Science & Technology Reviews, July 2011
Jul 15, 2011
HEALTH & MEDICINE
American Diabetes Association Complete Guide to Diabetes: The Ultimate Home Reference from the Diabetes Experts. 5th ed. American Diabetes Assn. 2011. c.498p. illus. index. ISBN 9781580403306. pap. $22.95. HEALTH
The American Diabetes Association intends this volume to be the authoritative resource for learning about the latest advances in diabetes research and treatment. This fifth edition has more chapters than the previous edition. They are grouped into eight sections and are shorter and more focused on specific aspects of diabetes. New chapters cover women’s and men’s health and the effects of the disease on mental health. There are updates on health insurance and new blood glucose technology. In addition to the basic chapters on type 1 and type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes, a new section, “Life with Diabetes,” contains chapters on family life; children with diabetes; and dealing with diabetes at work, at school, or when traveling. Chapters contain definition boxes for technical terms, along with more facts and diabetes-related tips. A “Resources” section features sample forms and organizational information. VERDICT Despite the comprehensive list of organizations in the “Resources” section, additional resources—such as books or magazines for those seeking further information on topics such as diabetes-friendly recipes or exercise—are not listed. Still, this well-organized and straightforward book will again serve as the go-to resource for anyone who needs information about diabetes. Recommended for public libraries and health sciences collections.—Rebecca Raszewski, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago Lib.
Anderson, Greg. Breast Cancer: 50 Essential Things You Can Do. Conari: Red Wheel/Weiser. Oct. 2011. c.304p. ISBN 9781573245364. pap. $16.95. HEALTH
Who wouldn’t want to think that a regimen of self-awareness, healthful eating, exercise, and positive thinking can vanquish cancer? Anderson (founder/CEO, Cancer Recovery Fdn. International; The Cancer Conqueror) primarily addresses women feeling disempowered and hopeless following a breast cancer diagnosis. Having survived his own pessimistic prognosis more than 25 years ago, Anderson promotes his “integrated approach” to creating health over the accepted “tumor model,” which focuses on the disease and not the whole person. He claims the modalities of healthful nutrition and exercise circumvent the side effects associated with traditional treatments and concurrent clinical trials. Though acknowledging that “surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation can [emphasis this reviewer’s] play an important role in cancer treatment,” Anderson generally disparages the medical field for its overtreatment of disease and concern for the mighty dollar—“It all comes down to the money.” VERDICT Complementary remedies can be major factors in health care, whether one is confronting a diagnosis or fending off future illness. Unfortunately, Anderson’s bitterness comes through as he basically discounts standard medical practice in favor of his program. Cautiously recommended for inclusive health-care collections or those that stress complementary techniques over traditional therapies.—Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal
Gawler, Ian & Paul Bedson. Meditation: An In-Depth Guide. Tarcher: Penguin Group (USA). 2011. c.416p. bibliog. index. ISBN 9781585428618. pap. $16.95. HEALTH
Meditation can relax the body and focus the mind, improving both the physical and the spiritual health of practitioners. Veterinarian and counselor Gawler and psychotherapist Bedson have written an encyclopedic manual to guide anyone interested in learning to meditate. Both authors have studied with a number of eminent teachers, including Sogyal Rinpoche and Osho, and Gawler explains that meditation helped him survive cancer. An introduction covers the meaning and history of meditation, and the following chapters explore the steps involved: preparation, relaxation of the muscles, mindfulness, and stillness. These chapters are followed by a section that discusses applying the techniques to mind-body medicine, pain management, affirmation, intention, contemplation, and spirituality. An appendix provides working definitions of meditation, and an extensive bibliography offers resources for those who wish to deepen their studies. VERDICT The techniques covered here are described so clearly that anyone who reads the book will be able to learn them. This is an outstanding meditation primer that belongs in all library collections.—Barbara M. Bibel, Oakland P.L.
