Survival of the Fittest (Alex Delaware)

Amazon.com

Legendary L.A. psychologist-turned-novelist Kellerman raids real life when inventing the adventures of his psychologist sleuth, Dr. Alex Delaware, and some of the scariest parts of Survival of the Fittest are historical. Eugenicists lurk behind a murder spree Alex must solve, and he notes that the eugenics movement involved one elite U.S. college professor who advocated castration of ethnically lesser men, a forced sterilization ordered by Supreme Court Justice Holmes that Hitler used as a precedent to sterilize millions, and the pre-Holocaust coinage of the phrase "final solution."

Besides a truly horrifying theme, Survival of the Fittest boasts sharp but not arch dialogue; savvy psychological insights into stressed-out cops, suicides' loved ones, and malevolent therapists; and a sense of place so vivid that the Los Angeles Times has rated Kellerman the most evocative L.A. author since Raymond Chandler.

The plot's as twisty as a canyon road, and it's great fun to ride along with Dr. Alex and his sidekick, the burly, gay LAPD detective Milo Sturgis, as they dodge large red herrings and strive to find out why mildly handicapped kids are suffering "gentle strangulation" by killers who sign their handiwork with the mysterious letters DVLL, and what the devil this has to do with the high-IQ group Meta. Bonus for Kellerman fans: his Israeli serial killer catcher, Daniel Sharavi, star of his 1988 bestseller The Butcher's Theater, joins the sleuth team. But in the gory finale, Dr. Alex faces absolute evil all alone. --Tim Appelo

Book Description

“FEVERISH IN PACE AND RICH IN CHARACTERS . . . THIS IS A CHILLING AND IRRESISTIBLE THRILLER.”
–People

The daughter of a diplomat disappears on a school field trip–lured into the Santa Monica mountains and killed in cold blood. Her father denies the possibility of a political motive. There are no signs of struggle, no evidence of sexual assault, leaving psychologist Alex Delaware and his friend LAPD homicide detective Milo Sturgis to pose the disturbing question: Why?

Working together with Daniel Sharavi, a brilliant Israeli police inspector, Delaware and Sturgis soon find themselves ensnared in one of the darkest, most menacing cases of their careers. And when death strikes again, it is Alex who must go undercover, alone, to expose an unthinkable conspiracy of self-righteous brutality and total contempt for human life.

Download Description

The daughter of a diplomat disappears on a school field trip -- lured into the Santa Monica mountains and killed in cold blood. Her father denies the possibility of a political motive. There are no signs of struggle, no evidence of sexual assault, leaving psychologist Alex Delaware and his friend LAPD homicide detective Milo Sturgis to pose the disturbing question: Why?

Working together with Daniel Sharavi, a brilliant Israeli police inspector, Delaware and Sturgis soon find themselves ensnared in one of the darkest, most menacing cases of their careers. And when death strikes again, it is Alex who must go undercover, alone, to expose an unthinkable conspiracy of self-righteous brutality and total contempt for human life.

"Feverish in pace and rich in characters... This is a chilling and irresistible thriller."
   PEOPLE

"An original and gripping tale that is one of his best."
   CHICAGO TRIBUNE

"Why is it so hard to put down a Kellerman thriller...? It's simple: the nonstop action leaves you breathless; the plot twists keep you guessing; the themes... are provocative."
   PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Customer Reviews:

Great purchase!.......2007-01-12

Thank you for this great purchase! The book is in great shape and I couldn't beat the price!

OHMYGOSH!.......2006-06-09

This one is sooooooo GOOD! First off, several characters from other book
series pop up in this one. We meet an Israeli detective named Daniel
Sharavi who first appeared in J Kellerman's non-Delaware novel The
Butcher's Theater; we meet Hollywood detective Petra Connor who would go
on to have her own series (well, two books of her own so far: Billy
Straight and Twisted), and there is even a mention of detective Peter
Decker who was created by JK's wife, Faye Kellerman. I love a good
crossover, so this was fun. This is the first Delaware novel I've read
that switches POV. Most of it is still told in the first person by Alex,
but there are some chapters told in the third person from other
character's POV. That's the way Billy Straight is told and it kind of
irritated me with that book, but really didn't bother me as much with
this one. Plus, we get an actual description of Alex, who never
describes himself.

It starts with a young policeman killing himself in public. This
policeman's sister is a nurse at Cedars-Sinai, where Rick (Milo's lover)
works and Rick asks Alex to talk with her because she is really shook up
by it all. But then, Milo asks for some help with a cold case he's been
assigned - a case with international overtones. The daughter of an
Israeli diplomat was murdered and the original investigators got
nowhere. This is where Daniel Sharavi comes in.

