Never Lose Your Nerve! chronicles the ups and downs of a Nobel Laureate's life. Professor Alan J Heeger was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000 together with Professor Alan G MacDiarmid and Professor Hideki Shirakawa. Filled with humor, this book tells Professor Heeger's story - his love for his family, especially how his wife's love has always been his guiding light, his progress from a young student to an eminent scientist, his passion for the theatre and its impact on his science, his adventures as a successful entrepreneur, and his personal losses. Many think of scientists as risk-adverse individuals but Professor Heeger shows the absolute necessity of risk in research and that scientists are, in fact, risk-addicted, as taking the first, risky step into unfamiliar territory is a step in the right direction towards creativity and great discoveries. Never lose your nerve and you will be rewarded. Life is an exciting adventure and this book clearly demonstrates it, and is for those who are looking to impact others.'Perhaps the greatest pleasure of being a scientist is to have an abstract idea, then to do an experiment (more often a series of experiments is required) that demonstrates the idea was correct; that is, Nature actually behaves as conceived in the mind of the scientist. This process is the essence of creativity in science. I have been fortunate to have experienced this intense pleasure many times in my life.'Alan J Heeger

Never Lose Your Nerve! chronicles the ups and downs of a Nobel Laureate's life. Professor Alan J Heeger was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000 together with Professor Alan G MacDiarmid and Professor Hideki Shirakawa. Filled with humor, this book tells Professor Heeger's story - his love for his family, especially how his wife's love has always been his guiding light, his progress from a young student to an eminent scientist, his passion for the theatre and its impact on his science, his adventures as a successful entrepreneur, and his personal losses. Many think of scientists as risk-adverse individuals but Professor Heeger shows the absolute necessity of risk in research and that scientists are, in fact, risk-addicted, as taking the first, risky step into unfamiliar territory is a step in the right direction towards creativity and great discoveries. Never lose your nerve and you will be rewarded. Life is an exciting adventure and this book clearly demonstrates it, and is for those who are looking to impact others.'Perhaps the greatest pleasure of being a scientist is to have an abstract idea, then to do an experiment (more often a series of experiments is required) that demonstrates the idea was correct; that is, Nature actually behaves as conceived in the mind of the scientist. This process is the essence of creativity in science. I have been fortunate to have experienced this intense pleasure many times in my life.'Alan J Heeger

In 2017, Dr Suzanne Koven published an essay describing the challenges faced by women doctors, including her own personal struggle with "imposter syndrome"-a long-held, secret belief that she was not clever enough or good enough to be a "real" doctor. Accessed nearly 300,000 times by readers around the world, Koven's Letter to a Young Female Physician has evolved into a work that reflects on her career in medicine, in which women still encounter sexism, pay inequity and harassment. Koven tells engaging stories about her pregnancy during a gruelling residency in the AIDS era; the illnesses of her son and parents during which her roles as a doctor, mother and daughter converged; and the twilight of her career during the COVID-19 pandemic. Letter to a Young Female Physician offers an indelible eyewitness account from a doctor, mother, wife, daughter, teacher and writer that will encourage readers to embrace their own imperfect selves.

'Michael DayaEURO (TM)s insightful aEURO~philosophical biographyaEURO (TM) of J Robert Oppenheimer stands out from other works on the so-called aEURO~father of the atomic bombaEURO (TM) by its focus on the post-war period and by the depth of its philosophical engagement with his humanistic thought on science and culture.'Centaurus ReviewIncorporating elements from history, science, philosophy and international relations theory, this book takes a fresh look at the life and thought of Robert Oppenheimer.The author argues that not only are Oppenheimer's ideas important, engaging and relevant, but also more coherent than generally assumed. He makes a convincing case that Oppenheimer has much to say about 21st century issues, and his voice should be brought back into the public forum.The book recovers and reconstructs what Oppenheimer said and wrote during the 1940s, 50s and 60s (i.e., his hope and vision) with the goal of identifying what might be of general philosophical interest today. It considers not only Oppenheimer's thought, but also his life using philosophical ideas developed by contemporary philosophers.In addition, to deepen and broaden the discussion and demonstrate the relevance of Oppenheimer's vision for the present, the author analyzes his views using contemporary international relations theory with a special emphasis on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament. This examination reveals ways in which Oppenheimer's reasoning was prescient of current work being carried out to control, and possibly move beyond, the nuclear revolution.