Gingold, Jeffrey N. Facing the Cognitive Challenges of Multiple Sclerosis. 2d ed. Demos. Jul. 2011. c.250p. bibliog. index. ISBN 9781936303205. pap. $19.95. HEALTH
Gingold was a high-powered attorney with a wife and two young daughters when, at 36, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic disease that afflicts over 400,000 people in the United States. After five years of dealing with the effects of the disease’s characteristic brain lesions, he retired from his law practice and became a volunteer and advocate for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. This book (the first edition was published in 2006) details the cognitive challenges he faced—losing his train of thought while making a statement in court, getting lost a few blocks from home, forgetting whether he had dropped his daughters off at school, and not really recognizing his wife sitting next to him on their sofa—and the way he coped with them, from practical aides to courage, humor, and persistence in finding a neurologist who took his smallest mental lapses seriously. Since then, he has switched to a new, controversial treatment that has put his MS into remission. VERDICT Gingold often speaks to groups afflicted with MS and their families and health-care providers, and this is another powerful testimony that interested readers will appreciate. Recommended.—Marcia Welsh, Dartmouth Coll. Lib., Hanover, NH
Lynch, Frederick R. One Nation Under AARP: The Fight Over Medicare, Social Security, and America’s Future. Univ. of California. Jul. 2011. c.282p. index. ISBN 9780520256538. $60; pap. ISBN 9780520268289. $25.95. HEALTH
Lynch (government, Claremont McKenna Coll.; The Diversity Machine) offers an engaging, insightful portrait of America’s retiring baby boomers and the way they are changing the politics of aging. He helpfully sets those issues within the framework of America’s “Great Recession” and the efforts of the AARP, the nation’s largest political lobby, to transform its mission and image from that of an organization concerned simply with senior citizens’ issues to that of a large services company building a “generational compact.” Lynch showcases the numbers but contextualizes them with historical analysis and a careful exploration of AARP’s leadership and methods. He explores the growth of the Tea Party movement as well, speculating that when it comes to entitlement reform, there are limits on how limited its aging followers want the government to be. VERDICT Readers interested in political science and the politics of entitlement will find this a helpful supplement to recent books such as Jacob Hacker’s The Great Risk Shift.—Aaron Klink, Duke Univ., Durham, NC
Norris, Jack & Virginia Messina. Vegan for Life: Everything You Need To Know To Be Healthy and Fit on a Plant-Based Diet. Da Capo Lifelong. Jul. 2011. c.304p. index. ISBN 9780738214931. pap. $17. HEALTH
Going vegan is a complicated endeavor. Humans evolved as omnivores, regularly consuming meat, milk, and eggs. One can get all the protein one needs from an unsupplemented plant-based diet, but the amount of beans it would be necessary to eat, along with other foods—not to mention the monotony of such a diet—would be nearly impossible to manage. Dieticians Norris and Messina deconstruct the myths about veganism and explain its benefits (vegans are far less prone than omnivores to obesity and its related ailments, such as diabetes and heart disease). They explain to the novice, step by step, how to transition from an omnivorous diet, identifying the necessary dietary supplements and advising how to take them. Babies, children, teens, and those with compromised immunity will need extra supplementation. VERDICT This book explains everything one needs to know about going vegan. Comprehensive and succinct, it is a must-have for nutritionists and anyone contemplating a vegan diet.—Susan B. Hagloch, formerly with Tuscarawas Cty. P.L., New Philadelphia, OH
HOME ECONOMICS
