In reflecting upon my life as a neurosurgeon, perhaps the most salient feature is that period of history involved. Trained by men who studied under Harvey Cushing, considered the father of neurological surgery, we, as early third-generation neurosurgeons, were held to those rigid standards of academic achievement and physical endurance typical of that time. The reader first identifies with the young child who dreams of becoming a doctor, and then sets out on that long path. He then re-lives the experiences of the student of medicine, and later the rigorous demands placed upon the surgeon-in-training. During the later descriptions of the private practice of brain and spinal surgery, the book transitions into an educational experience. It presents to the reader a multitude of neurological disorders requiring surgical treatment, the relevant surgical anatomy and the operative techniques involved. Often interjected are the intangibles of surgical judgment and philosophy when confronting those in pain or critically ill. Of equal importance were the major scientific advancements which occurred during that period of medical history. No longer did we have to bore a hole in the skull, or inject noxious materials into the head or spinal canal to verify a diagnosis. Rather, we had been privileged to enjoy the development of such remarkable machines as the ultrasound, CAT, and MRI. Descriptions of these devices, among others, and their impact on medical practice should prove interesting to the inquisitive reader. After 21 years in practice, and probably at the height of my career as a surgeon, I contracted hepatitis B subsequent to an accidental needle puncture in the operating room. Forced to lay down the scalpel, I turned to my second childhood dream, cattle ranching, as an alternative vocation. This then becomes a secondary focus of the book. A medical colleague, after learning of my book, expressed an interest in learning the common denominator driving a man to both neurosurgery and ranching. One can summarize with the word, "counterpoise." I had always strived to achieve a balance between the in-hospital, academic, precision-oriented work of the neurosurgeon and the outdoor, physically-demanding life of a rancher consummating the total American dream. Analogous to surgery I have always enjoyed using my hands in the shop. Throughout the book sections have been devoted to various aspects of woodworking, and an effort not only to share my enthusiasm but also to expose underlying problems and pitfalls; challenges I have encountered in striving to become an artisan of fine furniture. The practice of medicine has undergone significant change during my lifetime. Not only have I witnessed a burgeoning, unsustainable increase in the cost of healthcare, but also major changes in the way in which medicine is being practiced in the new millennium. Having been a proud product of the "Lucky Few" generation, born between the years 1929 and 1945, I am rightfully able to compare today's practice of medicine with those of the latter half of the 20th century.

Author Charles E. Willingham always said he would achieve millionaire status before he turns sixty years old. At the age of fifty-nine-one day before his sixtieth birthday-Willingham achieves his lofty goal. But it was a long, hard road.

Born in 1939, Willingham grows up in Texas picking cotton, feeding chickens, and graduating at the bottom of his high school class. But he soon catapults to the big time, becoming a U.S. Air Force Cold War spy, nearly getting shot down by Russian MIGs, and landing in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the building of the Berlin Wall.

After the Cold War, Willingham creates hardware at Cal-Tech to measure the cosmic microwave fields emitted from the theoretical Big Bang, and then helps develop the country's first weather satellites at Ford Aerospace. But it is when he enters the relatively new field of computer technology that he eventually makes his fortune working for computer software magnate Bill Gates.

With a host of laugh-out-loud escapades, "In My Time" is a classic rags-to-riches story and a vivid chronicle of one man's life in the twentieth century. A rollicking rollercoaster ride around the world and back, it is also a tale of Willingham's rugged individualism and hard-earned wisdom.

He and his team are sent to Cairo in 1979 to plan the modernization of Egypt's phone service. Phone service at that point is bad. Most of the time there is no dial tone. They think their work can be accomplished in about nine months, but Willis Culpepper of USAID tells them "Schedules don't mean a thang here in Egypt." They learn that ARENTO wants technology transfer, plus system redesign, so the nine months will stretch to a year or two. Working with the Egyptians, they see the sorry state of the telephone system, first in Cairo, then in Alexandria. Underground cables failed because of water seeping into the insulation. In between they visit Cairo's Souk, Khan El Khalili, and El Alemein. He takes morning runs beside the Pyramids, sometimes enraging the rabid mongrel desert dogs. Bitten, he requires rabies injections. There are no good maps of the cities. His team consults with USAID, and gets the Air Force to do aerial photography of Cairo, and Alexandria. An accelerated course on ESS is given to six Egyptian engineers, and the planning stage is finished at last. Construction contractors are selected through a formal bidding process, and final construction of the upgrade is completed in 1983. Egypt gets the most modern telephone system at the time, but scam artists are still at work at cut-over.

