Biology Books

Despite its title this book is an easy and entertaining read for a broad audience. While specifically written from the perspective of management of software projects, the book actually addresses management at large. It makes a concise case showing how dangerous and detrimental it is (to the successful outcome of large scale (software) projects that is, defined by the author as a "quality product on time and on budget") to separate technical leadership/management from personnel leadership/management, as so often mandated by many organizations. The "manager-architect," as termed by the author in his book, is key to success. Consequently not everybody can be up for this task, and only few who dare to try will succeed at it, as evidenced by the disconcerting fact that many "top level managers" manage nothing but major budgetary overruns (be they hidden or not), for which they are "held accountable" by society by being hailed as "America's Best Leaders." This book puts an end to such phoniness and provides especially the inexperienced/naive reader with a skill set to reveal/uncover such mismanagement and the individuals responsible.

The book is a true eye opener for aspiring and "want-to-be" managers alike. Also, having posters on "true leadership" pinned to the office wall does not magically inhale the ability of leadership into the office occupant. Leadership is an ability rather than a skill as clarified by the author. It is just like playing an instrument: it only gets you so far if you do not have it in you and practice every day. Chapter 12 "The Impact of Leadership on Software Development" should be read by any manager (aspiring, "want-to-be", or acting alike), and in particular by those who confuse management with suddenly having power over people. Moreover, management does not and should not mean "tenure" along the lines of "now I have made it, now I can relax" or "now I am in power." Rather the "Old Fritz" (Friedrich II, Prussian King) statement, simple yet true, comes to mind: "I am the first servant of the country" ("Ich bin der erste Diener meines Staates"), and serves as a good guide.

The author puts forth an interesting concept for true autonomy founded on the philosophical considerations of the human mind, upon which the AI-(IF-THEN-ELSE)-community will most likely have to choke. In doing so, the author outlines nicely the profound difference between automation and autonomy, two terms, which are often confused, intermixed, or misunderstood, even by so-called experts in the field.

If management is done right, as exemplified/laid out in this book and practiced by its author in an exemplary fashion, managers would rather have to be pitied because of their huge added responsibility for their people/troops and the projects they manage/lead (in that order!). Special attention should be paid throughout the book and in particular throughout Chapter 12 to the "Machiavellian Prince," as this kind of "leader" unfortunately exists (and not in small numbers!), and, while striving only for personal power and gain, causes a lot of damage to otherwise noble causes.

The author of this book has deep insights and wisdom for any level of interface with computer science applications. You simply cannot go wrong for putting your weight down on patterns to follow from someone who has had success in the field. The techniques in this book go beyond basic head knowledge, into the live action of software development where the rubber meets the road. Only an experienced person can give these insights. I am very impressed with the advanced mapping, made simple. This book seems to be written for people who are looking to find answers to every day problems in a rapidly moving computer world, without fear.

Mr. deGyurky gives a great overview of his experience at JPL in organizing and developing large, complex, software systems, and delivering them on schedule, on cost. Mr. deGyurky demonstrated that the most important contribution to software management is that of leadership in life, carries over in software development also.

If you are thinking of becoming a manager of a software development project, you should check this book out, and You will be a step ahead of the game!

The author has given us a framework for conceptualizing, organizing and developing large, complex, software systems, and delivering them on schedule, on cost.

His approach to software development emphasizes two basic ideas. Unique is his application to the development process of the cognitive philosophies of the great Nineteenth Century German cognitive philosophers, principally Schopenhauer, Kant and Hegel, which De Gyurky has studied for years (- in the original Nineteenth Century High German). De Gurky also emphasizes to an extraordinary degree the active role of personal leadership required of the successful software development manager.

Far from being a purely theoretical work, the book is richly illustrated with pungent examples from De Gyurky's near-incredibly varied experience both in the US military as a Special Forces officer commanding a detachment of Montaignards in the mountains of Vietnam, as an action officer at NATO Headquarters, and as the civilian developer of very large military flight-schedule management systems as well as spacecraft software command and control systems.

All the examples are exquisitely pertinent to the software development process. But in addition, four detailed programmatic examples are presented, together with comments, figures and schedules. The author's application of the principles he developed is wholly consistent and unfailingly pertinent, if sometimes challenging, due to the likely unfamiliarity on the part of the typical software engineering reader with the application of the philosophical concepts.

In fact, the single characteristic of the book which may challenge the typical software developer is the accessibility of some of the concepts. Some of the most powerful concepts discussed, e.g., the dialectical process by which an ill-formed idea becomes an object that reflects the meeting of the minds of the design team, are likely to be unfamiliar. However this process has profound implications for the organization of the design team, its management, team-member responsibilities, and on and on. It might have been helpful if the author had expanded on these key concepts, perhaps in context closer to their original use. It would be demanding on the reader, but probably no more so than parts of the book itself.

This unique contribution is recommended to software developers interested in on-time, on-cost development of large software systems, and willing to invest in the intellectual effort required to understand the author's unique contribution. They will be well rewarded.

I have read many books on systems and software development and management principles over the years. The ones that most influenced me were: "More Reliable Software Through Composite Design" by Glen Meyers; "Up the Organization" by Robert Townsend; and "Reengineering the Corporation" by Michael Hammer and James Champy. And of course no system developer's library would be complete without "Managing the Software Process" and other books by Watts Humphry, a giant in our industry. Mr. Szabolcs Michael deGyurky's book will occupy a place along side these on my bookshelf.

In this book, Mr. deGyurky has provided a completely different and refreshing, but no less important, viewpoint on systems development. As different as all the above mentioned books are, the one theme common to all of them is their focus on the "real" problem by differentiating between the truly important and the seemingly important - commonly referred to as separating the wheat from the chaff..

"The Cognitive Dynamics of Computer Science" focuses on strength of character as being indispensable to successful completion of complex systems development projects, which not only satisfy the "real" requirements, but ensure the system is delivered within an agreed to budget and schedule. This book draws on the philosophy of such estimable historical figures as Kant, Hegel and Schopenhauer, among others, in defining the behavioral characteristics of successful leaders and managers. Personal experiences in real world projects by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) provide a substantive backdrop for Mr. deGyurky's approach to managing systems development.