Clarke, Nancy with Christie Matheson. My First Ladies: Twenty-Five Years as the White House Chief Floral Designer. Sellers. Oct. 2011. c.256p. photogs. ISBN 9781416206392. $21.95. HOME ECON
Chief floral designer at the White House for 25 years, Clarke regales us with stories that place a special emphasis on the First Ladies she knew. Beginning as a floral volunteer during the Carter administration, Clarke worked her way up, getting to know the women of the White House, from Rosalynn Carter through Michelle Obama, along the way. Readers gain insight into the experience of working in the White House, the tremendous planning that goes into events, and Clarke’s relationships with the First Families. Overall, her observations are compelling, though details about a First Lady’s jewelry or the distance Clarke commutes to work seem like fluffy filler. This memoir is not a tell-all. Though people sometimes seem demanding, no one mentioned in anecdotes, whether a First Family member, another staffer, or a volunteer, ever appears in a negative light, as happens in Roland Mesnier’s All the Presidents’ Pastries or Connie Mariano’s The White House Doctor. VERDICT This is an enjoyable peek behind the scenes for those who can’t read enough about our First Families.—Bonnie Poquette, Milwaukee
Warner, Deborah Jean. Sweet Stuff: An American History of Sweeteners from Sugar to Sucralose. Smithsonian Inst: Rowman & Littlefield. Jul. 2011. c.274p. bibliog. index. ISBN 9781935623052. $29.95. COOKING
Sugar and other sweeteners are so intrinsic to American life that their history is worth exploring. Warner tracks some of the major threads (science and technology, business and labor, politics) in her exhaustively researched book. The abundance of references offers an excellent starting point for further exploration, and archival images enhance the text. The writing, however, is episodic. The brief introduction and the absence of a conclusion are insufficient for Warner’s argument. She writes less about diet and culture than readers may expect and neglects to address sugar in relation to Hawaii, at one time a big producer. Her handling of the post–World War II period and the current state of artificial sweeteners feels rushed and lacks depth. VERDICT Though conscientiously researched and therefore useful for its references, the book feels incomplete. Cautiously recommended for academic libraries.—Peter Hepburn, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago
SCIENCES
Devlin, Keith. The Man of Numbers: Fibonacci’s Arithmetic Revolution. Walker. Jul. 2011. c.192p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780802778123. $25. MATH
Devlin, noted mathematician (Stanford Univ.) and author of more than 30 books (The Language of Mathematics; The Math Gene), tells the fascinating story of Fibonacci’s mathematical and cultural legacy. Leonardo of Pisa (1170–1240), called Fibonacci by a historian many centuries after his life, was inspired by the newly merging influences of Indian, Hindu-Arabic, and Western number systems. He not only introduced to the West the number sequence 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13…, whereby each number is the sum of the two that precede it, but helped shape the development of modern mathematics and commerce. In an entertaining style, Devlin explains the influence of Liber Abbaci (Book of Calculation), Fibonacci’s 600-page work published in manuscript form in 1202. This tome helped make mathematics accessible to 13th-century Italian businessmen and other ordinary people. Fibonacci’s introduction to commerce of the digits 0 through 9 prepared the stage for the development of modern symbolic algebra and hence modern mathematics. Devlin writes for a general audience, effectively introducing and explaining basic mathematical concepts, and includes scholarly notes and references. VERDICT A must-read for anyone interested in the history of math, including undergraduates, mathematicians, and amateur historians.—Ian D. Gordon, Brock Univ. Lib., St. Catharines, Ont.
