Perspective Books

This book compiles all of the research that has accumulated over the past 50 years on the academic and emotional effects on students of retaining them. Although it is considered a 'research' book, it is an easy and compelling read. Any parent or teacher who is considering retaining a student should pay careful attention to the research findings in this book. After reading it, you can only come to one conclusion: Retention is a form of educational malpractice and akin to the practice of bloodletting in the medical profession. That is, we know it doesn't work, that it does more harm than good, and yet we continue with the practice anyway.

This book compiles all of the research that has accumulated over the past 50 years on the academic and emotional effects on students of retaining them. Although it is considered a 'research' book, it is an easy and compelling read. Any parent or teacher who is considering retaining a student should pay careful attention to the research findings in this book. After reading it, you can only come to one conclusion: Retention is a form of educational malpractice and akin to the practice of bloodletting in the medical profession. That is, we know it doesn't work, and that it does more harm than good; yet, we continue with the practice anyway.

This book is gorgeous - well organized, beautifully colored, and written by the world's most authoritative experts in cancer. A very handy volume to have.

In November of 2007 the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund published a Landmark Report confirming that excess body fat causes cancer. The report is the most comprehensive ever published. It involved teams of scientists from around the world, hundreds of peer reviewers, and 21 international experts. They reviewed over 7,000 large-scale studies on diet, physical activity, and weight, and analyzed their effect on the risk for 17 different types of cancer. The report revealed that excess body fat increases risk for numerous cancers. The report also found that consuming red meat and processed meat causes cancer.

According to the report, carrying excess body fat is convincingly linked to six cancers and suggestive in others. Here is a summary of their conclusions:
Colon and Rectum Cancer - Body fatness is a cause of this cancer. Red meat (beef, pork and lamb) and processed meat (bacon, ham, sausage and lunchmeat) are also listed as causes of colorectal cancer. In fact, every 1.7 ounces of processed meat consumed per day increases risk of colorectal cancer by 21 percent!
Kidney Cancer - Body fatness and smoking are causes of this kidney cancer.
Pancreas Cancer - Body fatness is a cause of this cancer.
Endometrium Cancer - Body fatness and abdominal fatness are causes of this cancer. Physical activity may protect against this cancer.
Post-menopausal breast cancer - Body fatness is a cause and abdominal fatness is probably also a cause of this cancer. Physical activity probably protects against postmenopausal breast cancer.
Adenocarcinoma of the Esophagus - Body fatness is a cause of this cancer.
Cancer of the Gallbladder - Body fatness is probably a cause of cancer of the gallbladder.

The Report's Recommendations for Cancer Prevention are:
1. Be as lean as possible within the normal range of body weight.
2. Be physically active as part of everyday life.
3. Limit consumption of energy-dense foods. Avoid sugary drinks.
4. Eat mostly foods of plant origin. (5 servings or more of vegetables and fruit daily)
5. Limit intake of red meat and avoid processed meat.
6. Limit alcoholic drinks.
7. Limit consumption of salt. Avoid moldy cereals (grains) or pulses (legumes).
8. Aim to meet nutritional needs through diet alone.
9. Breastfeed.
10. Cancer survivors should follow these recommendations.

This is a must read for everyone! Check out their web site. If you want help following their recommendations, I also recommend THE 3:00 PM SECRET: Live Slim and Strong, Live Your Dreams

This book, actually a doctoral dissertation, looks at the world of surgical residency for women of color.

Residency is supposed to be a tough, weeding out process. But female residents have several extra obstacles in their way. Most female doctors are in fields like gynecology or psychiatry. Those who want to become surgeons are encouraged to choose another specialty, because surgery is "too hard." Any patient complication will be looked at especially closely. Role models are rare; the number of female surgeons is tiny, while the number of black female surgeons is practically zero.

Since surgery is very much a male-dominated field, there is the usual obstacle of women having to work twice as hard to be considered half as good. Residency does not teach a person how to keep their humanity (which some surgeons have totally lost); what to say to a family whose loved one has just been declared dead (suppressing their femininity).

This book looks at the personal experiences of several black female surgeons. Their residency experiences, whether at predominantly white or black institutions, ranged from difficult to very difficult.

Even though this is a doctoral dissertation, it is clearly written, easy to read, and worth reading. The next time a loved one is in the hospital, and the doctor is a woman, just remember that she probably is experiencing, or has experienced, the things mentioned in this book.

This book is a great look into the experiences black women have as the vast minority in surgical residency. It is very well written and is full of rich writing and emotion. There is no parallel, especially as it is a topic that is not widely known about. This is a great book.

