Book Description

Two of the foremost American educators and healers in the Chinese medical profession demystify Chinese medicine's centuries-odl approach to health. Combining Eastern traditions with Western sensibilities in a unique blend that is relevant today, BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH opens the door to a vast storehouse of knowledge that bridges the gap between mind and body, theory and practice, professional and self-care, East and West.
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Reviews (14)

Good Introduction to Oriental Medicine
This book gives a good foundation for understanding how the Chinese five elements theory is used in clinical practice. The description of five-element theory is very poetically written, so the book is fun to read. There is also a good introduction to acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. The chapters on acupuncture and herbal medicine are fairly technical, so if you don't have much interest in these areas, you may find the sections boring.

The main problem with the book is it's over-emphasis on the Five Elements. From what I understand, the Chinese five element theory is not regarded as important to diagnosis and treatment in TCM as the theory of yin/yang and chi (in fact, the validity of the theory is still hotly debated in China today) so its treatment here may be a bit over-emphasized.

If you buy one book on Chinese Medicine, this is the one
I read this book and used it as a reference in acupuncture school. I highly recommend it to everyone, including my patients.

It gives you a basic understanding of how the organs are viewed in Chinese medicine.

For example, the heart is affected by all emotions. Thus, if you experience extreme emotions for an extended period of time, you can develop a heart Qi (energy) deficiency. This would cause insomnia, palpitations and fatigue. This can be cured with acupuncture and herbs.

If you have too much stress, your liver energy becomes stagnant, or stuck. This causes you to be even more stressed with each added stressor. Chinese medicine can fix that.

Fear affects the kidneys. Have you ever noticed how often you have to go to the bathroom when you go to the dentist? :) Your kidneys become weak and can't control your bladder.

Chinese medicine treats the root of your health issues. Your symptoms will go away once you address the underlying problems.

Only One Piece of the Puzzle
I must first admit my bias: I seek to write a better intro to Chinese medicine than this, or the Web that has No Weaver...

This book talks only about "5 Phase" Chinese medicine- this is only one school of thought in Chinese medicine, and most acupuncturists don't practice it to the degree that you find described in this book.

Most acupuncturists and Chinese herbalists practice TCM, or some variation of it. There are many acupuncture styles (I mean Japanese, Korean, Tong, etc.), and herbal medicine is based on organ-system pattern diagnosis... you'll find none of that in this book.

What is in this book is good and interesting, and perhaps an ok intro to Chinese medicine, but please remember there is much much more to even getting acquainted with Chinese medicine. "The Web..." is much too philosophical and scholarly for more readers. The danger there is that no one will read the whole thing.

The danger with "Between..." is that readers will misunderstand the breadth and variation within Chinese medicine and be confused when they visit an acupuncturist who does not practice 5 phase style.

FULL INTRO, MAYBE TOO FULL
I found this book to be very very full of information on TCM. Being a beginner in this area, I was amazed at the amount of material combined in this one book. However, as I read this book I tend to skip parts because of how wordy they can be. Also sometimes the discussions got a bit too involved and maybe a bit repetitive. So it is a bit on the difficult side of reading, but still an excellent addition to my library and an excellent reference guide!

Lyrical and Deep
I have read a lot of books about how the universe works but this one also tells us how to live in it. This book shifts our view of medicine, providing a how-to guide for self-awareness that includes both body and mind. It is an owner's manual for our everyday lives as well as a great introduction to Chinese medicine that is well written and easy to read. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

awesome
This book gives tons of information about different diets, all the vitamin, nutrients, water, air, etc.... I learned so much! I read the whole thing in a little over a week, I spent at least 2-3 hours a day reading it.

A Very Valuable Book
I keep picking this book up and referring to it for information I need about health, diet, supplements, etc. It's big alright, but eventually I've been to all the sections. It's a sensible, reasonable book with no hype.

Should be everyone's nutrition bible.
Dr Haas has written an exhausting, thorough and informative "bible" about everything from what carbs, proteins and fats are and how they work to every vitamin, mineral and supplement you can imagine to special diets for different stages of your life or special needs to recipes...it just covers everything. I especially have to rave about a Western doctor who recognizes the validity of things like food combining and Candidiasis.

This book is over 1,100 pages and it's just jam packed with more information than you will think you need, but then you'll be surprised to find how many sections you'll flip to for info that pertains to you and your family.

I have a huge library of nutrition books and references that are really useful and well-written, but I'd toss them all just to have this one. If you are hesitant about the price or the size of the book, don't be. You will find it to be incredibly useful, easy to understand and beneficial when applied to your own daily life. I know I did.

This is far and away THE best nutrition book out there, I can't see how anyone could top this, unless he releases it with more information one day (and I can't see how there could be more.)

