Non-Reproductive Actions of Sex Steroids - No. 191 (CIBA Foundation Symposia Series)

Book Description

Sex steroids have a number of physiological effects in addition to their classical sex-related roles. This book brings together clinicians and basic researchers from a number of disciplines to discuss the non-reproductive actions of sex steroids. In many instances, sex steroids mediate the expression of a variety of genes by influencing the activity of intracellular receptors, which in turn bind to hormone response elements in the promoters of hormone-regulated genes. Direct membrane-mediated effects have also been described. Sex steroids have numerous effects on the brain, and although many of these are directed to neural functions underlying reproduction, others are more broadly related to brain function. Among these are effects on cognitive function, motor coordination (high levels of oestrogen exacerbate symptoms of Parkinsons disease), depressive illness and dementia (oestrogen has been shown to improve cognitive function in Alzheimers disease patients). Neurosteroids also have an important role in nerve repair. The protective role of oestrogen against cardiovascular disease in women is widely documented: the mechanism behind this cardioprotective effect is discussed. The incidence of autoimmune disease is higher in women than in men, and oestradiol appears to exacerbate the symptoms of many of these diseases, with the exception of rheumatoid arthritis, where oestrogen suppresses symptoms. The effects of sex steroids on the immune system are therefore covered in the book. Sex steroids have been implicated in the pathogenesis of several types of cancers. Synthetic steroid antagonists, such as tamoxifen, have been widely studied as therapeutic agents for hormone-dependent cancers. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has been shown to have a number of beneficial effects. In particular, HRT reduces postmenopausal demineralization of bone, thus slowing the advance of osteoporosis. Protective effects of HRT on cardiovascular disease have also been reported. The advantages and disadvantages of HRT therefore form a major topic of discussion in the book.

Book Description

Since the first edition the The Little Ice Age, was published in 1988, interest in climatic history has grown rapidly and research in the area has flourished. A vast amount of new data has become available from sources such as ice cores, speleothems and tree-rings. The picture that we have of past climates and glacier oscillations has extended further into the past and has become more detailed. However, the knowledge of climate change on the decennial and centennial time-scale, to which glacier history can contribute, is scarce and is in demand for attempting to predict future change, especially with regard to global warming. New chapters and material have been included throughout the book and these tend to confirm and elaborate on earlier conclusions of the first edition.

Plate Tectonics: An Insider's History of the Modern Theory of the Earth

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Plate Tectonics
Delightful "insiders' history"
Plate Tectonics as told by those that assembled the theory

Plate Tectonics: An Insider's History of the Modern Theory of the Earth

Manufacturer: Westview Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0813339812

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Widely dismissed as crank science in earlier generations, the theory of plate tectonics--which explains the movement of continents in geological time, as well as the formation of the earth's major features--is now largely accepted as fact within the scientific community.

Drawing on the memories of major theoreticians in the field, scientist and historian Naomi Oreskes offers a vivid history of just how that transformation occurred. She describes the early quest on the part of James Dana, Alfred Wegner, J. H. Hodgson, and other scientists to account for the mechanics of earthquakes and certain puzzling features of geomorphology, a quest widened and strengthened by the work of deep-ocean explorers who were able, beginning in the 1960s, to study tectonics at work far below the surface of the world's waters. Such advances, as pioneer Peter Molnar and others explain, did not immediately change the way geologists went about their work, but they quickly went on to revolutionize science--and then, as such things do, to become orthodox.

A useful reference for students of geology and the history of science, this book is also easily accessible to nonspecialists. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

The definitive history of plate tectonics, told by the scientists who developed and assembled evidence for the theory.

Can anyone today imagine the earth without its puzzle-piece construction of plate tectonics? The very term "plate tectonics," coined only thirty-five years ago, is now part of the vernacular, part of everyone's understanding of the way the earth works.