The book was in excellent condition and arrived on schedule. It was great service, typical of Amazon!

For years I have been searching for an introductory policy text that will give my BSW students a firm foundation without putting them to sleep. This book's explicit focus on social justice offers a powerful framework for understanding a wide range of issues, while its use of real case studies brings to life the human dimension of social policy. The first chapter of the text is the most difficult for my students, so I allow extra time and use the auxilliary resources on the Thompson website to be sure they master this abstract content.

"In this volume we encounter Rumi living through the words of a contemporary Mevlevi Shaykh, Sefik Can.
Shaykh Can's presentation of the biography and poetry of this passionate, God-absorbed Rumi reminds us of that message of love, acceptance of diversity, and self-transcendence that is the true essence of Islam. Here we meet Rumi as Sufi, as Muslim, but above all as lover of God expressed in the love of humanity."
Marcia K. Hermansen
Professor of Islamic Studies
Loyola University, Chicago"

This book is written by Sefik Can, whom devoted his life to Mevlevi tradition. Foreword is by Fethullah Gulen, who is a Turkish scholar known by his moderate ideas in and outside Turkey. Translated by Zeki Saritoprak, a Theology professor in John Carroll University. It seems the best combination to learn the real Rumi.

Compiled and edited by John Stenhouse (Faculty member, Department of History, University of Otago) and Brett Knowles (Senior Teaching Fellow in Church History in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Otago) with the assistance of academician Antony Wood, The Future Of Christianity: Historical, Sociological, Political And Theological Perspectives From New Zealand is comprised of contributions by a group of New Zealand scholars, theologians, historians and lawyers who examine the relationship of New Zealand's Western culture and Christianity. Scholarly, articulate, intellectually engaging, The Future Of Christianity ranges from Allan K. Davison's "Christianity and National Identity: The Role of the Churches in the Construction of Nationhood", to Mary Petersen's The Future of Christianity in New Zealand: What Is Happening with the Children?", to Peter Lineham's "Social Policy and the Churches in the 1990s and Beyond", to Mike Riddell's "Beyond Ground Zero: Resourcing Faith in a Post-Christian Era Obligation". These and the other informative and intellectually challenging articles make The Future Of Christianity very highly recommended reading.

The circumstances, possibilities, and issues concerning Christianity in New Zealand are a microcosm of these elsewhere in the Western world. This multidisciplinary work aims to inform readers of perspectives and realities regarding contemporary Christianity not reflected or suggested in the popular media. Focus on certain anomalies is especially revealing, as well as to some degree predictive of Christianity's possible future depending on how these are resolved. Kevin Ward, a lecturer of Church issues in the modern world, explores how the "fragmentation and religious pluralism" in postmodernism not only limit and distort understanding of beliefs and developments in Christianity, but also shape strategies for Christians wishing to be a part of modern culture. "Believing Without Belonging" is part of the title of Ward's article. Another by Bruce Knox, Executive Director of Bible College in New Zealand, explores the apparent anomaly that "Christian Allegiance Is Declining, Yet Theological Education Is Booming." The role of religion in shaping the New Zealand national identity, even as the nation was "set up more or less decisively independent of any denominational church influence," is another relevant topic; while a couple of other articles take up political solutions for dealing with the desire of Christians to see their beliefs and values reflected more plainly in government policies and activity. The number of articles by theologians, historians, and sociologists, among others, with their fingers on the pulse of contemporary Christian situations and concerns offer a variety of views on the persistent matter of religion in contemporary life and current affairs.

The main focus of Jorg Bewersdorff's "Galois Theory for Beginners: An Historical Perspective" is "...[polynomials] and their solutions..." Chapters 1 through 3 are about classical methods (formulas) for solutions on cubic and bi-quadratic polynomials. Chapter 4 and 5 are "systematic investigation of the...solution formulas..." Chapter 6's primary topic is "...[polynomials] that can be broken down into...lower degree." Chapter 7 focuses on the construction of regular polygons with straightedge and compass. Chapter 8 is about "...finding a general solution formula for [the] fifth-degree [polynomials]..." Chapter 9 and 10 focus on Galois theory: "...the limits of solvability of [polynomials] in radicals."

I began my pursuit "...to understand why a general...[polynomial] of the 5th degree should have no solution in radical..." decades ago, as if Jorg Bewersdorff. His book is the best I have ever read on Galois theories. For instances:

1. Theorem 10.18 An [polynomial] is solvable in radicals, that is all of its solutions can be expressed in terms of nested roots whose radicands can be expressed in terms of the coefficients using the four basic operations, if and only if its Galois group is solvable...

