Germanium: A New Approach to Immunity

Customer Reviews:

Germanium fights viruses and wins........2000-08-14

Germanium can also be found on the market as Ge-132. As Kamen says in
her book this trace mineral can boost immune function, help to fight
viral infections, and ward off allergies and fever blisters (herpers).
It is in the family of anti-oxidants in what it does....

A new way for chelation therapy........2000-08-06

More than 10 years ago my mother-in-law sought an alternative treatment called chelation. Its purpose was to use derivatives of metals to clear her arteries of the plaque that had built up in them. Now, I find another use for chelated germanium. It combats viruses, is used in the treatment of AIDS patients, can prevent some cancers as well as diminish the ravages of late-stage cancer. Originally researched/developed in Japan, Kamen gives credence to that early researcher's claims. Since it is the only book available and if you're seeking nutritional supplements to battle one of the above problems, it is worth buying.

5 stars for being the only one in print.......2000-08-03

I find it incredible that this book has been in print for over 10 years and people have been having success with germanium as an alternative/preventative to prescribed medicines (search the internet if you doubt my claims) yet no one else has found it worth writing about. Hmmmm...That must be because Kamen's book does the best job at explaining this compound and how it works in our bodies and why it is such an important supplement in these toxic times. [...]

Outstanding report of findings on Organic Germanium.......1998-12-31

The book is a wonderful summary of international studies on this plant-based supplement. It is a must read for those suffering from MS, CFS, Lyme disease, and other chronic illnesses - including cancer! We must applaud this author for compiling unbiased material on a supplement that has received unfounded criticism. Another good recommendation would be by Dr. David Jernigan, D.C. "Surviving Lyme Disease Using Alternative Medicine" - which also mentions Germanium.

Average customer rating:

Why, Columbia UP, why?

Needs work, but still worth reading

Needs proper editing

Columbia Press let its guard down

The First Complex Life Forms Plus Way Too Much Autobiography

The Garden of Ediacara
Mark A. S. McMenamin
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Geology | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Paleontology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Evolution | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
jp-unknown1 | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Cradle of Life: The Discovery of Earth's Earliest Fossils

Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth (Princeton Science Library)

The Crucible of Creation: The Burgess Shale and the Rise of Animals

Extinction: How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago

Catastrophes and Lesser Calamities: The Causes of Mass Extinctions

ASIN: 0231105592

Book Description

-- Tree

During an expedition in Sonora, Mexico, paleontologist Mark A. S. McMenamin unearthed fossils of creatures dated at approximately 600 million years old -- making them the oldest large body fossils ever discovered. These circular fossils, known as Ediacarans, seemed to defy explanation. Representatives of marine life forms that existed in Precambrian times, as much as fifty million years before life on earth began to diversify rapidly, the specimens bore a superficial resemblance to jellyfish.

A typical Ediacaran had a quilted body, three curving arms at the center, and a fringe of fine radial lines. McMenamin's curiosity was fueled by the puzzle of whether the Ediacarans were animals or some other type of organism. How could such complex forms of life appear so suddenly, without extensive records of prior evolution? Yet, this seems to be exactly what the Ediacarans had done.

The Garden of Ediacara presents a mesmerizing documentary of a major scientific discovery, detailing McMenamin's trip to Namibia, where, with a party that included the renowned paleontologist Adolf Seilacher, the author investigates a spectacular cast made from a colony of fossils in the Nama desert. He chronicles the long, often futile search made by earlier scientists for Ediacara, which began more than a century ago in Europe, North America, and Africa, and the various types of Ediacaran fossils that have been uncovered in the years since.

McMenamin concludes that Ediacarans were not animals because they never passed through the ball-shaped embryonic stage peculiar to known animal life forms. But, remarkably, Ediacarans seem to have developed a central nervous system and a brain independent from animal evolution. This startling conclusion has profound implications for our understanding of evolutionary biology, for it indicates that the path toward intelligent life was embarked upon more than once on this planet.