The theory, research, data collection, and analysis that came together in 1967 to constitute plate tectonics is one of the great scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century. Scholarly books have been written about tectonics, but none by the key scientists-players themselves. In Plate Tectonics, editor Naomi Oreskes has assembled those scientists who played key roles in developing the theory to tell - for the first time, and in their own words - the stories of their involvement in the extraordinary evolution of the theory.

The book opens with an overview of the history of plate tectonics, including in-context definitions of the key terms that are discussed throughout the book. Oreskes explains how the forerunners of the theory, Wegener and du Toit, inspired how scientists working at the key academic institutions - Cambridge and Princeton Universities, Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Geological Observatory, and the University of California-San Diego's Scripps Institute of Oceanography - competed and collaborated until the theory coalesced in 1967.

Customer Reviews:

Plate Tectonics.......2002-11-05

Plate Tectonics: An Insider's History of the Moden Theory of the Earth edited by Naomi Oreskes is a book about the movement of the land masses on the Earth and how the theory of plate tectonics came about. In the book there are seventeen original essays by the scientists who made earth history as they explain how placte tectonics works.

Plate tectonics is a science that you'd think has been around for a long time, but in fact, not until 1968 has the theory, research, data collection and analysis came together. The movement of relatively static land masses was not a popular idea, especially in the oil industry, where they believed that tectonics was not a viable theory.

This book takes us on a journey in history giving us a historical background of continental drift to plate tectonics. What I find extemely interesting about this book is the actual players in the development of the theory are represented here. Giving their accounts and insight into why things are as they are... explaining their thought processes in confirmation of the theory of plate tectonics.

Each author gives a piece of the puzzle until there is enough evidence that a workable theory can be developed. These authors tell us in their own words, making for a compelling book about discovery. Also, the reader will find an overview of definitions of terms used throughout the book, this keeps the readers interest as you will not be overburdoned with terms you do not understnd.

All in all, this is a very readable book as it explains the science of plate tectonics and the inter-relationship of this science to man's well-being on earth.

Delightful "insiders' history".......2002-03-23

This book will delight all historians of science. The indefatigable Naomi Oreskes, known for her excellent history of continental drift and plate tectonics, has assembled reminiscences by the surviving founders of plate tectonics theory. Dr. Oreskes deserves the highest praise for this. Alas, the senior figures such as Arthur Holmes and Harry Hess are no longer with us; the writers of these essays were graduate students in the critical early 1960s. Now elders themselves, they recall the excitement of coming on the scene just when all was breaking loose. Even the most sober number-crunchers manage to write with infectious enthusiasm. The theories are explained in a notably accessible fashion, and the varied intellectual currents of the time (and, in some essays, subsequent decades) are brought out. My one complaint--as a reader interested in the history of science--is that the writers don't say much about their personal lives. One suspects that some of them have no personal lives beyond number-crunching. Most, however, hint at or partially reveal rich and interesting backgrounds that clearly affected their thoughts. Only Peter Molnar does much more than hint, and, although he claims that one reader called his essay "unexpurgated," even he is rather reticent. Still, this volume is a gold mine, providing a very different look at one of the most "revolutionary" (in scare quotes) theoretical advances in the history of science. The consensus here seems to be that it was indeed a revolution, at least in the eyes of American graduate students of the 1960s, but not a Kuhnian revolution brought about by highly intellectualized "paradigm shifts" (Kuhn 1962); it was brought about by new field methods that brought floods of new data. These allowed the development of real mathematical models. One can only stand in awe of the amount of work this entailed. Several authors speak of working day and night, week after week, on data entry and computer jockeying. They managed this without any loss of enthusiasm--quite the reverse, apparently. Ah, youth.