The investigation leads to some shocking revelations and Alex agrees to
go undercover to investigate. This almost gets him killed. MAN, does he
come close to kicking the bucket in this one! Both Daniel and Milo are
more-or-less abducted by their respective superiors, which keeps them
from backing up Alex and there is a BRILLIANT scene where Milo fakes a
heart attack to get away. I mean it - who knew Milo was such a good actor? And we've
never seen Milo so frightened and upset and flat out angry because, of
course, he blames himself for endangering Alex in the first place, even
though it was Alex who talked him into it.

All's well that ends well, though, so I won't give anything else away.
These books just keep getting better!

Well Done!.......2006-05-21

I disagree with many of the other reviews. I think this novel was very well done, and Jonathan Kellerman delivered--like usual!
This novel starts out with a policeman that commits suicide--in public--which comes together much better later in the novel.
Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis go on an unbelievable journey to solve their mystery of a murderer killing people who are mentally challenged! This novel's plot will keep you guessing until the very end!

A puzzle.......2006-01-26

This book IS a page-turner, and has many commendable qualities.

The characters have substance and are believable and varied and interesting. The plot is unusual, although pretty far-fetched. The twists and turns keep you guessing, and there is considerable suspense.

But it also has some strange flaws.

The ending is strictly Deus ex Machina--just when all hope is lost, ta-DAH!, superheroes materialize out of nowhere and save the day.

Also, there is the odd and intrusive (and unnecessary) Pro-Israel undercurrent.

This is counter to the main theme, which is, Everyone Is Deserving of Respect--the opposite of the ideology of the book's fascist eugenics nuts.

And yet Israel is somehow portrayed as superior to other countries (and heavy slams are laid against Palestinians--gratuitously, because there are no Palestinians in the book). Individual Israelis (like Zev) may have their faults, but Israel is unstintingly held up as a paragon.

That would be easy to ignore, but the entire ending hinges on it.

So why all the Pro-Israel propaganda?

How would people feel if Kellerman suddenly started singing the praises of Germany--what a great, embattled country it was, how heroic its people were, how awesome its culture, how superior blah blah blah? He would rightly be condemned as a proto-fascist himself, like the eugenics nuts in his book.

Another flaw, maybe inherent in the genre, is the pervasive idea: The World Is Full of Psycho Killers. This is nonsense, of course, and leads to paranoia and the police state.

Not living up to expectations!.......2005-02-17

Though Alex Delaware novels are always a good read, this book has an unbelievable plot, which does not jell well with reality. However, the pace of the book remains fast and adroit and first time readers must try other Alex Delaware books cause they have much better plot than this book.
Or is it because the book is pro-Jewish and leans favorably on minorities - that some readers disturbing?

Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection

Average customer rating:

A Triumph!
Must-read for any woman or parent (especially working moms!)
A must read for any evolutionary psychologist
Evolution from a female viewpoint
An Honest Search For Truth

Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection
Sarah Hrdy
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Release Date: 1999-09-21

Amazon.com

Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection should be required reading for anyone who happens to be a human being. In it, Hrdy reveals the motivations behind some of our most primal and hotly contested behavioral patterns--those concerning gender roles, mate choice, sex, reproduction, and parenting--and the ideas and institutions that have grown up around them. She unblinkingly examines and illuminates such difficult subjects as control of reproductive rights, infanticide, "mother love," and maternal ambition with its ever-contested companions: child care and the limits of maternal responsibility. Without ever denying personal accountability, she points out that many of the patterns of abuse and neglect that we see in cultures around the world (including, of course, our own) are neither unpredictable nor maladaptive in evolutionary terms. "Mother" Nature, as she points out, is not particularly concerned with what we call "morality." The philosophical and political implications of our own deeply-rooted behaviors are for us to determine--which can be done all the better with the kind of understanding gleaned from this exhaustive work.

Hrdy's passion for this material is evident, and she is deeply aware of the personal stake she has here as a woman, a mother, and a professional. This highly accomplished author relies on her own extensive research background as well as the works of others in multiple disciplines (anthropology, primatology, sociobiology, psychology, and even literature). Despite the exhaustive documentation given to her conclusions (as witness the 140-plus-page notes and bibliography sections), the book unfolds in an exceptionally lucid, readable, and often humorous manner. It is a truly compelling read, highly recommended. --Katherine Ferguson

Book Description

We are tempted to think of maternal instinct as a quality a woman has or lacks. But the belief that mothers instinctively nurture their offspring--one of the West's most cherished ideals and a view widely accepted even in scientific circles--has become increasingly controversial. Mother Nature presents a radical new way of understanding how mothers act and why, and how this new understanding is changing the way scientists think about how evolution works.

