Pasteurization, penicillin, Koch's postulates, and gene coding. These discoveries and inventions are vital yet commonplace in modern life, but were radical when first introduced to the public and academia. In this book, the life and times of leading pioneers in microbiology are discussed in vivid detail, focusing on the background of each discovery and the process in which they were developed - sometimes by accident or sheer providence.

On May 30, 2008, Nannette Jodar received a diagnosis of Stage 4 Inflammatory Breast Cancer. The disease had spread to her liver and the surrounding lymph nodes, up to her thyroid. In the medical field, this is a "worst of the worse" diagnosis, most likely ending in death. With a broken heart and dwindled hope, Jodar began to pray. Then, two weeks later, the timorous "hot spots" were gone. Miracle or misdiagnosis?Her doctors would say miracle, as would Jodar herself. The medical community was astounded by her progress-so much so that they had no idea how to follow up. Nannette Jodar has since been called a "Miracle Woman," and to this day, she serves as a beacon of hope to other women suffering from similar disease. "Being Held by God" is the story of her journey, but it is not only a retelling: it is a reckoning.Jodar is healed, and it was through her self-designed process of seeking the counsel of an herbal doctor, changing her diet, prayer, and belief that she was being guided towards her course of a cure. She now serves as an advocate to those who desire to stay healthy or become healthy through proactive love of their body-temples. Our lives are a divine gift, and as soon as we see them as such, the healing can begin.

The heart-wrenchingly honest and fascinating new book from forensic pathologist and bestselling author of UNNATURAL CAUSES, Dr Richard Shepherd A TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 'Each chapter is like a finely-crafted detective story . . . Shepherd writes beautifully, and despite its subject, the book is very funny in parts' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Enlightening, strangely uplifting . . . Shepherd's final chapter on death itself is a meditation of great beauty and light which puts all the darkness of the previous pages into perspective' DAILY MAIL 'Deeply insightful. Unflinching' THE TIMES 'Fascinating' DAILY EXPRESS 'This book is about death, but in it I will take readers on a journey through life . . .' _________ Dr Richard Shepherd, Britain's top forensic pathologist, has spent a lifetime close to the dead. As a medical detective, each autopsy he carries out is its own unique investigation, uncovering the secrets not only of how a person died, but also of how they lived. Through twenty-four of his most intriguing, enlightening and never-before-told cases, Dr Shepherd shares autopsies that span the seven ages of human existence, and have taught him as much about the marvels of life as the inevitability of death. From old to young, from murder to misadventure, and from illness to accidental death, each of these bodies has something to reveal: about human development, about mortality, about its owner's life story, about justice and even about Shepherd himself. From the bestselling author of Unnatural Causes comes a powerful, moving and above all reassuring book about death as it touches our own lives - how to understand it, and, when our time comes (as it must), how to embrace it as the last great adventure. _________ 'He has the ability to examine himself and other people with the same forensic eye that he applies to corpses - one of the reasons why his books feel so life-enhancing' Daily Telegraph Praise for Dr Richard Shepherd 'Gripping, grimly fascinating, and I suspect I'll read it at least twice' Evening Standard 'A deeply mesmerising memoir of forensic pathology. Human and fascinating' Nigella Lawson 'An absolutely brilliant book. I really recommend it, I don't often say that but it's fascinating' Jeremy Vine, BBC Radio 2 'Puts the reader at his elbow as he wields the scalpel' Guardian 'Fascinating, gruesome yet engrossing' Richard and Judy, Daily Express 'Fascinating, insightful, candid, compassionate' Observer

During the 1950s, the United States and the Soviet Union teetered on the brink of nuclear devastation. America's hope for national security relied solely upon aerial reconnaissance. "Radar Man" is the fascinating memoir of a physicist who, with his colleagues, developed the stealth technology that eventually created radar-invisible aircraft. Edward Lovick shares a compelling story from the perspective of an enthusiastic scientist that highlights his pioneering experiences in an innovative, secret world as he helped create stealth aircraft such as the A-12 OXCART, SR-71 Blackbird, and F-117 Nighthawk. From the moment in 1957 when Lockheed's famous aircraft designer Clarence L. 'Kelly' Johnson invited Lovick to join his "Skunk Works," Lovick details how he helped the CIA eventually perform vital, covert reconnaissance flights over Soviet-held territory during the Cold War, saved Lockheed ADP's A-12 from cancellation, and provided key design input to the SR-71 and F-117. Lovick's autobiography describing his career as an engineering physicist in the Skunk Works not only draws attention to the insurmountable challenges that accompanied the task of developing radar-invisible aircraft, but also the importance of the monumental task these young scientists fulfilled-all with the hope of creating a secure future for their beloved country.