Plate Tectonics as told by those that assembled the theory.......2002-01-10

This is a highly informative account of both the ideas that led to the development of Plate Tectonic theory and the concepts of how the earth works. The book is engaging to read and is understandable to an audience at the level of Scientific American. I am using it as a required text in my course at Columbia University titled "Plate-tectonic theory and its geological corollaries". For those fascinated in how the human mind puts observations together to build ideas and then test them, this book is first rate. Each chapter is crafted by a different researcher describing his or her contribution to the over all theory. The reader encounters brilliant and original ideas discarded by peer review, scientists peeping over each other's shoulder, the rush to the goal line to publish first, competition for access to key data sets, a last minute conversion from the static earth perspective, and the thrill of exploration at sea. The authors presents a wonderful history in Chapter 1 of the intellectual passage from the first inkling of continental drift in the 16th century to the breakthrough in 1966-1968 of the full-blown theory of rigid lithosphere paving stones and narrow plate boundaries.

Geographic Information Systems: The Microcomputer and Modern Cartography (Modern Cartography, Vol. 1)

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Geographic Information Systems: The Microcomputer and Modern Cartography (Modern Cartography, Vol. 1)

Manufacturer: Pergamon Press Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0080402771

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Paperback

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Modern Physical Geography, 4th Edition
Alan H. Strahler , and Arthur Strahler
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0471551031

Book Description

This Fourth Edition of a well-established text on physical geography provides rigorous coverage of the topic at the undergraduate level. It includes a full-color art program and increased attention to environmental issues.

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Modern Physical Geography
Alan H. Strahler , and Arthur Strahler
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0471533920

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A three-dimensional delight

Seven Modern Wonders Pop-Up
Celia King
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0811801594

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A three-dimensional delight.......1997-09-12

Seven Modern Wonders of the World: a Pop-up Book and others in this series are among the reasons I started collecting pop-up books. Leonardo Da Vinci and A Walk in Monet's Garden are other reasons , but that's another three-dimensional story.

Most pop-up books are created for children, with easy text, simple visuals, and pop-up effects that take up whole pages, leap out at the reader or involve string or pull-tabs. I have 100 or more of them. I love them all, but I especially love the higher form of the genre, such as this series created by Celia King.

Celia King's books are meant for advanced children or adults of exceptional taste. They are small and wonderful. The text, separated from the pop-up pages so you can better appreciate the artwork, details the history and background of each object or concept. Then, delight--a page of rich, complex colors and images. Each page is a small piece of art unto itself. And the paper engineering is integral the whole--the pop-up complements rather than overwhelms the rest of the artwork.

In Seven Wonders, the architectural and engineering marvels of the modern age are represented in glorious color and effect. The dark blue sky behind a pop-up Manhatten skyline and towering Empire State Building, the Trans-Siberian Railway steaming past Russian mosques and Chinese pagodas, a puff of smoking popping out of the engine, the Statue of Liberte standing tall above a sea of blue and purple.

Product Description

Printed May 1943. Contents include the earth and its planetary relations, temperature of atmosphere, storms and their weather types, river made plains, glaciated plains and much more. Numerous black and white illustrations and photographs.

The earth and its resources;: A modern physical geography,

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The earth and its resources;: A modern physical geography,
V. C Finch
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Book Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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France (Modern Industrial World)
Michael Dunford
Manufacturer: Hodder Children's Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Book Description

The medical applications of physics are typically not covered in introductory physics courses. This volume fills that gap by explaining the physical principles behind technologies such as surgical lasers or computed tomography (CT or CAT) scanners. Each chapter contains a short, self-contained explanation of the necessary scientific background, making this book highly accessible to those without an advanced knowledge of physics. Introduction to Physics in Modern Medicine is intended for students in the field of medicine/health studies requiring an elementary background in physics. But it can also serve as a relatively non-mathematical introduction to this important area of applied physics for undergraduate physics students.

Customer Reviews:

Extensive coverage without needing deep background.......2004-06-07

Increasingly in medicine, tools or techniques based on advances in physics have been making their mark. A problem that then arises is how to educate health professionals and students in this area about the basic physical principles behind these advances. Kane does a nice job of tackling the problem.

You don't need a degree in physics, or a heavy mathematical background to benefit from this text.