Future Science: Essays from the Cutting Edge. Vintage: Random. Aug. 2011. c.272p. ed. by Max Brockman. ISBN 9780307741912. pap. $15.95. SCI
Investigating such questions as how stress affects the human genome, whether life could exist under the ocean ice of Jupiter’s sixth moon, and whether immunity to the AIDS virus can be genetically engineered, 19 up-and-coming scientists discuss their research in essays aimed at an audience outside of academia. This collection (a follow-up to What’s Next?: Dispatches on the Future of Science) provides a fascinating glimpse of research trends in fields as diverse as astrobiology, computer science, virology, and neurobiology. Edited by Brockman, a literary agent who specializes in making innovative scientific research accessible to nonscientists, it is heavily weighted toward the work of experimental psychologists. Some of their findings (such as the altruistic tendencies of chimpanzees) suggest that certain behavioral traits long thought to be culturally acquired and uniquely human actually have a biological basis. VERDICT Though some researchers are more creative than others at communicating scientific theories and experimental results to the nonscientist, overall the essays are engaging. Those who enjoyed the first volume will be interested in this one as well.—Cynthia Knight, Hunterdon Cty. Lib., Flemington, NJ
Hamilton, Tyler. Mad Like Tesla: Underdog Inventors and the Relentless Pursuit of Clean Energy. ECW, dist. by IPG. Sept. 2011. c.216p. ISBN 9781770410084. pap. $14.95. SCI
Hamilton, energy and technology writer for the Toronto Star, examines some of the latest, most far-out green energy innovations and the people behind them. How far-out? Take, for example, a retired engineer’s idea to produce electricity via an artificial tornado, or a plan for a space-based power station that would harvest the sun’s energy, using microwaves to beam it down to earth. Other gizmos and processes seem more amenable to commercial success and social acceptance: Hamilton tells of a secretive company called EEStor that claims to have made a breakthrough in energy storage, and of a team building a low-cost nuclear fusion reactor. He strikes a fine balance between hope and hard realism when considering barriers to energy transition. As the “tornado guy” says, upon considering financial and regulatory obstacles: “Holy crap, that’s a lot to get through.” VERDICT Mad Like Tesla is easy to get through, even for readers with only a basic knowledge of energy issues. Hamilton makes complex technologies comprehensible, and he clearly enjoys the remarkable human stories behind the science. Many of the risk takers and visionaries portrayed are Canadian (rocker Neil Young makes a cameo appearance!), but this book’s strong appeal should transcend all borders.—Robert Eagan, Windsor P.L., Ont.
Moss, Frank. The Sorcerers and Their Apprentices: How the Digital Magicians of the MIT Media Lab Are Creating the Innovative Technologies That Will Transform Our Lives. Crown Business. 2011. c.272p. illus. index. ISBN 9780307589101. $27.50. SCI
The MIT Media Lab is an extraordinary, collaborative, multidisciplinary development environment, cultivated by MIT faculty and students to foster creative invention across diverse disciplines such as epistemology, neuroscience, visual arts and design, mechanical and electrical engineering, computer science, music, and the physical sciences. It is a distinctive academic milieu developed partially through relationships with industries that provide funding but do not have exclusive rights to the intellectual property created. The innovation fostered by this approach has led to amazing technological developments, including a robotic prosthetic foot and ankle now used by wounded Iraqi and Afghanistan U.S. veterans; the CityCar, an electric, foldable, efficient car; a gesture-controlled device, the SixthSense, which can transform any surface into a touch screen for computing; and robots that complement human abilities. Moss directed the Media Lab at MIT from 2006 to 2011 and is now the head of the New Media Medicine group at the Media Lab. VERDICT While the book can be repetitive if read cover to cover, it provides an energetic, dynamic description of the lab’s groundbreaking process of research and invention. Recommended for science and technology buffs. —Candice Kail, Columbia Univ. Libs., New York
Randall, Lisa. Knocking on Heaven’s Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World. Ecco: HarperCollins. Sept. 2011. c.464p. illus. index. ISBN 9780061723728. $29.99. SCI
In Randall’s (physics, Harvard Univ.) second book written for a general audience (after Warped Passages), several major themes are woven together to depict the state of physics in the 21st century. Among other subjects, Randall covers the significance of scale in physics, describes the Large Hadron Collider (LHC, a gigantic particle accelerator that sprawls across the Swiss-French border), and discusses how experimental results from the LHC may guide the future development of physics and cosmology. In particular, there is hope the LHC will improve our knowledge of the entities known as “dark matter” and “dark energy,” which together are believed to make up 96 percent of the universe. VERDICT Although these topics may seem abstruse, Randall has an accessible style and does not demand that her readers come armed with an advanced knowledge of mathematics or modern physics. This volume should appeal to experts and nonexperts alike intrigued by the latest scientific advances in our understanding of the cosmos. [See Prepub Alert, 3/14/11.]—Jack W. Weigel, Ann Arbor, MI