It is impossible to adequately relay the impact of such a book in so short a review, but I do come away with some points which derive more meaning because of my own experience: 1) Design from the user in, but develop from the inside out, in layers, 2) Don't implement until you have an initial design documented and understood by the development team - expect that to change, 3) Manage change through the Project Implementation Plan (PIP), which is the Project Manager's equivalent to the Software Development Folder, 4) Don't hire staff until you have their tasks well defined (control burn rate and you have controlled your budget), 5) Make sure you understand exactly what your customer wants through constant customer involvement, 6) make your customer's goal, your goal, then incentivize the entire development team to focus on that goal as the highest priority, 7) There shall be no implementation without documented, repeatable process and standards, which should be tailored to the individual project, but at no time should process and standards replace common sense in a dynamically changing development environment, 8) Employ tools and ensure the team is involved in their selection, 9) Ensure the development team is trained in methodology, process, standards, tools and system requirements, and 10) the manager should place the needs of his customer and his team ahead of his personal goals.

All of this is done in concert with the philosophical teachings of our great philosophers, who would encourage strict honesty and ethics in dealing with our customer, subordinates, colleagues, company management, even if it means being fired. Of course, one does not fit all the meaning of a 300-page book into such a short review, and one could easily list another 10 or more points of interest.

I agree with almost everything in this excellent book, but may differ on the role played by Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) and Computer Aided Design (CAD) in systems development. Since CASE tools became mature enough to use effectively, I personally selected my tools, then built my process and standards around them. This includes the way I modify process and standards (including DoD) to conform to streamlining development and associated documentation. The CASE tool, when used with discipline can ensure that interface errors are avoided during the design process, as provided through automatic leveling and validation as the system design progresses. Fixed price contracts caused me to gravitate to using the latest tools available and build around them each time.

I am certain that Autonomous Cognitive systems are in our future, but not without application of increasingly sophisticated CASE tools and compilers (Autonomous Cognitive Compilers), which can parse complex combinations of Boolean expressions with many operations per expression to simulate the human thought system in making decisions. Neither can these systems be built without addressing the transducers (sensors), which would connect to and provide stimuli to be interpreted and processed by any autonomous system as the 5 senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste). I look forward to Mr. deGuyrky's next book, which may address this highly complex problem.

I would only close this review with one last comment, directed to JPL. Mr. deGyurky and his team were on the right track with Ada. It is unfortunate that JPL didn't adopt this very highly typed and disciplined high order language as their standard development language. I believe it would have saved more than one failed project. Based on my 40 plus years of developing computer systems, I would humbly suggest that JPL require mandatory use of Ada in all "Class A" development projects.

Hex is an amazing sci-fi trilogy that will keep you enthralled from the very first page. In the late 21st century, scientists created the Hex gene to improve human knowledge of computers. The project was later abandoned, but mutants with the gene, known as Hexes, continued to be sought out and exterminated.
Years later, Raven, a Hex and possibly the most dangerous teenager in the world, along with her brother, Wraith, travel to London in search of their younger sister, Rachel. There they meet Kez, a streetrat, and Ali, a popular and rich girl who has just discovered that she is a Hex. Soon the group becomes engaged in a dangerous mission that could cost them their lives.
Containing interesting characters with distinct personalities, excellent descriptions, and an imaginative portrayal of the future, Hex is one of the best science fiction books you'll come by and the fitting start to a great series.

I read all three books in the trilogy over a year ago and have recently come to pick them up again. The best feature of the book is the idea, I love reading sci-fi books that don't actually feel sci-fi - the books that I enjoy explaining the plot to friends and family. The reason I didn't give the book five stars was because there wasn't enough romance, and there is always room for romance - where are we without it? Also I would have loved to have more information about the way of life that far ahead into the future, on a more day to day level. The last reason is because i didn't like Raven, although i know why she was cold and heartless I think hope goes a long way but i never felt she would change - it is definitely a first for me to love a book and not love the main character. Despite this the book left me wanting to find out more so it definitely earned four stars.

if youve seen the old movie hackers, then you'll love this. I love the dysfunctional family life of brother and sisters, the way the main character is a female, who feels alienated from the world around her because everyone else feels inferiror to her talents. Its a well written series, ive read all three hex books, and i was compleatly satisfied...hmmm, well it woul dhave been good if there was a little romance, but you probably cant have that. You fall in love with Raven, and hate the people she hates, you find them utterly annoying :D its a gotta read

The book was very well done. A bit cliche, but a good read all the same. The characters are believable and the book doesn't make you want to gag with details and mindless information. The only real complaint I have is something seemed to be missing from the explanation. I couldn't finger it, but there was just something not there. But it's definately worth picking up.

The most dangerous person in the 24th century is a 15-year-old girl named Raven --- and officially she doesn't even exist. Why? Raven is a Hex --- part human, part super computer. In the late 21st century, Hexes were created by genetically enhancing human children. Hexes can reach into the Net and access information systems from around the world. They can move around the World Wide Web the way other teenagers stroll around a mall. Raven has awesome powers --- she can control computers with her thoughts. Raven is in hiding, though, and she would like to keep it that way. If the secret government finds out that she is alive, she will be killed.

Children with the Hex gene must either fight for their lives, hide away, or be exterminated. The government doesn't want its people to know that Hexes exist. The CPS, a secret government agency, is on a mission to seek and destroy all Hexes. Most die no matter what they do. Raven's sister, Rachel, is already presumed dead, even though she had never shown any sign of being a Hex. While searching the Internet for some sign of Rachel's existence, Raven runs across another fate that Hexes face. A fate worse than death. It is this discovery that will eventually lead Raven, along with her foxy non-Hex brother Wraith, to the place where Hexes die.

HEX is book one of what promises to be an outstanding series by Rhiannon Lassiter. Lassiter does a great job of making the people in her books as real as possible. Even the minor characters have great personalities.

There is a reference to a New York disaster and some talk about terrorism, which takes some of the fun out of this book. This is minor, though, and doesn't take away from the fact that HEX is a book that you are cursed to enjoy.