The idea behind lasers, and how they are used in surgery - from dermatology to retinal corrections to internal surgery - are clearly explained.

Of course, MRI and PET principles are covered, with the reader getting some appreciation of the immense computing power needed to obtain even the simplest images.

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In the early '50s, Clifford Brown was one of the most dominant trumpeters of the Hard Bop period. Nick Catalano, professor of literature and music at Pace University, has written the first book on this important artist, and it's a winner. "In addition to his artistic achievements, Brown exuded virtue and magnanimity," Catalano writes. "He wasn't just a 'nice guy'; he was much more than that." At a time when jazzmen where generally portrayed as drug addicted hustlers, Brown was the exception. He was college educated, rarely smoked or drank, and was a positive role model to other musicians. Had he not been killed in a tragic car accident at the tender age of 25, he may have altered the future of jazz. As it is, he has left a lasting impression on the art form.

Beginning with his nurturing childhood in Wilmington, Delaware, Catalano chronicles Brown's extraordinary rise as a Dizzy Gillespie-inspired upstart, to a seasoned professional who continued to practice and play R&B dates despite terrible pain from a near-fatal car accident. Catalano highlights Brown's work with heavyweights like Lionel Hampton, Quincy Jones, John Lewis, and Art Blakey, and his analyses of Brown's crisp trumpet style and compositions, including "Joy Spring" and "Dahooud," are detailed and entertaining. At the summit of his career, while co-leading a trailblazing combo that featured Max Roach and Sonny Rollins, Brown perished on the rain-soaked Pennsylvania Turnpike on the way to a gig in Chicago. Catalano shows that, even in death, his influence lives on in trumpeters like Freddie Hubbard and Wynton Marsalis, and in the Tony Award-winning Broadway play, Sideman. If there is such a thing as a jazz saint, Clifford Brown was it. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Book Description

Although he died in a tragic car accident at twenty-five, Clifford Brown is widely considered one of the most important figures in the history of jazz, a trumpet player who ranks with Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis, and a leading influence on contemporary jazz musicians. Now, in Clifford Brown: The Life and Art of the Legendary Jazz Trumpeter, Nick Catalano gives us the first major biography of this musical giant. Based on extensive interviews with Clifford Brown's family, friends, and fellow jazz musicians, here is a fascinating portrait of a remarkable musician. Catalano depicts Brown's early life, showing how he developed a facility and dazzling technique that few jazz players have ever equaled. We read of his meteoric rise in Philadelphia, where he played with many of the leading jazz players of the 1950s, including Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker; his tour of Europe with Lionel Hampton, which made him famous; and his formation of the Brown-Roach Quintet with prominent drummer Max Roach--one of the most popular hard bop combos of the day. Catalano also shows that Brown was a remarkable individual--he grew up in a middle-class African-American home in Wilmington, Delaware, attended college, was a skilled mathematician, and had wide cultural interests. Moreover, in an era when most jazz players were either alcoholics or addicts, Brown was clean-living and drug free. Indeed, he became a role model for musicians who were struggling with drugs and had great influence in this area with one prominent colleague, tenor sax player Sonny Rollins. Clifford Brown not only provides a colorful account of Brown's life, but also features an informed analysis of his major recorded solos, highlighting Brown's originality and revealing why he remains a great influence on trumpet players today. It is a book that anyone with a serious interest in jazz will want to own.

Customer Reviews:

The Best History of Clifford Available.......2006-11-29

To my knowledge, this is the only full biography of Clifford Brown ever written. It covers his entire life, from his birth, through his Blue Flame days, all the way to his historical work with Max Roach. The book also includes 8 or so pages of pictures in the middle, which is great for those of you whom haven't seen brownie, and a nearly complete discography in the back of the book. Simply put, Clifford Brown is one of the best jazz trumpeters of all time (my favorite, personally), and quite possibly the most tragic loss in jazz history. Any jazz musicians, Clifford fans, or general jazz aficionados should check this book out if they are looking to learn about one of the greats.