This famous book, the inspiration behind Kate Bush's 1985 hit song 'Cloudbusting', is the extraordinary account of life as friend, confidant and child of the brilliant but persecuted psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich. Peter, his son, shared with his father the revolutionary concept of a world where dream and reality are virtually indistinguishable, and the sense of mission which set him and his followers apart from the rest of the human race. Here, Peter Reich writes vividly and movingly of the mysterious experiences he shared with his father: of flying saucers; the 'cloudbuster' rain-makers and the FDA narks; and of the final tragic realization of his father's death, which woke him up to the necessity of living out his life in an alien world. Already regarded as a modern classic, A Book of Dreams is not only a beautifully written narrative of a remarkable friendship and collaboration, but a loving son's heartfelt tribute to a loving father.

Stephen Hawking is arguably the most famous physicist since Albert Einstein. His decades-long struggle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), combined with his singular brilliance as a cosmologist, has fascinated both the public and his colleagues in science. In this engagingly written biography, Kristine Larsen, a physicist and astronomer herself, presents a candid and insightful portrait of Hawking's personal and professional life. Avoiding the hero-worship sometimes found in popular works on Hawking, Larsen emphasises that Hawking is first and foremost a scientist whose work has made significant contributions to our understanding of the nature and origins of the universe.Writing in non-technical language for the lay reader, Larsen clearly explains Hawking's complex scientific accomplishments, while telling the story of his challenging life. The topics include Hawking's early lack of focus as a college student; the impact of ALS on his career and personal life; his groundbreaking work on radiating black holes; his later cutting-edge theories of black holes, cosmology, and the anthropic principle; the amazing publishing success of "A Brief History of Time"; and his status as a pop icon and spokesperson for the interplay of science and society. Larsen situates Hawking's sometimes-controversial work within the broader context of scientific peer review and public debate, and discusses his personal life with compassion, respect, and honesty.

The games of Mikhail Botvinnik, world chess champion from 1948 to 1963, have been studied by players around the world for decades. But little has been written about Botvinnik himself. This book explores his unusual dual career--as a highly regarded scientist as well as the first truly professional chess player--as well as his complex relations with Soviet leaders, including Josef Stalin, his bitter rivalries, and his doomed effort to create the perfect chess-playing computer program. The book has more than 85 games, 127 diagrams, twelve photographs, a chronology of his life and career, a bibliography, an index of openings, an index of opponents, and a general index.

Collapsing from the grief of not being loved, twenty years old, Clover Greene was committed to psychiatry. Just as after any horror to horrible to be real, after four electric shocks, Greene developed hysterical amnesia, vaguely remembering being locked up by psychiatry. Psychiatry, America's Holocaust: The Twelve Steps Curing Mental Illness, Developing the Nonviolent Adult Mind chronicles author Clover Greene's journey back from the precipice of suicidal and homicidal terror. It is a collection of Greene's thoughts, original poetry, and helpful information designed to help the reader to better understand the ups and downs of recovering from mental illness. Over a period of time, Greene was recommitted through psychiatry and forced to take drugs. Unable to escape to the outside, Greene's suppressed feelings of confusion periodically built up and exploded into suicidal and homicidal drug rages. Real doctors in real hospitals saved Greene's life from suicide attempts and the life-threatening physical damage caused by psychiatric drugs. After thirty-one years under a psychiatrist's care, Greene was incredibly still alive, saved by a twelvestep program and the support of others in the same position.

In this memoir, Greene shares the harrowing account of escaping psychiatry alive and being reborn in the spirit of love.

The history of Science is replete with untold stories and this book is one of these accounts. The author shares a narrative of heredity, an active topic of inquiry long before Gregor Mendel - the father of genetics - planted his peas. One such interlude unfolded in Mendel's home city and involved the sheep breeder, Imre Festetics. He sought to improve wool and proposed important rules of heredity. Unfortunately, aspects of wool quality, now known to be polygenic, complicate interpretations of the work of Festetics and explain why it is neglected. The forebearers of Mendel never get the credit they deserve. Heredity Before Mendel resurrects Festetics, the grandfather of heredity. Key Features 1) Documents a vibrant community of scholars interested in heredity before Mendel 2) Highlights the work of Imre Festetics, the forgotten grandfather of genetics 3) Desribes political repression which stifled the nascent foundation of heredity research 4) Emphasizes the role sheep and wool played as the first model system of genetics 5) Challenges19th century taboos in Moravia leading to malicious rumors about the inbred royal House of Austria (Habsburgs).