--- Reviewed by Kat, recent high school grad and young adult fiction diva

Once more, with feeling! Damned if Dr. Gould didn't do it again, or, more accurately, kept right on doing it. In this eighth collection of his monthly essays from Natural History magazine, Stephen Jay Gould continued his exploration of how science works (and doesn't). His reading and comprehension of history, both natural and social, produce delicious juxtaposition, insight and humor. Month after month in what became the longest running science commentary series ever to see print. Gould is adept at finding the particular instance which illustrates the general, and discerning errors of presupposition which stymie or paradoxically further scientific inquiry. In one of the title essays of this collection, for example, he demonstrates that Leonardo Da Vinci's motive for analysis of fossil clams -- a study which appears in retrospect to be marvelously modern and ahead of his time -- was offered in defense of an extremely antiquated and fallacious view of the earth as a living body. In other words, Leonardo got the right answer for the wrong reason, and though he knew his view of the earth was flawed, he never got beyond his backward bias. So, while we tend to view Da Vinci as a prescient wizard, he was perhaps more of an obsessed antiquarian, albeit a brilliant one. Great stuff in here about dodoes and Irish elk, neanderthals and missing links, princes and principles, with the arts, artists and religious texts thrown in for good measure. As I have said before ( see reviews of BULLY FOR BRONTOSAURUS, W.W. Norton & Company, 1991, and QUESTIONING THE MILLENNIUM, Harmony Books, 1997), Gould was one of our greatest modern essayists.

Gould's eighth collection of essays from his long-running feature in "Natural History" magazine explores the human history of scientific discovery; the use of observation to bolster preconceived notions and theories, and mistaken, sometimes humorous interpretations of fact.

Gould organizes the book in six broad categories: "Art and Science," "Biographies In Evolution," "Human Prehistory," "Of History and Toleration," "Evolutionary Facts and Theories," and "Different Perceptions of Common Truths."

With his customary eloquence and classic organization, Gould opens each essay with an intriguing anecdote leading to a brief discussion of his subject, then a clear statement of his intent. In the opening piece on Leonardo da Vinci's paleontology (the book's best and the one Gould himself admits to being "most proud of") Gould acknowledges the "truly prescient character" of Leonardo's observation. He then raises "two questions that expose the early-sixteenth-century context of Leonardo's inquiry: first, `What alternative account of fossils was Leonardo trying to disprove by making his observations?' and, second, "What theory of the earth was Leonardo trying to support with his findings?"

Leonardo's startlingly modern observations were employed forcefully to disprove that Noah's flood was the cause of fossil distribution or that fossils were some mystical outgrowth of rock itself. Leonardo's theory, shored up by his accurate observation, argued that the earth was a macrocosm of which man was a microcosm: "as man has within himself bones as a stay and framework for the flesh, so the world has the rocks which are the supports of the earth." Painstakingly, Leonardo proved his quaintly elaborate analogy with a wealth of breathtakingly accurate fossil detail.

This fascinating contrast of fact and human interpretation joyfully engages the reader in Gould's humanist views. While many of these myths have become famous for revealing cultural prejudice - women are inherently non-scientific, the best cave paintings must necessarily be the most modern, the dodo was an inferior evolutionary design - Gould's approach celebrates the vigorousness of human intellect in misguided pursuit.

Gould, who was evolutionary biologist and professor of zoology and geology at Harvard, makes his arguments from many sources, educating the reader on lesser known scientists and theories and revisiting favorites such as Darwin and the persisting misconceptions about the theory of evolution.

His elegant, stately prose conveys his own fascination and amusement and celebrates intellectual accomplishment, however mistaken.

Readers of Gould's other collections of science essays will be delighted with most of the material he presents here. With his usual scope and fine prose, he presents us with carefully researched and captivating subjects. All his essays are stimulating exercises in challenging traditional ways of thinking on a wide spectrum of subjects.

The opening essay on Leonardo da Vinci provides a picture of a thinker challenged by mysterious evidence, expertly addressed. Da Vinci displays more humanity here than revealed by viewing his works. Fossil seashells at mountain peaks were puzzled over for centuries. Leonardo's vivid analysis might have enhanced scientific inquiry greatly if his ideas had not ran counter to church dogmas.

The remaining essays span the usual gamut of resurrecting the reputations of scientists now often lost to view. While restoring some scientists in our estimation, he manages to erode that of others just a bit. Huxley, having been knocked off a high pedestal by an earlier essay of Gould's is subtly chided here once more for racist opinions. Richard Owen, who used some truly underhanded tactics in responding to Darwin's theory of Natural Selection, is given more leniency. Racism is a durable commodity, as Gould himself readily admits in describing his own feelings about taxing pedal-powered vehicles in Africa. It behooves him to grant Huxley a bit of leeway. Huxley, 'Darwin's Bulldog' in his unqualified support for natural selection, must necessarily be besmirched a bit in keeping with Gould's own efforts in evolutionary revisionism.

Having addressed NOMA in comments about Gould's bizarre work ROCKS OF AGES, dwelling on the essay here would be inappropriate. Suffice to say, the concept verges on the irrational, a rare circumstance in Gould's otherwise fine collection. Far more impressive are the two essays, As the Worm Turns and Triumph of the Root-heads are among his best work. Every new discovery in biology raises our consciousness of our place in Nature. The description of the bizarre parasites inhabiting the body's of crabs is a superb challenge to rigid thinking about evolution's methods. We're frequently reminded that evolution never works 'backwards', but this essay confirms again how unpredictable life can be in adapting to new environments. Keep this book where the children can reach it. It will provide hours of delightful reading - not just one reading, but many.

As Stephen Jay Gould's writes another book of thought provoking essays, here he toys with us with the title to this book.

The title is about two seperate essays and they are well written. Understanding nature itself is what Gould is doing here... making a point in his customary brillance. There are short biographies, puzzles and paradoxes, all the time Gould is leading us through his thought prossess and reasoning.

This is a very good collection of essays and well worth the time to read.

Read and enjoy.

Stephen Jay Gould has done it again - Exposes the racist side of the foundation and development of Western Scientific Knowledge, which sadly enough, although to a much lesser degree persists to this day. Fortunately, there are more credible and enlightened men and women of science like Stephen Jay Gould to challenge and expose it. So many of the so-called men of science were heavily influenced by racism - racial and gender.

