This is one of the few nonfictional books that I have ever read that I have literally had a hard time putting it down. Dr. Altman not only wrote a book of significant importance about the need for self-experimentation, and the history of it...but he wrote it so well that I wanted to know what and who did the next group of experiments. It also explained a lot of procedures I learned about in medical school, but sometimes without the knowledge of the history behind it complete understanding is impossible. The author also explains quite clearly why we can't use just animals in experimentation, and gives numerous illustrations of physicians and scientists who...surprise!...actually think about others compassionately and are able to put themselves in the shoes of the patients. After undergoing an experimental cochlear implant which failed (in its early days), this book makes it a lot easier for me to explain to others why I undertook such a risk and didn't sue when it failed and made me ill. The book also makes clear the need for both patient and doctor awareness of informed consent...for all patients, including those who are disabled or those who lack a complete education. Dr. Altman wrote a book that should definitely be required reading by all medical personnel in ethics classes. Karen L. Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh, klsst23@pitt.edu

This book discusses a taboo in medical research--self-experimentation. The self-experimenters ranged from the oddball to the dedicated, experiments ranged from shots in the dark to well planed out Gives a glimpse into the courage of these men and women. I highly recommend this unusual and thrilling book.

This is a wonderful book about a nearly wholly ignored aspect of medical research - - doctors who are the cutting edge of experimentation. Hopefully it will be in paperback soon

This book, Wizard and the War Machine is written by Gerrold and Niven, with Cybord and Wizards - it is fantastic and we want more, Elizabeth Hall Boyer wrote The Wizard and the Warlord which is also a fantastic book but bears no relation to the above reviews, with E H Boyer think Norse Gods, action and reality, you know the type that can make you feel the cold and waves of the sea, as if your there.

I really liked this book, and it's predecessor, the Cyborg and the Sorceror. I wish that the author would write more on Slant and his adventures. The book kind of leaves you hanging at the end. (I am currently looking for another copy,as it is now out of print)

I really loved this novel, From cyborg to wizard! What a concept! I loved it! Look out Terminator. :) Wish there was a series..

Lawrence Grobel is a brilliant entertainment interviewer. I have admired his work and by reading "Above the Line: Conversations about the movies", his work inspires me even more. As an entertainment writer, I've always wanted to conduct my interviews like Grobel's. One thing about Grobel's style is that he's smart, he's a man who does his research and although I have never met the man, his interviews are intelligent, informative and it leaves me complete. Where magazines tend to have the typical questions that are becoming so damn repetitive in many entertainment publications (and also to short), when you read this book you can tell by his conversations with people like Harrison Ford, Sharon Stone, Oliver Stone and more that they have a certain respect for this man. I can't wait to read the next book from Grobel (which I hope there is another one) and I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves reading entertainment interviews and to those who are interviewers as well. "Above the Line" is deserving of the five stars.

Lawrence Grobel has been writing the finest interviews with the world's famous for the past twenty years. Finally, a compilation of his best work has arrived. The thing that sets Grobel apart from most interviewers is research. He makes a consistent effort to never repeat the same old tired questions. This is apparent throughout this book. I highly recommend both the Robert Evans interview and the Oliver Stone, but they're all pretty great. Be sure to check out Grobel's work each month in Movieline and Palyboy magazines as well.

Vastly expanded my consciousness regarding the desert I love. A beautifully written book based on a tremendous amount of personal experience, research, and soul searching.

A near-perfect blend of anthropology, geology, human and natural history, it is the thorough overview of the Anza-Borrego Desert that I was looking for. There is no preaching or strong advocacy for either conservation or exploitation of the region, but rather a balanced presentation of the various viewpoints of a surprisingly large number of stakeholders. The easy-going tone and pacing make for an enjoyable read. There is a storytelling quality about the writing that drew and held my attention firmly but pleasantly. There was enough technical detail to flesh out the themes but not so much detail that I felt overwhelmed. The only exception was the chapter on the Salton Sea which included, perhaps necessarily, quite a bit of information on past and current politics regarding the handling of this unique area. While there were parts of the book that challenged my previous impression of the desert as "untouched" and "pristine" - and made me wonder if I really wanted that impression challenged - ultimately my attraction to the desert became more informed, not spoiled.