Nathalie Brisebois has lived through many difficult challenges, but has found a path to health and happiness. In Life Happens, she shares the story of her experiences battling multiple sclerosis.

For years, living with remittent-recurrent multiple sclerosis dictated who she was and what she did. Brisebois describes her journey battling the many devastating physical and mental effects of this chronic, degenerative disease and the ways that it influenced her work, her family, and her entire being. But in Life Happens, she tells how she began looking for options and a way to heal herself, addressing alternatives such as nutrition, yoga, meditation, vegetarianism, and living a simple life.

Filled with tips, suggestions, and ideas for living with and battling a chronic illness, Life Happens communicates a message of inspiration and hope, of looking for what you want in life, of never giving up, and of finding and being at peace with your life.

This book outlines the scientific career of Arto Salomaa, a pioneer in theoretical computer science and mathematics. The author first interviewed the subject and his family and collaborators, and he then researched this fascinating biography of an intellectual who was key in the development of these fields. Early chapters progress chronologically from Academician Salomaa's origins, childhood, and education to his professional successes in science, teaching, and publishing. His most impactful direct research efforts have been in the areas of automata and formal languages. Beyond that he has influenced many more scientists and professionals through collaborations, teaching, and books on topics such as biocomputing and cryptography. The author offers insights into Finnish history, culture, and academia, while historians of computer science will appreciate the vignettes describing some of the people who have shaped the field from the 1950s to today. The author and his subject return throughout to underlying themes such as the importance of family and the value of longstanding collegial relationships, while the work and achievements are leavened with humor and references to interests such as music, sport, and the sauna.

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.

He was history’s most creative genius. What secrets can he teach us?

Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vinci's astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo’s genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy.

He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and technology. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him history’s most creative genius.

His creativity, like that of other great innovators, came from having wide-ranging passions. He peeled flesh off the faces of cadavers, drew the muscles that move the lips, and then painted history’s most memorable smile. He explored the math of optics, showed how light rays strike the cornea, and produced illusions of changing perspectives in The Last Supper. Isaacson also describes how Leonardo’s lifelong enthusiasm for staging theatrical productions informed his paintings and inventions.

Leonardo’s delight at combining diverse passions remains the ultimate recipe for creativity. So, too, does his ease at being a bit of a misfit: illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted, and at times heretical. His life should remind us of the importance of instilling, both in ourselves and our children, not just received knowledge but a willingness to question it—to be imaginative and, like talented misfits and rebels in any era, to think different.

The major purpose of this book is to present Johann Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) in a real and interesting way based on the most recent historical research and analysis of authentic sources. The authors aim to show Mendels scientific thinking and inner feelings together with his environment and to communicate his message as a multifaceted personality and modern experimentalist. The book draws from the only existing short sketch of Mendels youth, his letters and the biographical ceiling paintings that were made according to his proposal. They form the basis of the self-portrait concept. The structure of the book follows thematic groups covering Mendels activities from a poor village boy in search for education and financial security, as not being physically suitable for running his father's farm. The book does not perpetuate the myths invented by some creative authors to make Mendels biography more attractive. Mendels life and work are dramatic enough without those embellishments. Mendel found happiness in science and he was able to explain the theory of new scientific facts. He was not a tragic figure, he did not work to become famous, but to be useful. His pea research has now been appreciated as a genius accomplishment of a scientist. The book is published at the occasion of Mendels birthday bicentennial.

Nobel laureate Tu Youyou won the 2015 prize for Medicine/Physiology for the discovery of artemisinin, a drug therapy for malaria that has saved millions across the globe.This book traces the path of discovery beginning with Chairman Mao's 1964 instruction to Chinese researchers to find a cure for malaria, a disease that plagued the military and civilians alike in endemic regions. It chronicles the years of painstaking research to find effective anti-malarial drugs, and how an entry in a collection of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions gave Tu Youyou the clue which led her to successfully extract artemisinin from the plant, Artemisia annua.Gathering together information from a variety of sources including first-hand accounts, this book describes the contributions of the many organisations, scientists, doctors and countless others who played a part in the process of discovery and clinical testing. It also provides insights into the challenges of carrying out such an extensive research project with limited resources during the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution. An inspirational read for young scientists.Includes the translation of Professor Tu Youyou's 2015 Nobel Lecture.