Gould for example mentioned that with the exception of Friedrich Tiedemann, professor of anatomy at Heidelberg University, all early-nineteenth-century European scientists of eminence shared the view that blacks and women belonged to the lower forms of human life, because we have smaller skulls and therefore smaller brains.

Gould also, rightfully so, singled out Richard Owen for praise, who although shared the same racist perspective as other eminent men of science, that (African, Papuan/Melanesian) blacks and women belonged to the lower races, wrote that: "Although in most cases the Negro's brain is less than that of the European, I have observed individuals of the Negro race in whom the brain was as large as the average one of Caucasians; and I concur with the great physiologist of Heidelberg, who has recorded similar observations, in connecting with such cerebral development the fact that there has been no province of intellectual activity in which individuals of the pure Negro race has not distinguished themselves."

What is even more relevant, is that the negative stereotype against blacks is still wide spread and persists to this day. Gould is such a decent and honest man, that he mentioned, even he is not immune to the persistent stereotypes against blacks, as for example when he narrated an incidence on his last visit to Zimbabwe. Fortunately he caught and corrected himself, which to me is the power of his message - not to deny, bristle and bury our heads in the sand and pretend it does not exist. Although we have undeniably made progress, in some ways things have not changed a ding (I can personally testify to that). In my view, it is human failure, not an American, European or Caucasian alone. Like SJG, we should forever be alert to the distinct possibility that our actions may be harmful, unfair and based on negative stereotypes.

Another important issue addressed in the book, is along the same line, namely, the mindset of even men of science to operate from the mistaken belief that human development is linear, in other words, all cultures/ societies, go through same stages of development i.e., based on a blueprint. Gould would have non-of that, in his view, which I share and based on more recent scholarly scientific work, like the rest of nature itself, things don't develop based on human models of how it should be, nature pretty much does its own thing. It will develop regardless of our desire to control it. For sure, we are making progress in many ways to direct, alter and influence nature - we can only do that to a certain point, the rest of it is beyond human control.

One of the best books I have ever read, strongly recommend it.

These are good USMLE style micro cards. I found them useful for review of material before boards. For an actual micro class they aren't so helpful. They weren't something I could really use to learn new material (like say Netter's flashcards in anatomy).

Great for med students, helped me study for Step 1, and still reference back to them for use on my clinical rotations. Very helpfull easy to read and comprehend, but still has good detail.

I love these cards. They have great organization and just the right amount of detail. These are probably the best microcards out there.

BUY THESE INSTEAD OF BUGCARDS! These cards are amazing for both learning and reviewing. As a first year medical student, I appreciate how concise and useful the information is. The first 8 or so cards show the common infections in each organ system - VERY HIGH YIELD! The rest of the cards cover the important human pathogens. Also included are helpful algorithms and explanations of virulence and toxins. I didn't take micro before now, and I was able to follow along perfectly well. Another resource you may consider to use in conjunction is Medical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple. It is very good as well.

I aced my bacteriology exam with these. They are an awesome way to reinforce the course material. Great for a quick review!

No one comes colose to sapolsky in having fun with genetics and evolutionary science. This set of essays is just a blast.

It should come as no surprise that Monkeyluv, as with all of Sapolsky's books, is a masterpiece. There is no better science writer of our day.

I absolutely LOVED this book! I read it very quickly and had trouble putting it down. It is fascinating, educational, funny, enjoyable and well written about complex issues.

Sapolsky, who is the author of A Primate's Memoir, The Trouble with Testosterone and Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, is a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford and a recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant. I found his genius not only to be in his insight and ability to frame questions and pursue their answers, but also to be able to write about it in a way that is accessible to a "nongenius."

This book is a collection of previously published essays that are updated for this edition (the updates include notes for further reading and on source materials). Sapolsky divides the book into three parts ("Genes and Who We Are," "Our Bodies and Who We Are" and "Society and Who We Are") and introduces each section with cogent current thinking on the issues addressed. For example, to introduce the first section, Sapolsky writes about how the nature-nurture argument is a red herring; genes contribute to personality/behavior when the environment interacts with them in ways conducive to gene-induced behavior! For example, in "Of Mice and (Hu)men Genes," Sapolsky writes about genes that may indicate a proclivity for depression, but only in certain environments, and summarizes that the reader should be wary of simple expanations. (And, he asserts, as humans we may have more responsibility to create positive environments that interact benignly with risky genes than to understand which genes cause what.) In the second section's "Why are Dreams Dreamlike?" Sapolsky illustrates how answering some questions about how the brain and psyche function just brings up other, deeper questions.

Sapolsky's illustrations of his points are fascinating and enlightening (and often funny!). In "The Genetic War Between Men and Women," he writes about how the genes from the father of a species have one goal ("greater, faster, more expensive growth") while genes from the mother have another ("countering that exuberance"). The success comes in nature's ability to balance these goals: "The placenta is ... the scene of a pitched battle, with paternally derived genes pushing [the placenta] to invade more aggressively while maternally derived genes try to hold it back." He lists other examples of this balance in humans and other species. This view of nature and how reproduction is nurtured fascinated me and helped me to see things in a new way.

Sapolsky's topics are wide ranging, and the book reminded me a bit of Freakonomics in its tendency to turn its problem-solving focus on whatever issue crossed its path. For example, in the final section, he writes about the differences between the
religions of desert peoples and the religions of tropical peoples -- the former tend to have a single god with miltaristic iterations and few rights for women while the latter tend toward pantheism and matrilocal marital residence. "Most evidence suggests that the rain-forest mind-set is more of a hothouse attribute, less hardy when uprooted." I guess that's evident, but Sapolsky's writings on the topic, again, gave me a new way to look at something I hadn't considered before. In this book, he addresses game theory, gene mapping, musical tastes, gender-communication issues and neurogenesis with wit, clarity and insight.

I recommend this book if you're the least bit curious about your brain, your body, the natural world and the society in which you live.

This guy knocks my socks off. Read him just for pleasure and learn loads while your at it. I find this truly fascinating.