Comprehensive and Helpful!
Dr. Haas has put together one of the most complete nutrition books that can be enjoyed by the average reader. From what I have read, he makes no outrageous claims, though he does believe nutrition can offer health benefits (which would distinguish this book from a standard nutrition textbook). While the price may seem a little steep, there are 1140 pages that contain a wealth of information. The first 353 pages list virtually every popular nutrient (vitamins, minerals, fats, etc) and food category (such as beans, citrus fruits, etc). He even gives relevant information on the pseudo-vitamins such as Pangamic Acid (B15), amygdalin (B17), and Vitamin U. He also lists many of the popular diets and their benefits and drawbacks.

He also includes a very helpful section on "the Environmental Aspects of Nutrition." Possible pollutants and common food additives are discussed. He lists "88 Survival Suggestions."

Over 100 pages are dedicated to a Seasonal Cookbook. The foods are healthy, but possibly difficult for the average reader to obtain. It is possible with a little work however. There is a section on "Nutritional Application," which has special diets and suggestions for people with cancer, heart disease, yeast syndrome, and other disorders. He also includes suggestions for executives, adults, children, alcoholics, and adolescents. Overall the Nutritional Application section is very complete.

Finally he includes around 80 pages of health questionnaires that test health knowledge and actually intend to estimate one's health level. I use this whenever I have general or specific health questions. I recommend it highly.

Best, most comprehensive nutrition summary I've come across.
Not only does this summary provide a comprehensive review of traditional nutrition, it also provides information on less traditional supplements and discussion of current nutritional issues. I highly recommend this book for both lay people and professional nutritionists. ... Read more

Book Description

The riveting story of one of the greatest scientific accomplishments of the twentieth century, from the coauthor of the #1 New York Times bestseller Apollo 13.

With rivalries, reversals, and a race against time, the struggle to eradicate polio is one of the great tales of modern history. It begins with the birth of Jonas Salk, shortly before one of the worst polio epidemics in United States history. At the time, the disease was a terrifying enigma: striking from out of nowhere, it afflicted tens of thousands of children in this country each year and left them-literally overnight-paralyzed, and sometimes at death's door.

Salk was in medical school just as a president crippled by the disease, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was taking office-and providing the impetus to the drive for studies on polio. By the early 1950s, Salk had already helped create an influenza vaccine, and was hot on the trail of the polio virus. He was nearly thwarted, though, by the politics of medicine and by a rival researcher eager to discredit his proposed solution. Meanwhile, in 1952, polio was spreading in record numbers, with 57,000 cases in the United States that summer alone.

In early 1954, Salk was weighing the possibility of trials of a not-yet-perfected vaccine against-as the summer approached-the prospect of thousands more children being struck down by the disease. The results of the history-making trials were announced at a press conference on April 12, 1955: "The vaccine works." The room-and an entire nation-erupted in cheers for this singular medical achievement.

Salk became a cultural hero and icon for a whole generation. Now, at the fiftieth anniversary of the first national vaccination program-and as humanity is tantalizingly close to eradicating polio worldwide-comes this unforgettable chronicle. Salk's work was an unparalleled achievement-and it makes for a magnificent read. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A biography of Dr. Salk and his search for the vaccine
In 2005 the U.S. celebrates its 50th anniversary of the first national polio vaccination program which helped eradicate the disease in this country: it's hard to believe a generation is growing up without ever having known the ravages of polio. New York Times writer Jeffrey Kluger's Splendid Solution: Jonas Salk And The Conquest Of Polio is both a biography of Dr. Salk and his search for the vaccine and a social history of polio. Chapters based on exclusive interviews with his friends and colleagues and access to his private papers provides new details on Salk's life and career, setting this life in context of both his times and contemporaries.

Pleasant, undemanding popular science tale
The discovery of the polio vaccine seems a musty tale to tackle in this post-modern, giga-bitten age. But Jeffrey Kluger, a staff writer at Time magazine and coauthor with commander Jim Lovell of Lost Moon (the inspiration for the Tom Hanks movie Apollo 13), has a decent excuse: 2005 marks the 50th anniversary of Dr. Jonas Salk's breakthrough. The World Health Organization has targeted this year to eradicate the virus from the planet (a few hundred cases have lingered in Nigeria, Pakistan, and India), and the Smithsonian plans a retrospective exhibition.

Kluger nicely sketches the background for a medical achievement struck many as a miracle, and make Salk a reluctant mid-century media celebrity. When he was a child of Russian-Jewish immigrants in New York City, in 1916, more than 6,000 Americans died of polio in a year. Many more permanently lost the use of limbs. Though the numbers rose and fell, they averaged much the same for the next 40 years. Black city vehicles wrested sick children from their families and took them away to quarantine. Holiday celebrations were cancelled when the plague swept cities. Ignorance fed wild rumors such as one that blamed cats, whereupon 72,000 of them were beaten, drowned, and otherwise slaughtered by the citizens of New York.