'Michael DayaEURO (TM)s insightful aEURO~philosophical biographyaEURO (TM) of J Robert Oppenheimer stands out from other works on the so-called aEURO~father of the atomic bombaEURO (TM) by its focus on the post-war period and by the depth of its philosophical engagement with his humanistic thought on science and culture.'Centaurus ReviewIncorporating elements from history, science, philosophy and international relations theory, this book takes a fresh look at the life and thought of Robert Oppenheimer.The author argues that not only are Oppenheimer's ideas important, engaging and relevant, but also more coherent than generally assumed. He makes a convincing case that Oppenheimer has much to say about 21st century issues, and his voice should be brought back into the public forum.The book recovers and reconstructs what Oppenheimer said and wrote during the 1940s, 50s and 60s (i.e., his hope and vision) with the goal of identifying what might be of general philosophical interest today. It considers not only Oppenheimer's thought, but also his life using philosophical ideas developed by contemporary philosophers.In addition, to deepen and broaden the discussion and demonstrate the relevance of Oppenheimer's vision for the present, the author analyzes his views using contemporary international relations theory with a special emphasis on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament. This examination reveals ways in which Oppenheimer's reasoning was prescient of current work being carried out to control, and possibly move beyond, the nuclear revolution.

Alzheimer's is a memory-robbing, debilitating disease that affects millions of Americans. For most families, having just one member afflicted with Alzheimer's disease can be devastating. In her poignant memoir, Cynthia Young shares her story of love and devotion as she learns how to care for four family members stricken with Alzheimer's disease over a ten-year period.

Young narrates a journey filled with laughter, challenges, and sorrow as she commutes from California to Michigan to care for her mother, two aunts, and a cousin. She provides insight into how the disease progresses and gradually destroys the memory and abilities to learn, reason, make sound judgments, communicate, and carry out daily activities. While sharing her personal story and detailing how she overcame each obstacle along the way, Young also teaches other caregivers how to use valuable resources, navigate the court system as a guardian and conservator, handle the Alzheimer's personality, and search for an assisted-living facility.

Memoirs of a Caregiver shares one woman's inspiring story of unconditional love and courage with the hope that it will encourage and empower other caregivers to be diligent, strong, and, most importantly, to never give up.

A portion of the proceeds from this book will be directed to the Alzheimer's Association.

As the world's most comprehensive and deeply researched system of alternative and complementary medicine, Chinese medicine enjoys a large following in scientifically developed communities. Yet its concepts and principles have been shrouded in mystery and obscure language. This path-breaking book strips this ancient science of its mystique and metaphysical pretentions and interprets it to strike common ground with biomedical science. Concepts like qi and meridians are interpreted not as physical entities, but as constructs to facilitate diagnosis and therapy using heuristic models. Written for medical professionals, philosophers of medicine and discerning readers interested in holistic therapies, the book offers a unique perspective of Chinese medicine in an advanced biomedical world. It has practical chapters on cardiovascular disease, irritable bowel syndrome and cancer, and a compilation of Chinese herbs. This second edition of the acclaimed Theory of Chinese Medicine has new material on chronic diseases and the intriguing possible convergence of biomedicine and TCM.

As the world's most comprehensive and deeply researched system of alternative and complementary medicine, Chinese medicine enjoys a large following in scientifically developed communities. Yet its concepts and principles have been shrouded in mystery and obscure language. This path-breaking book strips this ancient science of its mystique and metaphysical pretentions and interprets it to strike common ground with biomedical science. Concepts like qi and meridians are interpreted not as physical entities, but as constructs to facilitate diagnosis and therapy using heuristic models. Written for medical professionals, philosophers of medicine and discerning readers interested in holistic therapies, the book offers a unique perspective of Chinese medicine in an advanced biomedical world. It has practical chapters on cardiovascular disease, irritable bowel syndrome and cancer, and a compilation of Chinese herbs. This second edition of the acclaimed Theory of Chinese Medicine has new material on chronic diseases and the intriguing possible convergence of biomedicine and TCM.

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat . . . but 1.4 million NHS staff are heading off to work.

In this perfect present for anyone who has ever set foot in a hospital, Adam Kay delves back into his diaries for a hilarious, horrifying and sometimes heartbreaking peek behind the blue curtain at Christmastime.

This is a love letter to all those who spend their festive season on the front line, removing babies and baubles from the various places they get stuck, at the most wonderful time of the year.

This is a collection of articles, many written by people who worked with Mandelbrot, memorializing the remarkable breadth and depth of his work in science and the arts. Contributors include mathematicians, physicists, biologists, economists, and engineers, as expected; and also artists, musicians, teachers, an historian, an architect, a filmmaker, and a comic. Some articles are quite technical, others entirely descriptive. All include stories about Benoit.Also included are chapters on fractals and music by Charles Wuorinen and by Harlan Brothers, on fractals and finance by Richard Hudson and by Christian Walter, on fractal invisibility cloaks by Nathan Cohen, and a personal reminiscence by Aliette Mandelbrot.While he is known most widely for his work in mathematics and in finance, Benoit influenced almost every field of modern intellectual activity. No other book captures the breadth of all of Benoit's accomplishments.

