Book Description

Written in uncommonly engaging, lucid, and elegant prose, this book is an “understand-it-yourself, do-it-yourself”manual designed to help readers understand the fundamental structure of quality research and the methodical process that leads to genuinely significant results. It guides the reader, step-by-step, from the selection of a problem to study, through the process of conducting authentic research, to the preparation of a completed report, with practical suggestions based on a solid theoretical framework and sound pedagogy. This book will show readers two things: 1) that quality research demands planning and design; and, 2) how their own research projects can be executed effectively and professionally. For researchers and research analysts in any discipline. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Great book for senior projects and thesis
I have been trying to organize my thoughts for my thesis for quite sometime. One of my advisors suggested this book to help jump start things. The book outlines the literature review, abstract, etc and gives great examples as it goes. This book helped save my sanity during such a hectic time. The discussions about email and the internet are very outdated, however for those new to computers and internet research, it is a great intro.

Easy To Read and Understand
Research, it is safe to say, is probably not the average person's favorite course to take in school. The subject itself, for most, is bland and boring and probably not very accessible from a learning standpoint.

Enter Leedy and Omrod. "Practical Research" is just an outstanding book to learn research from or to teach a research course with. First off, the book is small and it is written in simple language with "practical" examples. This makes the subject a lot more accessible to the average reader. Second, it contains lots of helpful hints and checklists to help make the learning process easier. The companion website for this book contains practice tests that the students can use to gauge their learning (as well as e-mail results to get feedback from the instructor).

Though the book is short, it is still very thorough and to the point. There is no tradeoff in quality of information for brevity which is a great point in favor of this book. Overall, this book is a superior learning tool because it communicates the research process very clearly. A student at any level, be it, middle school, secondary school, undergraduate or graduate, can easily learn the research process from this text.

We used this as one of the texts for a graduate level research methods course I took and it was a big hit with all enrolled in the class.

Here's a quick rundown of the books topics:

1. What is Research?

2. Research Tools

3. Identifying the research problem

4. Literature Review

5. Research design planning

6. Research proposal writing

7. Qualitative research

8. Historical research

9. Descriptive research

10. Experimental and Causal-Comparative designs

11. Statistical techniques for quantitative data analysis

12. Writing and publishing the research report

Overall, "Practical Research" is a great learning solution whether you are independently trying to learn research methods or if you are an instructor looking for a great textbook for your class.

Highly Recommended

Less than expected
I got less than I expected when I paid almost full price for this book. Yes, it is very usable, but not excellent condition. The book arrived with little or no packing material and was not in a sealed envelope. The next time I need to buy a textbook, I will be wary about getting a used one from this seller.

Pretty good
I wish the author realizes not everything must be put in the form of an analogy! Apart from that the book is a good review of how to go about a research paper, giving valuable advice on how to avoid pitfalls. As somebody mentioned, the Computer Prompts really are very basic.

A valuable book with some useful advice.
This would be a very useful book for anyone who is interested in the philosophy of research, or who is writing a research proposal, or simply trying to work out what to do for their research project. Chapter 1 includes "What research is" and "What research is not" - a good start! Other chapters look at the tools of research, how to choose a problem, reviewing related literature, statistical techniques for looking at data and so on. A particularly useful section looks at common reasons for project bids to be rejected (Ch 6). There's plenty of good advice throughout the book.

I found the computer prompts less useful. They covered things like email, newsgroups and the internet which I already use extensively. However, for a student just starting out they would be useful pointers.

Since the book is not specific to any level or subject of research there are bound to be parts that are not relevant to the individual reader. But I feel there is something for everyone.

Overall, I think this would be a useful book for a research group leader to have on their bookshelf. ... Read more

Book Description

A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There is no cure. In a few days 90 percent of its victims are dead. A secret military SWAT team of soldiers and scientists is mobilized to stop the outbreak of this exotic "hot" virus. The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story, giving a hair-raising account of the
appearance of rare and lethal viruses and their "crashes" into the human race. Shocking, frightening, and impossible to ignore, The Hot Zone proves that truth really is scarier than fiction. ... Read more

Reviews (372)

A great account of close calls and tense trials with viruses
I think that Richard Preston deserves all five stars for this thrilling book on real life experiences with deadly Ebola Viruses. He took an accumulation of true stories and turned it into an interesting and spellbinding book that hardly seems true. This book is easy to follow, even though the whole is scientific. Preston balanced the scientific language and factuality with an interesting plot and rounded characters as in a fictional book. Preston went into painstaking details to turn the Reston operation and other experiments into lament terms that all readers might comprehend. His magnificent writing style also came through in his account of nurse Mayinga's journey through the city and how catastrophic the event actually might have been. I really enjoyed the amount of effort Preston put forth in describing what Ebola and Marburg actually do to the body, prior to and during death. Although the book was very good, I do think that Richard Preston might have left out the entire fourth part. It had no real influence on the situation at Kitum Cave or what the reader thought of Africa. With all things considered, I strongly advise this book be read by everyone and I will certainly recommend this book to everybody I know.

Entering the "Hot Zone"
It starts with a simple headache. Then maybe you get a nosebleed. After a few days, you know you are extremely sick. The lining of your stomach and the top layer of your tongue literally fall off. Your organs turn into mush. Excessive bleeding from every natural opening in your body occurs. And since your blood can't clot, the bleeding won't stop. Black vomit mixed with blood gushes from your mouth. Then, you die painfully with a mask-like expression on your face.

This doesn't even sound like it could exist, does it? Well it does. It is death by a virus known as Ebola. It is especially contagious in monkeys and can jump species over to humans.

The Hot Zone, by Richard Preston, describes outbreaks of this and other "hot" viruses in locations around the world, including a city near Washington, D.C. Virus experts in the Army need to unravel the Ebola mystery and try to protect the public from this vicious disease.

Preston has taken a true story and unveiled its horror. I couldn't believe how descriptive his writing is. If you want to read a true modern day thriller, then this is an awesome pick. I highly recommend it and am looking forward to reading more from Richard Preston.

