Much has been written both about and by people who feel they were assigned the wrong body at conception, exploring the struggles and too often the tragedies that result from that mismatch of nature. Very little has been written, however, to chronicle the lifelong struggle of people to understand and come to terms with two distinct sets of emotions, one male and one female - a single soul, at times divided, at times united, by two clearly identifiable spirits.

"Dear Mom and Dad: You Don't Know Me, But ..." traces the life of George through the eyes of Georgia, the female half of their soul, from early childhood in the post war Texas oil fields through the innocence of his early school years in northeastern Oklahoma. With the onset of puberty, Georgia watches the omnipresent feeling of not being normal cast a destructive pall over nearly everything George attempts. After the collapse of his lifelong dream, George begins again with hopes, new dreams and the love they've both longed for. Georgia finally emerges, but understanding her part in their soul comes slowly and is complicated by a tragedy of profound proportion.

"Dear Mom and Dad" considers the ultimate understanding of God's will for both George and Georgia and its unusual conclusion, sharing a story of struggle and self-acceptance.

At age eight Marilyn Harlin already knew she wanted to be a scientist. Throughout the peaks and valleys in her life-including widowhood when her husband fell off a mountain in Switzerland, and the challenges of raising two children on her own--she kept her eyes on her goal and eventually joined the faculty at the University of Rhode Island as its only female botany professor. Marilyn's mission in her career and into retirement has been to inspire youth, especially girls, to venture into the sciences. Making Waves is a memoir of a progressive life lived with passion.

This is the story of how a young high school student, through a quirk of fate, begins walking down a path that leads him to become a rural family doctor in Montana. Having served a close-knit community for fifty years Dr. Robert Whiting recounts a story of a diphtheria outbreak, some interesting cancer outcomes, and several cases requiring difficult decision making. In this personal account, you'll learn what the medical textbooks can't teach you: How changes in medicine have directly affected practitioners The bond a small-town doctor forges with his community Creative ways to dealing with ailments The effects of malpractice charges on the profession And much more You'll also follow Dr. Whiting-a sportsman, musician, and a husband-outside the profession. Somehow, he manages all those roles as he successfully carries out his practice. Take a closer look into just how he did it, and learn how changes in medicine have affected practitioners in From the Bedside to the HMO: A Doctor's Journey.

While Francis Bacon continues to be considered the 'father' of modern experimental science, his writings are no longer given close attention by most historians and philosophers of science, let alone by scientists themselves. In this new book Dennis Desroches speaks up loudly for Bacon, showing how we have yet to surpass the fundamental theoretical insights that he offered towards producing scientific knowledge. The book first examines the critics who have led many generations of scholars - in fields as diverse as literary criticism, science studies, feminism, philosophy and history - to think of Bacon as an outmoded landmark in the history of ideas rather than a crucial thinker for our own day. Bacon's own work is seen to contain the best responses to these various forms of attack. Desroches then focuses on Bacon's "Novum Organum, The Advancement of Learning and De Augmentis", in order to discern the theoretical - rather than simply the empirical or utilitarian - nature of his programme for the 'renovation' of the natural sciences. The final part of the book draws startling links between Bacon and one of the twentieth century's most important historians/philosophers of science, Thomas Kuhn, discerning in Kuhn's work a reprise of many of Bacon's fundamental ideas - despite Kuhn's clear attempt to reject Bacon as a significant contributor to the way we think about scientific practice today. Desroches concludes, then, that Bacon was not simply the 'father' of modern science - he is still in the process of 'fathering' it.

"Darwin, Then and Now" is a journey through the most amazing story in the history of science; encapsulating who Darwin was, what he said and what scientists have discovered since the publication of "The Origin of Species" in 1859.

While recognized as one of the most influential individuals of the twentieth century, little is widely known about his personal life, interests, and motivations. This book explores Darwin's driving passion using Darwin's own words from "The Origin of Species," "Autobiography," "Voyage of the Beagle" and letters.