"I had never planned to become a savanna baboon when I grew up; instead, I had always assumed I would become a mountain gorilla," writes Robert Sapolsky in this witty and riveting chronicle of a scientist's coming-of-age in remote Africa.

An exhilarating account of Sapolsky's twenty-one-year study of a troop of rambunctious baboons in Kenya, A Primate's Memoir interweaves serious scientific observations with wry commentary about the challenges and pleasures of living in the wilds of the Serengeti -- for man and beast alike. Over two decades, Sapolsky survives culinary atrocities, gunpoint encounters, and a surreal kidnapping, while witnessing the encroachment of the tourist mentality on the farthest vestiges of unspoiled Africa. As he conducts unprecedented physiological research on wild primates, he becomes evermore enamored of his subjects -- unique and compelling characters in their own right -- and he returns to them summer after summer, until tragedy finally prevents him.

By turns hilarious and poignant, A Primate's Memoir is a magnum opus from one of our foremost science writers.

During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Samuel Bentham influenced both the technology and the administrative ideas employed in the management of the British navy. His influence stemmed from his passion for science, from his desire to achieve improvements based on a belief in the principle of Utility, and from experience gained over eleven years in Russia, a large part in the service of Catherine the Great and Prince Potemkin. Having travelled extensively throughout the north and south of Russia, Poland and Siberia, he managed Potemkin's industries at Krichev, built fast river galleys, armed the Russian flotilla of small craft at Kherson and served with the flotilla that defeated the Turks in the Black Sea. His main ambition was to open river communication in Siberia and develop trade into the Pacific. However he returned to England and in 1796 became Inspector General of Naval Works, a post in which he fought for innovations in the technology and management of the British royal dockyards. Regarded then by the Navy Board as a dangerous maverick, this book reveals the experiences, creativity and thinking that made him a major figure in British naval development.

This is the story of Rene M. Caisse of Bracebridge, Canada and describes her extraordinary perseverance to obtain official recognition of her herbal cancer remedy she called Essiac, her name spelled backwards. Rene Caisse was thrust into a life-long medical-legal-political controversy that still persists since her death in 1978. Rene wrestled with the Hepburn government of Ontario over the operation of her Bracebridge cancer clinic during 1935 to 1941 and her use of Essiac. She refused to reveal her secret formula and legislation demanding the recipe forced the closing of her clinic. The government was embroiled in the dilemma of ensuring their public favour and appeasing cancer patients. This documented research presents a biography of a remarkable woman and her struggle to help "suffering humanity."

John Postgate describes this autobiography as essentially 'a book about doing science', and while it is an entertaining account of his life in the UK and abroad as he rose to international prominence in microbiology, it is also a book about playing and listening to his beloved jazz. Away from lab and lecture hall, Professor Postgate (brother of the late Oliver Postgate, creator of Bagpuss and the Clangers) has taken enormous pleasure in his hobby, playing cornet over the years with many musicians, some of whom became prominent names in jazz. His articles and reviews for magazines such as Gramophone and Jazz Journal have been as widely appreciated in jazz circles as his contributions to the understanding of certain key microbiological processes, including the sulphur cycle and nitrogen fixation, have been in the world of microbiology.

These are the reflections of a nonagenarian polymath describing the shift from a fifty-year-long career as a world-famous chemist to a subsequent twenty-five-year immersion in "science-in-fiction" and "science-in-theater," which is virtually unique among contemporary scientists. Sharply self-critical, yet full of humor, this autobiographical account covers themes such as the future of sex in an age of technological reproduction, the history of the Pill seen through the eyes of one of its inventors, innovative - even unique - pedagogic experiments, the insoluble homelessness of a refugee, suicide, and art collecting. This book is also heavily illustrated with 94 individual pictures.

These are the reflections of a nonagenarian polymath describing the shift from a fifty-year-long career as a world-famous chemist to a subsequent twenty-five-year immersion in "science-in-fiction" and "science-in-theater," which is virtually unique among contemporary scientists. Sharply self-critical, yet full of humor, this autobiographical account covers themes such as the future of sex in an age of technological reproduction, the history of the Pill seen through the eyes of one of its inventors, innovative - even unique - pedagogic experiments, the insoluble homelessness of a refugee, suicide, and art collecting. This book is also heavily illustrated with 94 individual pictures.

Alan Turing was an extraordinary man who crammed into his 42 years the careers of mathematician, codebreaker, computer scientist and biologist. He is widely regarded as a war hero grossly mistreated by his unappreciative country, and it has become hard to disentangle the real man from the story. Now Dermot Turing has taken a fresh look at the influences on his uncle's life and creativity, and the creation of a legend. He discloses the real character behind the cipher-text, answering questions that help the man emerge from his legacy: how did Alan's childhood experiences influence him? How did his creative ideas evolve? Was he really a solitary genius? What was his wartime work after 1942, and what of the Enigma story? What is the truth about the conviction for gross indecency, and did he commit suicide? In Alan Turing Decoded, Dermot's vibrant and entertaining approach to the life and work of a true genius makes this a fascinating and authoritative read.

