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Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Science, technology & engineering
John Joseph Mathews (1894-1979) is one of Oklahoma's most revered
twentieth-century authors. An Osage Indian, he was also one of the
first Indigenous authors to gain national renown. Yet fame did not
come easily to Mathews, and his personality was full of
contradictions. In this captivating biography, Michael Snyder
provides the first book-length account of this fascinating figure.
Known as ""Jo"" to all his friends, Mathews had a multifaceted
identity. A novelist, naturalist, biographer, historian, and tribal
preservationist, he was a true ""man of letters."" Snyder draws on
a wealth of sources, many of them previously untapped, to narrate
Mathews's story. Much of the writer's family life - especially his
two marriages and his relationships with his two children and two
stepchildren - is explored here for the first time. Born in the
town of Pawhuska in Indian Territory, Mathews attended the
University of Oklahoma before venturing abroad and earning a second
degree from Oxford. He served as a flight instructor during World
War I, traveled across Europe and northern Africa, and bought and
sold land in California. A proud Osage who devoted himself to
preserving Osage culture, Mathews also served as tribal councilman
and cultural historian for the Osage Nation. Like many gifted
artists, Mathews was not without flaws. And perhaps in the eyes of
some critics, he occupies a nebulous space in literary history.
Through insightful analysis of his major works, especially his
semiautobiographical novel Sundown and his meditative Talking to
the Moon, Snyder revises this impression. The story he tells, of
one remarkable individual, is also the story of the Osage Nation,
the state of Oklahoma, and Native America in the twentieth century.
Just two months before the September 11 terrorist attacks, Dr. Judy
Melinek began her training as a New York City forensic pathologist.
While her husband and their toddler held down the home front, Judy
threw herself into the fascinating world of death
investigation-performing autopsies, investigating death scenes,
counseling grieving relatives. Working Stiff chronicles Judy's two
years of training, taking readers behind the police tape of some of
the most harrowing deaths in the Big Apple, including a firsthand
account of the events of September 11, the subsequent anthrax
bio-terrorism attack, and the disastrous crash of American Airlines
Flight 587. An unvarnished portrait of the daily life of medical
examiners-complete with grisly anecdotes, chilling crime scenes,
and a welcome dose of gallows humor-Working Stiffoffers a glimpse
into the daily life of one of America's most arduous professions,
and the unexpected challenges of shuttling between the domains of
the living and the dead. The body never lies-and through the
murders, accidents, and suicides that land on her table, Dr.
Melinek lays bare the truth behind the glamorized depictions of
autopsy work on television to reveal the secret story of the real
morgue. "Haunting and illuminating...the stories from her average
workdays...transfix the reader with their demonstration that
medical science can diagnose and console long after the heartbeat
stops" (The New York Times).
Opening with his award of Membership of the Royal College of
Veterinary Surgeons, the book relates John's personal and family
history from his English and Belgian parents and grandparents and
their roles in two World Wars. His Belgian grandparents were
evacuated to England in the first war: his father was shot at by
the Germans during the liberation of Antwerp and his mother bombed
in a pub in South London while serving in the London Auxiliary
Ambulance Service in the second. Managing to get into veterinary
college from a large comprehensive school in South London, John
recounts tales from his studies and goes on to discuss various
major debates which occurred during his career, including
vaccinations and the anti-vaccine lobby. The role of badgers and TB
is also discussed. The tale of his experience of meeting children
with the drug-induced injury of thalidomide is both life-affirming
and tear-jerking. His time in East Africa, including his
experiences in Uganda under Idi Amin's dictatorship, is chilling
but still funny and up-lifting. The tales of his experiences in
general and specialist veterinary practice, with memorable farm,
horse, dog and cat cases are enlightening, educational and
sometimes sad but often very hilarious. The horrific experiences
with foot-and-mouth disease will get any animal lover in tears and
questioning what happened and why? But the option of a Vegan Utopia
in a world without farm animals is dismissed as a sad alternative
as demonstrated when large swathes of the United Kingdom were left
without stock after the outbreak.
