5 comments about The Trembling Mountain.

1. The subject of cannibalism should grab the attention of the reader. Instead, on page after page, you are startled by grammatical inconsistencies. Nobody has bothered to proofread this book -- not the author, the reader, the editor. The author does not transport you in any way into an exotic world, but instead has you grinding your teeth as you read through such language as "I seen..." This reads like a hasty job, not one that has been put together with love and pride.



2. Written with the intensity of a thriller, THE TREMBLING MOUNTAIN is a brilliant examination of the cultures of the mind. Read it now.



3. I had read Dr Klitzman's earlier book "Being Positive" and wanted to read more of his work, the title sounded very strange but bought the book after the life affirming experience of reading the first. Dr Klitzman is one hell of an explorer !, brave, adventurous and a great medical investigator and researcher. The Papua New Guinea Highlands might hold the answers to the questions that medical researchers have been asking for years and Dr Klitzman is a trail blazer to these answers. This story deserves to be read by anyone who is affected directly or indirectly by any disease from cancer to HIV, it will give you a better insight and hope.



4. This book tells the story of a young man who travels to Papua New Guinea to try his hand at medical research. The book jackets accurately describes it as "a gripping medical mystery, an exotic travelogue, and a stirring coming-of-age story." Just one year out of college, Klitzman sets off to Papua New Guinea alone to work on a project arranged by Carleton Gajdusek to survey the incubation time for kuru. Klitzman soon finds himself living in the Highlands, where he spends his time seeking out former cannibals who are dying of kuru so that he can interview them about when they last ate human flesh.

   Klitzman's cultural insights are quite compelling- -instead of finding fault with all that frustrates him, he is able to put the difficulties in context and realize that people are much the same everywhere, underneath their material trappings. One of the fascinating facets of this book is that at the time when Klitzman was doing his research in PNG, kuru was dying out- -the project that he was working on was to find the incubation period for a disease without a future, or so it seemed at the time. When Mad Cow began popping up a few years after Klitzman finished his project, the results suddenly became extremely important for trying to estimate potential deaths due to tainted beef. The book serves as a good reminder that basic research may prove its worth long after the fact.

   The book's main narrative takes place in Papua New Guinea in 1983-84, 7 years after independence. It provides interesting historical documentation of living conditions in PNG in the time immediately following independence. In 1997, Klitzman returns to the area where he did his research, and observes how many aspects of life in PNG had deteriorated in the intervening time, despite the quantity of wealth coming into the country. For this reason, area specialists may find much of interest in Klitzman's detailed descriptions of living conditions in the early 1980s in PNG.




5. This is a really awful book - embarrassingly bad writing (p.205 "How was your trip?" Roger asked with disgust, foaming at the mouth." Page 276: "Ray's blue eyes exploded in ecstasy as he spied a butterfly.") Also, there are many sentences that one must skip or pause to decipher because the sentence just doesn't make any sense. (Who the heck edited this book?)
   
   The book contains precious little about Kuru and less about cannibalism. Also there is not much on Mad Cow Disease. There is here lots and lots and lots of Robert Klitzman. But, even as a "personal account," this book is sadly not very interesting or readable. (Maybe if the author had published this as an edited journal date by date, it would have worked a bit better. Ah, maybe not.)
   
   We read that there amid the fleas and the smelly New Guinea people he thinks about his future. "I decided that I wanted to live an active life, engaged with the world. What I had seen and learned intellectually from Carlton [Gajdusekan - Nobel Prize winner and "sadly" convicted pedophile] was living life. Literary critics [and presumably editors] missed the point by being too analytic and petty, I thought."
   
   This is essentially a vanity publication [and rip-off of the reading public]. Perhaps it is interesting to some relative or close friend of the author (though I doubt it). While the author can add this title to his list of publications, the author should pray that no future writing monies ever depend on the quality of this book.
   
   I cannot imagine any reason anyone would waste his/her time or money on this dreadful book.

1 comments about Saunders Interactive General Chemistry Cd-Rom: Version 2.5 With Activchemistry.