This book covers an amazing assortment of information, from how to install a lathe to how to turn rubber, do metal spinning, mill in the lathe, and lap cylinder bores. For a concise summary of all the assorted knowledge a home machinist is likely to need to know about, this book is hard to beat.

The frontispiece picture of the very English author in necktie and shop coat working at his lathe is alone worth the price of admission.

If you get seriously involved you'll want to know more about some of the topics, but this book will get you started.

If your are starting out as a model, steam engine,gasolineengine builder or maybe just want to learn how to use a metal lathe,this is THE book. Although focused on English equipment, it's all good stuff. Many ideas, lots of pictures and helpful tips.

America's Most wanted fifth graders was about 2 kids named Robert and Max. They are full of money making schemes as Robert is trying to but a Super Soaker 2000. They get twisted up with these bad guys that are asking them to sell cookies and then they will give them $5000 a month. They are so siked up until they are in the back of a truck all tied up. READ MORE TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS! THIS IS A GREAT BOOK FOR 9-11 YEAR OLDS!

Jan Lawrence is a magnificant author!!!!!!!! This book is about 2 kids, Rob and Max. They are full of money-making schemes. But then one of them gets them into BIG trouble. Read this book, and you'll find yourself right there with all the characters. I highly reccomend it. Also, check out Jan Lawrence's other bool, The Revenge of The Substitute Teacher, It's greeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was a fantastic book. I am a college student and do not have much time to deviate from my school work, but when my favorite uncle insisted that I read this book, I couldn't say no. I have recommended it to everyone I know.

"Annie's Angel" is a strong, character-driven story about the struggles of a Southern Appalachian family to survive in the area known as "Hillbilly Land" in Uptown Chicago in the fall of 1963. Though graphically presented (and probably not for younger readers), the book is ultimately an inspiring testament to the power of the human spirit to survive through all kinds of adversity. The 14-year-old protagonist, Annie Mae McCree, is one of the more vividly drawn characters I have discovered in recent fiction. She draws us into the story, and, with her, we experience not only the physical aspects of her struggles, but the spiritual aspects as well. A stone angel in Chicago's Graceland Cemetery becomes symbolic of Annie's struggle to understand the universal problems of suffering and death. Whether or not there are really guardian angels "out there" somewhere is left ambiguous, but the author effectively makes the case that we often encounter "angels" through other people. This is a well-written story and reads very well; but it is also rather provocative and will stay with you for some time afterwards.

Connelly wrote this excellent account of the first year of the Army of the Tennessee from the viewpoint of the high command and it is a very thorough and pretty damning one. Starting with the Tennessee militia, then on to Forts Henry and Donelson, then on to the surprise counterattacks at Shiloh and Corinth and Bragg's remarkable but pointless invasion of Kentucky in the fall of 1862, Connelly relentlessly describes and criticises the actions or inactions of the generals and shows how most of Tennessee was lost to the Union in a few months at comparitively little cost through the sheer incompetence of the Southern generalship. Polk, Floyd, Pillow, Albert Sidney Johnston, Beauregard, Kirby Smith, Van Dorn, Bragg, and especially Jefferson Davis all receive lashings at the hands of this historian, whose research and conclusions are impeccable and damn near irrefutable.

On the downside, the maps in this book are atrocious (but usable)and sometimes Connelly is rather ignorant about the Union Army. By staying in the command tent, Connelly ignores the story of the common soldier. The biggest flaw is that Connelly is so fierce in his criticisms of the Confederate high command that I found it hard to believe they did ANYTHING right.