Drawing on anthropology, history, literature, developmental psychology, and animal behavior, Sarah Hrdy examines the distinct biological and genetic elements that constitute maternal instinct. She strips away the biases implicit in conventional stereotypes of female nature to give us very different and provocative perspectives on maternal ambivalence, the links between maturity and ambition, mother love and sexual love, and why age-old tensions between the sexes persist--and are being played out today in efforts to control women's reproductive choices.

Combining decades of research with her own experience as a mother, Hrdy makes clear in this remarkable book what it means--from a historical and evolutionary perspective--to be a mother and explains how this knowledge has transformed our understanding of human development and behavior.

Customer Reviews:

A Triumph!.......2007-05-13

Utterly fascinating and, when it comes to understanding what makes human beings tick, is of greater reality, to my mind, than the phantasmagorical reaches of psychoanalysis, and more fundamental. Painstakingly researched. A scholarly book written in an accessible and engaging style.

Must-read for any woman or parent (especially working moms!).......2005-11-18

I find myself raving about this book to every woman (and man) I know. This is the most astounding and thought-provoking book I've read in recent years. Professor Hrdy is an emeritus professor of anthropology at UC Davis who puts the behavior of mothers and infants into an evolutionary context, using a comparative approach and drawing from sociobiology, anthropology, and psychology. I enjoyed this book from my perspectives as a student who did doctoral research in behavioral ecology; as a scientist who's tired of the superficial stereotype of instinctive, selfless maternal devotion; and most profoundly as a mother who's trying somehow to balance the equation of doing good for my family, myself, and the world as an ecologist with a conservation group. I appreciated the fact that she did not just rely on her own research on langur monkeys, but extensively reviewed other studies (and pointed out the dearth of studies that challenge societal assumptions that all mothers should care for every infant under any circumstance). She also entertains different hypotheses instead of just staking out a prescription based on an idealized version from one point in human evolutionary history (i.e. romanticizing hunter-gatherer societies), as seen in anthropologist Meredith Small's "Our Babies, Ourselves", which is also a wonderful book, but lacks the breadth of Hrdy's scholarship.

I frequently read this book as I rocked and nursed my infant son, which made everything more vivid to me. Hrdy writes with grace and humor about topics such as the origins of lactation (the rapture and thrall of oxytocin), the sensual (and hormonal) appeal of infants (so luscious you want to eat `em up). I was fascinated by the many ways that mothers seek to secure resources for their children (such as the tradition of godparents, or women's "unnatural" ambitions in the workplace). But reading the tragic chapters in European history of unsuccessful wet-nursing and wholescale infant abandonment while nursing my baby was almost more than I could bear.

One theme Hrdy reiterates throughout the book is how mothers throughout history forge workable compromises between infant needs and maternal ambition. She shares her experiences as a mother and scientist, and reflections from other women in the field. I found myself cheering "Yes!" in her final chapters, when she steers the debate of working mothers away from the gender politics of "Is it bad for infants when mothers work?" to the more critical question "How can we ensure that infants are cared for as lovingly and securely as kin?" whether that's by the mother or 'allomothers' [relatives or helpers who care like mothers]. "All early caregivers become the emotional equivalents of kin. Any caretaker is capable of communicating the message infants desperately seek - `You are wanted and will not be set aside'. (p. 509)" While the mother is uniquely equipped to meet that need, with her physical contact, her scent, her milk, she's not the only one who can answer when an infant seeks "the meeting eyes of love." Hrdy has written a passionate and scholarly book that is both an engaging read as well as a profoundly enlightening look into human nature. I cannot recommend this more highly.

A must read for any evolutionary psychologist.......2004-02-20

So many great little factoids. My favorite topics include family planning (abortion, infanticide), maternal bonding, the adaptiveness of menopause, females in social structure, and lots of other tidbits I wish more authors would cover. The most fascinating thing is that these topics come up in the animal kingdom, not just with us.

Only complaint might be that it's a dense read, and doesn't have a nice "backdrop" to organize it like Robert Wright's books (which I highly recommend). For this reason, you might need to read it twice to get everything. The facts themselves are tremendous, however. This book illustrates many more complexities about females that her male contemporaries might gloss over. Hrdy offers balance to anyone who's read other books on the same topic -- albeit great ones -- by male authors. (Come on, they can't help it.)

One more interesting thing that Hrdy adds is that science in her field is limited because neither feminists nor conservatives want to explore the evolutionary basis of womanhood. For conservatives, they know they are baby machines. For feminists, all that matters is that women are now free. Hrdy takes issue with both camps.