Imagine going from neurologist to dermatologist, orthopaedic
surgeon to obstetrician, assassin to saviour - all in one day.
Welcome to the extraordinary world of veterinary medicine... In
Never Work with Animals, vet Gareth Steel shares the moments of
humour, horror and heroism across his 20-year career caring for
creatures great and small, from bulls to stick insects.
Thought-provoking, heartwarming and often laugh-out-loud funny,
this unforgettable memoir reveals what life is really like for our
vets.
The essential book on how not to be a doctor - and how to be a
better one. Drawn from his popular medical columns over the years,
John Launer shares fifty of his best-loved essays, covering topics
from essentials skills they don't teach you in medical school to
his poignant account of being a patient himself as he received
treatment for a life-threatening illness. Taken together, the
stories make the case that being a doctor should mean drawing on
every aspect of yourself, your interests and your experiences no
matter how remote they seem from the medical task at hand. How Not
to Be a Doctor combines humour, candour and the human touch to
inform and entertain readers on both ends of the stethoscope.
***PRAISE FOR HOW NOT TO BE A DOCTOR*** 'An essential read... It is
a gem.' Dr. Fiona Moss, CBE, Dean of the Royal Society of Medicine
'This collection is warm, wise, generous, thoughtful and
thought-provoking... imbued with a moving humanity which offers
inspiration and reassurance in equal measure.' Dr. Deborah Bowman,
MBE, BBC Broadcaster and Professor of Medical Ethics and Law 'Witty
and wise. Shows how important it is that doctors are allowed to be
human.' Kit Wharton, author of Emergency Admissions: Memoirs of an
Ambulance Driver 'An all-round excellent book, which would appeal
to a wide range of healthcare professionals and students... a
light-hearted way of looking at serious subjects.' BMA Panel of
Judges 'I raced through this book, laughing, nodding, highlighting
and then read some favourite bits again. Every chapter has a gem of
wisdom as well as being so very elegantly written and
entertaining.' Jenny Rogers, Co-Author of Coaching for Health
'Bursting with wonder and wisdom, this seductively readable book
imparts courage and joy in equal measure.' Dr. Iona Heath, CBE.
Former President, Royal College of General Practitioners and author
of The Mystery of General Practice 'Gets to the heart and soul of
current medical practice. Written by a doctor, but incorporates
life experience and wisdom, making it an easy, thought provoking
read.' Professor Jane Dacre, President of the Royal College of
Physicians
One of America's top doctors rips the Band-Aid off to expose the
American health care system Legislation written by drug and
insurance companies, malpractice by corrupt and incompetent
doctors, misguided and dishonest medical policy--the reality may be
worse than you feared, and Medical Politics exposes all the secrets
of a dirty American health care industry. Written by Stephen
Soloway, one of America's top rheumatologists and a former
appointee to Donald Trump's President's Council on Sports, Fitness,
and Nutrition, this expose provides an inside look at how medical
decisions are lobbied and money influences policy at the highest
levels, explains how recent and upcoming medical policies will
affect common Americans, and gives recommendations for a better
American medical system. Featuring the author's personal letters to
dirty insurance companies and other figures in the industry,
Medical Politics takes readers inside Dr. Soloway's fight against
Big Pharma and Big Insurance in search of better care for his
patients. The result is shocking indictment of the American medical
system from an insider--and charts a path for Americans to better
advocate for themselves.
A FINANCIAL TIMES AND TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR An exhilarating new
biography of John von Neumann: the lost genius who invented our
world 'A sparkling book, with an intoxicating mix of pen-portraits
and grand historical narrative. Above all it fizzes with a dizzying
mix of deliciously vital ideas. . . A staggering achievement' Tim
Harford The smartphones in our pockets and computers like brains.
The vagaries of game theory and evolutionary biology.
