1 comments about Heath Ledger: Hollywood's Dark Star.

1. Beautiful, never before seen pictures of Heath Ledger throughout his career. Author did a tasteful job in writing this book. R.I.P. Heath

No comments about Golden Bones: An Extraordinary Journey from Hell in Cambodia to a New Life in America.

5 comments about The Woman Who Can't Forget: The Extraordinary Story of Living with the Most Remarkable Memory Known to Science--A Memoir.

1. A good book written by a normal person who has an extraordinary gift/curse. There is a lot of information and insight into the different kinds of memory, both theory and fact- not to mention this woman's unique version and experiences.



2. Seeing this fascinating woman's story lead me to the discovery of my life: how anyone can improve brain function without medicine or surgery that starts working immediately and only improves as you practice. When Jill Price, "The Woman Who Can't Forget" was cat scanned, we learned one area of her brain was used more than other persons used it. When she was 8, she TRAINED her brain to organize memories by date, just by telling her brain to do so.
   
   All of us have more than one "channel" of brain thoughts going simultaneously. My real time thoughts are interrupted constantly over the two survival techniques humans require: where are we getting our next food (for survival of the self) and where are we getting our next sex (for survival of the species). In addition I had interruptions from negative thoughts of remembered experiences and regrets. When these memories are of painful events, they can interfere with or disable normal function.
   
   The solution? TELL YOUR BRAIN TO OPEN ANOTHER CHANNEL. That's it. I had already used this technique to solve lifelong inexplicable questions. I would tell myself before I went to sleep to send me the answers in a dream or daydream. And it worked! I once got the answer to a problem that arose before I was old enough to verbalize what was happening -- right in the middle of a busy expressway!
   
   After reading Jills story, I told myself to open a "happy" channel. Whenever a negative thought arose, I immediately replace it with a happy thought (too personal to give examples). You can have two (maybe even more) channels open at all times if you practice for "being here now", the past, overcoming the past, and the future - simultaneously as you direct. Try it, youll like it -- and thank you Jill!



3. It's no surprise that Jill Price has become the go-to girl in her family for reminders about birthdays and anniversaries: she's incapable of forgetting them. Given a date from 1980 on--her memory before she was fourteen is spottier--she can rattle off a laundry list of her activities on that day and provide headline news as well, provided she was aware of the event at the time. Her memory works in reverse, too: given an event, she can tell you its date and significance in her own life. Her extraordinary memory is limited to the autobiographical, however. She is not one of those savants who can memorize long lists of prime numbers or the value of pi to hundreds of places. And in fact her aptitude for rote memorization of that sort is relatively poor, which proved problematic for her in school.
   
   In her autobiography, Price discusses, but only superficially, memory-related scientific research in general and the tests that have been conducted on her own memory. (She was the subject of a paper published in the scientific journal Neurocase.) But mostly she tells us the story of her life with an emphasis on how her bizarre memory has kept her from living normally. The advantages of having a nearly perfect autobiographical memory are obvious: she can remember with perfect clarity, for example, the giddy joy she felt when she first met her husband. But the negatives are more numerous. Price can also remember, with perfect clarity, the conversation she had with doctors about allowing them to harvest her husband's organs once he was taken off life support. Nor can she will herself not to remember such things: Price's memories come to her unbidden, replaying in her head in apparently random order. Moreover, when Price remembers she relives the emotion of the original experience. So deaths and slights and embarrassments and childhood terror are as painful and frightening and sad as they were originally. Interestingly, the intensity of Price's relived emotion is sometimes evident on the page. In recalling painful episodes from her adolescence, Price's voice is imbued with the resentments of a teenager toward her parents.
   
   Price collaborated on her book with a writer, Bart Davis. The resulting narrative is a quick read with a conversational tone. Unfortunately, the writing is bland and occasionally repetitive. This is a shame, because Price certainly has an interesting story to tell. Were it written in snappier prose, her book might have been--forgive me--unforgettable.
   
   -- Debra Hamel



4. I know this book was ghostwritten but it went too far in making it seem it was written by an average person. It read at about 7th grade level. I realize doctors and scientists do not know much about this unusual condition yet was disappointed there was not more discussion of the medical and psychological history, physiology and studies about memory. The memoir about Jill's life is just not that interesting.