Evolution from a female viewpoint.......2003-11-13

This is a fascinating look at evolution with particular reference to the female of the species. Packed with fascinating information about female behaviour through the ages. Descriptions of life among hunter-gatherer groups are particularly interesting. Subjects like infanticide, wetnursing, abandonment of infants, etc are gone into in great detail. I learnt a lot from this book. I particularly enjoyed the splendidly bloodthirsty lullabye from the Napoleonic era printed at the end of this book, my children love it. One small complaint, at one point in this book Ms. Hrdy compares housewives to laboratory rats. Now, I am used to the abuse routinely heaped on housewives, but this is really going a little too far. The big difference between a laboratory rat and a housewife is that I, a housewife, can leave my house any time I like (maybe it's different in America, perhaps housewives are kept locked up there, I don't know), and I frequently do. i have alot more freedom of movement than I would if I were, say, stuck in an office all day long. I quite accept Ms. Hardy' point that children do not have to be cared for full-time by their mothers, but it would be nice if she could refrain from abusing those of us who actually enjoy being full-time carers.

An Honest Search For Truth.......2003-07-01

Biology has an agenda. Squirrels, whales, and crickets do not have our language facility, thus they do not have self-help books, preachers, or legions of well-meaning advisors. Yet they are born with the genetically provided rules (feelings) that allow them to be successful squirrels, wonderful whales, and competent crickets. We too have genetically provided rules, which sociobiologists and such are trying to discover. This wonderful book is the author's attempt to explain some of the conditions of motherhood, the relations between mothers and babies, and sometimes tough choices mothers have to make. This work is, in my opinion, magnificent.

Book Description

Their darkest hour may be their last when they go after the NID.

Customer Reviews:

Best Stargate Author Yet.......2007-09-02

I read the first few Stargate SG-1 novels that were released and almost never picked up another one. The author wrote from the movie and just never seemed to connect to her story. Ms. Bauer is obviously a fan of the television series. I thought the characters were right on target. A really well done novel, and I hope to read more from her.

direct opinions .......2007-05-24

This one was a good one since the time-line took place between the season 5 episodes " The Fifth Guy, Right of Passage,The Menace, and Meridian" so they gave further information on their encounter with another system lord and the NID rep that replaced their biggest enemy in the first 3 seasons. I'd say that the only problem with this one was the need to create a further scape-goat in this one not to mention creating a six-way story line between the main characters and turning Fraiser into the victim was a good idea, but they took that one a little to far by the end of the story and it started getting annoying after a little while. But this was a very good story and I recommend it to any who like the show.

SG1 must read.......2007-05-12

Fast paced. A must read for stargate fans who need more of an SG1 fix.

Might is Right - The Survival of the Fittest

Average customer rating:

Good
Philosphy of Nature
As good as I hoped.
Only the Strong
Ignore nature and be punished to the point of extinction!

Might is Right - The Survival of the Fittest
Ragnar Redbeard
Manufacturer: 14 WORD PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0967812313

Book Description

MIGHT IS RIGHT is an unprecedented book by an author of extraordinary virility and rugged primeval force, whose sense perceptions border on the supernatural. The Laws of Nature are explained, defined and expounded upon in detail in eloquent 19th century English.

Customer Reviews:

Good.......2007-09-07

The only reason this is not a five, is because of the racist and anti-semetic tone this follows. Otherwise, it's excellent. If not taken too literally, it can be an excellent book to draw some inspiration from.

Philosphy of Nature.......2007-07-21

Written under a pseudonym, the author's true identity still remains a heavily debated mystery.

Might is Right is a book of philosophy. The author's boldness in challenging the conventional wisdoms of modern society and his refreshingly new outlook on life and society ought to rate his standing and work among the philosophers most heavily promoted by modern academics - Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Nietzsche, Sartre, and Locke.

The author observes that modern people have been brainwashed to live their lives against the laws of nature. He challenges the teachings of modern society and modern religions of Christianity, Judaism and others in that there is nothing virtuous at all in being meek, or humble, or weak, or poor, or submissive, or obedient. The glorifications of these self deprecating traits are simply lies that have allowed religions, politicians, governments, and financiers to control populations. The author proclaims that natural virtue comes from being strong, bold, powerful, courageous, wise, audacious, defiant, valiant, loyal to friends, dangerous even in defeat, and never blindly believing anything.

As good as I hoped........2007-05-09

This book is just as good as I hoped. The editor gives a short history of the book and has references all throughout it. In the beginning, the editor states that he had the book reprinted for educational purposes. The message of the book can be harsh but the core of it is quite true (mature readers only).

Only the Strong.......2007-03-15

This book is for the intelligent and strong minded. Not for the weak and timid. Absolutley intersting.