"I Think I Need to Talk to a Doctor" tells author Jason Ventre's life story-so far anyway. He shares his history for many reasons, but chief among them is the need to explain his life experiences so that others may try to avoid having them. Diagnosed with bipolar syndrome, he talks honestly about the repercussions of his decisions-mostly bad ones, when considered on a scale from moderate to devastating. He still deals with repercussions from those choices on a daily basis.

From describing the funny challenges of childhood and trying to figure out what mattered and what didn't to recalling his failed relationships, Ventre paints an honest picture of a boy who was just different. Rather than trying to change who he was, he just went with whatever he felt-with unforgettable results. Now he takes those results and unapologetically turns them into lessons. Ventre reminds us that we all have pasts full of mistakes; although it might be a great thought to say that we can learn from our past, history has shown us that we're more likely to just "think" that we've learned from our mistakes as we continue to make them.

"I Think I Need to Talk to a Doctor" shows that sometimes laughing at our irrational decisions might be the only way to grow from them and hopefully teach others not to travel down the same road of lost maturity.

Brent admired the chimpanzee he sketched at the zoo. He regarded the animal as contemplative. He was unaware that similar animals in the wilds of Africa were the source of a virus that would lead to his death from AIDS. Brent became infected with HIV from the medicine he infused to treat his hemophilia. At six months of age, his parents were alarmed when they discovered bruises on his chest which led to the discovery of hemophilia. From that moment forward, he received frequent intravenous infusions of concentrate to treat recurrent bleeding episodes. Infusions of the medicine relieved pain and suffering from bleeding. His life seemed normal. Unexpectedly, Brent's life changed after the discovery of HIV contamination of the medicine. The medicine was manufactured from the plasma of paid blood donors. Unbeknownst to Brent, the plasma was polluted with HIV. The SIV in chimpanzees changed to become HIV in humans. But the chimpanzees were not the cause of the transfer of SIV in animals to HIV in humans. The change from SIV in animals to HIV in humans was the result of human activity. The change came about with the production of the hepatitis B vaccine. Who was responsible for the pollution of the hemophilia medicine with HIV and hepatitis viruses? Was Brent's death preventable?

Fritz Muller (1821-1897), though not as well known as his colleague Charles Darwin, belongs in the cohort of great nineteenthcentury naturalists. In Darwin's Man in Brazil, David A. West recovers Muller's legacy. He describes the close intellectual kinship between Muller and Darwin, detailing a lively correspondence spanning seventeen years, in which the two men often discussed new research topics and exchanged ideas. Darwin frequently praised Muller's powers of observation and interpretation, counting him among those scientists whose opinions he valued most. A free thinker who refused to sign the Christian oaths required of teachers in Prussia, Muller emigrated to Brazil in 1852 to become a pioneer farmer researching tropical biology. In the 1860s he reorganized his biological research in order to test Darwin's theory of evolution. Conducting field studies to answer questions generated from a Darwinian perspective, Muller was unique among naturalists testing Darwin's theory of natural selection because he investigated an enormous diversity of plants and animals rather than a relatively narrow range of taxa. Despite the importance and scope of his work, however, Muller is known for relatively few of his discoveries. West remedies this oversight, chronicling the life and work of this remarkable and overlooked man of science.

Thomas Addison, a physician from the North of England, was acutely ill, and he knew it. The profession of medicine had been his life. Students and patients flocked to Guy's Hospital in London because he taught and worked there. He had no rival in Britain during the early Victorian era.

