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Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Science, technology & engineering
In 1927 in the field of health care an unusual event occurred. Morris Aaron Cohen, M.D. founded the Boston Evening Clinic, an unusual and never before conceived facility for the treatment of the indigent and low-wage earners who could not afford to lose a day s pay. It was an endeavor that achieved success against overwhelming odds: the objections of the Massachusetts Medical Society, major hospitals, banks, and businesses. Often denounced as unethical or even called a liar by an outstanding member of the Society who believed Morris Cohen was taking money from the poor and placing it in his own pockets, the besieged man never surrendered. None of the criticisms was justified and all were proved false. Why? Because Dr. Morris Cohen, as his memoir attests, persisted; because he believed there were many among us who required the kind of care he believed in. Eventually, this humane man who believed in the dignity of human beings, who recognized the needs of people unable to pay for medical care during the day, rose in stature with his clinic until eventual recognition by Presidents of the United States and persons, both medical and lay, within the United States and beyond. Critical Reviews: Healing After Dark is an inspiration for the next generation of
health care reformers. It is a reminder to the current ones that
the requirements of perseverance, hard work, with little financial
remuneration and movement to overcome the inertia of status quo are
practically a guarantee that you are on to something of great
importance. Dr. Cohen gives readers an exciting insight into the founding
and operation of a unique medical facility that still serves a
model for these times, as well as an evocation of the life and
culture of early twentieth-century Boston. About the Author:
In 1922, the teenage son of a Jewish immigrant ventured from Manhattan to New Mexico for his health. It was the first of many trips to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, a western retreat where J. Robert Oppenheimer would eventually hold pathbreaking discussions with world-renowned scientists about atomic physics. Oppenheimer came to feel at home in the American West, and while extensive studies have been made of the man, this is the first book to explicitly link him with the region. "J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Cold War, and the Atomic West" explores how the West influenced Oppenheimer as a scientist and as a person--and the role he played in influencing it. Jon Hunner's concise account of Oppenheimer's life and the emergence of an Atomic West distills a vast literature for students and general readers. In this brisk, engaging biography, the author recounts how Oppenheimer helped locate the atomic weapons research lab at Los Alamos, New Mexico, and helped establish leading physics departments at the University of California-Berkeley and Caltech. By taking part in moving atomic physics west of the Mississippi, Oppenheimer bolstered the establishment of research labs, uranium mines, nuclear reactors, and more, bringing talented people--and billions of dollars in federal contracts--to the region. Interwoven into this atomic tale are insights into the physicist's troubled growing-up years, his marriage and family life, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Oppenheimer's eventual downfall. After the first atomic bomb burst over the New Mexican desert in 1945 and as the Cold War developed, the American myth of the Wild West expanded to encompass atomic sheriffs saving the world for democracy--even as powerful opponents began questioning Oppenheimer's place in that story. Against the backdrop of the physicist's life twining with the region's history, Hunner explores the promise and peril of the Atomic Age.
This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.
There is probably no woman scientist more famous than Marie Curie
(1867-1934). She made one of the most important theoretical
breakthroughs of the twentieth century when she postulated that
radiation was an atomic rather than a chemical property, an
important milestone in understanding the structure of matter. Not
only did she coin the term radioactivity, but her painstaking
research culminated in the isolation of two new elements, polonium
and radium. For her achievements she won two Nobel Prizes, one in
physics (in 1903) and the other in chemistry (in 1911). This
informative, accessible, and concise biography looks at Marie Curie
not just as a dedicated scientist but also as a complex woman with
a sometimes-tumultuous personal life. This historian of science
describes Curie's life and career, from her early years in Poland,
where she was born Maria Sklodowska; through her marriage to and
collaboration with Pierre Curie; her appointment as the first
female professor at Sorbonne University after his untimely death;
and the scientific work that led to her recognition by the Nobel
Prize committee. The author also candidly discusses the controversy
that surrounded Marie when detractors charged that her work was
actually performed by her late husband. Finally, she describes
Curie's work in founding the radium institutes to study radiation
and in establishing mobile X-ray units during World War I.