Great Read!
After months of stuffy old British classics we read THE HOT ZONE by Richard Preston in my sophomore English class. What a breath of fresh air! The book reads like a novel, but is full of fascinating information about ebola. Whether you're a biology buff or just want a good beach read, this is a great book. I highly recommend this(...)

Good
This book happened to be my Physics book to read and i thought it would just be some people trying to track down this deadly virus. I thought it would all be fiction and i'd wright a report and get a good grade. Turns out, this book is fiction, one of the scariest books i've read, and one of the few books that at parts i couldn't put down!

Some parts didn't appeal to me as much as others (Thats why i give it a 4). I really liked the book and will encourage people to read it.

Cant put this down; master thriller story
This is one of the most exciting books you will ever read. And the scary thing is that the story is true. This page-turner will grip you from the onset and leave you will a chill down yor spine when you realize the nature of the world of virology.

Preston makes the story flow well from beginning to end. He makes feel like you are right in the middle of the story .. almost like you have a role to play. It wont take you long to read this book, and it is written in a comfortable style.

Anyone with an interest in viruses, microbiology, public health, or who just want a good reality thriller should read this book. You will not be disappointed! ... Read more

Book Description

This user-friendly book logically presents the entire range of research methodologies in psychology, in addition to the often discussed andtraditional use of experimental research.. Comprehensive and readable, it will interest those in the varied fields of cognitive, developmental, clinical, and social psychology.Topics include inductive and deductive reasoning, empirical observation, concepts of validity, the phases in research., and the concept. of levels of constraint..For anyone looking for the needed background to become a sophisticated consumer of research, able to evaluate the many claims for products, ideas, and programs that bombard our society and critical thinking in everyday life. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A dissenting opinion
First, I want to say that I have NOT read this book; I have some comments based on its table of contents. I teach research methods in education, and have served on over a hundred dissertation committees in education and other fields (including several dissertations in psychology), and I would not use or recommend this book primarily because of its extremely limited treatment of qualitative research. Despite the book cover's claim that the book deals with "the entire range of research methodologies in psychology", the coverage of qualitative methods appears to be limited to one chapter on naturalistic and case-study methods. (A second chapter which deals with field research in fact seems to focus on quasi-experimental and single-subject designs, which are not qualitative.) The rest of the book is heavily quantitative/experimental in its approach (there are three chapters on experimental design alone). It seems revealing that although there are sections on the limitations of naturalistic and case study research and correlational and differential research, there is no explicit section on the limitations of experimental research. There is also no discussion of one of the most common qualitative approaches used in psychology--the qualitative interview study, which is different from a "case study". (For more on this approach, I recommend "Learning from Strangers: The Art and Method of Qualitative Interview Studies", by the psychologist Robert Weiss.)

If you are a student in a very quantitatively-oriented psychology department, this may be a useful book for you. However, at a time when many research methods books are devoting much more space to qualitative methods, Graziano and Raulin's book seems a bit anachronistic. Several highly regarded research methods textbooks that are more even-handed in their coverage are David Krathwohl, Methods of Educational and Social Science Research: An Integrated Approach (second edition, 1998), and Colin Robson, Real World Research: A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner-Researchers (1993; second edition forthcoming). There is also an enormous literature on qualitative methods specifically; simply search this site under "qualitative research".

an excellent text with great web + cd support
I decided to adopt this text for my course as it is comprehensive, up-to-date, and includes a wealth of supplementary materials that are web-based, as well as available on the accompanying CD. Recommended highly for undergrad AND graduate students.

Good baseline book for those preparing for a dissertation
As a Ph.D. student that is about to start my dissertation I found this book extremely helpful in wading through the various research and analysis methods. Filled with examples (although principally focused on Psychology), the book has helped me plan my dissertation. A great reference book and in my opinion a must have for those who are about to start their dissertation. ... Read more

Book Description

An Easy To Read Introduction To The Theory Of Change Management That Focuses On What Works.--This text refers to the paperback edition of this title ... Read more

Reviews (6)

I was disappointed
There are some useful nuggets, perhaps, but on the whole I was happier with material I found on the web.

A Gourmet Appetizer for the Appreciative Inquiry Feast
"Wonderful, thick, rich writing on Appreciative Inquiry is currently available..." says Sue Hammond in her introduction to this nifty little book. It certainly is, but the Thin Book of AI is just enough to whet your appetite for the main course. If you've never heard of Appreciative Inquiry (or as I call it 'Looking for the Good Stuff') this is the place to start.

Sue takes the essence of the Appreciative Inquiry process and makes it easy to digest. Her purpose was to create a book to help others find out enough to decide if they want to take on more about this facinating process for change. She has done it well.

If you have heard of AI and are using it in your business or consulting practice, you probably already know about this book. I find it an excellent inclusion in a proposal or a follow-up gift to a prospective client. It is straight forward and succinct, yet has enough flavor to make you want more. A perfect appetizer.

Buy several, as you will want to keep one in your briefcase, but you will inevitably give it away.

Get Started With Appreciative Inquiry!
The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry does all it promises to do...and more. In a very short time (a round-trip commute for most of us in Tokyo), Ms. Hammond introduces all the core elements of this exciting and effective approach to positive change in any organization.

Her mini-tome led me to delve deeper into the "mysteries of organizations" and other AI authors. The Thin Book was the first step toward placing AI at the forefront of our teambuilding efforts, both within AMT Group and for our clients. HIGHLY recommended.

A breath of fresh air
Since Aristotle, Descartes, Newton, and Freud, we have analyzed and reduced everything to the micro level so that we can repair, replace it, or control it. This is not that kind of book. It is a new way to get perspective on issues by redirecting attention to consider the good things that are going on around us. The sheer mention of the question: What is working well around here changed my tone for the whole day. I began to listen and look for the positive and beauty and affirm it when I saw it. This is not just a positive thinking Peale book, or positive mental tape book The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry is an introduction to the idea that change can be managed by focusing on what works. This little book is worth it the price as it gives you a good definition of AI and is like an appetizer for the meal. Hammond has done a nice of capturing the essence of this transforming approach and provides many sample questions that let's you intuitively grasp this is good soup for the soul. I wish they would have added more to the book but that is why the called it thin- it does create a desire to know more about AI.