In retracing the roots of evolution from the Greeks, "Darwin, Then and Now" journeys through the dynamics of the eighteenth century that lead to the publication of "The Origin of Species" and the succeeding role of key players in the emerging evolution revolution.

"Darwin, Then and Now" examines Darwin's theory with more than three-hundred quotations from "The Origin of Species," spotlighting what Darwin said concerning the origin of species and natural selection using the American Museum of Natural History Darwin exhibit format.

With over one-thousand referenced quotations from scientists and historians, "Darwin, Then and Now" explores the scientific evidence over the past 150 years from the fossil record, molecular biology, embryology, and modern genetics. Join the blog at www.DarwinThenAndNow.com to post your comments and questions.

Dr Alverson's story covers his early life experiences, through high school, World War II, his education and his involvement in State, Federal and International fisheries science and management. His career and story cover the period (1950-2000) during which world fisheries would explode from small boat coastal activities to distant water fleets of large vessels. World catches would increase over 300% after WWII and most of the worlds oceans and seas would be heavily exploited. Overfishing and impacts on coastal fisheries would lead the world community to seek new laws for the harvest of ocean fisheries and result in unilateral extension of national jurisdictions over ocean space. The growth of environmental movement in the later half of the 20th century would lead to conflicts between fishing and conservation groups resulting in changes in national and international fish policies. The book tracks many of these developments and DR Alverson's personal involvements and experiences during the traumatic period of world fishery expansion. During the course of his life marine fisheries resource would be seen as the great source of world protein to feed the worlds hungry and later as overfished and polluted.

Don Blossom, a certified pediatrician for more than four decades, relives a personal journey from childhood through a long career in medicine. Occasionally, over the course of his career, he came to think of himself as a curandero, a folk healer who serves Native Americans and Hispanic America.

Before he found his calling, however, Blossom had to survive his youthful exuberance including a tour overseas as a US Army Special Forces paratrooper. After several months, he yearned to catch a glimpse of an American girl. He got his chance when he was honorably discharged and met Ellie, a beguiling lass from New Orleans. In love, he faced a future in medical school and other obstacles before realizing his dream of becoming a doctor.

Blossom succeeded, becoming a doctor in private practice in a small New Mexico community, just as the field of medicine experienced some serious changes. He recalls his many adventures in medical diagnosis, the demands of a professional career in pediatrics, and the evolution of his private and family life.

In his manuscript Blossom targets physicians & nurses, healthcare administrators & medical educators, parents & teachers, as well as the evolution of healthcare in America. Explore the daily life and responsibilities of a pediatrician working in a small town and join Blossom as he reminisces about his experiences in Alaska, Russia, New Zealand and beyond in "Curandero: A Physician's Life Journey."

Along her 30 year nursing career path, Kathy Mercurio has been privileged to learn some of life's most important lessons. Often, the "teachers" were unsuspecting, unintentional educators in the form of patients, their family members and friends. Join Kathy in learning and sharing some light moments, dark days and hard-learned lessons in the pages of this intimate look at the Art of Nursing and the Life's Lessons that are imparted.

Imagine that murdered primatologist Dr. Dian Fossey of Gorillas in the Mist fame were alive today and able to reflect upon her death as well as her legacy. This is the impetus behind author Georgianne Nienaber's compelling work, Gorilla Dreams: The Legacy of Dian Fossey. At the beginning of Gorilla Dreams, Fossey attends her own funeral and watches her murdered gorillas interacting with the graveside bystanders. She establishes a new relationship with the slain gorilla Digit, who acts as her guide after death as she carefully reviews her life, its challenges, successes, hardships, and the ultimate closure of her murder. Although Fossey's death is officially unsolved, recently released documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, as well as testimony from the International War Crimes Tribunal proceedings, offer new suspects, motives, and opportunities. Every fact about Fossey's life is meticulously annotated. However, the setting of her conversations with the murdered gorillas is obviously fictional, yet steeped in African tradition. the famed primatologist's life that honors the African belief that the dead live on in spiritual form.