5. Jill Price is remarkably skilled at perfectly retrieving memories of her past and significant historic events by day and date, but is unable to do justice to that fact through her memoir. Born in NYC in 1965 and raised in an upper-middle class Jewish family, she didn't realize until the age of twelve that her memory was remarkable. At thirty-four, she sought help from renowned memory researcher Dr. James McGaugh. Six years later, he and his colleagues published the results of their extensive testing on "AJ," entitled, A Case of Unusual Autobiographical Remembering (fifteen specific, scientific-minded pages readily available online).
   
   I'd love to spend an hour listening to her talk about her memories (she did well in an NPR interview), but can't say the same about her life story in written form. Ms. Price comes across as a needy, privileged packrat who tends to dwell on the negative, especially her mother's incessant naggings about her weight (an ongoing theme), her father's abandonment of the family, and her mother's health problems. A few things make the book almost palatable: brief descriptions of certain types of memory, references to stories with memory-related themes, and chapter-preceding quotes (probably provided by the co-author). But it's hard to get past distractions like the overuse of certain words and phrases, sometimes on the same page (e.g., "thought-provoking," "hugely relieved," "wrenching," and "stoicism"); the three page time line (a waste of paper); the overinclusion of the minutiae of her everday life (no more interesting than the average person's); the awful, amateurish writing; and the obvious lack of editing. And just when you think it can't get worse, you reach chapter 9 (warning-spoilers), in which you learn that this right-side-of-the-tracks-born, pampered, hoarder, rich girl meets the love of her life, a tattooed, pierced, flannel-wearing Type I Diabetes-afflicted (although in denial about), divorced father of two...in a chat room. The only "thought-provoking" thing about the book that you can't read on the dust jacket is what she considers too "personal" to share with readers, considering her willingness to gush about bedding her beau on their second day together. The Woman Who Can't Forget is a forgettable memoir about an average woman with an incredible memory. Better books on brains: A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas, Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet, and A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar. And by Yasunari Kawabata: The Old Capital.

5 comments about Miracle Workers, Reformers, and the New Mystics.

1. I read a lot of books but this book is the first one that has motivated me to write a review. I can not speak highly enough of the author and the wisdom it contains. It speaks to this generation while also encouraging those who are older that God has not passed them by. If you are hungry for more of God and dont want to settle for the status quo any longer this book may just be the one that will increase your faith and motivate you to begin again to seek and wait on God for his glory to enlarge you from the inside. The many examples of our forefathers(a lot whom I have never heard of) in the faith who've developed their relationship with God by setting time aside and waiting on him with resulting with signs and wonders following are absolutley astounding, better still we can have it too! History is someting we can all learn from but history in God has no time, is always current so dig those wells again and move forward with God. You can do it!!



2. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I thought it was informative, well researched and well balanced; particularly with the handling of both positive and negative features of the various miracle workers, revivals and revivalists. It is a great book to read especially if you don't have the time or resources to purchase several books on the subject; the author gave numerous "snippets" of various miracle workers, Christian "Mystics" and moves of God throughout the centuries. Being a student of miracle workers and revival myself; I found much of the anecdotal information provided to be helpful and quite interesting, much of it I had not read before. I really appreciated the contemporary writing style; I've read numerous books on the subject, but this one was refreshing, as it speaks especially to the younger generation. Another positive feature is the "running" discussion of the mistakes and lessons learned in past "moves of God" that can benefit our generation today as we call out to God for revival and see His kingdom manifest. Overall great book, I highly recommend it, especially if you want to increase your passion for God and see the move of His Holy Spirit in our day.
   
   Paul Bartley



3. I found some of the stories interesting, but the author does a poor job citing his sources. I found some real insights jumbled up with all the nonsense about why this period we are living in is unlike any other. The main problem I had with the book is that the argument is that history has been leading up to this present time, and that now a supernatural generation is emerging unlike any other. I don't find support for this in the Bible and it seems like a lot of sensationalism. I believe Christ is enough to get us excited without making stuff up. It was a interesting read though, because I have not seen much Christian history in the books I read from the radical charismatic movement.



4. God created us and the supernatural realm, This book reveals the truth that from the time of Jesus the early Christians lived and experienced the supernatural. The enemy of God and men (satan) has unlawfully taken over realms that we as the Body of Christ should be living in. We the rising Army of God are taking back everything the enemy has killed stolen and destroyed, we will not be held back in this day by doubt and unbelief or false religious teachings of the past. If you want to have your Faith stirred to live and breath in the supernatural realms of Heaven READ THIS BOOK.