Great Alternative to Always Finding Problems
Too often, analysts try to find problems with organizations so they have something to solve. It's what they live for! Customers come to analysts when they feel there is a problem, so the two seem like a match -- the customer thinks there is a problem, the analyst proves there is. However, usually a customer's business isn't in complete shambles; they usually do something right. Sue's book provides analysts an alternative to always finding problems. Analysts can use appreciateve inquiry to first discover what the customer is doing right. Often applying the same principles, processes, procedures, to what they are doing correctly can solve what the customer perceives as a current problem. This is still a match between the customer and the analyst with one added advantage: it leaves the customer feeling better about him/herself. In 60 pages Sue gives analysts a completely new skill for in their toolkit. ... Read more

Book Description

"On dissertation proposals on which I have served, Patton is by far the most cited qualitative research text."

The book that has been a resource and training tool for countless applied researchers, evaluators, and graduate students has been completely revised with hundreds of new examples and stories illuminating all aspects of qualitative inquiry. Patton has created the most comprehensive, systematic, and up-to-date review of qualitative methods available.

  

"I am dazzled by the extent of the material that this book describes and clarifies. Patton has shifted the focus of the text to qualitative inquiry in general, which includes qualitative evaluation. New examples from his own work and that of others serve to clarify and deepen understanding of qualitative research topics and processes. New discussion of many current issues and debates in qualitative scholarship (autoethnography, ethical issues of informed consent and confidentiality, focus group/group interviews, computer-assisted analysis, the complexity of creating criteria for judging the quality of qualitative research, etc.) will bring readers up-to-date with the variety in perspectives about (and the variety within) qualitative inquiry. Most of the chapters in the book have been substantially reorganized in ways that augment the reader’s understanding. When anyone asks me about conducting qualitative inquiry, I will say: ‘Get Patton’s book’."

The Third Edition has retained and expanded upon the exhibits, which highlight and summarize major issues, guidelines, the summative sections, tables, and figures as well as the sage advice of the Sufi-Zen master, Halcolm. This revision will help readers integrate and make sense of the great volume of qualitative works published in the past decade.

  

"Clearly, this is a vastly improved, much more comprehensive, cogently systematic, and timely review-a tour de force, one might say-of the field of qualitative research, in terms of the theoretical, conceptual, methodological, and normative dimensions/foundations of qualitative research. This is one of the strengths of the volume. It seeks to bring together theory and practice/methods without overburdening one or the other--this is as rare as it is commendable, not to mention extremely useful, not only for the professional researcher, but for the "non-professional" as well."

Lester Edwin J. Ruiz, New York Theological Seminar

  

New to this Edition

  

• Integrates and makes sense of the great volume of qualitative works published in the past decade

• Offers strategies for enhancing quality and credibility of qualitative findings by presenting a new framework for differentiating five contrasting and competing sets of standards for judging the quality and utility of findings

• Unravels the complexities of mixed methods and triangulation

• Explains the new issues and approaches to fieldwork as well as providing detailed analytical guidelines, including software and computer-assisted options

• Explores, compares and contrasts 16 different theoretical and philosophical approaches to qualitative inquiry

• Examines alternative interviewing strategies and approaches, including focus group interviews, group interviews, and cross-cultural interviews

• Identifies the latest Internet resources

  

Pedagogical Features to Enhance the Reader’s Understanding of the Material:

• Exhibit Boxes: Summarize and illuminate major points within chapters
• Chapter Opening Stories by Halcolm: Use wit and humor to engage the reader in reflecting upon the puzzles and lessons of qualitative research
• Foundational Questions: Orient the reader to the "meat" of the material being presented
• End of Chapter Appendices: Provide excerpts of detailed examples of particular techniques, such as open-ended interviews, case studies, etc.
• Comparison Tables: Organize, compare and contrast different approaches, strategies, and paradigms
• Original Cartoons: Created from the book’s material, illuminate and poke fun at chapter concepts

Reviews (5)

Good starting point for novice interviewers
As a senior in college who is conducting interviews with high school and college students, I would recommend this book. It provides an excellent jumping off point for both novice student interviewers as well as seasoned teachers. Patton, himself an experienced interviewer, and also an award-winning teacher and storyteller, outlines all the necessary steps involved in the interview process in a very entertaining way. The book reads much like a textbook, complete with original cartoons, historical examples, and vast personal experience. Moreover, inspirational and often amusing quotes kickoff each section. Appearing throughout the book is the fictional sage-like character Halcolm, a philosophical alter ego of Patton, who, "like his name (pronounced slowly)," forces the reader to ask "how come?" (p. A2).
Patton has divided Qualitative Research and Evaluation into three main parts: Conceptual Issues in Qualitative Inquiry, Qualitative Designs and Data Collection, and finally Analysis, Interpretation, and Reporting. Under each section are many subsections, all clearly laid out in a very detailed table of contents. For example, Conceptual Issues is divided into four subcategories: The Nature of Qualitative Inquiry, Strategic Themes in Qualitative Inquiry, Variety in Qualitative Inquiry: Theoretical Orientations, and finally Particularly Appropriate Qualitative Applications. Furthermore, these four subcategories are then broken down in additional detail in the table of contents. The titles of these sections (and chapters) are somewhat typical for the text as a whole in that they rely on sociological terminology that may be unfamiliar to beginners. At first glance, the table of contents appears to be little more than a patchwork of intellectual vocabulary, but the book reads in much simpler terms.
The index to the book is also very useful for finding numerous narrowed down focuses. I found this the most helpful. For example, when I wanted to find out about transcribing interviews, I was able to find all of the relevant chapters and information at once.
Unfortunately, however, Patton's broad scope is also his main weakness. It is very easy to become bogged down by the mass amount of details and by his many examples. Also, for scholars primarily interested in the interview process, only the final section is useful, especially in the field of analysis.
Patton attempts to cover all of the basics of interviewing, and provides an excellent outline, but nothing can compare to actual experience. Nevertheless, it is highly recommended that first-time interviewers consult Patton's book for an introductory guide, and even veteran interviewers can learn something from Patton's vast experience.
Researchers will also find Patton's 36 pages of single-spaced references very helpful, and graduate students will find it invaluable for dissertations.