Ignore nature and be punished to the point of extinction!.......2007-02-02

This book is about extreme Social Darwinism. The problem with this is that Ragnar's understanding of Darwin was flawed and of it's time - What is wrong with Ragnar's understanding of Darwin is the meaning of "survival of the fittest". What Darwin meant was that in any environment one species over another will "fit" [or survive] better. I prefer cool climates so I live in the North - I do not do so well in hot climates, so even avoid them on holidays - that is what "survival of the fittest" means. The term is not an [..] to be a sociopathic Social Darwinist - or - "a lion on the path". The fact that some people after reading this book view themselves as "a lion on the path' only supports the 1906 advertising which stated "this book is not for the immature", and is no doubt the reason the book has been on and off the banned list since it was first published.

There is another fundamental flaw with Ragnar's view: He reasons but apparently does not realize it.
In "The Selfish Gene" Richard Dawkins states that the only purpose of a [human] organism is to act as a dna carrier - it is through the [human] organism that dna replicates and survives. However, Dawkins notes that of all dna carriers humans alone have an inate ability to reason. He calls this "Conscious Foresight" and states that it is this that allows us to not participate in the most extreme behaviours [ie. violent social darwinism to the max]. Ragnar overlooks the fact that he reasons, the fact that it is a part of our Nature to reason, and the fact that "reason" or "conscious foresight" because they exist, are naturally a part of Nature. Nature, according to Ragnar, is "Right" [so this oversight on Ragnar's part makes him "wrong"].

For me this oversight was a major blunder in his reasoning and his understanding of Nature and made the final part of the book tedious [The final third of the book is mostly Ragnar ranting!]

So why did I give it 5 stars?
1.
The editor of this edition has done an excellent job of researching obscure and colloquial terms and has provided helpful notes throughout the book. It saved me a lot of time reaching for the dictionary. However, effort is still required to read this book as it is over 100 years old. It's not for the "immature" or "more-ons".
2.
Ragnar has the ability to be liberating. I found myself challenged on many occassions - and often found myself re-evaluating long held assumptions and conditionings.
3.
Ragnar understood the fundamental rule of Nature: "Let a tribe of human animals live a rational life. Nature will smile upon them; but let them attempt to organize an unnatural mode of existence....and they will be punished even to the point of extermination"
4.
On what basis should these viewpoints not be read or discussed?

Potentially transformational - read it and think for your-self.

The Darwin Awards III: Survival of the Fittest

Average customer rating:

Not bad overall
Not worth reading...
Mine
Bravo Intellegient Design
Lots of fun, great for retelling

The Darwin Awards III: Survival of the Fittest
Wendy Northcutt
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0452285720
Release Date: 2004-09-28

Book Description

Honoring those who improve our gene pool by inadvertently removing themselves from it, The Darwin Awards III includes more than one hundred brand new, hilariously macabre mishaps and misadventures.

From a sheriff who inadvertently shot himself twice, to the insurance defrauder who amputated his leg with a chainsaw; from a farmer who avoided bee stings by sealing his head in a plastic bag to the man crushed by the branch he just trimmed, The Darwin Awards III proves again that when it comes to stupidity, no species does it like we do.

Featuring scientific and safety discussions and filled with illustrations depicting inspiring examples of evolution in action, The Darwin Awards III shows once more how uncommon common sense still is.

Customer Reviews:

Not bad overall.......2007-09-27

Most of the tales are amusing, several are laugh-out-loud hilarious, but a few border on the tragic/tasteless. Overall, not bad. Worth a read if you're bored and want a good chuckle.

Not worth reading..........2006-06-13

When I bought this book at a significant discount, I expected that I would find it moderately charming with lots of funny stories and witty insight about the demise of fools. Quite frankly, the stories were not funny and the insight was not witty.

I agree with other reviewers that the rules and regulations in the book was ridiculously cumbersome. This book just takes itself way too seriously. I don't care how the stories were selected, so much as I'd like to read stories that were interesting.

I haven't read any previous editions of "The Darwin Awards," so I cannot attest to the suggestion that the well is running dry. I will simply state that I found many of the anecdotes to be far from fascinating, many of them downright boring. And at the end of the day, I just have a hard time laughing at the death of humans, regardless of the stupid choices that they may have made to bring about their demise.

Ultimately, I chose not to give it one star because the book did provide what it promised. I probably should have known that this type of supposed humor just wouldn't resonate with me. Nonetheless, I found the book to be cold and stale, and I now have no interest in investigating anything further from this perspective.

Mine.......2006-03-15

This book is extremely funny. It is bad the way these things happened, but the scenarios are really funny.

Bravo Intellegient Design.......2005-11-26

Wow is this bad.