5. With few exceptions, most Christians are hungry for a true move of God. Many of us read the book of Acts and we long for the presence and power of God as seen in the early Church. We want the miracles and we want the thousands of conversions but do we want to pay the price? Are we prepared for the suffering, the persecution, the murders, and the attacks from Satan and his demonic forces?
   
   In this book, John Crowder believes we are living in Acts again. In this book Crowder presents story after story that are incredible! Angels, healings, prophetic visions, dreams, and words of knowledge are all profoundly wrote about by Crowder. The book is written to give the reader a passion for the mystical. Crowder believes that the Church history is full of people who were "mystics" such as St. John of the Cross, Madame Gunyon, and modern day people such as Todd Bentley, Bill Johnson, Bob Jones, William Branham, and Oral Roberts.
   
   While the book is full of interesting accounts from both the life and ministry of Crowder and his New Mystics and many others, the book is lacking in biblical exegesis. Crowder rarely interacts with Scripture unless it is to back up a point or an experience. In fact, Crowder seems to me to argue against deep personal study of the Bible in favour of a mystical communion with God. For instance, when Crowder writes on prayer he teaches from the new age Thomas Merton and contemplative prayer. Crowder believes that the mystic Merton and others found a powerful tool for true praying in contemplative prayer that the Church has lost. Crowder never examines the Bible for contemplative prayer but simply favours it because of its mystical roots and where it leads. He even favours out-of-body experiences from contemplative prayer.
   
   I can not recommend this book. It is simply not biblical. It is not biblical both because of what it teaches and the fact that Crowder does not truly dive into the Bible. I am all for what the Puritans called, "experiential Christianity" but not wild mysticism without a solid biblical foundation. There are better books on prayer (E.M. Bounds, Samuel Chadwick, John Wesley, Andrew Murray), on devotion (Leonard Ravenhill, Oswald Chambers, Charles Spurgeon, John MacArthur, John Piper), and on experiencs based on the authority of the Bible (Ray Comfort, Anthony Palma, French Arrington, Douglas Jacoby) that are out there.

5 comments about The Beginning of All Things: Science and Religion.

1. Kung is one of the clearest theologians thinkers writing today. There are a glut of books out there promising to weigh in on some pressing issue that concerns the science/ religion controversy. I personally believe that it is a bogus issue largely fed by the publishing industry. That said, I think Kung's book is one of the few on the subject worth reading. I have read Dawkins and Hitchens and am generally sympathetic with their views. But Kung points out that while science (and history) may have much to say about human beings and perhaps what drives religious movements, it has absolutely nothing to say about God. Kung reminds us of the often forgotten distinction between religious experience and religious organizations. This book lays out the fundamental issue more clearly than any I have encountered.



2. First, my bias - Hans Kung is a genius. I have read the majority of his works and find them all to be great. I have often said that I am still a Catholic because him. For those of you not in the know, Hans is a Catholic and a theologian, but cannot call himself a Catholic Theologian. If this last sentence makes sense to you, than this book is for you.
   
   I read this directly after reading Dinesh D'Sousza What's So Great about Christianity. While many of their point are similar Kung has a much deeper understanding of the subtleties. It is not an easy a read as D'Sousza (I think this is probably due to the fact that is a translation), but it gives you a deeper understanding of the concepts. His argument that is it bizarre that scientist see no problem in the duality of light (wave/particle), yet squawk of the notion of the duality of Christ is sheer genius.



3. Hans Kung has been a formidable intellect in theology for many years having written over 50 books. His writing is characterized by breadth of learning. His book Infallible? An Enquiry (1978) led to loss of his license to teach theology in Roman Catholic schools but did not discourage him from pushing the theological envelope. For those who regard it as important, Kung's views were never found to be heretical. Now retired from his professorship at Tubingen University, Kung turns his attention in this volume to the question whether science and religion can coexist. His answer is that they do more than coexist; they are complimentary. Kung defines complementarity as a state "between science and religion in which the distinctive spheres are preserved, all illegitimate transitions are avoided and all absolutizations are rejected, but in which in mutual questioning and enrichment people attempt to do justice to reality in all its dimensions."
   