Why To Avoid This Book
No, I'm not a disgruntled grad student who had to take a qualitative eval course with this book as the bible. I'm a very happy grad student who enthusiastically pursues qualitative methods (and in fact teaches them to his undergrad students), but who learned at great expense to avoid this book at all costs.

A large number of professors teaching research have latched onto Patton as the qualitative guru for valid reasons. He has done seminal work in the field, championed the process for decades, and is deservedly well respected for these efforts. The problem is using his book as a classroom textbook.

This book is OK as a reference source, but the man is not a textbook author. The book is extremely difficult to comprehend, has not been revised significantly since the first edition in 1980, wanders off on tangents seldom related to the content (try the start of Chapter 5 if you need an example), fails to provide groundedness with adequate theoretical applications, and so on. ....I do use this book and quote from it when appropriate, but cannot recommend it as a textbook.

From ignorant to informed
If you've been asked to gather qualitative research but you've never gathered qualitative research before, then this is the book for you. Unlike other qualitative research books that often focus more on a particular phase of research, this book covers all phases in depth, from conceptual issues and qualitative reseach design to analysis, interpretation, and reporting. If you were to read this book from cover to cover you would enjoy it, but you may yawn once or twice. To ease the boredom factor, the author was kind enough to include jokes and cartoons and sage anecdotes from research guru Halcolm. If you just want to use this book to answer particular research questions, then this is also the right book for you. I've looked at several other qualitative research books and this one seems to address all the major questions a researcher could possibly have. I highly recommend this book for any and all qualitative research neophytes.

Outstanding on interviews
This book is outstanding in its presentation of the ins and outs of interviewing. It provides many caveats and tips about how to formulate questions that do not lead but do stimulate rich answers.

very understanble book
This book is a very well-understandble to everyone. There is no need to know more things about this isue, this book covers almost everything. I believe that it is one good book for the start. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (21)

A Must Read For Everyone At Any Level
If you are a student writing your first paper for collage or if you are a seasoned researcher, this book is the best book on the subject you will find.
The authors take great care in taking you step by step through the complex task for writing scientific and technical research papers. Starting with explaining why we write research papers, over the subject of how to construct a solid argument, to who we write for, it is all covered. Unlike other manuals, this one centers on the most important thing about research papers, the target audience. Quick Tips at the end of most chapters give you a solid starting point in case you run into problems with your own work making this book an indispensable reference on your desk.
I also enjoy the fluid writing style that makes the book actually fun to read. You will be surprised how quickly you will be able to write a solid paper and identify flaws in other peoples work.

Mandatory for all researchers
This is a great book on writing a research report, useful for both beginners and seasoned researchers. It walks you through all the phases of your research project, starting from picking up your topic, through the actual research, note-taking, to writing up your findings, down to sentence level structure and style. For me a most useful part of the book was the beginning: finding a topic, defining your research problem, qualifying it, and determining your warrants; especially revealing was the relationship between your research problem and a wider body of theory, and how you must be explicit about your "warrants" to make a real contribution to "knowledge" or to "solving a practical problem." Even though I had read many other books on writing such as "The Clockwork Muse" or "Writing Your Dissertation in 15 Minutes a Day" none was as explicit as this one on how to combine both Research and Writing (the other books assume that writing a research project entails a progressive, smooth process: you pick a topic, you research it, and you write up your conclusions/findings), nothing farther from the truth; as I learned from painful experience and as was made explicit by this book, to my relief, a research project is a dynamic process in which research and writing go together; they complement and reinforce each other. This book teaches you just how to do this and it was the greatest lesson I learned.

Simplistic
Great for the high school or intro for a prepatory course frosh year in college. Otherwise, past the intro and the elevator story, worthless.

Very good book for the right audience...
I picked up the book The Craft Of Research by Wayne Booth, Gregory Colomb, and Joseph Williams at the library awhile back, and I finished it over the course of this week. Not quite what I was expecting, but useful if you buy it for the right reason. I was looking for something more geared towards doing research for articles and such. This is geared towards the college student or professional researcher who has to produce research papers on a regular basis. It teaches you how to formulate your argument and properly research your material to make and prove your points. Probably very helpful if you have an actual project to do at the time you're reading it. Definitely a reference book you'd want to have on your shelf.

That's not to say that you couldn't gain some insight on article writing from this book. It's just, in my opinion, a bit too advanced for the type of writing I would do. But because it covers the target audience well, I can't complain.

Art Takes Many Forms
This is certainly so when it comes to "The Craft of Research" as this is a fundamental point to remember when one is learning how to prepare research which is above and beyond the mundane and forgettable.

"The Craft of Research" is told from the insiders perspective and ought to be carried on one's person to reflect and review in those quiet moments that are more and more widely spaced these days.

Of course the business of finding the raw answers in short order is sometime key and I've found The Practical Pundit to be a quick solution to gathering my material prior to sitting down to order and write.

http://www.practicalpundit.com ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Very Very good service
I got the book within less than 5 business days... and in a very very good condition as advertised.
This book seller is really very reliable.
Thank you.
Saylee.

Well written and very practical
I've been a Test Engineer for 13 years and take it from me, this book is so close to real life situation. It obviously written by people who practice the art of Test Engineering. I wish that I had this book in my very 1st year. This is the bible for every TE.