I barely made it through the first chapter of rules and procedures. The author prattled on for what seemed like several George Burn's lifetimes beating to death the "rules". The US Constitution isn't this arcane.
The greatest fault I feel is the author obviously went through some sort of experimental procedure where her sense of humor was completely and utterly ripped out. In addition to the arrogant and condescending attitude. The "clever" and "sarcastic" remarks are as funny as Josef Stalin reading the Yellow Pages if he had ever endeavored to do so. I was so angry and agitated at the text the "punch lines" flew past me unnoticed.
Henny Youngman once quipped "Take my Wife, please" This author would turn those elegant four words into a unabomberesque rant only an intellectual living in a shack in Montana could appreciate.
There must be an award for taking a great idea and turning it into a poorly executed exercise in hubris.

Lots of fun, great for retelling.......2005-09-29

This book is a hoot! It's a fun, if sadistic, look at just how dumb people can be. It's also great for adding funny stories to your repertoire. One of the things that makes this book rise above others in its field, is the confirmed/non-confirmed accuracy rating. Knowing that the Darwin team has investigated many of the stories for their truthfulness makes them all the better.

Average customer rating:

A Great Improvement!
Exercise, Exorcisms, and Extraterrestrials
Brilliantly Charmed
Pretty Good!

Survival of the Fittest (Charmed)
Jeff Mariotte
Manufacturer: Simon Spotlight Entertainment
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ASIN: 0689868529

Book Description

Survival of the Fittest

Taken bodies were found unchanged, but their minds are under control. Release all thoughts of this new craze; find the demon that plagues their souls.

Alien abduction fever has gripped San Francisco. People everywhere are reporting loved ones missing...only to have them show up at home with no recollection of having been gone. The Charmed Ones can't help but become involved, especially when Phoebe receives a letter to her advice column from a woman who's convinced her sister was "taken." The victim says she was just out, but since she's returned, she's developed an almost demonic devotion to a new workout program.

The workout program in question, created by Meg Winship, has become incredibly popular in the Bay Area. Even Piper, after seeing an infomercial, suddenly finds herself jogging to the "Winship Way." Luckily there's a rally being held in San Francisco in the next few days. Meg Winship herself will appear to further inspire and thank her new disciples. If there's something supernatural involved, as the sisters suspect, the fitness fiesta is their best bet to figure out who -- or what -- is in charge of the chaos.

Customer Reviews:

A Great Improvement!.......2005-06-15

Actually this book would only have gotten 3 stars if not for the fact Jeff wrote another book 'Mirror Image', and this one exceeded the previous by a very wide margin. The demon is frightening enough and the plot is thick enough. Jeff learnt to plant little deaths throughout the story and hence increased the intrigue. A problem is that Piper's powers were not used much here, and hence it lacks the punch that it could have if all powers were utilised here. The exercise-based storyline is also a bit, weird. I feel that it was tacky. An amendment could be that Meg Winship was a talk show host (like Opran Winfrey) and her show was a conduit of some sort. The viewers get hooked and they finally chant the spell to open the portal, rather than DANCE it open. Still, big improvement.

Exercise, Exorcisms, and Extraterrestrials.......2004-11-01

San Francisco has become host to a rash of UFO sightings. The Charmed ones might be needed to help an abductee but two of them can't take the problem seriously. Abductees seem to come back unharmed and with a new attitude towards exercising (they just can't stop).

Maybe something is up after all. But before the trio can marshal their powers, Piper becomes an exercise nut as well. Will the power of three be broken? What is really behind the health craze? What horrors might be released into our world? All these questions and more will be answered before the book is done.

This one was not too bad but the author has a little trouble with scale and setting. Why rent out the Presidio for a "secret" seminar when the city is full of meeting rooms more than big enough? Can you really be a national sensation with only about a thousand followers? Other details also seem to defy reality and logic. But it is still a fairly entertaining story and one of the better Charmed book plots.

Brilliantly Charmed.......2004-09-10

this was a great book. i especially liked this book out of the charmed book series. i'm a big fan of the show and of the books.

Pretty Good!.......2004-09-01

This book was pretty good, well written. I was a little nervous reading it, I thought it might be stupid, but it was able to pull me in within the first few lines. All in all it's a good book! I couldn't put it down. If you really like Charmed, you'll really like this book. Daryl makes an appearance in the book, so if you like him, you'll be happy. It'll make you think twice about exercising though. :)

Dawkins vs. Gould : Survival of the Fittest

Average customer rating:

Very interesting, I'd like to see the revised edition.
Useful to a narrow audience
Good, it gives too much importance to some unimportant detai
A pacifier from the Pacific
In response to the nonscientist

Dawkins vs. Gould : Survival of the Fittest
Kim Sterelny
Manufacturer: Icon Books UK
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Adaptation and Natural Selection
Darwin's Gift: To Science and Religion
The Top 10 Myths About Evolution
The Plausibility of Life: Resolving Darwin's Dilemma
Evolutionary Dynamics: Exploring the Equations of Life

ASIN: 1840462493

Book Description

Science has seen its fair share of punch-ups over the years, but one debate, in the field of biology, has become notorious for its intensity. Over the last twenty years, Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould have engaged in a savage battle over evolution that shows no sign of waning.

Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene and The Blind Watchmaker, conceives of evolution as a struggle between gene lineages; Gould, who wrote Wonderful Life and Rocks of Ages, sees it as a struggle between organisms. For Dawkins, the principles of evolutionary biology apply just as well to humans as they do to all living creatures; for Gould, however, this sociobiology is not just ill-motivated but wrong, and dangerous.

Dawkins' views have been caricatured, and the man painted as a crazed reductionist, shrinking all the variety and complexity of life down to a struggle for existence between blind and selfish genes. Gould, too, has been falsely represented by creationists as rejecting the fundamental principles of Darwinism itself.

Kim Sterelny moves beyond caricature to expose the real differences between the conceptions of evolution of these two leading scientists. He shows that the conflict extends beyond evolution to their very beliefs in science itself; and, in Gould's case, to domains in which science plays no role at all.

Customer Reviews:

Very interesting, I'd like to see the revised edition........2007-02-19

This is a basically successful book, encapsulating some of the disputes in evolution, particularly between Richard Dawkins and Stephen J. Gould. For someone who just wants the basics of the dispute without having to wade through lengthy or complex material, it is perfect.

I think it could be improved, though. Sterelny doesn't have particularly good notes, more like a recommended reading list. It is not easy to tell exactly where he is getting his statements. He points, for example, to Dawkin's criticism of Gould & Eldridge Punctuated Equilibrium as a gloss in The Blind Watchmaker. Sterelny regards this as unfair, but I actually thought it was quite good. I think his criticism as regards local population changes is entirely fair. Sterelny argues that he is not taking into account the portion of the theory that deals with speciation. But exactly where, in the various iterations is the latter point? I don't remember it in the original article - is this my failing memory, or is that a later development, perhaps after The Blind Watchmaker was written? I'll have to dig up and reread all the articles to find out, whereas a simple citation might have made it immediately clear.

I also felt that Sterelny did not discuss the problem of definitions thoroughly enough. He does this with the question of increasing fitness, pointing out that this may true over the history of a particular species, but perhaps not true between different species separated by long time spans. I think this is true of many issues of contention. Part of the issue of the role of chance in evolution depends upon whether or not one considers mass extinctions to be part of evolution specifically, or rather a feature of natural history that changes the conditions under which evolution operates. One of the criticisms of Gould, such as Dawkins aforementioned criticism of Punctuated Equilibrium, is that he exaggerates the novelty of his ideas. In these cases, his critics don't so much disagree with what he is saying as argue that he is producing useful glosses or drawing out implications that are true, but not revolutionary, and that in the process, he distorts other people's work, notably Darwin's.

Certainly worth reading. I think that Sterelny often explains the two combatants' positions more clearly than they themselves do. Those interested in pinning down the subject more firmly will regret the lack of citations, but there are numerous recommendations for further reading, tied to particular subjects by chapter.

Useful to a narrow audience.......2003-11-21

One of the wonders of the Internet was supposed to be the way it could get niche ideas and products into the hands of the very few who might be interested in them, and I am happy to report that it seems to be working. There cannot be a great mass of people who are (a) both aware of and highly interested in the conflict between evolutionary biology popularizers Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould, but (b) lacking in sufficient time and education to satisfy their curiosity from primary materials. But for those few who are, as I was, interested in a layperson's outline of the points of conflict between the Dawkins and Gould camps, Kim Sterelny has written one.

Sterelny, a philosophy professor, is strict about giving credit to each camp where credit is due, and about identifying his own biases. He bends over backwards to be fair, and he succeeds.

Sterelny writes at such a level that if your only education in evolutionary biology comes from popular works like Dawkins's and Gould's, his overview is entirely comprehensible. Though this was good for me, it means that he is probably writing far below the level of most people interested in the convroversies he describes.

I suppose it is odd for someone who actually is in the market for a book just like the one Sterelny wrote to wonder who would actually buy such a book, but that is the position I find myself in. One really should be at least somewhat familiar with the Dawkins/Gould divide before reading this book, but if you are too familiar with it, that means you have education enough that this book is pitched too low for you. Those on the razor's edge will get the most out of it. And the delight of the Internet is that there is a good chance enough of that rare breed of people can find this book that it was worth writing, and that those of you in the narrow audience that will find it worth reading -- as I did -- are able to find it.