   Kung immediately engages the skeptic's question whether he argues for an unenlightened biblical belief in a being that created the world in six days. Kung replies: "Certainly not! I want to take the Bible seriously, but that doesn't mean I want to take it literally."
   
   Kung begins with an engaging and clear tour through cosmology. He leaves nothing out from Copernicus to Newton, Einstein, Big Bang theory, Heisenberg's indeterminacy and Godel's incompleteness. Kung's point is, not surprisingly, that science cannot account for everything. Kung draws us back to the fundamental questions about the origin of the first structures in the universe. Science may be able to explain the fine tuning of the first structures but the question remains: where did the minimal structure that already existed at the Big Bang come from? Why isn't there nothing? Kung offers God as a reasonable hypothesis that can provide intellectual answers to the questions of the beginning.
   
   In succeeding chapters Kung takes up the debate between creationism and evolution, life in the universe and the development of human beings. He includes discussion of the brain and the mind, the limits of brain research and the beginning of human ethics. Having started with the beginning of all things, his epilogue deals with the end of all things - hypotheses of the end of the universe and apocalyptic visions of the end.
   
   Kung does not set out new theories of science or religion and does not insist on one or the other as the final arbiter of reality (his term). Discussion today, like so much else, tends to polarize between those who view God as irrelevant versus the creationists and the left-behinders. Kung proposes to raise the level of discussion by invoking serious scientists and philosophers. The Beginning of All Things is a good starting point for clear and dispassionate descriptions of the interplay between serious science and serious philosophy/theology about the most intriguing and still unsolved mysteries of the universe and humanity.



4. In this book Kung uses his broad familiarity with modern science to consider how recent findings and theories relate to the question of faith in God. He is particularly good in the area of physics, where he provides a wealth of excerpts from the writings of some of the great physicists of the 20th century as they consider fundamental questions raised by their discoveries. He clearly points out the difference between scientific and religious thinking, not hesitating to reproach religious as well as scientific thinkers for not recognizing the validity of the other's methods and points of view.
   Along the way he never hesitates to reproach Church authorities for the methods they have used and unfortunately continue to use in their attempts to maintain orthodoxy. As a Catholic scientist I find his tone somewhat harsh in this regard, but I support his steadfast refusal to accept their disciplinary procedures in his uphill attempts at making the faith comprehensible to modern men and women. He is definitely ahead of the curve and this makes for controversy.
   It is important to point out that in spite of his left-of-center theological opinions he remains a priest in good standing and is held in respect by his former colleague and friend from Tübingen, the current pope, Benedict XVI. In fact in the fall of 2005 he had a friendly dinner and extended conversation with the pope, on which occasion he presented him with a copy of this book and received the pope's appreciation for his efforts in promoting dialog between science and religion.
   Some of the questions covered in the book are: what is the nature of reality; what came before the big bang; what does religion mean by creation; is there a role for empirical science in the question of God; how did life originate; how did humans come to be; what is the relationship between the brain and consciousness; and many other flash points in the contemporary exchanges between science and religion.
   He concludes his book with a magnificent description of the end of life as not dying into nothingness, as many in modern science would have it, but rather as dying into the ultimate reality we call God. To quote him: "dying is a farewell inward, an entry and homecoming into the ground and origin of the world...dying into the light."
   A beautiful book!



5. This was the first Hans Kung book that I have read, and I must say, I am rather impressed with his level of scholarship, clarity of thought, and vast scope of learning. His treatment of the interaction of science and theology was not bad, though I must confess that I did not think he was quite as good at it as Polkinghorne. However, I found that I was very dissapointed with many of the conclusions that Kung reached. In the majority of issues he discusses, he ends up reconsiling science and Christianity by having Christianity give up any claims it has in any area that science touches. Now, I am not advocating a literal six-day creation, or suggesting that we believe that the earth is flat, but I do think he has gone a bit far in denying that miracles happen. Whenever he perceives that Christianity and science can even potentially come into conflict, he always decides that (what he understands to be) science wins.
   