Salk was a brilliant but odd duck. He graduated from a high school for the gifted at 15, and entered medical school by 20. During the Second World War, he was part of the team that developed the first 'flu vaccine. Detail-oriented to the point of obsessiveness, he was more polite and attentive to waiters and repairmen than peers who could do him political good.

Though muted, the story has its suspenseful turns and thrills. Competitors swear by a weakened live-virus vaccine while Salk pursues a killed-virus approach-carefully murdering yet structurally preserving the virus cells to goose the body's immune response. Test vaccines by other researchers fail, leaving dead children and ruined careers in their wake. Drug companies "improve" the vaccine Salk's team has already perfected, with procedures that lead to more polio cases. As an army of 20,000 doctors, 40,000 nurses, 1,000 support staff, 14,000 school principals and 50,000 teachers organized the 1.8 million children who would undergo the national field test in 1954, Walter Winchell's national radio broadcast called the vaccine a deadly failure, and warned that thousands of little white coffins were being readied to receive the resulting fatalities.

Slices of parallel lives punctuate the tale nicely, from the future President stricken by the disease at age 39, after which he crusades for the funding and research to battle it, to the accounts of Kluger's still-living sources: John Troan, the science reporter for the Pittsburgh Press who carefully cultivated his relationship with Salk and was rewarded with inside stories and scoops, and several interviewees who were crippled as children and participated in the first field tests.

Splendid Solution is not a heart-pounding page turner. In tone and style, it's a rather old-fashioned historical tale. But in its quiet manner, it is a terrific account, and well told.

Short on Science
This book is a nice quick read for those who want a simplistic history of the Salk vaccine and the America that gave birth to it.
'Solution.." is almost devoid of hard scientific explanations. The author never adequately explains why polio emerged as such a public health threat in the post-1850 West and, simliarly, he fails to set forth the means of transmissision.
Put simply--pun intended--the book displays all the pluses and minuses of the author's journalistic background.
For a really excellent book on an infectious disease written for a general audience try "And the Band Played On" about HIV/AIDS.

Cardboard characters looking for money and fame
The portrayal of Salk that arises from this book is that Salk was a political operator of the first order.The paucity of technical details and the "Oh, wow!" presentation of those few makes it very hard to assess the Salk's scientific contribution. Actually, the science of everyone involved is hurriedly brushed over.But all the key meetings, grants, confrontations, and even "chance" acquaintances - such as meeting Basil O'Connor's, chairman of the NFIP, daughter aboard ship and trying to "cheer her up" -- and Salk's reactions to these events are exhaustively recorded.It is mentioned a few times that Salk's battle-ax of a secretary actually had day-to-day control of the research group's operations.The charge of "Easy Bake" science is never convincing refuted by the author, even belatedly in the epilogue.The book was genuinely painful to read.You won't learn much about polio, but volumes about the politics of modern science.

Compelling Read -Gripping, fascinating and powerful
"Splendid Solution" is a splendid book.From the opening page, the reader is swept into the world of Jonas Salk and the race to find a vaccine to prevent polio.

If you're a baby boomer, you'll remember getting the Salk or Sabin vaccine -- and marvel that our largest generation of children were protected by the efforts of Dr. Salk and his research team.If you're a parent of a baby boomer, you'll relive the horrors of summers in the 30s, 40s and 50s when the scourge of polio raced through the nation - striking at every level of society - even a future president - FDR.

Like "THE HOT ZONE" -- this is a riveting read!Highly recommended! ... Read more

Book Description

Winner of the 1983 Pulitzer Prize and the Bancroft Prize in American History, this is a landmark history of how the entire American health care system of doctors, hospitals, health plans, and government programs has evolved over the last two centuries. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Great history of American medicine
For anyone interested in the healthcare as a profession or area of study, I can't recommend this book highly enough. Despite the 20 years since its publication, Paul Starr's Pulitzer prize winner is still relevant today and in retrospect his projections made of the future of healthcare in America are surpisingly prescient.

The first book describes the development of the medical profession in early America providing a fascinating look at the social evolution of American society. The second book delineates the rise of doctors, hospitals and medical schools in latter half of the 19th to the early 20th century with the rise of science and a professional authority. The third book shifts the focus from the doctors and to the industry that medicine became as well as the various attempts at healthcare reform in response to rising healthcare costs.

My only criticism is that Starr should have devoted more pages to the root causes behind the rising healthcare costs that drove the reforms of the 1960-70s described in the third book.

Blame it on the AMA
This book traces the evolution of America's disjointed healthcare system, from the horror of the early hospitals to the formation of the medical profession. It also explains how, as the early profession was fighting for the right to exist, it took virtual possession of the rest of the healthcare system. Every Democratic president since FDR has attempted some type of major healthcare reform, only to be opposed by the American Medical Association (AMA) because organized doctorhood thought it had too much to lose.

This book is an effortless read for students of sociology or those that have a great interest in the history of medicine. Published in 1983, it easily predicts some of the current problems in American healthcare, because the powerful interests that determine the delivery of healthcare are still the same. It also predicts some of the circumstances that will finally bring America around to some sort of rational, universal, healthcare coverage.