This is a revealing account of the family life and achievements of the Third Earl of Rosse, a hereditary peer and resident landlord at Birr Castle, County Offaly, in nineteenth-century Ireland, before, during and after the devastating famine of the 1840s. He was a remarkable engineer, who built enormous telescopes in the cloudy middle of Ireland. The book gives details, in an attractive non-technical style which requires no previous scientific knowledge, of his engineering initiatives and the astronomical results, but also reveals much more about the man and his contributions - locally in the town and county around Birr, in political and other functions in an Ireland administered by the Protestant Ascendancy, in the development and activities of the Royal Society, of which he was President from 1848-54, and the British Association for the Advancement of Science. The Countess of Rosse, who receives full acknowledgement in the book, was a woman of many talents, among which was her pioneering work in photography, and the book includes reproductions of her artistic exposures, and many other attractive illustrations. -- .

The medical profession is rich in those who have made names for themselves outside of medicine. The fields of literature, exploration, business, sport, entertainment, and beyond abound with doctors whose interests lie outside medicine. This book, largely written by members of the medical profession, examines the efforts of doctors in non-medical fields. The doctors discussed here are those who are, or were, well-known to the public for their contributions to their non-medical fields of choice. In many cases, the public may have been unaware that a subject was medically qualified. This book provides wide-ranging and comprehensive biographical sketches of forty-two doctors who are best known to the public for their contributions to fields outside of medicine.

Nobel laureate Tu Youyou won the 2015 prize for Medicine/Physiology for the discovery of artemisinin, a drug therapy for malaria that has saved millions across the globe.This book traces the path of discovery beginning with Chairman Mao's 1964 instruction to Chinese researchers to find a cure for malaria, a disease that plagued the military and civilians alike in endemic regions. It chronicles the years of painstaking research to find effective anti-malarial drugs, and how an entry in a collection of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions gave Tu Youyou the clue which led her to successfully extract artemisinin from the plant, Artemisia annua.Gathering together information from a variety of sources including first-hand accounts, this book describes the contributions of the many organisations, scientists, doctors and countless others who played a part in the process of discovery and clinical testing. It also provides insights into the challenges of carrying out such an extensive research project with limited resources during the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution. An inspirational read for young scientists.Includes the translation of Professor Tu Youyou's 2015 Nobel Lecture.

A terrifying diagnosis. An unbreakable bond. And one unforgettable journey. Cameron Powell has always struggled with goodbyes. On the day his marriage ends, he finds out his mothers cancer has returned -- and this time there may be no escape. Faced with the prospect of more chemo and surgery, his German-born mother, Inge, vows to conquer a 500-mile trek across Spain, and Cameron pushes aside his fears to walk by her side. Joined by a misfit band of adventurers -- a politically incorrect Spaniard, a theatrical Frenchwoman, a teenager whos never been far from home -- Cameron and Inge write a fierce and funny travelogue about the rocky heights and hidden valleys of the Camino de Santiago. But the hardest stretch comes three years later, when Inges health declines -- and Cameron, ready or not, must accept the challenge to remain as present to his mother as he can. As their journey shrinks to the room around a hospice bed, Cameron begins to record, in their blog, his real-time impressions of lifes most difficult voyage. The result is one of literatures epic love letters (Julia Scheeres, Jesus Land). Propelled by the searing immediacy of his own fear and sadness, this deeply-felt memoir opens up new insight into what it means to be a man, and takes us -- with wisdom, humour and an overflowing tenderness -- into one of the most challenging journeys true friends can ever take. If you like candid motherson relationships, humorous tales from the trail, and in-the-moment insights on living a life of purpose, then youll love this luminous, inspirational true story about pilgrimage, presence, and letting go.

This is the first book to present a carefully chosen and annotated selection of the unpublished writings and correspondence of the English logician John Venn (1834-1923). Today remembered mainly as the inventor of the famous diagram that bears his name, Venn was an important figure of nineteenth-century Cambridge, where he worked alongside leading thinkers, such as Henry Sidgwick and Alfred Marshall, on the development of the Moral Sciences Tripos. Venn published three influential textbooks on logic, contributed some dozen articles to the then newly-established journal Mind, of which he became co-editor in 1892, and counted F.W. Maitland, William Cunningham and Arthur Balfour among his pupils. After his active career as a logician, which ended around the turn of the 20th century, Venn reinvented himself as a biographer of his University, College and family. Together with his son, he worked on the massive Alumni Cantabrigienses, which is still used today as a standard reference source. The material presented here, including the 100-page Annals: Autobiographical Sketch, provides much new information on Venn's philosophical development and Cambridge in the 1850s-60s. It also brings to light Venn's relation with famous colleagues and friends, such as Leslie Stephen, Francis Galton, and William Stanley Jevons, thereby placing him at the heart of Victorian intellectual life.

"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