   For example, Scripture claims that Jesus performed miracles. Science tells us (according to Kung) that miracles cannot happen. What should we conclude? Well, according to Kung, we should conclude that the miracles did not happen. You would think that this would effectively undermine Christianity, but Kung tries to defend this position by making the absurd claim that the miracle stories in both the Old and New Testaments were not meant by the authors to be taken literally. It may be that Kung does not take them literally, but it is absolutely absurd to claim that the persons who wrote them, and the persons who originally recieved them, did not think they were to be taken literally. I found his section on miracles (pg. 151ff.) to be absolutely appalling, not because of his denial of miracles (though I do disagree with that), but because he actually tried to claim that this denial was in line with the thinking of the ancient people's who wrote and received the Scriptures. He could at least be honest and face up to the fact that his understanding of the historicity of Scripture is not the same as that of the authors of Scripture.
   
   Further, in his effort to avoid conflict, he banishes Christianity to the sphere of personal preference. He explicitly says that "no religion can dispute with others their way to salvation. Rather it is important in recognition of human freedom, especially the real freedom of faith, for each to respect its own path of faith" (p. 197). Christian teaching is no longer objectively true, but is instead a subjective understanding of the "other," which can neither come into conflict with science and history nor even competing (and logically incompatible) religions. I think his approach to the topic is well summed up in his conclusions about the resurrection, which is central to Christianity. He says that "I do not believe in the later legendary elaborations of the New Testament message of the resurrection but in its original core: that this Jesus of Nazareth did not die into nothingness, but into God" (p. 205).
   
   In short, Kung has a lot of good things to say about the compatibility of science and theism in general. He does a very good job of showing that science has not been, nor can ever be, the cause of the death of God. However, his sections of the relationship of science and Christianity are relatively useless for someone who holds to orthodox Christianity, as he promotes harmony by demolishing the claims of Christianity so that they cannot oppose what he understands to be science. I am emphaticly NOT saying that we should use Scripture as a science textbook, but I think denying both miracles and the historicity of the gospels amounts to denying the truthfulness of anything resembling historical Christianity.
   
   It may seem that I have had little good to say about a book I gave four stars. Let me emphasize that a good portion of this book is actually quite helpful. Those parts have already been written about in the previous reviews here. I simply wished to focus on the parts which previous reviewers have not. This is not a terrible book, as long as you understand what understanding of Christianity Kung is bringing to the table with him. If you disagree (as I do) with his liberal Christianity, then parts of it (the parts which I have mentioned) will be relatively useless and probably aggrivating to you, but there is still a significant amount of good, well thought out work to be had in it.
   
   Overall grade: B.

5 comments about Walden: A Fully Annotated Edition.

1. 150 years ago, a philosopher went to live in the woods off a small Massachusetts pond, and write about his experiences and meditations. Today, his thoughts, opinions, and experiences inform and educate us, enlightening us to a world of possibilities. Henry David Thoreau wrote Walden, and now all of us have a chance to spend time there in this richly illustrated edition.
   
   Jeffrey Cramer, Thoreau scholar, has meticulously put together this labor of love for the book, as is shown on each and every page. Writing a short, insightful introduction to this book, and carefully research notes in the margins of the book, add layers of understanding to an already powerful book.
   
   I hadn't ever visited Walden prior to this book. As a Walden novice, it served as an excellent introduction to an amazing man and an amazing work. I'm sure that both novices and scholars will benefit from this wonderful literary escape from the world. Yet the escape teaches us more about the world than we might ever know. Thanks to Cramer, and thanks to Henry for crafting this word feast.



2. Walden, since the age of fourteen, has always been a special place for me. Ironically, I did not disturb the leaf laden path through Thoreau's wood until seven years after, but at a young age I enjoyed the utopia this book offers. Interestingly enough the surface was read, and with little understanding of history, of which I know have a Masters degree, I did not know the context. With this Annotated version you are thrusted further into Thoreau's world than ever before. I suggest strongly to read the text, then start over with just the annotations. It takes you into the historical/political context of the book's purpose, and from that, into a world leading to civil war, that would traverse those growing pains into a time of reform. Truly a book before its time, yet speaks to the reform movement of the latter 19th c., and perhaps today.



3. This edition of Walden is a joy to read, with lovely typeface and layout. I am not a Thoreau scholar, but found the annotations accessible and absorbing. The layout allows you to read Walden straight through or wander off into the annotated notes, depending on your mood.
   
   A book that serves as a miniature vacation every time you open it.