Clifford Brown-Maybe The Ultimate 'Tough Sell' Book'.......2006-01-05

Clifford Brown really was 'too good to be true'...didn't drink,do drugs...incredible jazz musician.Nick Catalano really
does an "impossible job" in telling the story of the great trumpeter who died tragically way before his time-and Catalano's anaysis of Brown's recordings makes the case that Brown is a man who "coulda been king"(even though he sorta was anyway).
.

Brownie.......2005-10-22

Clifford Brown had one of the most beautiful trumpet tones in all of modern jazz, and technique that other players would die for. He was not your "typical" (as portrayed to the masses) jazz musician - he didn't drink, smoke, or use drugs; he had a family and a good marriage; he worked hard at his craft. The tragedy is that he was killed in a car crash at the age of 25 at the height of his powers. Even by then though, he had recorded a number of albums establishing himself as one of the greats in the business.

Catalano's book competently traces Brownie's life, from the beginnings in Wilmington, Delaware, to his days with the Lionel Hampton band, early sideman dates in NYC, gigs in LA and Chicago, and finally the formation of the Brown-Max Roach Quintet with Harold Land and then Sonny Rollins on tenor. Catalano is a musician so is able to analyze Brownie's performances and recordings, which he does well, but the life history of the man is told somewhat blandly. We finish the book with a good skeletal outline of Brown's life and career, but much of the meat seems missing.

Sensitive portrait of the trumpet's most tragic talent.......2002-02-17

I read this modest little work last summer in a cottage in the lakeland region of central Finland. The silence around me allowed me to think about Brownie's playing -its purity and clarity- uncontaminated by other music or noise. Of course the first thing I wanted to do when I got back to my records was listen to Brownie over and over again. Catalano paints a sensitive portrait in an approachable, occasionally shoddy style. Clifford Brown's music doesn't quite come alive, perhaps, but Catalano expresses the lucidity of the trumpeter's musical vision and astonishing melodic gift with some agility. It's not a penetrating insight, but there is no other book around (as far as I know) that tells the poignant story of the great trumpeter's short life, so this is an essential purchase.

Dull Account of Life of Super Trumpeter........2000-09-13

Catalano's book about Clifford Brown fails to convey much more than lame summary. The reader receives a readable account of the trumpeter's short life, but the writing itself leaves much to be desired in that it's unpolished, redundant, chatty, and rarely profound. (And it's got typos to boot!) How about this telling detail of Brown's stint in an R&B band? "Clifford Brown and Vance Wilson were quite close and got the kind of education that only comes from being on the road. One time, recalled Wilson, 'We were in Wildwood [New Jersey]. Clifford had never eaten raw clams and neither had I. So we dared each other. We went over to this counter where they were serving them, but we didn't know how to eat them.' They proceeded to put sauce on the clams and started to chew them, failing to notice other eaters who were 'slurping' them. Their exaggerated chewing made everyone laugh" (Catalano 62). Catalano's choice of quotations, in my opinion, is very suspect throughout the entire book. It's as though he's a high-school-essay-writing-novice trying to round out a paper and show that's he read a thing or two or interviewed someone or another, as the case may be. Ok, the book does contain some analysis of Brown's music, and provided that not much else has been written of the trumpeter, I suppose the book merits a cursory glance. But be prepared for some dull, over-accessible, easy-reading.

CLIFFORD BROWN. The Life and Art of the Legendary Jazz Trumpeter.

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CLIFFORD BROWN. The Life and Art of the Legendary Jazz Trumpeter.
Nick: Catalano
Manufacturer: Pan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000W2TYV2

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Clifford Brown : The Life and Art of the Legendary Jazz Trumpeter
Nick Catalano
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OLTYWA

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Clifford Brown The Life and Art of the Legendary Jazz Trumpeter
Nick CATALANO
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKNGD4

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Clifford Brown: The Life and Art of the Legendary Jazz Trumpeter
Nick Catalano
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKSJHC

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