I have never read anything by Sapolsky before. Now that I have he goes right to the top of my list with Richard Dawkins and Desmond Morris.

At first blush this book appears to be a footnote to a writer who had an eccentric hobby. Since Professor Boyd's definitive biography some may consider that there was little else to explore. The scientific achievements of Vladimir Nabakov were not lost but perhaps overwhelmed in the literary story.
Nabakov's Blues does more than just dust off the lepidoptry papers. The book is in the final assessment a celebration of how science and research are never a sterile academic exercise but a reflection of greater issues of the beauty and elegance of intellect at work.
During the course of shedding light on the under recognized research we are reminded that the mundane work of classifying and sorting often underpins more glamorous tasks, but are also given insight into the many quiet achievers in science, who often take considerable personal risks to complete research which is part of a greater whole and leaves them only as a name in a arid catalogue.
We are too prone to identify the heros and not those who without clamor or boasting actually do the work.
Nabakov himself never "promoted" his science although he made it clear that his butterflies were an integral part of his life. We grow to specialise and those who can travel in literary circles as well as science are rare. The authors Johnson and Coates do themselves demonstrate that they too can travel the literary salons and the research laboratories, and write an elegant supplement to Professor Boyd that transcends that status to become a commentary on the man who was in many ways a true renaissance figure.

NABOKOV'S BLUES

Nabokov's Blues: The Scientific Odyssey of a Literary Genius. Kurt Johnson, Steve Coates. Cambridge, MA: Zoland Books, 1999. Pp 372 $27.00

In his Field Guide to the Butterflies of North America Alexander Klots wrote of the genus Lycaeides that "the recent work of Nabokov has entirely rearranged the classification of this genus." The response of Vladimir Nabokov, the acclaimed author of Lolita, Pale Fire and Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle, was "That's real fame. That means more than anything a literary critic might say."

Nabokov was born in April 1899 and his reputation as a leading literary figure of the century he was almost born in seems secure; the Random House Modern Library proclaimed Lolita the fourth greatest novel of the century and the memoir Speak, Memory, the eighth greatest work of non-fiction, thus Nabokov was the only author to feature in the top ten of both lists. It is well known that Nabokov had a strong interest in lepidoptery. Often however it is dismissed as mere dilettantism, or seen by academics and critics as a source of Freudian symbolism. Nabokov himself detested such phenomena as the crass observation that "insect" and "incest" are anagrams, and attacked "the vulgar, shabby, fundamentally medieval world of Freud, with its crankish quest for sexual symbols." Full-time lepidopterists were either ignorant of Nabokov's work or regarded it as amateur dabblings; perhaps they also felt resentment at this part-timer who was nevertheless dubbed "the most famous lepidopterist in the world."

Kurt Johnson is a lepidopterist associated with the Florida State Collection of Arthropods, while Steve Coates is an editor at The New York Times. This, their first book, fights on many fronts; it tries to restore Nabokov's scientific reputation and give some account of lepidoptery's place in his life and literary work; pleads for the oft-ignored discipline of taxonomy, more important now than ever in the light of the crisis in biodiversity; and is an exciting scientific adventure story ranging from the "incorrigible continent" of South America to the squabbles of the world of academia.

Nabokov's scientific work belongs in every sense in a different era; he represents one of the last of the gentleman naturalists. Lepidoptery was an interest inherited from his father, a prominent Russian liberal assassinated in Berlin in 1922. It remained constant throughout the upheaval of the Russian Revolution and exile in Cambridge, Germany and France. On coming to the United States in May 1940 he soon visited the American Museum of Natural History in New York City with certain puzzling specimens from Europe. In Autumn 1941 he visited Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology and found the collections in disarray, and first as a volunteer and then as a part-time research fellow in entomology he endeavoured to straighten it out. This was typical of the war years; considerable lacunae existed in academia and were filled with available workers with little regard for their professional training.

Nabokov's paper Notes on Neotropical Plebejinae is the key in the reassessment of his position in science. It was a pioneering classification of the Latin American Polyommatini, a diverse group of Blue butterflies with members from the tip of Chile to the Caribbean. This paper established a broad framework of genera for later researchers to insert new species. In 1948 he left the Museum of Comparative Zoology to become Professor of Russian and European Literature at Cornell University. This marked the end of Nabokov's formal association with the world of lepidoptery, and with the publication of Lolita Nabokov's fame became a two-edged sword as far as his scientific reputation was concerned.

In the 1980s a series of expeditions to Las Abejas, a jungle enclave near Dominican Republic's Haitian border, began to turn up new specimens of what were known as Blues. Over the next decade and a half, Johnson and other lepidopterists travelled all over South America, becoming increasingly aware of the crucial relevance of Nabokov's classification system to the multiplicity of new species they discovered. In these chapters the authors make us aware of the biodiversity crisis which means species are becoming extinct faster than science can ascertain their existence. The humble place of the taxonomist, seen by some as a drone of biology, is scarcely deserved, considering the importance of this work. The authors are also at pains not to judge Nabokov by the standards of today; some of his beliefs on mimicry and evolution appear scientifically unorthodox, but reflect that when he was working these issues were still being resolved.

This book will provide both enjoyment and enlightenment to any reader interested not only in Nabokov but in the relationship of the arts and sciences, the current state of natural science and the biodiversity crisis. The crucial question for Johnson and Coates is "Was Nabokov a true scholar of Lepidoptera, or merely a dilettante whose contributions were remarkable?" The casual observer might wonder how "mere" a dilettante would make "remarkable" contributions, but the question is deeper; seeing Nabokov as a scientist gives the understanding of his life and works a whole new dimension.

The authors seem to suggest that a healthy relation between CP Snow's "two cultures" requires not a facile "unity" but a deep appreciation of both the humanities and the sciences. Nabokov's quote "Does there not exist a high ridge where the mountainside of 'scientific' knowledge joins the opposite slope of 'artistic' imagination" is often quoted in this context. Far from an airy abstraction, this refers to a specific example; Nabokov's 1952 review of a book centred around the drawings of John James Audubon; Nabokov found Audobon's butterfly drawings inept, and wondered "can anyone draw something he knows nothing about?" Nabokov considered a knowledge of natural science indispensable for a truly cultured sensibility; he was shocked when his literature students at Cornell University were ignorant of the names of local trees and birds.