4. This copy of Walden is beautiful and the extensive notes are very helpful.



5. I have at least six or seven different editions of Thoreau's greatest classic, and this one is my prized possession. Of course, if I took his ideas more seriously I would simplify things and give away the other copies, but they have my notes in them and I find it hard to let go of them. Part of the problem of this edition being so beautiful, on excellent paper, with very useful notes and images, is that I would hate to mark it up with the lines and notes that I have included in some of the other editions. Still, that's a good problem. The notes in this book are useful notes -- not just a haphazard list of some scholars' remarks (not always authoritative) on favorite passages, and not speculation, but clear sources for some of the obscure references in the text.
   
   On the book as a whole, it is worth noting that Walden is rich in ideas and is one of the most profound American philosophical classics, and no reading could exhaust its wealth. It is much more than a journal of Thoreau's time alone in the woods (as it were) on the banks of Walden Pond (as it is often thought to be by those who haven't read it - I know because I often ask my students what they know about the book before they read it).
   
   A quick introduction to the project of Walden, that will help organize and make sense of some of the variety of Thoreau's remarks here, is to think of his remarks as falling under three rough stages:
   (1) an account of the problem we face, that we waste away our lives trying to make a living, that we seek to acquire property for the sake of freedom but find ourselves encumbered, that we associate the rise of modern technology with enlightenment but find that our technologies and advances increasingly take us away from ourselves and our self-sufficiency, and make us dependent on what we do not individually understand.
   (2) an account of an experiment undertaken to discover what is truly essential for a life of fulfillment, and the discovery that a complete and worthwhile life can be achieved through a deliberate simplification of desires.
   (3) an account of the many remarkable discoveries that can be made about ourselves and about the natural world and the relation between these when we voluntarily simplify our lives.
   
   This is a book to read and return to throughout one's life, and there aren't many books that really merit such attention. Given its importance, having a copy in what is probably the best edition available now makes a lot of sense.

5 comments about Rickles' Book: A Memoir.

1. This book was very good. You get to see a side of Rickle's you don't normally see. The side that loves his mother, wife, and friends with all his heart. Every story is very interesting. It's crazy how many celebrities he is close friends with. It's not necessarily one of the funniest books I've read but if you like Rickles you will definitely enjoy this book.



2. I really enjoyed this book. It's nice to read a book with a happy ending and that doesn't involve some evil dark side of a comedian. I believe if Don was born into today's generation he'd be twice the superstar. A man ahead of his time.
   
   The best parts of the book are when he recalls his old acts and jokes. At least twelve times I laughed outloud. If I had to say something bad about this book it would be that we didn't get enough stories and jokes. Don was blessed to grow up in the amazing days of Vegas. I know he must have endless stories. A few more would have been welcome.
   
   This book is a good read which will leave you smiling.



3. Just finished reading Rickles' Book. Although "entertaining" and funny, I was mostly disappointed. All chapters very short, doubled spaced, many blank pages. The 239 pages could have been condensed to thirty-nine, with pictures. Glad I did not purchase this book and borrowed from local library.



4. This is a sort of mini biography of Don Rickles. A collection of reminiscences arranged chronologically beginning with his childhood, the book is easy and fun to read. There are some laughs and some great anecdotes from the glory days of The Rat Pack. For example , the boys are in a steam room and Frank Sinatra tells Don "You're not getting enough publicity Don, the public needs to see more of you" So they grab a naked and struggling Rickles and carry him outside to the pool and leave him there in front of the shocked hotel guests.
   We also get a nostalgic look back at what it was like for a young comic trying to make it in the 50's and 60's.
   I saw Mr. Rickles at the MGM in Vegas in the late 90's. After the show was over , he came down from the stage and shook hands and talked a bit with people in the audience. I was one of the lucky ones who got to meet him. Really, a nice guy. If you can't see him in person, read this delightful little book and get to know one of the last of his era.



5. I didn't scream with laughter the way I do when he's talking, but I could hear his voice in the book. Too short I think, but it's not some detailed biography--it's a quick presentation, like his typical stories. I reckon if you hadn't heard him talk, it wouldn't read as funny as it does for me. But Mr. Rickles has class and heart and that comes through loud and clear; and that counts for a lot.

5 comments about God Created the Integers: The Mathematical Breakthroughs that Changed History.

1. I just couldn't put this book down. I was so absorbed that I even missed my station and had to catch a train back. The biographies mixed with mathematical explanations and an outline of the significance of each work is brilliant. It gives one an insight into how context-dependent genius really is.
   