A truly practical book
Most texts on testing seem to be written for the design engineer. They talk a lot about the fault model, the doping process, how the pattern generation algorithms are not perfect...It's like teaching Chemistry at a cooking class.
But don't get me wrong, this is not a cookbook. It does teach a fair amount of "Chemistry". But it's able to show the reader why the theories are relevant and how to apply them. The solutions are presented in the context of the problems, not the other way around, like most text books.

best book on the matket for mixed signal test
I looked for a book which covers all the important issues for
mixed signal test. This book delivers all the nesessery information for a mixed signal test Eng. It explains all
issues very simple and because of so many example it is
very useful even for not-experienced people.

A Comprehensive Handbook for Test Engineers
This is the most complete and authoritative text on the subject of Mixed Signal Testing that I have come across. It is unmatched in terms of the sheer number and variety of practical problems that it addresses. The solutions that the book proposes can be readily applied to many situations and that makes this truly remarkable book a must for every test or product engineer. ... Read more

Book Description

It is a widely known but insufficiently appreciated fact that Albert Einstein and Kurt Goedel were best friends for the last decade and a half of Einstein's life. They walked home together from Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study every day; they shared ideas about physics, philosophy,politics, and the lost world of German-Austrian science in which they had grown up. What is not widely known is that in 1949 Goedel made a remarkable discovery: there exist possible worlds described by the theory of relativity in which time, as we ordinarily understand it, does notexist.He added a philosophical argument that demonstrates, by Goedel's lights, that as a consequence, time does not exist in our world either.If Goedel is right, Einstein has not just explained time; he has explained it away.

Without committing himself to Goedel's philosophical interpretation of his discovery, Einstein acknowledged that his friend had made an important contribution to the theory of relativity, a contribution that he admitted raised new and disturbing questions about what remains of time in his own theory. Physicists since Einstein have tried without success to find an error in Goedel's physics or a missing element in relativity itself that would rule out the applicability of Goedel's results. Philosophers, for the most part, have been silent.

_A World Without Time_, addressed to experts and non experts alike, brings to life the sheer intellectual drama of the companionship of Goedel and Einstein, and places their discoveries -- which can only be measured on a millennial scale -- in the context of the great and disturbing intellectual movements of the twentieth century -- in physics, mathematics, logic, philosophy, and the arts. It contains, as well, a poignant and intimate account of the friendship between these two thinkers, each put on the shelf by the scientific fashions of their day -- and ours -- and attempts to rescue from undeserved obscurity the work Goedel did, inspired by Einstein, which made clear for the first time the truly revolutionary nature of the theory of relativity, which to this day is hardly recognized. ... Read more

Book Description

A paperback guide to the basic techniques of the organic chemistry lab. Zubrick includes practical lab advice presented with clarity and humor. The book describes the instruments and techniques used in organic chemistry lab. Diagrams show the reader how to make measurements, set up labs and perform meaningful experiments. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Serendipitous...
As well as being extremely detailed, intelligent and helpful, this book is hysterically funny, which makes it a joy to read and easy to understand. A nice change from the usual ...yawn... science-reference manuals. I would strongly encourage other students to take advantage of this terrific piece of work.

DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY
This book promise so much by the wide coverage of topics in Organic lab. but it delivers nothing. Aside from listing the topics in the Table of content. The seemingly knowledable Prof. Zubric presents an unorganize, incomprehensible 294 pages of something that read like a page from a low budget Comic Strip. Am shock that a well respected publishing house like John Wiley and Son would lend their reputation to a low quality like this. The author talked about every thing that are irrelevant. what is needed is a good intro. to the subject like -EXTRACTION and then the stepwise layout of professional quality discussion of headings like - Materials involved; procedure; observation; conclusion etc. he fail to approach the subject prof. The book would pass for a Book of Short Jokes. Do not waste your money. D BOOK DID NOT HELP ME IN MY CLASS ANYWAY...

Must Have for O-Chem Lab
Used it so much in lab, it almost became my right. VERY helpful! Easy to read with a nice twist of humor.

Right On!! The Best Lab Manual Ever!!!
This book was chock full of concise, yet extremely valuable, information, and the wit with which it was presented made prelabs bearable, if not exactly fun. Thank your lab professor if this is a required book, and definitely pick it up if it's on the reccomended list (or even if it's not!).

Humor in a Science Text Book: Miracles Do Happen
In this exceptional reference for first time students of organic chemistry lab, the author conveys what could be dry, boring information in a humorous, yet professional, manner. I actually found myself laughing out loud as I read a mock conversation between a lab instructor and a student about using boiling stones. Boiling stones! I never thought I'd find them humorous. Although brilliantly entertaining, Zubrick never fails to convey accurate, concise, intelligent thoughts on procedure, equipment, safety, and safety, and, oh yeah, did I mention safety? I think this actually deserves 6 or 7 stars; I know it's going to help me immensely in my lab work. ... Read more

Book Description

Bioinformatics – the process of searching biological databases, comparing sequences, examining protein structures, and researching biological questions with a computer – is one of the marvels of modern technology that can save you months of lab work. And the most amazing part is that, if you know how, you can use highly sophisticated programs over the Internet without paying a dime and sometimes, without installing anything new on your own computer. All you need to know is how to use these technological miracles.

That's where Bioinformatics For Dummies comes in. If you want to know what bioinformatics is all about and how to use it without wading through pages of computer gibberish or taking a course full of theory, this book has the answers in plain English. You'll find out how to

• Use Internet resources
• Understand bioinformatics jargon
• Research biological databases
• Locate the sequences you need
• Perform specific tasks, step by step

Written by two experts who helped develop the science, Bioinformatics For Dummies is all about getting things done. If you're just getting your feet wet, start at the beginning with a quick review of those necessary parts of microbiology and an overview of the tools available. If you already know what you want to do, you can go directly to a chapter that shows you how. Get the lowdown on

• Researching and analyzing DNA and protein sequences
• Gathering information from all published sources
• Searching databases for similar sequences and acquiring information about gene functions through sequence comparisons
• Producing and editing multiple sequence comparisons for presentation
• Predicting protein structures and RNA structures
• Doing phylogenetic analysis

With an Internet connection and Bioinformatics For Dummies, you'll discover how to peruse databases that contain virtually everything known about human biology. It's like having access to the world's largest lab, right from your desk. This book is your lab assistant – one that never takes a day off, never argues when you ask it for help, and won't demand a benefits package. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Bioinformatics for Dummies by J.M. Claverie & C. Notredame
"Bioinformatics for Dummies" is an excellent resource. It is clear, easy to read, well organized and illustrated. I was particularly pleased by the colloquial tone of the writing: in addition to being informative, it was fun to read!