Self-replicating moon bases and nuclear weapons. All bear the
fingerprints of one remarkable man: John von Neumann. Born in
Budapest at the turn of the century, von Neumann is one of the most
influential scientists to have ever lived. His colleagues believed
he had the fastest brain on the planet - bar none. He was
instrumental in the Manhattan Project and helped formulate the
bedrock of Cold War geopolitics and modern economic theory. He
created the first ever programmable digital computer. He prophesied
the potential of nanotechnology and, from his deathbed, expounded
on the limits of brains and computers - and how they might be
overcome. Taking us on an astonishing journey, Ananyo Bhattacharya
explores how a combination of genius and unique historical
circumstance allowed a single man to sweep through so many
different fields of science, sparking revolutions wherever he went.
Insightful and illuminating, The Man from the Future is a thrilling
intellectual biography of the visionary thinker who shaped our
century.
Explorers and travellers have always been attracted by the lure of
the unknown. By traversing and mapping our planet, they have played
a vital role in mankind's development. For almost two hundred
years, the Royal Geographical Society has recognised their
achievements by awarding its prestigious gold medals to those who
have contributed most to our knowledge of the world. Taking us on a
journey across mountains and deserts, oceans and seas, Exploring
the World tells the stories of more than eighty of these
extraordinary men and women. Some, such as David Livingstone, Scott
of the Antarctic and Jacques-Yves Cousteau, are well known; whilst
others, such as William Chandless and Ney Elias, are today less
familiar. Some dreamed of being the first to sight a lake or a
river; others sighted some of the world's greatest natural features
by chance. Some were naturalists, anthropologists or mountaineers;
others went in search of explorers who had vanished without trace,
or had been shipwrecked or marooned. Filled with epic tales of
endurance and perseverance, Exploring the World celebrates a group
of exceptional individuals possessed of indomitable courage,
boundless determination and adventurous spirit. It portrays a
variety of fascinating lives driven by curiosity, wanderlust and
the pursuit of knowledge - and, in doing so, provides a unique
overview of two centuries of exploration.
Yoshio Nishina not only made a great contribution to the emergence
of a research network that produced two Nobel prize winners, but he
also raised the overall level of physics in Japan. Focusing on his
roles as researcher, teacher, and statesman of science, Yoshio
Nishina: Father of Modern Physics in Japan analyzes Nishina's
position in and his contributions to the Japanese physics
community. After a concise biographical introduction, the book
examines Nishina's family, his early studies, the creation of
RIKEN, and the greater Japanese physics community in the early
twentieth century. It then focuses on Nishina's work at the
Cavendish Laboratory and at the University of Gottingen as well as
his more fruitful research at Niels Bohr's Institute of Theoretical
Physics in Copenhagen. The book also describes the establishment of
the Nishina Laboratory at RIKEN, the collaboration between its
experimentalists and theoreticians, and the cosmic ray research of
its scientists. The last two chapters discuss Nishina's
controversial construction and operation of two cyclotrons at RIKEN
as well as his presidency at RIKEN after World War II. Navigating
Nishina's entire life through various perspectives, this
easy-to-read biography will help you become well acquainted with
this fascinating physicist.
CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF 2022 BY THE GUARDIAN AND THE NEW STATESMAN 'A
STAND OUT' SUNDAY TIMES 'STARTLINGLY HONEST AND DEVASTATINGLY GOOD'
RACHEL CLARKE, GUARDIAN 'BRILLIANT' OBSERVER 'POWERFUL AND
EVOCATIVE' ADAM KAY 'YOU EMERGE KNOWING HOW LUCKY YOU ARE TO HAVE
READ IT' ALI SMITH, NEW STATESMAN From the frontlines of the NHS,
the story of a junior doctor's love, loss and grief through the
Covid-19 crisis
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In early 2020, junior doctor Roopa Farooki lost her sister to
cancer. But just weeks later, she found herself plunged into
another kind of crisis, fighting on the frontline of the battle
taking place in her hospital, and in hospitals across the country.