Why the US has a private health care system
This Pulitzer Prize winning history of American Medicine does a lot to explain why the domain of public health is so small in the U.S., and why health in the U.S. is mostly a private, as opposed to public, matter. It takes some fortitude to get through, but it should be required reading for anyone who has ever wondered why, for better and for worse, the US is the only developed country that does not have social provision of medical care. Hint: It's not an accident. Recommended

A Comprehesive History
It was a pleasure to read Starr's enlightening, comprehensive journey of medicine in it's infancy to it's state in 1985. I hope to see an updated version filling in the intervening 17 years. An excellent book. I highly recommend it.

Starr review
A very accesible read. It easily combined my interest in social history and health care. ... Read more

Book Description

This introductory normal and clinical nutrition text is perfect for those seeking a broad, introduction to nutrition concepts presents nutrition at a basic, applied level, with little detailed physiology or biochemistry.NEW TO THE EDITION:In The News segments connect current events and headlines with nutrition & diet therapy concepts.Fully updated to the most recent dietary standards.Significant revisions to the management of diabetes to reflect new standards and treatments.On-line Companion available on-line for both students and instructors.Instructors may access teaching resources, as well as a library of additional cases for use in the classroom.Free CD-ROM at the back of the book that contains Flashcard software that reviews concepts on achapter-by-chapter basis.Web Activities in every chapter provide opportunities for students to explore nutrition concepts and resources on the Internet. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Don't bother with this one........
Don't waste your money- so many better books available today-
information is not applicable -
writer does not have a clue-
research is not accurate

Great textbook and reference
I will not resell this on after class! I will use this one forever! Great book, easy to read and follow. ... Read more

Book Description

Caenorhabditis Elegans has been a popular model organism for biological research for over thirty years and has been used to investigate many aspects of animal development, for example apoptosis, the Hox genes, signal transduction pathways, and the development of the nervous system. It has recently taken on new importance with the publication of the entire genome sequence in 1998.The first chapter gives all the basic information on C. elegans required to use it: it's natural history, anatomy, life cycle, development, and evolution. Information on how to obtain, grow, and maintain C. elegans for use as a model system is given in Chapter 4.Chapters 2 and 3 describe the genome project and show how to use genome sequence information by searching the database for homologues using different search methods and then how to analyse the search data. The next chapter gives the essential practical details of transformation and common uses for the technique. Chapter 6 covers reverse genetics and describes strategies for gene inactivation that are known to work in C elegans: epigenetic inactivation and mutational germ line inactivation. Chapter 7 is designed to help the user analyse phenotype by microscopy and includes Normaski, fluorescence, 4-dimensional, and electron microscopy. Techniques for studying the neurobiology of C. elegans are given in chapter 8. Chapter 9 describes the three commonly used approaches for studying gene expression and Chapter 10 deals with the common methods of molecular biology essential for gene characterization. C. elegans is not the ideal organism for biochemical studies, but chapter 11 describes several procedures for producing biochemically useful quantities of pure tissues. The final chapter is about conventional genetics and details the standard procedures for selfing and crossing; mutagenesis and mutant screening; characterization of mutants; gene mapping; temperature-shift experiments and mosaic analysis.Caenorhabditis Elegans: A Practical Approach will therefore provide all the background information necessary for use of C. elegans as a model system. ... Read more

Book Description

This popular, well-respected text presents essential information on nutrition principles, nutrition throughout the life cycle, and an introduction to clinical nutrition. It is best known for its personal application approach and presentation of nutrition principles from basic science to application in practice. Updated with accurate, up-to-the-minute references, this eighth edition provides a condensed, comprehensive format perfect for use in nursing, dietetics, and other allied health programs. As an added value, each text contains the NUTRITRAC Nutrition Analysis CD-ROM (Version III). ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Old information, Good format
I like the way the book is put together, but for a brand new book there shouldn't be nutrition information as old as 1983. You can find better then this. Keep looking. ... Read more

Reviews (28)

Hard to believe, but it really does work!
If anyone is a skeptic of anything quick, easy and effortless when it comes down to losing weight, "it's gotta be me". This book, however, makes the two week plan a breeze to follow, offering options for four variations to the basic plan. I went on the traditional two week plan and lost exactly 20 pounds, as promised. The only thing I wish this book included was sample plans for the follow-up Keep Trim eating weeks. I felt safer when I was told exactly when and what to eat. I looked online and found a support group that was very helpful to chat and share ideas with, at (url). Reading the book is an important part of the process. I highly recommend that anyone interested in jump starting their metabolism and learning balanced nutrition and portion control should order this book.

easy to read, easy to follow the plan.
I have personally utilized the Scarsdale diet and found it to not only cause substantial weight loss but I felt increased energy and control over my physical condition. I have had many friends and family follow the plan over the past fifteen years with equal success and satisfaction. The recommended foods are abundant variety that is not boring. You are not required to weigh and measure the portions, which makes it easier to follow. And the book offers so many other menus to meet any need. I highly recommend this plan to anyone serious about losing weight.