We see Chekhov and William Carlos Williams as doctors and as writers; we see Primo Levi as a chemist and as a writer. Johnson and Coates convincingly try to persuade us that Nabokov should be seen as a writer and as a lepidopterist. Nabokov himself said "whenever I allude to butterflies in my novels ... it remains pale and false and does not really express what I want it to express, what, indeed, it can only express in the special scientific language of my entomological papers."

I picked up the paperback of this book because I'd heard about it when it was in hardback. For anyone who is fascinated by science, literature, history, sociology and much more, they will find the blend of story, information and insight in this book satisfying and enlightening. Its never gets dull because you're reading about a historical literary figure, and his biography, tons of information about science and exploration, the scientists who completed the formative work Nabokov began at Harvard before becoming famous after Lolita, and how this all fits together in todays biodiversity crisis and squabbles over whether Nabokov was really a bona fide scientist or just an boyish aficionado. I felt I had learned a great deal from this book but also enjoyed it. It is a great blend of historical fact, new stories, and insight the into world's environmental dilemmas. I also had no idea of the complex ways in which Nabokov interwove butterflies and their images and symbols into his novels.

This book is a fun read for anyone with an interest in the personal histories that shape authors, in biology and/or in the environment and ecology. It provides great insight into the scientific passion that moved one of the more interesting figures in literature, and nicely weaves the tale of Nabokov's first passion, lepidoptery, providing many interesting biographical details (including his wonderful sense of humor!), and the modern day story of the scientists who continued his work and discovered that his scientific legacy was truly as important and inventive as his literature. It discusses the science in a way that is interesting and easily understood by the non-scientist, but does not diminish the nature of the scientific information conveyed. In addition, it shows how the science impacted the literature. How interesting that a butterfly-gathering trip would provide the backdrop for Lolita! I found this book to be very interesting, informative and entertaining, and I highly recommend it.

Nabokov's Blues by Kurt Johnson and Stephen Coates is a testament to the dogged pursuit of their art by basic scientists such as Drs. Vladimir Nabokov and Kurt Johnson who continue their efforts with minimal funding and little glamour, and the roles played by happenstance and eccentricity in substantial discoveries. The adventure stories spun by Stephen Jay Gould in Wonderful Life and Jonathan Weiner in The Beak of the Finch in high profile, well-financed disciplines, and by Mark Jaffe in And No Birds Sing and now by Johnson and Coates in Nabokov's Blues in lesser known arenas, demonstrate how events and personalities conspire. Johnson and Coates capture this process and invite the reader into this adventure as the scientists and their colleagues pursue the magic of butterflies. Nabokov's Blues is an engaging retelling of the exciting set of adventures, in the field and in museums, begun by one of the great storytellers of the 20th Century, Vladimir Nabokov. With the disclaimer of a member of a class described by the reviewer as "eccentrics and polymaths" who played a minor role in Kurt Johnson's great adventure, I cannot disagree more strongly with Richard Conniff's assertion in his February 20,2000 review in The New York Times Book Review that "the authors fail to capture the full wonder and oddity of the enterprise." This is exactly what the authors accomplish.

Some very smart folks have been thinking deep thoughts about human evolution, and Walter's book appears (to this lay person) to chronicle the latest and greatest theories of how we became who and what we are. I experienced repeated "wow" moments during my reading of this book, because the ideas presented (elegantly by Walter) concerning the development of the human body, brain, character, culture, etc. are not only clever, insightful and plausibly correct, but also profound, beautiful, and mind-blowing.

Then buy this incredible book by Chip Walter because it's the real SECRET! Very few people have time to really BE SMART. (why do you think Cliff Notes were invented) Most of us just want other people to THINK WE'RE SMART! Women want men who sound and look smart (get with it, why do think Marilyn Monroe married Arthur Miller). Being smart does not mean you have to be boring or talk too much. Arm yourself with this witty knowlege that is anything but boring. Be prepared to drop little juicy tidbits of knowlege into every conversation. DO NOT, repeat, DO NOT get it at the library, or borrow it. You need to have this ready to read before speed dating, before an impromtu opportunity to chat up the boss on the elevator and not sound like a blithering idiot. You need this book, looking a bit beat up, under your arm at the coffee shop. That gorgeous hunk,or babe, in line behind you is just looking for a reason to start a conversation with you and this is it! You will be armed with dazzling bits of new trivia that is both scintillating and clever. People will be impressed, your self esteem with go up (without having to pay for a $10,000.00 seminar in Fiji). You will get the dates, the pay raise, and your mom will be so proud of you! What are you waiting for, everyone is looking for the SECRET and pssssst, it's right here babe.

Thumbs, Toes, and Tears And Other Traits That Make Us Human explores links between appendages and the human emotions of love, laughter and tears. Six behaviors and physical traits set humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom: THUMBS, TOES AND TEARS examines these traits and explores their influence and impact on human characteristics and development processes. An excellent, fine survey for not only high school and college science students, but for the general lending library.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

How do toes rate a spot in the title? As Chip Walker says "The same big toe made thumbs - and the tools they fashioned - possible, which led to the evolution of language, arguably the greatest tool of all." Mind you, he said this after spending 200 pages justifying it.

The big toes of apes are toward the side, rather like thumbs, and are used for grasping branches while climbing. Humans' big toes are in the front and support our striding walk. As Walter points out, this doesn't necessarily involve major genetic change; a small change in a regulatory gene, such as a Hox gene, could have made most of the difference.

Once our ancestors were walking upright, their hands were free to make and use tools, to carry food and tools, and to gesture to others while walking. This new posture led to changes in the shape of the neck. This increased the range of vocal sounds our ancestors could make. After further evolution, each of us is born with the capacity to make all of the sounds in all of human language.

Walter brings up the hypothesis that language began with gestures and only later was connected with speech. This may sound far-fetched to some, but humans communicate with gestures and speech together, so it would have been easy for gesture-language to give rise to speech-language.