Eventually, her long exposure to radium led to her death from
aplastic anemia in 1934. A year later, Albert Einstein published a
tribute to her in memoriam, praising both her intuition and her
tenacity under the most trying circumstances.
John Mallory was seventeen years old. For all that was thrown at him in his daily battle to please peers, parents, and teachers, life was not so bad. Except, of course, for that lingering cough and dragged out feeling that seemed to linger. But cancer? The mere thought of it, along with the sudden coming to terms with ones' own mortality, forced his family to re-examine their lives in an effort to understand where this latest journey would take them. Kevin Mallory and his wife Nancy live in Portland, Maine with their son John. They have been married for twenty-two years. As middle class Americans whose priorities included steering down the road to retirement and wondering how to pay for college, they were blindsided by the events this narrative hopes to put into perspective. What started out as note taking for reference when talking to doctors, soon evolved into personal comments, unfolding feelings, and eventually thoughts of writing a book. This no-holds-barred look at family life under the gun doesn't try to break new ground; rather it chooses to examine the overwhelming issues facing an American teenage cancer patient through the eyes of his parents.
The author had a strong bond with American establishments, where he had all his education in China before 1949 revolution. This cost him an enduring ordeal as he had been ostracized into countryside to embark on primary farming labor and health services. Firmly believing his fate would change after Mao, he never ceased preparing for just that by learning foreign languages and new medical developments in countryside. Surely enough he had it after Mao's death when he resumed teaching job in a medical school, where he often served the English interpreter for American visiting professors. Surprised by his fluency in English and updated medical knowledge, they sponsored him to visit America as he had dreamed. But a miracle burst out. arrival. After experiencing a host of cultural shocks and retraining he settled in well and proved himself not only a competent psychiatrist, board certified, but also a successful bilingual literary writer. How come? Dr. Liu acknowledges his family, especially his wife, had given him unlimited strength to endure the hardest time, as depicted in his touching poem on an elegant scroll shown on the book cover.
Sometimes life doesn't always unfold the way you plan. On July 20, 1984 while at USMC Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia, a young Marine was a passenger in a three-ton troop transport vehicle that, while traveling at sixty-five miles per hour, flipped and rolled several times, finally coming to rest upside down. Several Marines were dead, but one man was still alive. He was Terry Smith. After dying twice during brain surgery on that fateful day, Terry Smith has since learned to adjust to the limitations that accompany Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). At Bethesda Naval Hospital, Terry learned to walk, talk, eat, think, and live again, but learning to cope with seizures, anxiety, insomnia, paranoia, and memory loss did not happen overnight-or even after two decades. It is only through years of trial and error that Terry has learned to make the transition from pre-TBI to post-TBI, proving that the healing process is never-ending for head trauma patients. Terry Smith is a true survivor who has defied the odds. Today he shares his inspirational story of hope for the future for TBI patients, their families, doctors, and anyone who has insurmountable obstacles to overcome.
Roger Tory Peterson--the Renaissance man who taught Americans the joy of watching birds--also invented the modern field guide. His 1934 landmark Field Guide to the Birds was the first book designed to go outdoors and help people identify the elements of nature. This self-proclaimed student of nature combined spectacular writing with detailed illustrations to ultimately publish many other books, winning every possible award and medal for natural science, ornithology, and conservation. Peterson also traveled the world, giving lectures on behalf of the National Audubon Society and, despite his self-effacing demeanor, becoming recognized as the key force to alerting the public to the importance of preserving nature. There are now an estimated 70 million birdwatchers in the United States. For this meticulously detailed biography, Rosenthal has interviewed more than a hundred of Peterson's family, friends, and associates to create a fully rounded portrait of this hero of the conservation movement. Never-before-seen photographs enhance this intimate portrayal. The book will be timed for his 100th birthday celebration in August, 2008.