As a scientist who spends at least half of my time BLASTing, I also read it for accuracy and found it to almost error-free (any errors were in the figures). Additionally, most of the web pages were up-to-date, although as time passes the links will decay and web pages will change their look. In addition, the book contained enough in-depth content to teach me several new tricks of the trade.

Further, I believe the book had sufficient background material to educate the novice. To test this, I gave the manual to a material science chemist and he was able to understand the material, at least until he decided it was more than he wanted to know and quit reading.

This is a useful text for those who want to know more than an operational definition of bioinformatics and a must for the library of all bioinformatics users.

Walking amongst Dummys
I'm glad I bought this book and I will continue to refer to it. The remit of the Dummies series is to provide a guide to its subject matter without any great fuss. The text focuses on practical techniques without unnecessary diversion into the detail of molecular biology or computer science. In this respect it would have been a difficult book to author, readers having come from one discipline or the other. I agree with previous reviewers that this is well worth reading before doing a bioinformatics course or degree. Bioinformatics is a new field, and this book has delivered a useful introduction to it without recourse to expensive textbooks full of unreadable filler.

A great resource for teachers too!
I have used databases before (mostly NCBI, TIGR and SWISS PROT) and yet, this book (presumably for dummies) has shown me so much more(which say a lot about me)! It is accurate and gives good step by step guide to how to perform many tasks - from how to find a gene to using the analysis tools and to exploring some of the newer features of these databases - and the areas like you have never looked into before.
It is a well-researched book and the authors are clearly knowledgeable in this area.

Even though I have been for a 4-day bioinformatics course (6 months ago), which I thought was pretty good, this book still had so much to offer. Using this book, I was easily able to substitute the proteins of my interest into their examples and generated meaningful hits.

The book also covers deeper and more advanced features of BLAST, discusses sequence alignments using several types of algorithm and even has a section on 3D structures. Towards the end of book - it features a section on working with mRNA and building phylogenetics trees - which again are excellent resources for teachers involved in teaching beginners molecular biology.

I am a teacher teaching at a Pre-unversity level. The way the book is structured also lends its material to be modified into lesson materials for training students.

It is really a great book! Worth every dollar I spent on it!

Get this book first, before enrolling in an expensive course
This book will get you up and running on Bioinformatics in no time. I wish I got this book before I enrolled in a $$$$$ Bioinformatics course. I got more knowledge and information from this book $$$$$ than the course! And I am just in chapter 5 of the book and I'm more than half way through that $$$$$ course.

Great book-- Technical without the Computer-ese
I got this book a week ago because one of my profs offered to buy it for a volunteer who was willing to check it out and then make a recommendation on it to the rest of the class. I'm glad I volunteered, and I'm encouraging my classmates to get their hands on a copy. This book wasn't boring. It was completely hands on, and it addressed the topic from the perspective of a biologist, not a technophile-- which was exactly what I needed. It helped me reconcile my love for pure science with my increasing anxiety about needing to be so darn computer proficient to have any kind of job I can apply my degree to these days. I'm glad I got a hold of it early in the semester. I think it's going to really impact my grade in the class-- Oh, and my understanding of bioinformatics! ... Read more

Book Description

THE CRAFT OF SCIENTIFIC PRESENTATIONS provides a score of examples from contemporary and historical scientific presentations to show clearly what makes an oral presentation effective. It considers presentations made to persuade an audience to adopt some course of action (such as funding a proposal) as well as presentations made to communicate information, and it considers these from four perspectives: speech, structure, visual aids, and delivery. In keeping with technological innovations, it discusses computer-based projections and slide shows as well as overhead projections. In particular, it discusses ways of organizing graphics and text in projected images and of using layout and design to present the information efficiently and effectively.

Unlike other books that discuss technical presentations, this book anchors its advice in the experiences of scientists and engineers, including such successful presenters as Robert Oppenheimer, Richard Feynman, Niels Bohr, and Rita Levi-Montalcini, as well as currently active laboratory directors, scientists, and engineers.

In addition to examining successful presentations, Alley also discusses the errors that cause many scientific presentations to flounder, providing a list of ten critical errors to avoid. The insights and tools in this book will guide readers to deliver outstanding presentations.

Praise for Michael Alley's THE CRAFT OF SCIENTIFIC PRESENTATIONS:

"Alley has revamped the way our research center makes presentations-particularly the way we design our presentation slides." DANIEL J. INMAN, DIRECTOR CENTER FOR INTELLIGENT MATERIAL SYSTEMS

"This book fills a void by illustrating key issues and difficulties in oral presentations with the experiences of others." CHRISTENE MOORE, COMMUNICATION INSTRUCTOR UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A must have for anybody in the science or engineering field
It's well worth every penny!