From toes to speech covers the first half of the book. This is in 3 sections: "Toes", "Thumbs", and "Pharynx". Then come "Laughter", "Tears", and "The Language of Lips". 4 of these are obvious, but "Pharynx" deals with language and with the nature of consciousness, and "Lips" covers a wide range of topics, including kissing, pheromones, and why women prefer big, strong men.
There is also a short, mostly speculative section about current topics, such as why men are better at math and women at language.

There is much here that is well established, but there is also much that is hypothetical or even speculative. For example, the importance of big toes for upright walking is well established, while the question of whether men are better at math and women at language is still being debated. Fortunately, Walter points out the uncertainties frequently. We read "says", "thinks", "believes" and so on. Too often, science writers report unverified results and researchers' interpretations as if they were established facts. Walter lets a few such items slip by, but he's generally more careful.

Thumbs, Toes, and Tears covers a lot of territory that doesn't leave a lot of room for in-depth analysis. The goal is for the reader to see that all the many pieces fit together into one picture. We know the pieces must because WE are the picture. Walter himself describes the main fun of the book: "I do hope that the science in the book can help curious mainstream readers learn something interesting and thought-provoking about themselves. I want them to have those `Ah-ha' moments.' (Walter, W.J., Jr., personal communication.) I had several of those moments myself, and I am a fairly advanced reader.

There is a final chapter, "Cyber sapiens", about our species' bionic future, which should stimulate a lot of thinking. Walter doesn't go into the area I find more exciting: genetic engineering. For a few thousand years men have been genetically modifying crops, livestock, and pets using techniques that have been in nature for hundreds of million years. Now a few labs are working out how to create new genes. There's not much to say yet, but it's worth thinking about how both bionics and genetic engineering will affect society. Will the new technology be available, or will the super-rich make of their descendants a new Master Race of ubermenschen?

It is not a criticism to say that much of the material is uncertain; it is one of the strengths of the book. Science starts with speculation, with scientists asking questions. Questions lead to testable hypotheses and testing sorts out the ideas that work from those that don't. Eventually there is solid, established theory. Walter gives a look at the beginnings of a science of the human mind. perhaps some of the younger readers will be inspired to join this quest.

"Thumbs, Toes and Tears" surveys six general traits the author, Chip Walter, consideres uniquely human - a big toe, opposable thumb, larynx for speech plus three acts deeply intertwined with our past - laughing, crying and kissing. Included in the discussions are more mysterious aspects - our unique memory system, our intuitiveness, our ability to communicate by all sorts of visual and sensory systems and consciousness, that dark veil that tells us what we thing without telling us who we are.

Beyond the prose, examples, humor, facts and insights the reader is still startled to learn just how much we have discovered about ourselves and our brains - the real hero of the story. Each of these human attributes is presented with an overview, background and evolutionary history of the trait from its origins to modern times. What fascinates repeatedly are the ways in which one area overlaps or affects the next. Big toes lead to upright posture that in turns frees our hands for such things as tool making and unconscious movements that express our thoughts. Bipedalism allowed the voice box to straighten and produce noises that developed into language.

Thumbs, for example, were integral for tool-making. This stimulated the brain and accelerated the growth of communication. The author considers language the most important skill we acquired since it created culture. As profound as these are to our current current state, the last three are just as intrinsic. Can one imagine a culture without crying, laughter or kissing? We would think it alien and non-human.

Walter was at times too quick to introduce purpose into evolution. There is no purpose - women did not (as he assert) have kids to "help the race". They had no idea about a "human race" much less thought that having children would preserve it. In the same way, the toe did not develop for walking (how could "it" know?) - it was the end result of a series of complex forces that reinforced each other. The book is chock full of interesting facts presented in terms most laymen can comprehend. The differences between the male and female brain explained our actions - why men excel at Math and females in English.

The author points our repeatedly that we are the fusion of both ancient, evolutionary forces that harken back millions of years and modern ones created by our culture at an ever-accelerating pace. In this sense, the author asserts we are more than our genes, greater than the mere end product of a long chain of chance changes over time. The final chapter, CYBER SAPIENTS, suggests that for the first time, humans will not only aid but jumpstart evolution. The former mechanism of evolution - glacially slow, minute changes over eons will be replaced by tinkering with DNA - instant evolution. Will we replace ourselves with robots? Does evolution require biology? What does it mean to be human when one cannot tell the difference between a machine and a "person"? Great book

Bought this for a Christmas and everyone wanted to look through it before I gave it away. It is great fun for all ages!!!

I purchased this book as a gift for my elderly grandma. Both she and the rest of my family enjoy looking through the beautiful photos to spot the camouflaged animals.

This is such an amazing and wonderful book of photos taken by Art Wolfe. "Vanishing Act" refers to the natural camouflage of living beings as they blend into their environment, as a means of self-preservation.

Honestly, I have had to look at some of the pictures 3 or 4 times before I could locate the animal, insect, bird, etc. that was lurking there. There is a "cheat sheet" in the back of the book, but I am determined to locate these creatures without resorting to outside help.

It is so amazing that I could look at a large picture 3 or 4 times and not see what I was looking at; however, once you see it clearly you can't understand how you could have missed it in the first place. Isn't nature grand? I have two of Art Wolfe's works hanging on my walls and they are the first things commented on by any visitor to my home.

Buy this book!

A mezmerizing coffee table book. It's almost a puzzle to find the incredible creatures in the photos that have natural camouflage. Large format views with lots of detail. A nature lover's must-have.

This photography/nature/evolution/puzzle book was simply astonishing. Everyone I've shown it to, from 8-80, has been both amazed by the photographs and thoroughly enjoyed reviewing it. When I brought it to work, a common response was, "Very cool ... Can I borrow this book overnight to show my husband/wife?" I need to e-mail Art Wolfe to ask him if I could represent him on his next creative effort. That way his work will achieve wider distribution and recognition.

This book is absolutely excellent. Gusfield walks the reader from simple concepts in string matching through advanced in a way that I found very easy to follow. Every bioinformatics researcher should have copy of this text.

A well written text book with an obvious bias to biological application, but maybe most useful for its clear explanation and rigour of string algorithms.