Download Description

Including twenty-two photographs and more than fifty drawings of these strikingly beautiful early life forms, this book presents a mesmerizing documentary of a major scientific discovery. During an expedition in Sonora, Mexico, McMenamin unearthed fossils of creatures dated at approximately 600 million years old making them the oldest animal fossils ever discovered. These circular fossils, known as Ediacarans, seemed to defy classification. A marine life form that existed in Precambrian times, as much as fifty million years before life on earth began to diversify rapidly, they bore a special resemblance to jellyfish. McMenamin's research profoundly impacts our understanding of evolutionary biology, for it indicates that the path toward intelligent life was embarked upon more than once on this planet.

Customer Reviews:

Why, Columbia UP, why?.......2007-04-11

I'm still puzzling over how this one got through the editors at Columbia. The Ediacaran fauna represents a fascinating piece of evolutionary history, and a popular-press work on it would be a great help for students in understanding how the scientific study of evolution works. It could also give an insight into the mind of a scientist. It's a shame that this book does not fit the bill. Other reviewers have covered most of the shortcomings (although they missed my favourite gem - we now know the name of his parents' realtor), but I think the thrust of several reviews, that there is something worthwhile at the end to reward one's wading through the extraneous filler that comprises the majority of the book, is misleading. The meat of the work alluded to by other reviewers dissolves into a very loose presentation of neovitalism that does little more than take away from the author's credibility. I would like to see his scientific ideas presented lucidly, with better editing this time, and then the book could perhaps be of use. Until then, if you want a look at a quirky (but endearing) scientist doing evolution science, read Darwin's Dreampond. For a good popular look at evolution, try Carl Zimmer's "Evolution" or Mayr's "What Evolution Is."

Needs work, but still worth reading.......2005-04-17

Although I've only given it two stars (I decided to be more charitable and give it three stars), I'm not sorry I bought the book (used), because it is the only popular book available on this fascinating subject.

The "travelogue" or biographical information didn't bother me much. It's fairly standard in popular science writing, because the non-scientific challenges of field work in remote and exotic (to Western readers, anyway) locations is interesting to the lay public. (See, for example, Peter Ward's book Gorgon, which I think strikes a better balance between personal detail and the scientific story.) However, I agree with some of the critics in thinking that McMennamin overdoes it with his extended digressions on Namibian history and the evolution of German aircraft. Some of his diary entries are overlong and could have been summarized in a few sentences. The space taken up by these digressions and diary entries could have been devoted to more photos and high-quality illustrations, and to a more detailed discussion of the evidence supporting his conclusions. The author does a better job focusing on the science in the second half of the book.

What most bothered me in this book was the author's 9th inning invocation of neovitalism to explain parallel or convergent evolution, which seemed to come out of left field (to continue the baseball metaphor). It appears to me to be based on rather thin evidence: the very termite-like social organization of naked mole rats (Heterocephalus glaber), and the similar adaptations of distantly related desert plants. The naked mole rat example seems exceptional and coincidental. If vitalism was at work in evolution, I'd expect more widespread termite-like eusociality in fossorial vertebrates and the close but non-fossorial relatives of naked mole rats. The example of convergence in desert plants seems to me adequately explained by the extremity of the environment limiting the range of possible adaptations that will work. Only those organisms that come up with successful adaptations will survive in the desert, another form of contingency. McMennamin should consider writing another book more fully making the case that natural selection cum evo-devo cum self-organizing criticality (call it neo-neo-Darwinism) needs help from any sort of vitalism.

Needs proper editing.......2001-10-10

The Ediacaran fossils are an interesting chapter in the history of life. They are also an interesting chapter in "The Garden Of Ediacara." Unfortunately, this book appears to have more material in it about Mark McMenamin than it does about the subject matter. Is it truly necessary to show a photograph of a hotel in Namibia or the author's official Mexican fieldwork badge in order to discuss the first complex life forms? I don't think so. The reader truly has to pick and choose what paragraphs to read in order to learn about Ediacaran fossils as opposed to the author's travelogues. Much of the material is simply extraneous. Proper editing would have made this book much more interesting and pleasurable.

Columbia Press let its guard down.......2000-10-11

The Garden of Ediacara reads like a 295-page Valentine card written by Mark A. S. McMenamin to Mark A. S. McMenamin. I have never seen such egotistic indulgence in a work which claims to be a scientific treatise. Nor have I ever seen an author cite his own (rather ordinary) words in a chapter epigraph! Where the reader might have enjoyed a color photo of an Ediacaran animal, he or she is treated instead to a color photo of Mark A. S. McMenamin's identification card. This is like showing the reader your driver's license (by the way it happens to have a photograph of Mark A. S. McMenamin's face on it). Columbia Press really let its guard down and this thing will take its rightful place as an awkward sore, much like the writings of Wilhelm Reich of "orgone energy" fame.