No Yo-Yo's from this Book
This book has worked better for me than any of the current best selling $40 diet books out there. I have been off of this diet for at least 9 months now and without ever working out or dieting. I first whent from 220lbs to 197lbs in less then 2 months. And 9 months later I am jumping back and forth from 200 to 205 lbs. If you still want to call that a Yo-Yo diet then I guess I am hapy with this YoYo.

This is not a diet for everyone. It takes 100% will power and, trust me... You will have to fight to stay on it. But if I could do it. So can you!!! Trust me! I can recall me cheating and eating some mexican food for lunch and/or dinner. I did not fallow the book to the "T" But with me cheating with only one meal a day it worked!

Just the other day my friend, who hates to say I am right. Asked me for this book. He asked me if I was still on it and I said not for 9 months and he said "WoW". So I gave the book to him. I dont think he will have the will power to fallow the first 2 weeks. But I have enough trust in Scarsdale that evin if he cheats more then I did he will still lose the weight. I plan on buying this book for all the women I know. This book is just that good. I laugh at people on South beach and Atkins. This book putes all the over priced books and ideas to shame.

Best diet!
This is the easiest and best diet out there. Everything is laid out clearly. The diet is easy to understand and there are many variations (vegetarian, gourmet, etc.) plans that can be interchanged with the original diet. Easy to lose the unwanted pounds with this one.

Fascinating as history
The history of diet, weight loss and physical improvement movement through popular books and publications would make a fascinating study; perhaps it's already been done. When I happened upon this book in a stack at the back of my closet, I thought I'd re-read it from that perspective.

First, a few words about the diet itself: Written in the 1970s by New York cardiologist Herman Tarnower (who was murdered a few years after the hugely successful book was published), the Scarsdale Medical Diet is really a two page, two week, low fat, low carbohydrate, higher protein diet. For some people it works well. For others it may not. Tarnower's diet is more healthy-seeming than Atkins' in that it includes some complex carbohydrates such as bread and fruits, but that point is arguable, I'm sure. It also bridges the gap somewhat between Atkins' wide-open, free choice (within strict bounds) diet and the minutely-detailed diets often sold by "weight loss centers," in that it lists what should be eaten by meal by day, but stops at prescribing how much of everything. (Certain items are quantity limited; for example, breakfast is one slice of "protein bread" and one half grapefruit or fruit in season.) Another interesting wrinkle is Tarnower's admonition to remain on the diet for two weeks, take off (and eat sensibly) for two weeks, and return to the diet for two more weeks if needed. After the initial session, Tarnower offers variety in his meal suggestions, with international, gourmet, vegetarian and other options.

As history, this book is certainly more interesting. When Tarnower wrote this book, U.S. society had not yet completely fallen under the control of the processed foodstuffs conglomerates. Indeed, one often bought a twelve-ounce bottle of a carbonated beverage and had to worry about how to keep the product fizzy between servings. Contrast that to today's Super Big Gulp-sized servings of carbonated (and sugar- or chemical-laden) beverages! Exercise, too, was an entirely different undertaking in the 1970s. Very few people actually worked out at a gymnasium, and almost no women lifted weights or participated in sports. (Some things have changed for the better!) People jogged or played tennis for exercise. Tarnower suggests walking, especially for the aged (anyone over forty fell into that category), as sufficient exercise. Eating out was still a special occasion, not a regular part of daily life. Reading this book is a reminder of those days.

In summary, the Scarsdale diet may or may not help one to lose weight. The book is moderately interesting as a part of the body of work comprising weight-loss history; I certainly wouldn't suggest buying a book for a diet plan that is freely available on the Internet. In all likelihood, the best way to be healthier and more fit is to follow the tried and true four word plan that's always worked: Eat less, exercise more. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Its just a bunch of equations
Ok, I understand that this is an engineering book and it is going to have plenty of equations and whatnot, but it really does a poor job of placing the equations in a tangible context.

I really respect how ambitious this book is in covering models for a variety of transport phenomena, but despite my more than solid foundation in biology, physics, chemistry, and math, I have to read each chapter 3 or 4 times to be able to finally fit the new material in with the big picture. This is really frustrating. The only reason why I gave this book 3 stars and not 2 is because I realize that this type of material is difficult to "write down." It just seems like there must be something out there that does a better job of it.

Great Introduction to Biological Transport Concepts
I used this book for an introductory course in Physiological Transport Phenomena. The book is great in that the author covers most of the transport processes as they apply to biological systems and provide numerous references and useful physical property data. Its nice to see how traditional transport concepts can be applied to problems for a system which everyone of us is very familiar with, namely the human body. The only criticism is that the book does not cover heat transfer and its applications to physiological systems. Luckily my professor provided handouts and supplimental material to the lecture. One of the books he used was the fairly old text by Cooney, "Biomedical Engineering Principles: An introduction to Fluid, Heat and Mass Transport Processes". I think this book is out of print but seems to have great information contained in it as well.