Everything is True is the story of Roopa's first forty days of the
Covid-19 crisis from the frontlines of A&E and the acute
medical wards, as struggling through her grief, she battles for her
patients' and colleagues' survival. Working thirteen-hour shifts,
she returns home each evening to write through her exhaustion,
chronicling the devastating losses and slowly eroding
dehumanisation happening in real time on the ward.
The perfect gift for fans of All Creatures Great and Small, this is
a charming collection of classic stories from James Herriot's
much-loved books with insights into his life and work from his
children Rosie and Jim. With astute observations and boundless
humour, country vet Herriot captures the spirit of the Yorkshire
Dales and of rural communities on the cusp of change, before
tractors and machines had taken over and modern medicines and
antibiotics transformed veterinary work. Along the way a beloved
cast of characters emerges, from the squabbling brothers Tristan
and Siegfried to Herriot's hapless courtship and eventual family
life with Helen Anderson. But it's the animals which are at the
heart of Herriot's stories. Whether he's dodging a raging bull on a
risky artificial insemination assignment, becoming pen pals with
Tricki Woo the spoilt Pikingese or the inevitable trials and
tribulations of lambing season, there's never a dull moment in
Herriot's company. At times moving and often laugh-out-loud funny,
The Wonderful World of James Herriot will delight fans old and new.
"Much more than a coming-of-age story, "Badluck Way" is an
important meditation on what it means to share space and breathe
the same air as truly wild animals, and the necessary damage that
can occur when boundaries are crossed" (Tom Groneberg, author of
"The Secret Life of Cowboys").
In this gripping memoir of a young man, a wolf, their parallel
lives and ultimate collision, Bryce Andrews describes life on the
remote, windswept Sun Ranch in southwest Montana. The Sun's twenty
thousand acres of rangeland occupy a still-wild corner of southwest
Montana--a high valley surrounded by mountain ranges and steep
creeks with portentous names like Grizzly and Bad Luck. Just over
the border from Yellowstone National Park, the Sun holds giant
herds of cattle and elk amid many predators--bears, mountain lions,
and wolves.
In lyrical, haunting language, Andrews recounts marathon days and
nights of building fences, riding, roping, and otherwise learning
the hard business of caring for cattle, an initiation that changes
him from an idealistic city kid into a skilled ranch hand. But when
wolves suddenly begin killing the ranch's cattle, Andrews has to
shoulder a rifle, chase the pack, and do what he'd hoped he would
never have to do.
Called "an elegant memoir" by the "Great Falls Tribune," "Badluck
Way" is about transformation and complications, about living with
dirty hands every day. It is about the hard choices that wake us at
night and take a lifetime to reconcile. Above all, "Badluck Way"
celebrates the breathtaking beauty of wilderness and the
satisfaction of hard work on some of the harshest, most beautiful
land in the world.
'A witty, gossipy, sparkling history, full of bright jewels of
anecdote... Magnificent Rebels is a triumph' THE TIMES, Book of the
Week 'Extraordinary... A thrilling intellectual history that reads
like a racy, intelligent novel, with a cast of unforgettable
characters' SUNDAY TIMES 'Magnificent Rebels is a magnificent book:
a revelation which could easily become an obsession' SPECTATOR 'A
thrilling page-turner, by turns comical & tragic... My book of
the year so far' TOM HOLLAND 'Elegantly written, deeply researched
and totally gripping' SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE In the 1790s an
extraordinary group of friends changed the world. Disappointed by
the French Revolution's rapid collapse into tyranny, what they
wanted was nothing less than a revolution of the mind. The rulers
of Europe had ordered their peoples how to think and act for too
long. Based in the small German town of Jena, through poetry,
drama, philosophy and science, they transformed the way we think
about ourselves and the world around us. They were the first
Romantics. Their way of understanding the world still frames our
lives and being.We're still empowered by their daring leap into the
self. We still think with their minds, see with their imagination
and feel with their emotions. We also still walk the same tightrope
between meaningful self-fulfilment and destructive narcissism,
between the rights of the individual and our role as a member of
our community and our responsibilities towards future generations
who will inhabit this planet. This extraordinary group of friends
changed our world. It is impossible to imagine our lives, thoughts
and understanding without the foundation of their ground-breaking
ideas.