   I knew that the book had flaws because I read these reviews a while ago. But so what! You wouldn't use this book for reference or as a text book. It's meant to be entertainment and entertaining it is. If you can understand the maths and the significance of the selected papers you can enjoy it without worrying too much about everything being crossed and dotted.
   
   I knew the biographies of many, but not all, of these men. Of the ones I didn't know, my favorite is George Boole. The description of his unusual career and the amazingly clear and readable paper on symbolic logic are worth buying the book for. I almost choked up when I read how he died.
   
   Anyway, in our age or irrationality and ignorance we need more books like this to show us that we can rise above it all.



2. This is a beautiful book because it lists the life and work of 16 mathematicians whose work has inspired our civilization. For example Einstein is not included, but Riemann whose analysis of curved space is the foundation of the General Theory of Relativity is rhere. So also are Archimedes and Newton the pillars of mathematical physics.Kurt Godel in 1931 proved that there will always a truth that is outside a set of axioms.Some of the original papers are difficult but I have gained much from the logic of George Boole which also governs computer programmes.



3. To evaluate my comments, I think you should know who I am and why I bought this book: I'm a former technical editor and writer. As a girl, I was discouraged from studying math, because at the time (the Fifties and Sixties) they thought girls couldn't understand it.
   
   Recently I've tried to fill in the gaps in my math and science education. I thought the idea of Hawkings choosing landmark math texts and commenting on them was fantastic. After spending three days trying to understand the Euclidian proof of the Pythagorean theorem, and concluding I was just too dumb, I turned the page and discovered that according to the commentary the proof was for an isosceles right triangle, while the illustration was not isosceles.
   
   Other reviewers have commented on the egregious errors and typos. I'd like to add that the whole publication is a typographical horror. The publisher should be ashamed. The font size is miniscule. The illustrations are often misleading. Hawkings may have chosen the texts, but the publisher apparently selected the editions based not on quality of translation but whether the copyright had expired: most appear to be nineteenth-century and to include outdated commentaries. At first I thought the commentaries were by Hawkings, but they aren't, and this was not only a disappointment but also a source of my confusion at several points where I couldn't understand them.
   
   I would be surprised if even ten percent of the book is authored by Hawkings. Given this, the ghastly page layout, inaccurate reprints of outdated texts, and amateurish copyediting, this book is overpriced.
   
   IF YOU'RE MATHEMATICALLY LITERATE, you will likely find Hawkings' material a joy to read. Even I -- with my limited background -- am able to appreciate some of it. But the minute after I want to shout for joy when I understand something beautiful in the book, I want to throw it across the room for something like spelling Leonardo da Vinci "Lionardo" or typos like "Archimedes's asked." With glaringly obvious typos like those, I can only assume there are less obvious typos where it really counts, in the math. It's not that I think typos out-weigh the value of Hawkings' insights, by any means. It's that mathematicians have to be precise in their formulas and proofs if they want to convince anyone they're right. God is also in the details.
   
   Addendum: The more I read, the more disappointed I am in this book. I'm beginning to question whether Hawkings wrote even the introductions to the excerpts. Many of them are nothing but poorly written biographies of the mathematicians anthologized. The intro to Newton asserts that Newton falsely claimed priority over Leibniz for devising calculus, for example, but the book doesn't include anything written by Leibniz. The book excerpts Euler, but only mentions the constant e in one sentence in the Euler intro. I'm going to look for a good history of mathematics and give up on this volume. And when I'm ready, I'll look for good translations of the original texts.



4. My son asked for this book for Christmas, so I bought it for him. Looking inside, I saw it was way over my head. But he, being a math and computer genius, loved it.



5. Great compendium of (some of) the most important works in math. I would have added some authors but I think the selection is awesome. Clearly explained and original works are well referenced.

5 comments about The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.

1. I have been a fan of the movie forever. It inspired me and moved me ever since i have been a little girl! it's soo funny that i have had this book forever and i finally finished it. miss jane has such an inspirational story. thsi is a classic that no one should miss! for the longest time, i thoght miss jane was a real woman who lived and walked this earth for real. but i realized as i got older that her story is the story of my ancestors and i feel even more inspired! a great read, don't miss it!



2. This was a really interesting book, but it was a slow read and it wasn't very exciting to me. It was also very depressing. I did learn a lot from this book. For all you history and/or Civil War/Civil Rights fanatics, this is the book you need to read. For all you fantasy/adventure fans, you might want to read something else.