This book is a definite must have for any biomedical engineering student and possibly even experienced people working in the field.

Must for Chemical Engineers
Biomedical Engineering requires chemical engineering principles in several areas. This book highlights on those in particular and is a must for chemical engineers who want to know what their challanges are going to be in such biomedical engineering research areas. This also is a primer for the subject, although from a chemical engineering point of view. Ideal for a Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering course in any chemical/ environmetal engineering department. ... Read more

Book Description

The second edition of this bestselling title presents the most up-to-date comprehensive reviews of all aspects of biomaterials science by providing a balanced, curricular approach to learning biomaterials.An historical perspective of materials engineering principles is integrated with the biological interactions of biomaterials, regulatory and ethical issues and future directions of the field, and a state-of-the-art update of medical and biotechnological applications.From tissue engineering to cochlear prostheses and drug delivery systems, all aspects of this important and growing field are thoroughly addressed.

Contributions detailing the principles of cell biology, immunology, and pathology from pre-eminent researchers and practitioners from diverse academic and professional backgrounds have been integrated into this important volume.The chapters focus on the clinical uses of biomaterials as components in implants, devices, and artificial organs and their uses in biotechnology as well as the characterization of the physical, chemical, biochemical and surface properties of these materials.

*Over 80 contributors from academia, government and industry.

*The most up-to-date comprehensive reviews of all aspects of biomaterials

*Endorsed by the Society for Biomaterials

*Provides comprehensive coverage of principles and applications of all classes of biomaterials

*Integrates concepts of biomaterials science and biological interactions with clinical science and societal issues including law, regulation, and ethics

*Discusses successes and failures of biomaterials applications in clinical medicine and the future directions of the field

*Cover the broad spectrum of biomaterial compositions including polymers, metals, ceramics, glasses, carbons, natural materials, and composites ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Biomedical Engineering Student
...I was not impressed with the content of this book because of mistakes made in the data it reported ie. that polymers can't form crystalline structures. I also found that the equations presented in the text did not have detailed information and at times the explaination of how to use the equations were slight.
I was also disappointed in the fact that I had to buy a xerox copy from the book store on campus (my financal aid would not pay for a book purchased anywhere else) because the publisher stopped print production before the class started which left myself and several other students "hanging" with only the option of purchasing a cheap copy for nearly the price of the original. Now I am left with an expensive book that I can't even you as reference material for future courses nor can I sell it because it is a copy and lastly because it is no longer in print.

Fabulous book for beginners and advanced students
This is a well written book with something for just about everyone. There are parts geared directly to engineers, but issues like foreign body response are dealt with rigorously enough for the best bio geek. All classes of implantable devices are covered with a healthy dose of history to boot!

A dry read, but very informative
It was a dry read, but it was chock full of information on biomaterials. It made me proud to be a biomedical engineering student. ... Read more

Book Description

This book describes how cells work.It challenges the current wisdom of cell function, and presents a new, simpler approach to fundamental processes such as movement, transport, division, and communication, based on sound physical principles.The book is profusely illustrated with many color figures.It is written for the non-expert in an accessible, often humorous style. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Changed My View of Science
During my senior year of bioengineering at ASU, one of my instructors recommended that I read this book. I went on Amazon and purchased a copy. Tragically, I let it sit on my shelf for almost six months without reading it. About a year ago, I picked it up and read it, expecting it to be a labor-intensive read. It was not. Instead, in very simple terms and using simple yet convincing examples, Pollack managed to challenge everything I ever learned in school in two days (It only took two days because I found myself reading this book every chance I got; I coult not put it down).

Challenging even many of the basic tenets of cellular biology-- from even the existance of selective ion channels in the fluid mosaic model of the cell wall to blowing the lid off of what every student is taught in school about the way muscle cells contract--Pollack writes a book that has been and will continue to be challenging, because it challenges the premises of the life-long work of many scientists.

While I'm sure that some of his critiques of the beliefs of the faith of cellular biology today will prove to be wrong, Pollack is not afraid of the challenge or the community backlash against him. I applaud the work. I recommend it as required reading for just about everybody: the writing style makes it accessible for even high school students, but it is not too plebian to challenge even a professor or researcher in the area.
-Jacob

Cells, Gels and the Engines of Life
Cells, Gels and the Engines of Life written by Gerald H Pollack is a well-written book the challenges the accepted dogma of cellular biology.

You have to read this book with an open mind as some of the information given the reader is contraversial, as the emphasis of the author's narrative is the gel-like nature of the cell. The author makes his point and builds upon this feature as we read and explore the underlying mechanisms within the cell itself. Contraction, division, transport are just a few of the mechanisms brought to light in this book... could these mechanisms be much simpler than envisioned.