"This book will stay with me for years." - Adam Kay, author of This
Is Going to Hurt What happens to pregnant women when a humanitarian
catastrophe strikes? Belly Woman shines a light on a story often
left untold. May, 2014. Sierra Leone is ranked the country with the
highest death rate of pregnant women in the world. The same month,
Ebola crosses in from neighbouring Guinea. Arriving a few weeks
later, Dr Benjamin Black finds himself at the centre of an
exponential Ebola outbreak. From impossible decisions on the
maternity ward to moral dilemmas at the Ebola Treatment Centres.
One mistake, one error of judgment, could spell disaster. An
eye-opening work of reportage and advocacy, Belly Woman chronicles
the inside journey through an unfolding global health crisis and
the struggle to save the lives of young mothers. As Black reckons
with the demons of the past, he must try to learn the lessons for a
different, more resilient, future. "A must-read for our times -
riveting, illuminating and humbling." - Aminatta Forna, author of
The Memory of Love and The Devil That Danced on the Water
A Nobel Prize-winning physicist, a loving husband and father, an
enthusiastic teacher, a surprisingly accomplished bongo player, and
a genius of the highest caliber---Richard P. Feynman was all these
and more. "Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten
Track"--collecting over forty years' worth of Feynman's
letters--offers an unprecedented look at the writer and thinker
whose scientific mind and lust for life made him a legend in his
own time. Containing missives to and from such scientific
luminaries as Victor Weisskopf, Stephen Wolfram, James Watson, and
Edward Teller, as well as a remarkable selection of letters to and
from fans, students, family, and people from around the world eager
for Feynman's advice and counsel, "Perfectly Reasonable Deviations
From the Beaten Track" not only illuminates the personal
relationships that underwrote the key developments in modern
science, but also forms the most intimate look at Feynman yet
available. Feynman was a man many felt close to but few really
knew, and this collection reveals the full wisdom and private
passion of a personality that captivated everyone it touched.
"Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track" is an
eloquent testimony to the virtue of approaching the world with an
inquiring eye; it demonstrates the full extent of the Feynman
legacy like never before. Edited and with additional commentary by
his daughter Michelle, it's a must-read for Feynman fans
everywhere, and for anyone seeking to better understand one of the
towering figures--and defining personalities--of the twentieth
century.
Surgeons cut, but physicians... what do physicians actually do? And
is it true that other doctors really call them 'the magicians'?
John Quin worked for thirty-three years as a physician for the NHS
in both Scotland and England, specialising in endocrinology. He was
told the subject was easy because 'hormones - well, they just go up
and down'. This, it turned out, was something of an
over-simplification. Days on the wards were uproariously funny one
minute, infinitely tragic the next. From tackling fraudulent
medical students to trying and failing to induce hypoglycaemia in
Glaswegian alcoholics (all in the name of research), Dr Quin,
Medicine Man is packed with vividly told tales of the joy and
reward of getting the diagnosis right, the disaster of getting it
wrong. Chasing Chekhov's two rabbits of medicine and writing,
meanwhile, Quin sought solace in literature, art and music,
applying the lessons of Bulgakov's country doctor to 1980s Glasgow,
where none of the patients seemed to have a full complement of
fingers, and to 21st-century Brighton, dealing with the
consequences of a decade of austerity measures. Darkly amusing and
with a keen eye for the absurd, this sharply observed memoir is not
only an acute insight into the farcical frustrations and tensions
of working in a chronically underfunded system but also a timely
reminder of the humanity of the NHS staff who care for us.
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