The First Complex Life Forms Plus Way Too Much Autobiography.......2000-02-04

The first forms of multicellular, complex life formed about 600 million years ago and left fossils first discovered near the Ediacaran Hills in Australia. Hence they are called the Ediacarans. Since their discovery in 1946 little has been written for the lay reader about these early forms of life. Mark McMenamin's Garden of Ediacaria is one of the few books to cover the subject. For that reason alone the reader interested in the history of early life on earth should read it. The scientific facts are presented and the history of their discovery is explained. No other source of this information is readily available to the non-scientist.

The book is, however, both pedantic and annoying. McMenamin's personal role in the discoveries and the importance of his work is explained in intrusive detail. The book is almost a diary that should have been titled "Ediacarans: My Success In The Science Of Paleobiology." For example, to understand the Ediacarans we really don't need to see photos of McMenamin's identification card or hotel in Namibia or read about his travel plans on fossil hunting expeditions.

Worst of all McMenamin's basic theses about the Ediacarans begin to get lost in the somewhat confused narrative of his personal history. Ultimately the book leaves the reader with the impression that the real story of the Ediacarans is only about 100 pages long, but McMenamin needed 250 pages to satisfy his publisher, so he filled in with a lot of unnecessary "history."

Cut to half its length this book could tell a clear and fascinating story of the earliest multicelled life and their discovery. I suggest that the reader quickly skim the protracted personal stories and concentrate on the sections describing the Ediacaran biota. Read that way, the book is interesting and well worthwhile.

Average customer rating:
The Garden of Ediacara: Discovering the First Complex Life.(Review): An article from: American Scientist

Manufacturer: Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Nonfiction | Subjects | Books | Automotive | Books on CD | Books on Cassette | Crime & Criminals | Current Events | Economics | Education | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Government | Holidays | Law | Philosophy | Politics | Social Sciences | Transportation | True Accounts | Urban Planning & Development | Women's Studies
General | Science | Subjects | Books
Science & Technology | Subjects | e-Docs | Formats | Books
General | Nonfiction | HTML | Formats | e-Docs | Formats | Books
Science | HTML | Formats | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B00098KALW
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Average customer rating:
The Garden of Ediacara
Mark A. S. McMenamin
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OPIFCG

Average customer rating:
The Garden of Ediacara
Mark A. S. McMenamin
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OPM9C8

Average customer rating:
Garden of Ediacara: Discovering the First Complex Life.
Mark A.S. McMenamin
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000M4BNL4

Book Description

Cottam and Tilley provide an introduction to the properties of wave-like excitations associated with surfaces and interfaces. The emphasis is on acoustic, optic and magnetic excitations, and, apart from one section on liquid surfaces, the text concentrates on solids. The important topic of superlattices is also discussed, in which the different kinds of excitation are considered from a unified point of view. Throughout the book the authors are careful to relate theory and experiment and all of the most important experimental techniques are described. The theoretical treatment assumes only a knowledge of undergraduate physics, except for Green function methods that are used in a few sections; these methods are developed in an appendix. The book also contains extensive references to enable the reader to consult the research and review literature, and problems are provided in each of the main chapters to allow the reader to develop topics presented in the text.

Introduction to the Theory of Solid Surfaces (Cambridge Monographs on Physics)

Average customer rating:

Introduction to the Theory of Solid Surfaces (Cambridge Monographs on Physics)
Federico Garcia-Moliner , and Fernando Flores
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

Surfaces of solids and their interactions with gaseous ambients: An introduction to the theory and experimental methods, with some examples

Average customer rating:

Surfaces of solids and their interactions with gaseous ambients: An introduction to the theory and experimental methods, with some examples
Per Morgen
Manufacturer: Fysisk Institut, Odense Universitet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006E3ETY

Amazon.com

In most thrillers, "hardware" consists of big guns, airplanes, military vehicles, and weapons that make things explode. Dan Brown has written a thriller for those of us who like our hardware with disc drives and who rate our heroes by big brainpower rather than big firepower. It's an Internet user's spy novel where the good guys and bad guys struggle over secrets somewhat more intellectual than just where the secret formula is hidden--they have to gain understanding of what the secret formula actually is.