Textbook that is actually interesting
I give about a dozen technical presentations a year at trade shows, and I learned a lot from this book. I am changing my Powerpoint slides using many of the tips in this book, including complete sentence in the headline. I had designed my slides to help me remember my points. I should have been designing them so the audience could understand them. Besides giving me a better understanding of what I am trying to accomplish, the book was a fun read with numerous stories from the famous and not so famous. There were times it was actually hard to put the book down.

a great book that kept my interest
This is the first of Michael Alley's books that I have read and I'm ordering his other two "The Craft Of..." books tonight. He is terrific at getting technical information across in an engaging and entertaining way. The book is full of short stories about scientists (some famous, like Einstein, Feynman and McClintock) and incidents, which he uses as examples to get his points across. A critical resource for anyone who gives technical presentations. I'm buying copies for each of my graduate students. ... Read more

Book Description

Newly appointed principal research investigators have to recruit, motivate, and lead a research team, manage personnel and institutional responsibilities, and compete for funding, while maintaining the outstanding scientific record that got them their position in the first place. Small wonder, then, that many principal investigators feel ill-prepared. In this book, a successor to her best-selling manual for new recruits to experimental science, At the Bench, Kathy Barker provides a guide for newly appointed leaders of research teams, and those who aspire to that role. With extensive use of interviews and a text enlivened with quotes and real-life examples, Dr. Barker discusses a wide range of management challenges and the skills that promote success. Her book is a unique and much-needed contribution to the literature of science. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Fantastic for the new professor
I love this book and only wish it was published when I was first starting a faculty position. Definitely a biologist's perspective (and a lab-oriented one at that), but it covers many of the trials and tribulations of starting a new faculty position: setting up a lab, assessing priorities, making hires, managing committees, managing colleagues, etc.

The worst part of the job is often maintaining harmony in the lab (which, of course, we're never taught in graduate school), and Barker has great advice on building or rebuilding lab morale, dealing with lab member disputes, and the dreaded firing process. I recommend this book wholeheartedly!

Don't be caught without it!
This book is extremely useful for all levels of scientists. An intresting read that will leave you feeling a whole lot wiser.

An outstanding primer to managing a laboratory
Scientific faculty are chosen for their ability to do science; not to manage it. Indeed, many young scientists fail precisely because they are unable to shift from the bench to the office. Kathy Barker's book provides a wealth of information for new investigators. The advice, gleaned from interviews with a great many scientists, from Nobel laureates to those that have failed miserably, provides an outstanding road map for those embarking on this critical new phase of their career. No postdoc will leave my lab without receiving a copy as a parting gift.

waste your money on something else
I guess you will only need the trivial advice presented in this book if you lack any common sense or if you should not have become a principial investigator in the first place. I found this book more or less useless.

Must have for all research lab heads
This is a fantastic book. The author interviewed about a hundred new and seasoned lab leaders, and not only summarizes their advice clearly and succinctly, but also includes lots of anonymous quotations presenting a spectrum of opinions on any particular issue. And the book covers _many_ issues of interest to those setting up a lab, and those who wish to improve the way they run their lab. It focuses mostly on academic labs, but also presents some issues peculiar to industry. It really goes into every detail about people-managing issues.
Each chapter has tens of references to other useful books and articles. Kathy really did her homework. I can say nothing bad about the book. Get it. ... Read more

Book Description

This edition features the successful format that has characterized the previous editions. It includes essays that add relevance and interest to the experiments, and emphasis on the development of the important laboratory techniques, the use of spectroscopy and instrumental methods of analysis, a section featuring conventional-scale experiments and methods, and a wide selection of well-tested and well-written experiments. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent Lab Text But Not Everyone Has To Buy It
Though a complete laboratory text with 50+ experiments, lab techniques, tables of unknowns and spectroscopy, the organic faculty prepare our own lab manual to be followed. Pavia text becomes a close handy reference for lab techniques and setup. The techniques section, which include filtration, crystallization, distillation (simple, fractional, and steam), chromatogrpahy (column, thin-layer, and gas)... should be carefully studied before conducting experiments for beginning students. Unless your organic lab course follows almost exactly the outline of experiments in this text, you can check it out from the library and read it.

Best organic laboratory manual available!
I have taken a full course using this book and I think that it is the best one I have seen! Organic chemistry is a hard subject and this book lays it out in an understandable way. The "techniuques" section is current, readable, and the pictures are well done. The essays that accompany many of the experiments are entertaining and give good background information that helps doing the experiments more enjoyable. Probably the best section is the "identification of unknowns" section which lays out in a good logical way how to identify what you have in the lab. I think that the book also addresses and promotes a great trend in chemistry i.e. microscale research that reduces waste and promotes conservation of chemicals and the environment. ... Read more

Book Description

Michael Downing is obsessed with Daylight Saving, the loopy idea that became the most persistent political controversy in American history. Almost one hundred years after Congressmen and lawmakers in every state first debated, ridiculed, and then passionately embraced the possibility of saving an hour of daylight, no one can say for sure why we are required by law to change our clocks twice a year. Who first proposed the scheme? The most authoritative sources agree it was a Pittsburgh industrialist, Woodrow Wilson, a man on a horse in London, a Manhattan socialite, Benjamin Franklin, one of the Caesars, or the anonymous makers of ancient Chinese and Japanese water clocks.

Spring Forward is a portrait of public policy in the 20th century, a perennially boiling cauldron of unsubstantiated science, profiteering masked as piety, and mysteriously shifting time-zone boundaries. It is a true-to-life social comedy with Congress in the leading role, surrounded by a supporting cast of opportunistic ministers, movie moguls, stockbrokers, labor leaders, sports fanatics, and railroad execs. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A Book For All Seasons
I teach writing.I'm always telling my students that writers are curious and ask themselves questions. Real writers dig to find the answers to their questions.They're even willing to research to find the answers, I tell them.And I had the perfect book to illustrate my point-Michael Downing's latest book about the history of daylight savings time:Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Savings Time. I read the first several pages to my class and they were hooked.The intriguing details and humorous style generated a lively discussion that had students asking their own questions, willing to pursue the answers, and begging me to read more of Spring Forward before the bell rang.

Not bad, but...
As it happens, two very similar books came out only days apart, this one and David Prerau's "Seize the Daylight". If I didn't have Prerau's book to compare with this one, I might have rated this one higher; but Prerau's is so much better than this book that I cannot give a 5-star rating to this book.