I found the book to be very readable with illustrations to explain the text and complicated principles. The author makes an impressive and convincing argument with his gel theory mechanism... this book shakes the foundation from which cell biology has been built upon. This book has a detective flavor to it keeping the reader engaged as the story unfolds.

This book requires the reader to have some knowledge of chemistry and biology to understand the underlying principles, but it is not out of the realm of a layperson who has scientific knowledge. To some up this book in a single word... provocative.

A Must Read
Pollack's book is extremely insightful, although sometimes controversial. It looks at cell biology from a unique viewpoint. After reading this book, I have re-evaluated many established concepts in cell biology with new understanding and perspective. This is a must read for any serious student or researcher in the field of cell biology. I highly recommend this book.

a good book
I like this book very much. I wish I had this book as supplement reading when I took my cell biology. This book provides an alternative view and provokes many questions in modern cell biology. I highly recommend this book to senior undergraduate students and graduate students

Complete nonsense!
This is an absurd rehash of Gilbert Ling's interesting (at the time, the 1960's) theories that have been fundamentally and completely tested and found wanting. Do not waste your money or time on this vanity publication. If you want to understand contemporary cell physiology, go elsewhere. ... Read more

Book Description

This unique reference presents the basic concepts and major issues associated with medical device design--describing current development processes as well as standards and regulatory information and providing a basis for assessing new technologies. ... Read more

Amazon.com

If you eat it, you'll find information on it here. This 2001 fifth edition of the popular Nutrition Almanac includes updated nutritional composition of close to 1,000 foods, including 35 different cheeses, 25 legumes, 71 fruits and fruit juices, and 17 cuts of chicken. (Prepared foods are not included.) The tables are in bigger, bolder print than the fourth edition, a great improvement for those of us with aging eyes.

Despite the title, this is not strictly a nutrition resource. Author Lavon Dunne also includes brief overviews of 15 alternative therapies, whether or not they're related to nutrition, with resources for more information. However, Dunne does not list the Web sites for any of the resources--a defect surprising in a 2001 edition. When Nutrition Almanac's first edition appeared in 1973, little was known about the connection between nutrition and disease. In this edition, Dunne lists 68 health conditions, from abscess to vaginitis, and explains how you can prevent or treat the condition through food choices and alternative therapies such as herbs, homeopathy, aromatherapy, Ayurvedic medicine, Chinese medicine, bodywork, and mind-body therapy. --Joan Price ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Should change the name
This book is about half the size and has about half the information contained in the fourth edition of book with the same name. Get the fourth edition from the same publishers...get much more value for your dollar...and your health!

Is there science hiding in here?
I bought this book based upon the Amazon reader recommendations I found here. Now I feel obligated to set the record straight.

While parts of this book are thorough, with lots of hard numbers [though it's difficult to figure out what they mean in a practical sense, and the charts are not lined to assist in their reading], it is also riddled with new age foolishness as directly presented as fact as RDA recommendations -- including homeopathy, aroma therapy, etc. The book's organization leaves me with questioning its entire content. It is also not nearly as complete as I might have hoped in listing nutritional content, leaving out more unusual fruits and vegetables, and glossing over different cuts of meat as largely the same.

It also gives far out of date [at least 20 years?] recommendations for treatment of various diseases and maladies. The treatments I'm aware of, again raise questions about the others.

I will continue my search for thorough -- and scientific, a.k.a. proven, not just testimonial and/or based upon one flawed study -- nutrition elsewhere.

Authoritative, unbiased nutritional information
What I like most about the book is the fact that the author is totally unbiased. He is not trying to sell a diet plan or food supplements or promote anything except solid facts. The author provides detailed tables, charts, etc. on nutrition and health which you can incorporate into your own personal health plan. As a bodybuilder, I found this data valuable in planning my workout routine as well as my nutriitonal plan. If you're looking for sound information on nutrition minus the myths and sales talk, this is the book for you.

A really helpful nutrition reference
If you are looking for a handy reference that allows you to easily look up nutrition information than you'll want to consider this book. The author presents the material in a straight forward manner and the back of the book contains lots of helpful charts and data, as a vegetarian I found to be particularly useful. ... Read more