Dr. Stribling was only twenty-six years old in 1836 when he became head of Western State hospital. Then, every institution for the insane in the South, and all but a very few in the remainder of the country, were little more than penitentiaries. Dr. Robert Hansen, superintendent of Western State Hospital, wrote in 1967, "In an age of the common man, Dr. Stribling possessed an uncommon and profound knowledge of human nature, and the importance of human relationships. He believed that the drives, interests, and needs of the insane were the same as those of others, and that satisfaction of them through human relationships, would help restore their reason." Stribling recognized that insanity was a disease that if treated early, was curable. He used medical and moral therapy, separately or in concert, to cure his patients. Moral medicine included early treatment, separating the violent from those who could be cured, eliminating restraints whenever possible, providing patients with nutritious food, occupation, exercise, amusements and religious services. Caretakers were instructed how to increase their patients' self-esteem, especially by being their friend. Stribling's efforts to admit only patients who could be cured resulted in a bitter dispute in the early 1840s between him and Dr. John Minson. Galt was head of Eastern State Hospital, the first institution in the Colonies built for the treatment of the insane. Soon thereafter, Stribling rewrote Virginia's laws concerning the insane to conform to his admission policies. In 1852, Stribling and his directors defended themselves against charges by Captain Randolph that they abused their patients. Randolph's son had been a patient at Western State. During the Civil War Stribling managed to provide for his patients even after Sheridan's troops sacked his hospital. The daily lives of slave servants are described and also the different approaches taken by Stribling and Galt provide for insane free blacks and insane slaves. The similarities and differences between the two young doctors are examined. (Stribling was twenty-six and Galt twenty-two when they assumed their positions.) Letters between Dr. Stribling and Dorothea Dix from 1849 until 1860 describe a deep and intimate friendship. Mrs. Stribling's letter to her eighteen-year-old son while he was a prisoner of war is probably representative of many letters from other mothers in the South and North who were in a similar situation. After the war, Stribing was successful after he petitioned Congress to keep his job. His reconciliation speech at the superintendents' meeting in Boston in 1868 was highly praised by his fellow superintendents and the Boston press. Dr. Stribling died in 1874.

It never would have occurred to me to record the story of my life; I believed it to be of little public interest . However, Professor Jonathan Halevy, director general of Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, where I have helped to establish a center for humanistic medicine, and other friends believed otherwise. They maintained that the men and women who will learn from and be served by the institutions I have been able to help with gifts in support of humanistic values would like some idea of who I am. In response to their urging I have attempted to present an accurate portrait of a fortunate man.

Cancer stories usually start with some kind of struggle or fight. This story starts with a song. "You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here? You may say to yourself, my God, what have I done?" These words rang true for Christine Egan. Many questions and stories circulate about cancer. Are you telling yourself you are a victim of cancer? Are you worried the cancer will come back? Are you stuck in the role of being sick? Egan made a conscious choice to tell a different story. The Healthy Girl's Guide to Breast Cancer is part memoir and part guide revealing the all-too-true story of cancer in this country with a healthy twist. Rest assured-this is not a cancer story; it's a story about health and wellness.

Barbara Maddox was living a fairly normal and happy existence. Newly married, she was reaching the pinnacle of success as a regional sales manager at a large corporation and enjoying a fun social life with family and friends. And then her body started to betray her with what she thought were work-related, stress-induced health problems. After several months of worsening symptoms and a frustrating search for answers, she found herself in the emergency room one Sunday afternoon, completely exhausted and missing half of her blood. Within two hours of testing and prodding, she learned her fate: Cancer had spread throughout her lymph nodes. Mashed Potatoes and Gravy is Barb's brave and poignant accounting of how she managed through months of aggressive chemotherapy, three hospital stays, two serious blood infections, and acute mental depression. Along the way she discovers the importance of love, family, and friends as her spiritual world expands and she asks some deep, penetrating questions about life and our very existence. Written with raw emotion, and sprinkled with a good dose of humor, her story will leave readers inspired as they cheer her on through the unpredictable twists and turns on her journey toward conquering stage IV Hodgkin's lymphoma.