Both books give some background history of timekeeping. Prerau's goes back to ancient days and covers the previous changes from temporal hours to equal hours, from apparent to mean time, and from mean local to standard time. Downing's book starts at a later point, and also devotes less space to the details, as well as putting this material in a flashback chapter, which makes for inferior organization.

In addition, I find this book is not written as well as Prerau's, which does a better job of holding my interest, and in addition, Downing makes a number of minor (but significant) errors such as writing "latitude" when he means "longitude" or "east" when he means "west." This causes a bit of difficulty on some occasions.

I cannot say I didn't enjoy this book, but I liked Prerau's better.

Be Prepared to Laugh
I looked on the back of this book and saw that one of the proponents of Daylight Saving Time was Richard Nixon. Then I saw that one of the opponents of Daylight Saving Time was Richard Nixon. Yep, I decided, this book has to make good sense. At least as good a sense as Daylight Saving Time does.

Then he said on the first page that he adjusted his clocks before he went to bed instead of at 2 AM. His neighbor told him that he was breaking Federal law.The neighbor then said that if the Feds came around he would lie for him and give him an alibi.

Then on Page 4 Britain's Royal Astronomer suggested that in addition to changing the clocks that the thermometer should be put up ten degrees in the winter so we would be warmer.

I was hooked.

The conclusions of the book: nobody knows why we have it, nobody can prove any savings (or cost).

My real conclusions on this book. Be prepared to laugh. (I also found it necessary to telephone people and read them parts of it.)

Fun for the curious...
This is one of those books that will appeal to thosewho always wonder why things are the way they are.Downing introduces his subject by listing all of the explanations he's heard for the existence of Daylight Saving Time and the various dates he's heard it was enacted.The stories are inconsistent and none of them make much sense.Dowling's curiosity about what the real story behind Daylight Saving Time was the impetus behind his writing this book and my reading the book.I wasn't disappointed.

Downing begins with the origination of the idea of Daylight Saving in England, takes you through its first implementation in Germany during WWI, quickly followed by Allied nations including the United States.The story is interesting in that the debate surrounding Daylight Savings has been more or less active from 1918 forward.The players usually don't come down on the side you've been led to believe by your parents and the media.

This is a great book for those who see what most people perceive as non-noteworthy occurences and feel the need to understand how they came to be.Highly recommended.

A Time of Confusion and Controversy
Around 1965 when my friends and I would go to the movies, along with the previews of coming attractions, we would be treated to a polemical short film designed to teach us the evils of Daylight Saving Time."Do you want to lose an hour of sleep every night?" boomed the self-important voice, as a cartoon illustration of a red-eyed man appeared on the screen."Do you want your children staying out after bedtime because it is still light?"My buddies and I thought it funny at the time to answer back "No!" to the first question and "Yes!" to the second.We did not know it at the time, but were doing our small part to continue a storm of controversy and puzzlement over clock-shifting.In _Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time_ (Shoemaker & Hoard), Michael Downing has given a sprightly history of a peculiarity in timekeeping that has pleased and bothered people ever since it was first seriously proposed for action.You might think that the only confusion that DST causes is for people who forget on the appointed night to change their clocks, or our surprise in the first week over how high the sun seems compared to the nights before the change.The truth is that there is much more confusion to go around on an issue that you probably thought was simple.

The US adopted DST in 1918, but repealed it just a year later; the repeal was sparked by protests by farmers, who were among the first, though certainly not the last, to insist on a return to what they viewed as "God's time."How God came to divide the day into twenty-four hours, however, they did not clarify.The influence of farmers, however, could not compete with that of Wall Street, which liked the idea since it meant that there would be a one hour window in the morning when both the New York Exchange and the London Exchange were open simultaneously, permitting exploitation of prices during those sixty minutes.In fact, the New York Exchange so missed the lucrative hour when DST was repealed that it put itself on DST just for trading hours.Exchanges in Boston and Philadelphia did not want to lose out, so they followed suit, small islands of anomalous time within the nation.The patchwork coverage of DST and the attempted legal patches to make it all sensible resulted in timely confusion.If you drove the 35 miles from Steubenville, Ohio, to Moundsville, West Virginia, and wanted your watch to keep the local time, you would have to change it seven times on the route.In St. Paul, Minnesota, there was an eighteen-story office building with nine floors on DST and nine floors not.

From time to time, like during wars, DST was promoted as the patriotic thing to do, since it saved energy, but this has not conclusively been shown.Some think there are good scientific reasons for DST, but there is no science behind it.What powers DST in a small way is emotion; most people simply like the long summer evenings (and Downing admits that he is one of these).I like it because it shows the arbitrary nature of timekeeping; we can shift hours just as we can (or could, if we wanted to) shift from feet to meters.The biggest force, though, is economic.Wall Street likes it, and that's important, but there were significant gains for specific industries.Sales of golf equipment and course fees go up in DST, and so do sales of barbecue equipment, and seeds and gardening supplies.Farmers still don't like it, but there are fewer and fewer of them to complain.Nonetheless, there are still plenty of people (and businesses like movie studios) that don't like it, and although we have relative standardization in its implementation now, there are still attempts to tinker with it.Falsifying clock time in America has become "the most sustained political controversy of the last 100 years," says Downing.His often hilarious book shows that the controversy isn't going to go away any time soon.
... Read more

Book Description

This new edition of the acclaimed step-by-step guide encompasses all aspects of typescript preparation from first to final draft, including efficient use of word processing, electronic database literature services, the Internet, and email. The authors provide sensible advice on inclusive word choices and communication for writers and readers of different first languages. Abundant examples, practical tips, and self-help exercises draw on extensive experience with actual typescripts. In addition, a detailed index and numerous references make information easy to find. Applicable to a variety of scientific writing contexts, Successful Scientific Writing is a powerful tool for improving individual skills, as well as an eminently suitable text for classes or seminars on scientific writing. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Scientific Writing - A difficult task made easier
"Successful Scientific Writing" is a well written, user friendly and sometimes humorous guide to effective scientific writing. Even the wire, lay open binding is user friendly. The text is up to date, well organized and provide