1. I have been using the Saunders Interactive Chemistry as a supplement to my college course and have found it to be very user friendly and helpful. Examples within are interesting and relate well to real world applications. Chemistry is a difficult science but the Saunders Interactive Chemistry goes to the next level ensuring that the student stays interested and focused without doing too much for the student. I recommend this to all my friends who are thinking about taking chemistry or may be having a hard time with the subject. I am even buying a new one to replace the one that was lost.

1 comments about Synthesis and Technique in Inorganic Chemistry.

1. This has a very clear description of a number of different synthesis and the chemical techniques that go along with it. Very nice.

No comments about Successful Management of the Analytical Laboratory.

2 comments about Pharmacology for Chemists (Acs Professional Reference Book).

1. Reading this book is much easier after taking the author's course. You get a better feeling for how the book is laid out after listening to the author's lecture style. An organic chemist by training, the author naturally gears this book to the organic chemist. He gives just enough physiology to understand the pharmacology behind it. The book follows his lecture course fairly well with more in-depth discussion on topics of interest. A standard reference text that should be in any chemists' library starting out in the pharmaceutical field.



2. This book is a one stop shop for Chemists wanting to be familiar with the essentials of Pharmacology. Cannon also adopts the same perspective, always giving stress on the chemical basis of the action of drugs, as well as neurotransmitters, hormones and intracellular signalling molecules. The first part of the book deals with general principles, which Cannon beautifully explains in a nutshell. Topics include the blood-brain barrier, drug receptors, pharmacological assays, metabolic inactivation and modifications of drugs by organs, basic pharmacokinetics, and properties of membranes and cells. The latter part is focused on particular systems. It is especially in discussing the Central Nervous System that the book really shines. Cannon talks in detail about the neurochemistry and physiological action of several important neurotransmitters and their agonists & antagonists. He also discusses the most important diseases arising from malfunctioning of the CNS. The chemistry of addiction also receives due exaplanation. Later chapters include discussions of cardiovascular drugs and drugs which are used to treat Asthma and Allergies.
   Pharmacology is a vast science, and it not possible for a utilitarian chemist to work through the grand tomes on the subject to get what he wants. Cannon's book largely remedies this situation, and provides him with the essentials, without overloading him with information. This slim volume is a must on the shelves of Medicinal Chemists, Biochemists and any professional working in, or interested in Drug Design.

2 comments about Quality Assurance of Chemical Measurements.

1. This book is a valuable reference for quality managers and analysts in the laboratory. It covers many topics concerning quality assurance, and is easy to read and understand. It offers a good overview of the principals involved in a laboratory quality program.



2. This is easily the best reference I have found for general QA/QC practices in testing laboratories. If you have one reference in your library this should be it. I have been cracking the cover on this one since the early eighties.

No comments about Laser Control and Manipulation of Molecules #821.

No comments about Carbohydrate-based Vaccines (Acs Symposium Series).

1 comments about Quality Assurance in the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory.

1. Very good book in the field of application.It is very importance in my country(Chile, Sud America)for the use in the Accreditation of the Laboratories in Analytical Chemistry

3 comments about Microscale Inorganic Chemistry: A Comprehensive Laboratory Experience.

1. This is a wonderful combination of some simple chemistry experiments that allow students (such as myself) to gain insight into the experimental world of inorganic chemistry. The laboratory experiments are real, interesting, and also allow the student to think about what is happening, and to apply their knowledge to taking the experiments to a further level. This is an excellent book, and probably the best source available for inorganic experiments for undergrads.



2. This is a good introductory inorganic test. It does a great job explaining procedure and theory in the first few chapters.
   
   Some of the end of chapter questions are esoteric, especially the literature search ones.
   
   The biggest problem is that some of the lab procedures give poor yields when applied. The procedure should be cross-referenced to make sure that it gives the best yield.



3. I've used this lab manual for a microscale inorganic laboratory course for about a dozen years. There is a nice selection of experiments which cover most of the basics appropriate for a senior-level course. But the reviewer who comments on the reaction yields is right. Some of the yields are so poor that I maintain commercial samples of the products so that students will have something to characterize. I have even written the authors with questions about improving yields in some of the experiments, but received few suggestions for improvements. Also, very few of the experiments take the students through reasonable purification steps for the products (I suppose because the yields are so low). But there are few competing inorganic lab manuals, and none that I am aware of for working at microscale.