3. I read the Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman as an independent reading project for my English class this year, and I loved it. Although it was a little dry at times, it was a very thought-provoking book with a plot that made you want to keep reading. Although it is fictional, the author has a way of writing that will make you believe this story is a true autobiography. While reading, I could actually imagine being there with Jane, working by her side in the fields as a slave. It was almost as if I could feel the exact emotions she was feeling and all the pain that she was going through. Along with being entertaining, I also found this book to be educational. I learned so many things about the Civil War and slavery that I never knew before, but it was actually fun to read about. That's more than any text book can offer. My only warning for anybody who is planning on reading this book is that it's terribly sad in some parts. Some passages include a lot gory details, which I think are necessary to show what the characters are really going through, but others may find them to be a little excessive. In spite of that, I still ejoyed reading The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. My next step will be renting the movie. If that is anywhere near as good as the book, I'm in for a treat.



4. This is the story of an incredible, 110 year old black woman, as told to a writer on tape. Jane, born Ticey, was born a slave on a Louisiana plantation and lived through slavery, with all of its cruelties, the Civil War, WW2 and the beginning of the civil rights movement. It's a fascinating glimpse into the lives of people born as slaves with no rights whatsoever, and follows them as they progressed through the following 100 years, learning to assert themselves, gain an education and aiming for better lives for themselves and their children. Some of the language was a little incomprehensible to me as a non American and I couldn't make out the meaning of a lot of phrases that local readers would understand immediately. I'll now try to find the movie on DVD to go with the book.



5. I realize this is classic American literature, or at least modern classic, but I didn't like it. The book isn't really an autobiography; Jane is merely a point of reference (a common element) in a story that depicts the changes in Southern American society from the Civil War to the 1960s. I think it is unlike other slave narratives in that the central character is not the one whose name is in the title. It is a story of characters, many black people, the people Pittman meets. And the antagonist is social construction. Pittman's life seems so very dull, even meaningless. Things happen around her. She is not a participant. Until the end, when she decides to march in Bayonne. In her old ago, she gives her life purpose by finally deciding to actively respond to the terrible things she has experienced. Style reminds me of Zore Neale Hurston --- it's just storytelling, complete with its vagueness, how and what one chooses to remember, digressions. It often becomes droll.

5 comments about The GM: The Inside Story of a Dream Job and the Nightmares that Go with It.

1. Enjoyed this book very much. Accorsi's stories are teriffic! And there is a memory-lane chapter where he is packing up his the personal effects and memorabilia from his desk; each item has its own little tale.
   
   The down side - too many 2006 Giants drive summaries provided by Callahan. Filler, page-eaters.... it's a small downside, however.



2. The book was published before the Super Bowl run and is prophetic. If you like to know what is going on in the background of a GM this is a good book. Only faults, it could have named a few names and identified more faults of bad decisions of Ernie's and others



3. Ernie Accorsi, the "GM" of the New York Giants, was a link to the NFL's great past of Pete Rozelle, Wellington Mara, John Unitas and Jim Finks. In those days, the phrase "for the good of the game" was a frequent motivation for doing the right thing for the players, fans and that elite fraternity who invested their money to make it America's favorite sport. The way Accorsi approached his job and treated those around him reflects that spirit, which was accurately portrayed by Tom Callahan. Men like Accorsi are disappearing from professional sports, and we are all worse off for it. If you love the game, you'll love "GM."



4. As a Detroit Lion fan (NFL,not to be confused with the fantasy football team with the same name), this book should be required reading for William Clay Ford and Matt Millen. It is the story of Ernie Accorsi's last year as General Manager of the New York Giants. He is the chief architect of this year's Super Ball champions. The author provides an insider's picture of how great team are created and maintained when superior ownership,leadership and organizational skills are used to field a winning team.
   
   Accorsi is really a man who understands and values all sports combined with a sense of history and love of live. He learned his lessons on the playfields of Hershey Pennsylvania and from such personalitis as Paterno,Unitas,and Rozelle.
   
   Accorsi is truly a man for all seasons. He is very much like Machiavelli with a heart, who finds greatness where others are blind to it.



5. The GM is a tad slow in the beginning, but really picks up the pace after a couple of chapters. It's a great behind the scenes look into the Giants, and really any NFL team. Every football fan, and Giant fans in particular, owe it to themselve to read this book.