Good, it gives too much importance to some unimportant detai.......2003-08-15

I recommend this book to anyone who want's to identify and familiarize with different currents of thought in evolution, but this two gigants are not the only ones with opinion. Gould and Dawkins, both great scientists and great thinkers, are not the only ones with valid opinions on this subject, what they have that makes them exploitable is a long history of mild or irrelevant disagreements. A mild disagreement for example is that Dawkins goes for the gene as the target for selection, Gould don't think that way. An irrelevant disagreement may be that Dawkins is an atheist and Gould really believes in God. The principal flaw I see is that there are more players in this game, there's also Ernst Mayr, for example, that doesn't support the gene as the unit of selection, and doesn't support punctuated equilibrium either. But all of them agree in most of the other basis of the theory, though the unit of selection is an important point.

A pacifier from the Pacific.......2003-06-12

Kim Sterelny's overview of the Stephen Gould - Richard Dawkins conflicting views of evolution is a masterful summation. Setting himself an immense task, he addresses the material published by the two evolutionists, assessing evidence, logic and interpretation. To Sterelny's lasting credit, personality is almost entirely omitted in this account. A brief education background note [Dawkins studied under Tinbergen, Gould's mentor was George Gaylord Simpson] and Sterelny moves quickly to the essence of the debate. His presentation makes this a fine introduction to the issues involved.

Debate is a gentle word to apply to some of the acrimonious exchanges the pair engaged in either directly or through proxies. The opening shot was Gould's scornful review of Daniel C. Dennett's "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" in which Dennett challenged Gould and Eldredge's notion of punctuated equilibrium as setting the pace of evolution. The clash brought to light more fundamental differences in outlook - gene-centred evolution or a multi-level interacting set of forces. As Sterelny ultimately points out, the two are subject to merging into a broader synthesis. Dawkins has made that point frequently, as Sterelny notes, but that reality failed to find fertile ground on this side of the Atlantic.

Gene-centred evolution results in the creation of adaptations through mutations. Whether these adaptations are successful over time is the story of evolution. Gould found many ways to challenge this theme, chiefly because it would apply equally to human evolution, something Gould always found abhorrent. Gould's argument went deeper than human evolution. He advanced "contingency" and mass extinctions of whatever cause, as more viable mechanisms than what he labelled "gene centrism". Sterelny presents both positions with admirable clarity and laudable equilibrium. It would be churlish to criticise Sterelny's temperate treatment of Gould's notions. Dawkins and Dennett have already performed the task sufficiently, although Sterelny skirts Dennett's examination.

The loss of Gould to cancer has not quelled the debate, thus proving it wasn't simply a clash of personalities. A Gould "camp", with adherents on both sides of the Atlantic, maintains the heated dispute. Lewontin and Kamin in America and the Rose cabal in the UK still launch verbal missiles at the Dawkins target. Sterelny keeps his focus tight in this book, not being diverted to these disputants. In performing this feat, Sterelny might be criticised for failing to note why the debate is worth notice by a wider audience. He certainly hasn't written this for the academic community, although many in other disciplines might benefit from his insights and brisk narrative. Sterelny's position as a philosopher located in New Zealand is sufficient example to show how far the debate has reached. Its very universality might have prompted him to reflect on its impact on social questions. Even so, his effort is highly commendable and deserves the widest possible readership. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

In response to the nonscientist.......2003-04-21

Thanks for using this BOOK REVIEW section to enlighten us all on your personal opinion of evolutionary biology. Yet another example of nonscientists trying to sneak their opinions on the masses when it's completely irrelevant. You speak of Dawkins and Gould as resorting to circular reasoning in their arguments, however, this book is not an argument over the reality of evolution, it is a debate about how natural selection works and at what level. Had they been asked to state the evidence for natural selection, both Dawkins and Gould would be able to present compelling data to support it, as would any biologist.

Average customer rating:

Survival of the Fittest
Mark Breslin
Manufacturer: McNally International Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Labor Unions | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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Book Description

This book, which discusses the challenges and rewards facing the construction industry in today's world, emphasizes the importance of every journeyman and apprentice to the future of Union Construction. It seeks commitments from construction workers to Union Construction in the form of dedication, focus, and discipline. In turn, Union Construction promises rewards in terms of increased money, opportunities, respect, and satisfaction for its loyal members.

Survival of the Fittest (MAXIMIZING YOUR PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCE)

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Survival of the Fittest (MAXIMIZING YOUR PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCE)

Manufacturer: GILBERT PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0964425394

Product Description

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT, LOWER CHOLESTEROL, PREVENT CANCER, EAT MORE, GET FIT, AND FEEL GREAT!

Survival of the Fittest: Keeping Yourself Healthy in Travel and Service Overseas

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Survival of the Fittest: Keeping Yourself Healthy in Travel and Service Overseas
Christine Aroney-Sine
Manufacturer: MARC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Exercise & Fitness | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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