Book Description

All who lived in the early 1950s remember the fear of polio and the elation felt when a successful vaccine was found. Now David Oshinsky tells the gripping story of the polio terror and of the intense effort to find a cure, from the March of Dimes to the discovery of the Salk and Sabin vaccines--and beyond.Here is a remarkable portrait of America in the early 1950s, using the widespread panic over polio to shed light on our national obsessions and fears. Drawing on newly available papers of Jonas Salk, Albert Sabin and other key players, Oshinsky paints a suspenseful portrait of the race for the cure, weaving a dramatic tale centered on the furious rivalry between Salk and Sabin. Indeed, the competition was marked by a deep-seated ill will among the researchers that remained with them until their deaths. The author also tells the story of Isabel Morgan, perhaps the most talented of all polio researchers, who might have beaten Salk to the prize if she had not retired to raise a family. As backdrop to this feverish research, Oshinsky offers an insightful look at the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which was founded in the 1930s by FDR and Basil O'Connor. The National Foundation revolutionized fundraising and the perception of disease in America, using "poster children" and the famous March of Dimes to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from a vast army of contributors (instead of a few well-heeled benefactors), creating the largest research and rehabilitation network in the history of medicine. The polio experience also revolutionized the way in which the government licensed and tested new drugs before allowing them on the market, and the way in which the legal system dealt with manufacturers' liability for unsafe products. Finally, and perhaps most tellingly, Oshinsky reveals that polio was never the raging epidemic portrayed by the media, but in truth a relatively uncommon disease. But in baby-booming America--increasingly suburban, family-oriented, and hygiene-obsessed--the specter of polio, like the specter of the atomic bomb, soon became a cloud of terror over daily life.Both a gripping scientific suspense story and a provocative social and cultural history, Polio opens a fresh window onto postwar America. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Immunize yourself against historical ignorance of polio
As part of the generation of Americans who has grown up without the fear and/or experience of having contracted polio, I found Dr. Oshinsky's research into this epidemic a very enlightening read. Imagining what a world without vaccines was like is very chilling.

Coupled with then-constructions about people with disabilities and medical technology limitations, the specter of polio captured the imaginations and fears of whole communities. During the summer months, people were advised to be very careful about where they swam unless they too had wanted to end up with polio. The March of Dimes inadvertently helped to publicize people with disabilities even while the thrust of their founding campaign against Polio was eradication of the disease through a vaccine.

The development of that vaccine brings us into 1954, approximately 10 years after Roosevelt's own death. Jonas Salk made America's first polio vaccine using a killed-virus sample, and this product remained a virtual favorite for many years afterward. Although Albert Sabin's live-virus vaccination soon became the preferred model, it says a lot that the Salk product has reemerged to finally conquer polio once and for all.

Because society naturally has a tendency to anoint public figures and thus remove them from having any flaw, I actually did appreciate his research into the personal character traits of the scientists. Although these men ultimately helped to save America, they were personally imperfect. I feel this humanizing approach makes them more accessible figures to me and other readers.

Presidential action from FDR was instrumental in encouraging the eradication of polio in America.Now as this highly-readable book is released, the United Nations has set an equally ambitious goal of eradicating the world of polio by 2008.

Is it safe?Not hardly
Only the Bush administration could produce such a pack of lies.The Salk vaccine "safe?"Salk a genius?

The blunt facts are that pressure from the March of Times resulted in the Salk vaccine being marketed despite its contamination with simian virus.Moreover, as marketed by Cutter in the '50's it contained live virus and gave hundreds polio.

Sabin went on to develop the vaccine which gave me and millions of others protection--in Russia!The March of Times campaigned to forestall Sabin's performing the necessary research here at home.

Read the full-length book, no longer in print, you'll find at http://www.whale.to/vaccine/bayly.html

Social history plus medical history equals thriller
I was too young to live through the polio epidemic but those just a few years older know how it terrified their parents, and them, as much as the fear of nuclear war that also loomed over the 50s. David Oshinsky weaves a gripping story that tells us not just about the scientific race for the vaccine (which was a neck and neck contest between Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin), but also about the ways that the polio "crusade" changed American society, American medicine, and American philanthropy. For those who remember the polio years, this will bring them back vividly; for those like me to whom they're history, this tells us why our elders have never forgotten the euphoria they felt when the vaccine was announced. ... Read more

Book Description

This is a unique, extensively illustrated dictionary of terms, people, events, and dates spanning the entire history of medicine. It is a monumental work of scholarship totaling some 700 double-column pages with a large number of rare and exceptional illustrations from many original sources painstakingly compiled over years of far-searching inquiry involving more than 5,000 books and hundreds of journals. It is a major resource of hard-to-find information about notable medical figures, instruments, conditions, procedures, and dates and a storehouse of captivating anecdotes and background material. The book contains a wealth of material for concise historical introductions to a broad range of subjects and is the sine qua non authority on both well and little known facts of medical history. With this single volume-an unprecedented tour de force representing more than 7,000 hours of exhaustive research-clinicians and researchers from all fields of medicine can quickly and easily find authoritative, detailed definitions and descriptions, with dates, of medical terms and of the people and events contributing to the development of medicine from earliest times to the present day. The entries range widely from such as abacterial pyuria to zygote, including Latin and Greek origins of terms, compact biographies with dates, eponymic information of all kinds, and rarely seen drawings and photographs of antique medical instruments and little-known conditions. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A book to dip into time and time again.
This is a book you will often take down from the shelf, just to browse or to enliven presentations with interesting facts. A comprehensive and well laid out text. ... Read more