2. Definition 9.2 For a [polynomial] without multiple solutions whose coefficients lie in a field K, the Galois group (over the field K) is the set of all permutations s in the symmetric group Sn that permute the indices 1,...,n of the solutions x1,...,xn in such a way that for every polynomial h(X1,...,Xn) with coefficients in K and h(x1,x2,...,xn) = 0, one has h(x(s(1)),...,x(s(n))) = 0 ...

3. Definition 10.17 A finite group G is called solvable if there is a chains of groups {id}=G0 ( G1 ( G2 ( ... ( G(k-1) ( G(k) = G for which the subgroup G(j) is a normal subgroup of the next group in the chain G(j+1), such that the quotient group G(j+1)/G(j) is cyclic of prime order n...

4. A point in a plane is constructible if and only if its "...coordinates can be expressed in rational numbers and nested square roots using the four basic arithmetic operations (+, - , * , /).

This is a wonderfully written, highly accessible introduction to polynomial equations (quadratics, cubics, etc.) and their solutions by radicals, leading step by step to an introduction to Galois theory.

Galois theory is presented only towards the end of the book. Readers already familiar with the solutions of quadratic equations, depressed cubics, cubics, and quartics will find the first half of the book somewhat redundant. But it is nevertheless very pleasant to read, with succinct notes on the historical background, and (mostly) self-contained short sections.

It reads very well all the way to the end. It gets a little harder when Galois theory is introduced. But that's perhaps to be expected. I can't say that I master the subject, but certain things (about polynomial equations) are a great deal clearer for me now.

I do have one reservation (but I did not knock off a star for that): the editing (of this English translation of the German original) is quite poor: there is a typo just about every other page. I am very sensitive to typos, and most readers probably won't (nor should they) care -- but there are some typos in the math here and there, and that's plain unacceptable.

One of very few books describing the experiences of women police across national boundaries. Based on the authors' extensive research and interviews with women police officers, this book provides readers with a finely drawn picture of the roles women play in policing around the world.

This is an important book that helps us prepare for a future where we recognize and appreciate the great strengths women bring to law enforcement. By understanding the global perspectives of women in law enforcement, we can begin to eliminate the stereotypes and encourage the entry and success of more women into this noble profession.

Tickner does an excellent job of deconstructing the gendered connotations in international relations. The book makes you rethink the meaning of war, peace, power and environmental destruction in terms of the masculine vs. feminine interpretations. This book offers a wider perspective in the field of international relations. It makes for very interesting and refreshing reading.

Tickner is required reading in many an IR course because of this book. Her style is accessible (ok for upperclassmen, not just grad students) and her organization is clear. In about 250 pages, Tickner takes the reader through a quick survey of the major issues in International Relations from a feminist perspective. She readily identifies different schools of feminist thought and comes off as committed, but not dogmatic. The book does not get into great depth, but does a great job of presenting feminist perspectives to people who have limited experience.

The specific areas covered are national security, economic security, ecological security, and global security. The first is designed to distinguish feminist perspective from the dominant IR paradigms. The last three develop feminist perspectives through their non-traditional conceptualizations of security. The index is good, making the book valuable as a reference. I held on to mine for years until a student "borrowed" it. It was getting ragged, anyway. For debaters, there is great ev here, this is the Tickner you've heard repeatedly cited. She's especially good for kritiks.

The topic of human smuggling makes most people think of yet another global mafia business tricking people into slavery. In contrast, this book provides an excellent overview of the complexity and diversity of migrants and refugees trying to get across borders simply to find jobs or freedom. Especially interesting are the historical chapters that place this social issue into perspective and draw parallels with previous "white slavery scares." The book also presents diverse types of research in different countries to provide a mosaic rather than a grand theory of human smuggling. Hopefully more similarly thoughtful work on this topic will follow. Of course, no book on a topic like this can be up to date, so some of the things the authors discuss will have to be reevaluated after 9/11.

There are many dimensions to the transport of people across international borders. Global Human Smuggling provide a historical and contemporary look at the topic. They start with the traffic of sex slaves in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They focus on topics such as asylum seekers, ill-legal immigration to America from Mexico and Asia. The book also deals with the topics of organized crime. Russian, Chinese and Mexican organized crime units have played parts in transporting humans from one country to anotuehr. The book also deals with the political impact of smuggling people across borders. Countries such as Japan and the United States have been cracking down the use of illegal aliens and both countries have seen xenophobia saying that foreigners are responsible for crime and lowering native wages.