In this case, the secret formula is a new means of encryption, capable of changing the balance of international power. Part of the fun is that the book takes the reader along into an understanding of encryption technologies. You'll find yourself better understanding the political battles over such real-life technologies as the Clipper Chip and PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) software even though the book looks at the issues through the eyes of fiction.

Although there's enough globehopping in this book for James Bond, the real battleground is cyberspace, because that's where the "bomb" (or rather, the new encryption algorithm) will explode. Yes, there are a few flaws in the plot if you look too closely, but the cleverness and the sheer fun of it all more than make up for them. There are enough twists and turns to keep you guessing and a lot of high, gee-whiz-level information about encryption, code breaking, and the role they play in international politics. Set aside the whole afternoon and evening for it and have finger food on hand for supper--you may want to read this one straight through.

Book Description

When the NSA's invincible code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant, beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers sends shock waves through the corridors of power. The NSA is being held hostage--not by guns or bombs -- but by a code so complex that if released would cripple U.S. intelligence. Caught in an accelerating tempest of secrecy and lies, Fletcher battles to save the agency she believes in. Betrayed on all sides, she finds herself fighting not only for her country but for her life, and in the end, for the life of the man she loves.

Download Description

From the author of the bestselling Da Vinci Code comes a modern cyber-thriller involving a potentially crippling computer code.

Customer Reviews:

Marginal Mish-Mash, Annoying to the Intelligence or Digital Professional.......2007-10-08

This could have been a great book, but the author chose to mix up a kludge of capabilities, fabrications, and red herrings that in the end do nothing other than irritate the intelligence or digital professional looking for a good read.

The "chapters" are 3-6 page vignettes. The book is totally out of touch with reality and I seriously question whether the author actually had help from two "anonymous" NSA employees.

NSA is cash poor--it does not pay well, all of the money goes to beltway bandits that over-charge for single-point technology solutions and outsourced butts in seats.

There is no 5 story crypto vault. Crypto is the LEAST important aspect of what NSA does--pattern analysis and finding links between specific communications devices is 80% of what they do.

NSA does not run clandestine human agents (at least not legally) and it does not do break & entry, that is done by a special CIA unit that is has been my privilege to help on multiple occasions when I was in the clandestine service.

The NSA translation capabilities are largely software, not hardware.

Navy Commanders are in their 30's and 40's, not "56" and certainly not also Deputy Directors of NSA, a flag officer position generally held by a civilian while the Director is a three-star flag officer.

Bottom line: this book is flawed on so many levels I explicitly do not recommend it to anyone, professional or casual.

A *much* better story was told by Winn Schartau in the late 1980's, see his excellent novel (more truth than fiction), Terminal Compromise. Buy it used, it is still on the mark. Other books by Winn Schwartau that are much better than this low-rent pulp are Pearl Harbor Dot Com; Cybershock: Surviving Hackers, Phreakers, Identity Thieves, Internet Terrorists and Weapons of Mass Disruption; and Information Warfare: Second Edition.

I am surprised that Dan Brown wrote this.......2007-10-07

It is unbelievable that the author od Da Vinci Code can write such a weak novel. It is based on a super computer at NSA which is challenged by an ex employee. There are too many coincidences. Who can believe that deputy director of NSA would dispatch a language professor for a super secret mission. There are technical inaccuracies about computer. It shows how a computer operations manager ignores warnings repeateadly.

If I had read this before reading Da Vinci Code, and if I hadn't heard about or seen that movie, I would not have read Da Vinci Code.

Like someone said in his comment that he read this novel only because it was by Dan Brown. That is why I finished it too.

I have Dan Brown's Deception Point next on my list, but now I am hesitant.