If you haven't read this book, you don't know biological string matching. The book's focus is clearly on string algorithms, but the author gives good biological significance to the problems that each technique solves. I came away from this book understanding the algorithms, but also knowing why the algorithms were valuable.

No, there isn't any real source code here. That should not be a problem - this book aims above the cut&paste programmer. The book in meant for readers who can not only understand the algorithms, but apply them to unique solutions in unique ways.

String matching is far too broad a topic for any one book to cover. The study can include formal language theory, Gibbs sampling and other non-deterministic optimizations, and probability-based techniques like Markov models. The author chose a well bounded region of that huge territory, and covers the region expertly. The reader will soon realize, though, that algorithms from this book work well as pieces of larger computations. The book's chosen limits certainly do not limit its applicability.

By the way, don't let the biological orientation put you off. DNA analysis is just one place where string-matching problems occur. The author motivates algorithms with problems in biology, but the techniques are applicable by anyone that analyzes strings.

The text sits at the intersection of computer science and computational biology. It centres around the observation made by the author and others that often in CS, one has to manipulate strings of text, which are just sequences of text. While in computational biology, a recurrent theme is how to deal with sequences of molecules. These might be in a DNA sample or in a protein.

Surprisingly, from this simple observation, Gusfield manages to gather together considerable material. Over the decades, computing has accrued many algorithms for text string processing. The book's merit is in presenting those which are also applicable in bioinfomatics. The level of treatment is sophisticated, from the computing vantage. Enough so that perhaps the typical geneticist might not be able to easily follow the narrative. But a researcher with a strong background in both fields might be able to benefit.

If you like definition-theorem-proof-example and exercise books, Gusfield's book is the definitive text for string algorithms. The algorithms are abstracted from their biological applications, and the book would make sense without reading a single page of the biological motivations. Gusfield aims his book at readers who are fluent in basic algorithms and data structures (at the level of Cormen, Leisersohn and Rivest's excellent text). The exercises are wonderfully illustrative, being neither trivial nor impossible.

All of the major exact string algorithms are covered, including Knuth-Morris-Pratt, Boyer-Moore, Aho-Corasick and the focus of the book, suffix trees for the much harder probem of finding all repeated substrings of a given string in linear time. In addition to exact string matching, there are extensive discussions of inexact matching. Even the discussions of widely known topics like dynamic programming for edit distance are insightful; for instance, we find how to easily cut space requirements from quadratic to linear. There is also a short chapter on semi-numerical matching methods, which are also of use in information retrieval applications. Inexact matching is extended to the threshold all-against-all problem, which finds all substrings of a string that match up to a given edit distance threshold. The theoretical development concludes with the much more difficult problem of aligning multiple sequences with ultrametric trees, with applications to phylogenetic alignment for evolutionary trees (an approach that has also been applied to the evolution of natural languages).

Note that there is no discussion of statistical string matching. For that, Durbin, Eddy, Krogh and Mitchison's "Biological Sequence Analysis: Probabilistic Models of Proteins and Nucleic Acides" is a good choice, or for those more interested in language than biology, Manning and Schuetze's "Statistical Natural Language Processing". There is also no information on more structured string matching models such as context-free grammars, as are commonly used to analyze RNA folding or natural language syntax. Luckily, Durbin et al. and Manning and Schuetze also provide excellent coverage of these higher-order models in their books.

This book is not about efficient implementation. If you need to build these algorithms, you'll also need to know how to write efficient code and tune it for your needs. This is an algorithms book, pure and simple.

As a computer scientist, I found the discussions of computational biology to be more enlightening than in other textbooks on similar topics such as Durbin et al., because Gusfield does not assume the reader has any background in cellular biology. Instead, he provides his own clear and gentle introductions illustrated with algorithms, applications, open problems and extensive references. Like most Cambridge University Press books, this one is beautifully typeset and edited.

There are a variety of popular books on the biology of spiders but this seems to be the only recent one in English at the professional level except for Barth's `A Spider's World' (2001),likewise dated and quite expensive. Foelix's 330 pages are packed with details on every aspect of spider life. As a former physiologist I found it fascinating, and, though it has much of interest for any intelligent person, the general reader will be less than enthralled by details of digestive, circulatory and reproductive and nervous systems.

It is well illustrated with many drawings, photos and tables.

This is an excellent translation from the 1992 German edition but 16 years have passed so the enormous recent progress in genetics and molecular biology, RFID tagging and computer analysis is missing. In contrast to what the nonspecialist might think, they are an extraordinarily diverse group in their genetics, physiology, anatomy and behavior. I expect that when the genetics have been worked out, there will be a gulf between the 40,000 or so species at least as vast as that between sharks and gorillas.

There is no reference to the `web' which you can easily remedy eg, at www.arachnology.be/Arachnology.html and its links. The very old book by the famous naturalist Fabre is still in print and is even available online at http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/youth/howandwhy/TheLifeoftheSpider

There are some more recent excellent books in foreign languages such as Vanuytven's `Spinnen' in Dutch but so far as I know, none has been translated. An Introduction to the Spiders of South East Asia(2000) is superb but out of print.

This is an excellent review of the biology of spiders. It was amazing discover that spiders can learn. I recommend this book.

It's amazing how much I know about these little creatures now that I've read this book. I never knew how clever some species of spiders are. Like how some can trick other spiders to come out of their homes and the ingenius methods they employ to catch their prey. I think it would be fun to be an arachnologist.

This book is worthy of being considered a text book for serious students of spiders but it is easily readable for the average person. It absolutely tells you everything you could want to know about the life of these creatures. Excellent diagrams of each subject matter. I recommend it highly for the detailed information you need to have. While it did have pictures of various spiders, I was disappointed it did not have pictures of specific spiders so that you might be able to identify ones you find. It is a little pricey and complex so it isn't for casual interest.

Don't be misled, this is not a field guide for identification of spiders. This is a college level biology textbook. All photographs are in black and white. I was hard pressed to even recognize a common garden spider (Argiope Aurantia) in this book, even though I have one in my front yard shrubbery that I watch every day. This book probably contains more biological information than most people fascinated by spiders want to know.