A biography of the author's background which provides insight into his training in medicine and his opinions on the concepts and training that are necessary to be a good doctor. The aims of this book are to first show how coronary angioplasty was pioneered in Australia, Singapore and China. Second, it is to illustrate the founding of a long-awaited medical school in Xiamen, China where the author's ancestors originate. Third, it is to describe the reformation of healthcare, cardiology, medical research and Art academy in Singapore. Fourth, it is to demonstrate the vision and realization of the third Asia Pacific cardiovascular intervention block. Last but not least, this book describes the merging of East West culture, medicine, art and a personal Christian testimony. This book hopes to show that with hard work, determination and vision, any young man or woman should be able to write a similar life story of their own. It is particularly important for young doctors to learn how not to bring grief but goodness to their patients and relatives.This book also illustrates the history of the development of coronary intervention in China and the rise of the Asia Pacific region in this field. Finally, this book provides a unique, personal perspective in the convergence of Eastern and Western culture, medicine and art.

A principal aim of this first biography of Robert Le Rossignol, engineer of the Haber process, is to bring new evidence to the attention of the scientific community allowing a re-assessment of the origins of the 'Haber' process. However, the scope of the book is much wider and goes beyond the discovery of 'fixation' to account for a life distinct from Haber, one full of remarkable science, cruel circumstance, personal tragedy and amazing benevolence, the latter made possible by Haber's generous financial arrangement with Le Rossignol regarding his royalties from the BASF.

With a Foreword by Sydney Brenner (Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2002)This biography details the life of Paul Berg (Emeritus Professor at Stanford University), tracing Berg's life from birth, in 1926, to the present, with special emphasis on his enormous scientific contributions, including being the first to develop technology that led to gene cloning science. In 1980, Berg received a Nobel Prize in chemistry for this work.In addition to his contributions in the research laboratory, Berg orchestrated and oversaw a historic meeting at Asilomar, California that centered on a threatening controversy surrounding the perception by some of the harmful potential of recombinant DNA technology. This meeting did much to forestall this controversy and to put in place the regulation of recombinant DNA work, thus putting fears to rest.The recombinant DNA controversy was a historic outcome of the discovery of gene cloning. Notably, it represented a paramount example of scientific foresight and due diligence by the scientific community, rather than by regulatory entities in the United States and many other countries. The ultimate acceptance of gene/DNA cloning led to a new era of modern biology that thrives to the present.This book is aimed primarily at scientists and those in training. The book strives to simply provide information for the general reader, but is not specifically tailored for a general reading audience.While many books cover the recombinant DNA controversy, none have satisfactorily addressed this historic period and are often contradictory about the many who's, where's, and why's involved. Additionally, the great majority of these were written by non-scientists. This biography of Paul Berg provides access to numerous archived letters and documents at Stanford University not previously addressed, and to the chronology of events as recalled and documented by him, as well as other key personalities, many of whom were interviewed.

Charles Darwin's years as a student at the University of Cambridge were some of the most important and formative of his life. Thereafter he always felt a particular affection for Cambridge. For a time he even considered a Cambridge professorship as a career and sent three of his sons there to be educated. Unfortunately the remaining traces of what Darwin actually did and experienced in Cambridge have long remained undiscovered. Consequently his day-to-day life there has remained unknown and misunderstood. This book is based on new research, including newly discovered manuscripts and Darwin publications, and gathers together recollections of those who knew Darwin as a student. This book therefore reveals Darwin's time in Cambridge in unprecedented detail.

Selected as a Mission Specialist in 1978 in the first group of shuttle astronauts, Mike Mullane completed three missions and logged 356 hours aboard the Discovery and Atlantis shuttles. It was a dream come true. As a boy, Mullane could only read about space travel in science fiction, but the launch of Sputnik changed all that. Space flight became a possible dream and Mike Mullane set out to make it come true. In this absorbing memoir, Mullane gives the first-ever look into the often hilarious, sometime volatile dynamics of space shuttle astronauts - a class that included Vietnam War veterans, feminists, and propeller-headed scientists. With unprecedented candour, Mullane describes the chilling fear and unparalleled joy of space flight. As his career centred around the Challenger disaster, Mullane also recounts the heartache of burying his friends and colleagues. And he pulls no punches as he reveals the ins and outs of NASA, frank in his criticisms of the agency. A blast from start to finish, Riding Rockets is a straight-from-the-gut account of what it means to be an astronaut, just in time for this latest generation of stargazers.