Painful.......2007-09-09

I will throw this book away as I simply couldn't allow anyone else to suffer through these stupid characters, literally stupid. I cannot believe the same man who wrote The Da Vinci Code has written this ridiculous novel. Susan, a 170 IQ cryptologist, can't think her way out of a paper bag. Her fiancé manages to avoid at least 6 assassination attempts as he repeatedly stumbles upon "just the person he was looking for." Not a single character is believable. The climax of the book (will hackers get access to our nation's deepest secrets as the virus eats away at the 5 firewalls???)Is stunningly pathetic. One minute and counting, and Dan Brown has the characters literally reading out loud the text of a web page rather that spitting out the necessary facts. Give me a break. The book has a great setting and premise, but the execution of the plot is so poor, I wanted to scream. My suggestion to Mr. Brown is that he take a break from writing. You have to have a lot of money in the bank; you don't need to write to pay the bills. Don't blow another great idea.

This book was so bad it steered me away from anything else he has written..........2007-08-04

I read this book a few years ago and am just now getting to a review of it, so forgive me if I don't have all the "details". When The Da Vinci Code hype was in full boil a couple of years ago I decided to read this novel to see what I thought about Dan Brown as a writer, without all of the conspiratorial "baggage" that would come with reading The Da Vinci Code. I thought it would be a fairer way to experience Dan Brown's writing "Style".

And wow does he stink!!!!!!!!!!

The characters were boring, the dialogue was forced and inane and he had the incredibly annoying "stylistic" habit of writing a sentence of dialogue in Spanish or German and then repeating again in English. Yeah this is cool when it is a word or phrase that has some emotional depth or actually moves the "plot" along! He used this "device" when someone had to use the bathroom or ordered a beer! And Dan Brown uses this "device" WAY too much, sort of like I have been using "quotation marks" WAY too much in this review. My quotation marks have gotten old and pointless haven't they? Get my point??

NOW...I am not a book snob! I love many many types of books! I love GOOD thrillers and I love classic literature. I enjoy biographies and so on and so on. The only thing I look for is if the writing is doing what it was trying to do, and if it was doing it well. Based on that criteria..Dan Brown fails with this "book".

Good plot and exciting development.......2007-06-18

The 1st novel written Dan Brown. Good plot and exciting development.

Average customer rating:

lleno de misterio...
Bueno!

La Fortaleza Digital / Digital Fortress
Dan Brown , and Eduardo G. Murillo
Manufacturer: Umbriel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Spanish | Foreign Language Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Technothrillers | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 8489367019

Customer Reviews:

lleno de misterio..........2007-07-24

Fortaleza Digital, Dan Brown
La agencia secreta, NSA, desarrolla la computadora TRANSLTR, capaz de descifrar casi cualquier archivo digital encriptado. Al mismo tiempo aparece el programa "Fortaleza Digital", al parecer a prueba de cualquier intento de acceso no autorizado, cuyo objetivo es divulgar al mundo la existencia de TRANSLTR y la información secreta que esta alberga.

Puede existir un código indescifrable? En un mundo en el que la información lo es todo, una simple palabra se convierte en el arma más poderosa. Susan Fletcher, la criptógrafa estrella de la ultrasecreta Agencia de Seguridad Nacional (NSA) no puede dar crédito a sus oídos cuando su jefe, el subdirector de la Agencia, le informa de que han interceptado un código que ni siquiera la mayor supercomputadora conocida puede descifrar. La única pista para romper el letal código parece estar oculta en el cadáver de un hombre que ha fallecido en España, donde ha sido enviado David, el prometido de Susan. Mientras éste intenta hallar la clave y sobrevivir a la persecución de un metódico e implacable asesino a sueldo en las calles de Sevilla, Susan se enfrentará a su propio drama en las instalaciones de máxima seguridad de la NSA, durante una larga noche en la que la mentira y el asesinato acechan tras cada puerta.
Te lleva rapido de un capitulo a otro siempre cambiando de parecer al respecto de quien es el responsable de todo.. Cargado de sorpresas, crimenes que tambien caen de sorpresa.
Al terminarlo creo que jamas volveremos a ver ningun correo electronico o pagina de internet de la misma manera.

Bueno!.......2006-10-26

El libro es bueno. Es el primer libro que escribio el autor del Codigo Da Vinci, y de verdad, esta bien hecho. Esta vez la trama trata de un codigo de computadora (La Fortaleza digital), el cual no puede ser desencriptado por un supercomputador de tres millones de procesadores!!!!.

Vale la pena leerlo, aunque si ya has leido los otros libros, no tardas en descubrir quien es el "traidor" de la trama.

Average customer rating:

Digital Fortress : A Thriller
Daniel Brown
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KX7YL0

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books