"That's a crazy book " Albert Einstein said in the early 1950s, when asked his impression of Alfred Korzybski's 1933 work "Science and Sanity." More than a decade later, Richard Feynman found Korzybski's notion of "time-binding" crucial for answering the question "What is science?." Feynman didn't know that it was Alfred Korzybski who had coined the term "time-binding" in his first, 1921, book "Manhood of Humanity" to label what he considered the defining characteristic of humans: the potential of each generation to start where the former leaves off and thus to accumulate useful knowledge at an ever-accelerating rate. In the exact sciences and technology, time-binding seems to work reasonably well. In the rest of human life, not so much. Korzybski, a patriotic Polish nobleman and an engineer who had lived under Tsarist tyranny and had seen the horrors of World War I on the Eastern Front before coming to the United States, realized the results of the disparity between rapid but narrow scientific-technological advancement and broader but snail-paced ethical-social development: a seemingly endless cycle of crises, revolutions and wars. Seeking a way out, he studied a broad range of disciplines from physics to psychiatry-fields that others felt had little to do with each other-and discovered factors of sanity in physico-mathematical methods. Comparing the ways of thinking that scientists and mathematicians exemplify when working at their best and the ways of thinking that they and other people unsanely or insanely tend to use the rest of the time, Korzybski linked science and sanity in a new world outlook with an accompanying methodology (labeled 'general semantics')-simple enough to teach children. Traces of Korzybski's pioneering work can be found today in a variety of fields such as cognitive science, cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, communication, media ecology, medicine, organizational development, philosophical counseling and philosophy, etc. In spite of this, Korzybski's radically interdisciplinary work remains relatively unassimilated into standard academic fields and hard to accurately fit into familiar popular categories. Thus, Korzybski, who originated the saying "The map is not the territory," remains a relatively neglected and misunderstood figure, shrouded in controversy: some people have considered him a genius while others have called him a crank. Drawing on an array of sources including Korzybski's personal correspondence, notes, scrapbooks, and both published and unpublished writings, as well as personal discussions and interviews with some of Korzybski's closest co-workers, Bruce I. Kodish situates Korzybski's contributions in the context of his times and provides surprising insights into his work as a whole. Kodish's clear prose provides a compellingly readable narrative of Korzybski's very busy, sometimes too busy, exciting and exhausting life while making accessible some of the most complex areas of Korzybski's thought. For years to come, this outstanding biography will remain the standard work on Alfred Korzybski's extraordinarily adventurous and significant life and work.
In 1979, Abdus Salam became the first Muslim, and the first citizen of Pakistan, to win a Nobel Prize. Branded a heretic at home, he pioneered the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, a vital focus of Third World science which remains as his monument. A staunch Muslim, he was ashamed of the decline of science in the heritage of Islam, and struggled doggedly to restore it to its former glory. Salam's truly remarkable multi-faceted character is well mirrored here. The book is beautifully written, and handles many delicate political and personal issues with sensitivity and understanding. Very authoritative and insightful, giving a rounded picture of a very complex man. -- Tom Kibble, Imperial College London
"A Kansan Conquers the Cosmos" presents the story of Alan Glines, who began working with NASA in 1966 and was part of Mission Control during the height of the space program. Full of fun and excitement, Glines's autobiography offers a first-person glimpse into four decades of the field of aerospace. He traces his own history from the beginning of his career through to the present and shares interesting anecdotes and histories of NASA and the American space program. From his days a science fiction-obsessed youth who ran a theater as if it were mission control to his various experiences in NASA, Glines attained the Mission Control spirit and dedication that he has lived for decades-that is, being on the playing field and being all you can be, all the time. Over four decades, he has acquired an extraordinarily rich tapestry of experience in the aerospace worlds of research and development, and command and control, exploring no fewer than seven geographical and intellectual career paths over the years. As a man whose career, teaching, and speaking efforts continue to inspire others today, Glines's story is a detailed and unique and the aerospace industry in America from the inside.
