R. E. Lee 4 Volume Boxed Set Biography, Volumes 1 - 4)

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R. E. Lee (R. E. Lee 4 Volume Boxed Set Biography, Volumes 1 - 4)

Manufacturer: charles scribner's & sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Product Description

Pulitzer Prize winning biography by one of the most reknown historical & Civil War authors of all time. A classic work of Historical Biography. An absolute must for any serious collector or library.

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Look Inside Horror Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: B000NRTVKK

Book Description

A principal architect and visionary of the new biology, a Nobel Prize-winner at 34 and best-selling author at 40 (The Double Helix), James D. Watson had the authority, flair, and courage to take an early and prominent role as commentator on the march of DNA science and its implications for society. In essays for publications large and small, and in lectures around the world, he delivered what were, in effect, dispatches from the front lines of the revolution. Outspoken and sparkling with ideas and opinions, a selection of them is collected for the first time in this volume. Their resonance with today's headlines is striking.

Customer Reviews:

Whoa, this book has been ignored!.......2002-03-29

With the release of "Genes, Girls, and Gamow", this earlier book has suddenly been ignored, overlooked, and forgotten. Nobody, of course, forgets "The Double Helix", and now we have this sensation called "Genes Girls and Gamow". With a bad choice of title and an equally bad choice for a cover---a large close-up picture of a geeky young biologist---making such a mockery and preposterous idea of what appeals to girls in general, I can only salute Rosalind Franklin for her exquisite determination not to be lured by this sly personage. If one wants to examine the life and perspective of the codiscoverer of the structure of the double helix from a more venerable perspective, "A Passion for DNA: Genes Genomes and Society" will earn the reader's respect. From the cover alone of this book, it is almost galling that, by comparison, "Genes Girls and Gamow" gets more brouhaha, hoopla, and hoolabaloo.

A Passion for Bible Pounding.......2000-09-03

It is understandable that right to life advocates are desperate to find soap boxes for their religious and political views. However we think it inappropriate to abuse this forum intended for the evaluation of literary works. The expression of political and religious opinions should be reserved for those venues intended for those puposes. Dr. Watson's book is a scientifically insightful and humanistically compassionate work deserving of serious attention.

Ethics and DNA.......2000-08-08

James D. Watson's "A Passion For DNA, Genes, Genomes, and Society," Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2000, is an interesting historical and non-technical read of 25 essays on a variety of topics dear to his interests. His keen assessment of various individuals and groups that impacted the progress of DNA research can be appreciated by all readers both technical and non-technical.

However, with all respect, I must point out that Dr. Watson departs from his scientific principals when he promotes his positions in the "...ethical, legal and social implications (ELSI) of the new resulting genetic knowledge." [Genes and Politics, p.202]. Especially when he concludes "Thus I do not see genetic diseases in any way as an expression of the complex will of any supernatural authority, but rather as random tragedies that we should do everything in our power to prevent. There is, of course nothing pleasant about terminating the existence of a genetically disabled fetus. But doing so is incomparably more compassionate than allowing an infant to come into the world tragically impaired." [Good Gene, Bad Gene, p. 225]. Jim Watson then takes the position that since "terminating the existence of a genetically disabled fetus" is a "good," only "...the potential mother should have this authority.," never the government, ibid. p. 225.

I see no evidence that Dr. Watson has ever studied "ethics" and/or other philosophical positions that utilize principals and methodologies that "scientifically" examine questions concerning the possibility of the existence of "human souls," the possibility of their immortality, and the nature of their origin, i.e., the possibility of their Divine creation. By restricting himself exclusively to the possibility that all there is to human life is "physical" reality studied in his career as "biological reality," it is inevitable that Dr. Watson's ethical positions concerning the "good" for individuals, families and society be measured and evaluated exclusively in terms of the consequences of physical "evils" and other "random tragedies" generated by the "horrors of genetic disease." Ibid. pp. 224-225.

With no demonstrated knowledge of the existence, or proof of the lack of existence, of human souls, their origin and destinies, Dr. Watson is on very shaky ground "scientifically" to be suggesting this type of solution, i.e., termination of the existence of genetically disabled fetuses, for "victims of unlucky throws of the genetic dice." Ibid. p. 224-225.

For those of us who have established "scientifically" and thus have validly established that the human soul is immaterial and what is more, is immortal, and whose existence as an immortal soul is due to the efficient causality of an uncaused cause, i.e., God, our ethical principals support the "compassionate" caring for the genetically deformed by not only the individuals who they are born to but, also as an obligation of society since this care most often exceeds the resources of any one or two individuals. This position can only be understood by those who either have the knowledge of these truths arrived at by the use of reason and logic (philosophy) or by the tenets of a revealed "faith" (scripture and theology). Yes, Dr. Watson, you believe that the "evolutionary process operating under the Darwinian principles of natural selection" is the only explanation for the existence of "human as well as all other forms of life" Ethical Implications, p. 175, precisely because your scientific method is restricted strictly to the material, physical and hence measurable aspects of existence. But have you examined the arguments (including the starting points and methods) of those of us who do see "evidence for the sanctity (holiness) of life."? You certainly don't present and evidence in your essays of this book that you have, you only present a biased assertion.

I agree with Dr. Watson's principal on page 225, Good Gene, Bad Gene, "Working intelligently and wisely to see that good genes - not bad ones - dominate as many lives as possible is the truly moral way for us to proceed." But this principal does not support "terminating the existence of a genetically disabled fetus" but rather more humanly and Divinely supports the hard work of intelligent research and development of technologies that reduces the possibilities of future "unlucky throws of the genetic dice" happening or occurring before conception or that supports life supportive therapies during fetal growth and after birth resulting in the elimination of or the reduction of genetic disease. As Dr. Watson has said in another place, "Good luck with hard work." I second that!

Watson's passion.......2000-07-09

Chris, I've been reading Watson's new book "a passion forDNA". Autobiographical writings on the thought process and earlyDNA players of the 40s 50s and 60s, as well as some more recent musings on recombinant DNA, cancer and the genome.

Very well done! Gives an appreciation for how the obvious can be overlooked, and how difficult it is to break out of old ways of thinking. And the man writes very well... and he shares my politics... hes obviously a genius.

Many insights about who did what, who succeded, who fell short. Good short pieces on Luria, Pauling and Hershey. Points out Caltech's shabby treatment of Pauling on his retirement... they didnt like HIS politics!

I hadn't realized that Alex Rich played an important role in studying the structure of DNA and RNA right at the beginning (the 50s) looking for DNA like structure in RNA, (with Watson at caltech) - they didnt find much and were stumped - though Alex later showed that copolymers of RNA can have double helical structure. And did you know that Francis Crick, in 1968, argued that RNA must have been the original genetic molecule... and that it might act as an enzyme catalyzing its own replication! How right he was. Shades of Ribozyme!

So am I making myself clear... buy this book...

Michael Jordan of Biology.......2000-06-23

The man is a genius - Nudge, Nudge say no more. To say the J. Watson has insight is an understatement. Plus he writes in a very understandable way.

A Passion for DNA: Genes, Genomes and Society

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A Passion for DNA: Genes, Genomes and Society

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0198507313

A PASSION FOR DNA. Genes, Genomes, and Society. With an Introduction, Afterword, and Annotations by Walter Gratzer.

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A PASSION FOR DNA. Genes, Genomes, and Society. With an Introduction, Afterword, and Annotations by Walter Gratzer.
James D.: Watson
Manufacturer: Pan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000W2S74W

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