Although Connelly wrote this book in the 1960s it remains the top book about the Army of Tennessee in 1861 and 1862. Much of this book deals with the formation of the army largely from the state army/militia of Tennessee, characters who helped form the army like Governor Isham Harris, and early leaders of the army such as Polk, A.S. Johnston, Bragg, E.K. Smith, and others. The book also delves into the strategies, policies, and politics of the army and the army's dealings with the Confederate government and President Jefferson Davis. Connelly also discsses topics that deal with the ineptitude of some early AOT leaders. Much of the discussion centers on these topics, but there is also discussion of early battles such as Shiloh, Richmond (KY), and Perrysville. I believe the second volume of Connelly's work on the AOT (Autumn of Glory) is superior to Army of the Heartland, but this is still a well-written, informative, and interesting look at the formation of the Confederacy's largest army in the Western Theater. It is not a surprise this book, and Autumn of Glory, was named one of the 100 essential Civil War titles by Civil War magazine.

Giordan Bruno is still today a controversial philosopher. In this book he exposes his philosophical/cosmological ideas and, in doing so, he uses the new Copernican theory as the basis for a new, daring vision of the universe.
Anybody who would like to familiarize him/herself with the work of Bruno, or is interested in the development of Western ideas will find this book extremely challenging. However I would like to say a few words on the interpretation that the translators give of Bruno's ideas. The translators appear to follow completely an interpretation of Bruno based on the theory of the english scolar Frances Yates. According to this theory Bruno was an exponent of the (then popular) Hermetic movement.
It is imperative to underscore that Yates theory is not universally accepted. While it is known that Hermetic influences can be traced in Bruno, to reduce his whole cosmology and his understanding of Copernican theory to a "hieroglyphic" is misleading if not plainly wrong.
Bruno was not a scientist, but he was the first to intuitively realize the revolutionary consequences of Copernican theory (not only for science) and to bring that theory to its logical conclusions: an infinite universe with infinite earth-like worlds. This vision can not be reconciled with the world of the hermetic "Magus". The whole purpose of the hermetic Magus was to ascend the material world to the world of the perfect spheres. In Bruno's universe there is nothing to ascend to. The universe is composed of a thin air where an infinity of worlds and stars are suspended and move following universal (animistic) principles. The other worlds are corruptible as much as the earth and may be inhabited by earth-like people. The very base of the hermetic doctrine is missing. I would therefore encourage the interested reader not to stop the investigation of Bruno's ideas to the hermetic interpretation, but to also read different points of view (for example Yates interpretation of Bruno's use of images has recently been challenged with very solid arguments by the finding of italian scholars). In particular I found the book of Hillary Gatti "Giordano Bruno and the renaissance science" extremely interesting and complete.

Giordano Bruno stands at the cusp between the Renaissance and the modern world. His unique attempts to extract philosophical and theological meaning from Copernicus's forward-looking work provide us with striking insights into the Weltanschauung of his troubled times. Gosselin and Lerner have brilliantly translated Bruno's elegant but involuted Renaissance Italian into clear modern English that nevertheless preserves the spirit of the original. Their thoughtful notes bring comprehensibility to previously misunderstood passages, and the linkage they establish between Bruno's travails and Galileo's later troubles is highly convincing. A must-read for the scientist as well as the philosopher

"Baby Loves" by Michael Lawrence and Adrian Reynolds is based on the premise that "baby" loves Mommy and Daddy more than anything else in the world except, breakfast; and baby loves breakfast more than anything else in the world, except. . .slippers. . . teddy. . .kitty, well you get the story. Bright colors, large type, and big two-page illustrations are a plus, especially when reading to more than one child at a time. The illustrations are colorful and comical, but with just enough detail that I am certain the authors wanted to entertain mommies and daddies as much as their little ones. The book is quick to read, and your children will quickly pick up the pattern as they follow along with what baby loves next. The best books have "sappy" endings and this one is no exception. One small aside, this book is bound with so-called "toddler-proof" pages, which should more accurately be called "nearly toddler-proof" pages.(nothing a little tape can't handle) Highly recommended for a keeper or a gift.

My twenty-month old really likes this book. She rapidlylearned all the words of the baby's loves (grandma, sunshine,bathtime, etc.) and happily calls them out as we turn the appropriate page. We really whiz through it -- it's a good book to have handy when you only have time for a quick one. The bold illustrations are great.