Addison taught his students that most people resisted new ideas even when society benefitted from them and that people were unwilling to admit the merits of a great discovery. This would prove to be true particularly in the case of his own discoveries. Addison weathered five years of scorching criticism from his peers when he discovered that the adrenal glands were essential to life and that diseased adrenal glands could darken a white person's skin to mulatto hues. In the end, he experienced an unshakable depression that ultimately led to suicide.

Medical science subsequently validated Addison's ingenious discoveries, which led other investigators to isolate and identify epinephrine, the adrenocortical steroids, and even vitamin B12.

In this biography, author Margaret R. O'Leary, MD, presents Addison's life story, considering his reception during his lifetime and recognizing his profound contributions to modern medicine.

Explorer-naturalists Robert Brown and Mungo Park played a pivotal role in the development of natural history and exploration in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This work is a fresh examination of the lives and careers of Brown and Park and their impact on natural history and exploration. Brown and Park were part of a group of intrepid naturalists who brought back some of the flora and fauna they encountered, drawings of what they observed, and most importantly, their ideas. The educated public back home was able to gain an understanding of the diversity in nature. This eventually led to the development of new ways of regarding the natural world and the eventual development of a coherent theory of organic evolution. This book considers these naturalists, Brown, Park, and their contemporaries, from the perspective of the Scottish Enlightenment. Brown's investigations in natural history created a fertile environment for breakthroughs in taxonomy, cytology, and eventually evolution. Brown's pioneering work in plant taxonomy allowed biologists to look at the animal and plant kingdoms differently. Park's adventures stimulated significant discoveries in exploration. Brown and Park's adventures formed a bridge to such journeys as Charles Darwin's voyage on H.M.S. Beagle, which led to a revolution in biology and full explication of the theory of evolution.

Darwin takes a look at the life of this incredible man, from his birth, his ground-breaking publications and far-flung travels, Darwinism and his theories on evolution, all the way to his final days. Over 160 stunning images and illustrations are included within Darwin, ranging from personal diary entries (such as those he made when deciding whether to marry or not), letters and handwritten notes, as well as sketches from Darwin's famous works. Revealing the famous scientist's life in compelling detail, Darwin covers not only his scientific career and On the Origin of Species but his personal struggles also, allowing us to see what truly made the man.

Astonishing answers to unspoken questions revealed
The life of a Hispanic boy raised in the farmlands of Northern California who achieved great heights as a professor and scientist.

RECALCULATING: Travels Along the Road Through Crisis is offered as comfort for the faithlessly faithful who frequently doubt they will find their way through life's challenges. Although Amy Dempsey had a strong family history of breast cancer, she was still shocked to receive the same news. Her direction soon changed again when her beloved brother, Garry, was diagnosed with ALS.

Their detours became roads to places where many beliefs were tested and large and small lessons were learned; for example, keeping a hairdresser or a medical professional calm is definitely in a person's best interest- anyone with scissors, a knife, or a needle is not the person to aggravate.

Support from others always provided the fuel needed to keep Amy on the right road. Joyful events were never diminished despite the difficulties and sorrows during these two years. Leaving a brother suffering in a nursing home on his fifty-fifth birthday was painful; however, her youngest child's performance at theater camp that same weekend was a blast Writing about many contrasts helped bring clarity to emotions and a balance to life in this intimate memoir.

Jada Patrice Howard captures the ups and downs of her life in "Through These Eyes," the second volume of her memoir. This heartfelt, personal tale recalls her journey through the life experiences she has had in recent years.

She recounts her joy at finally being chosen to attend a live taping of the Oprah Winfrey Show in Chicago. Follow her as she prepares for the trip of a lifetime, traveling from Washington, DC, to Chicago to attend the show; share her delight as she has the time of her life at Oprah's show.

She also shares tales of her work as a school bus driver, her brief move to North Carolina to help family members, and her attendance of Dr. Dorothy Height's funeral.

"Through These Eyes" explores the nature of people and their relationships and relates experiences of happiness, sadness, joy, and pain-life experiences that we can learn from.