This is a biography of 'England's greatest medieval scientist, a man who solved major practical and theoretical problems to build an extraordinary and pioneering astronomical and astrological clock'. John North tells an extraordinary story here; Richard of Wallingford (1292-1336) was the son of a blacksmith who became Abbot of St Albans, where he invented his clock, before finally succumbing to leprosy. The story of the invention of the clock and its science, is accompanied by a fascinating discussion of early 14th-century scientific endeavour, which examines the Oxford that Richard knew from his studies there, and how science and theology merged in the minds of medieval intellectuals. John North examines Richard's career at the great abbey of St Albans as well as its people and, in particular, its mills. Half of the study, however, focuses on the clock and its principles. North looks at the history of horologia , the sources, and Richard's own manual which North identified in the Bodleian Library in the 1960s. Finally, North discusses the history of astronomy and natural philosophy, the instruments used and the enormous legacy that Richard left even though so few have heard his name today. This is an excellent book, with fine illustrations throughout.
Once upon a time, away down under in the country of Australia, there was born a little baby boy. His father was an Irishman, whose happy face radiated joy and gladness, and who taught his children to look for the cheerful side of life and to laugh. His mother was a very devoted American lady, and as soon as this little boy could talk she taught him to pray by repeating words phrase by phrase after her. I was that little boy... So begins the tale of Dr. Rabbit, a story of the author's medical missionary work for the Karens of Burma. Dubbed "Dr. Rabbit" because of his name, he came to be loved by the common people in this land of tigers and elephants, riverboats and oxcarts.
During the 1960s, R. Elliot Willis grew up poor and gifted in one of Chicago's toughest inner city neighborhoods. Along with his parents and his nine brothers and sisters, Willis struggled to find hope in the midst of despair, believing that someday he would emerge triumphant from his downtrodden past. Finding Grace on a Less Traveled Road is an inspirational and unforgettable story of one African American's determination and personal triumph against the odds. Willis vividly describes his passage from a traumatic childhood filled with dreams of becoming a doctor to his medical school education at St. Louis's Washington University School of Medicine and a thriving medical career. Facing overwhelming disadvantages, Willis, endowed with exceptional talent and openhearted compassion, more than overcame the misery of neglected human potential. He was a significant contributor in AIDS research during the onset of the epidemic and then went on to have a successful career treating cancer. But at the heart of his work is Willis's profound need to alleviate the suffering of other human beings and to understand the true meaning of living and dying. Poignant and inspiring, this powerful memoir showcases Willis's triumphant victory over poverty and misfortune and reveals how he has served his fellow mankind with remarkable grace and humility.
The author wrote this book to give us "some sort of an insight into the mindset that war tends to put you into. It's an interesting place, and I really wanted y'all to get an understanding, or at least familiarization with it..." He succeeds admirably All the footage we've seen, the movies, the shows, none of them prepare us for the reality of day-to-day life of an infantryman fighting for us in Afghanistan. He went as an idealist, fighting for his country and his dream of freedom. He begged to stay at the end of his deployment. And though he came home with no physical scars, he is forever changed, his health compromised, but his dream intact. His story is compelling, and leaves one grateful beyond measure for the sacrifices made for us on a daily basis by all of the people in our armed forces.
Zach Gauvin was a junior in high school who had it all-star of the football team, a beautiful girlfriend he adored, and a terrible drinking problem. Miracle Kid tells the story of his near fatal accident and how, at the age of seventeen, he had to learn how to live all over again. A high school all-star athlete, Gauvin wakes one day to find that his world has been turned upside down. He has been involved in a serious car accident and has received a traumatic brain injury. He wakes after being in a coma for a month. Now, he must relearn how to do everyday things that most people take for granted. He must learn how to walk, talk, and use his left hand all over again. He beats all odds and recovers, fights through many hardships, and accomplishes things people-including the doctors-never thought would be possible. Along the way, he becomes an advocate for people with brain injuries, seeking to pass along the things that he has learned to others in similar situations. Miracle Kid hopes to inspire everyone to fight hard when things get tough-against all odds. |
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