Whoa! Steady on Betty!

Shortly after I received my copy, my TROUSERS EXPLODED! <br />Its that good!<br />Its Electric!!!!!

There is more to life than CBT

I bought this book a while ago and, unlike other reviewers, still find it an insult to my intelligence. The CBT approach put forward by the author fails to respect the complexities of difficult mental and emotional states. Padesky reduces our experiences to the simplistic reduction of 'thoughts' and 'behaviours'. This takes no account of my life circumstances, my history or my feelings! <br /><br />In this book CBT is shown in its true colours: it is an attempt to manualise client experiences and an insult to anyone suffering from any form of life difficulty.<br /><br />There is no substitute for seeing a real psychotherapist. CBT fails to recognise the human complexity of relationship in everyday living and this book is a perfect example of that lack.<br /><br />Save your money.

An entralling high level snapshot that challenges possibilities

Got this book and finished it the day after it arrived. Captivating stuff ! As a high level introduction to the current state of a variety of scientific areas it's fantastic.<br />Kaku tends to spend a little more time on the areas close to him, but everthing gets good coverage. As a springboard to understand current progress it allows the reader to go off and find more information on the particular subject areas that interest them.<br />I read it in the same week as Ray Kurzweil's 'The Singularity is Near' and it's interesting to see both the overlap, and how things have moved on in 5 years.<br />All in all a great book for the layman and those with a scientific background. Oh, and a great price for a hardback book right now :)

There are other ways!

Err, no - sorry. I tried this book after having heard and read about the successes of so many others, but apparently I seem to be in the group of what Allen Carr describes as `'less than 10 percent''. I am not even a `confirmed smoker' as I desperately wanted to quit. I too, had tried a lot of the traditional methods to no avail. I really gave this book a shot but the `solemn promise' I made myself just didn't do it for me. Happily now, I am smoke free, but no thanks to Mr Carr. I now enjoying a smoke free life thanks to Dr.Gurgevich!

At last, a readable guide to the IEE wiring regulations !

This book is an excellent, clear guide to the IEE wiring regulations, suitable for all users of the regulations.<br />I found both the text and in particular the illustrations, very useful in resolving different interpretations surrounding earthing and bonding issues.<br />There is also a very useful short section on harmonic assessment.<br />I have no hesitation in thoroughly recommeding the book to both practising electricians and electrical circuit designers.<br />

Remove any Donald Rumsfeld from your life

The ex-Secretary of Defense is now most famous for his quote about knowledge. "...as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know."<br />.<br /><br />When I started thinking about renovating my house and building an extension I had very few known knowns. After using the Housebuilder's Bible as a guide I now have no unknown unknowns and very few known unknowns. I and know how to know those.<br /><br />So, if you're building or thinking of building and you feel an outbreak of Donald Rumsfeld is imminent; buy this book !

Don't think twice- buy it!

Oh Dr Pemberton- you had me laughing out loud and crying in places! Over the years I have seen a million HO's pass through my ward and never knew what they were going through until now.<br /><br />I could not put this book down- finished it within 24 hours and have recommended it to everyone i know. A stunningly accurate insight into the nhs and how it treats it's staff, and how the staff deal with it. This book is brilliant and I wish it was longer. Max goes through the highs and lows of being on the frontline of the health service, being deprived of sleep and food, seeing a body, seeing people through their stay.<br /><br />'Trust me...' not only highlights the daunting role of a junior doctor but sympathetically explores the role of other in the hospital, and will definatly make u think twice about the way you see and talk to those on the 'shop floor'<br /><br />Highly recommended, buy it now!!!!<br /><br />

Little bit too technical

I thought this book was good but I found it difficult to read because of all the references to brain chemistry. It is interesting to know how your behaviour towards your baby affects their development, and how it occurs in the brain, but I found there was too much focus on this and not enough focus on how to love your baby in the right way. A lot of people have said it should be a recommended book for all new parents, but I think the 'average' parent would struggle to understand most of the terminology in the book. However, I do feel more knowledgeable now I have read it and will never leave my baby to cry for prolonged periods due to what the book has told me, and now I love my baby as much as I can during the day and I do feel she benefits from it, she is a really happy baby. Perhaps a watered down version of this book should be available to new parents.

Love your genes!

I read this book about 10 years ago and it nearly ruined my life. It led me to reject virtually any fundamental goodness within myself (as given to me by my genes), purely because I considered it a `lie'. This wasn't Dawkins fault - his book is a good one - it was my own short sightedness. Don't fall into the same trap as I did. <br /><br />When most of us self-observe, we look into a conditioned mind. We can't see beyond the myriad self-images that we've created of ourselves i.e. our ego(s). The original brain that you were born with was probably closer to `altruism' than you will ever see again. Our genes aren't stupid. They didn't get this far by actively seeking friction with other creatures; Dawkins'"memes" have caused the friction. As I remember, Dawkins uses memes at the end of the book as a rather weak"hey don't worry it's not all bad" type statement. Unfortunately, memes have thus far caused, more `selfishness' than the genes themselves.<br /><br />I have an `unsuccessful' pay review with my boss. I get tense, stressed, angry and resent my boss. I come away feeling retched. Looking inside myself, it seems all this demanding must have been due to my selfish genes and their desire to preserve their existence. But taking the time to look a little deeper (which isn't easy), what I actually see is that my fundamental mind - as given to me by my genes - wants none of the situation. What it really wants is for me to not care a jot about money - it hates what I put it through for things it doesn't need. <br /><br />Because it's so hard to see beyond our conditioning, much of the selfishness we see in ourselves is not a reflection of our genotype but of the dog-eat-dog world to which it has been subjected (aka. our phenotype). Human phenotypes nowadays have a level of `selfishness' many degrees beyond their pre-conditioned states. If you try to see beyond your conditioned self into what actually lies beneath, what you'll almost certainly find is that what your genotype craves more than anything is peace. And its needs for this are basic: food, water, love, sex, acceptable climate and I also suspect, in humans, the opportunity to express itself through creativity. <br /><br />My point here is really that if, like me you're going to get all introspective, try to separate out what your genotype mind needs vs. what your phenotype (egoic mind) desires. It's tricky, but isn't it logical that our genes are more likely to be right about what our body requires for a happy life than the crazy world that we now live in? Once we start placing the needs of our genes first, the body and mind reach a previously unimaginable level of health, and can take on any challenge thrown up by this often blinded world.<br />

Herb expert? Not with this book!

I would expect a book entitled"the Vegetable and Herb expert"to have more than 2 pages to cover 50% of the topic!<br />I am disappointed with the titling of this book. Being a foreign based purchaser, it is not as though I can check it out in W H Smiths first, and then choose to buy it at Amazon.

My crutch

I was lent this book by my CPN not long after I was first diagnosed with quite severe depression in August 2007 & it soon became something of a crutch for me - I had to order a copy for myself so her other patients could benefit from her copy. I agree that, initally at least, it probably wouldn't work on its own but in conjunction with therapy and/or medication it is a great book. It was good to read & think 'I know that feeling' - it made me feel like there was still some fine thread linking me to the world people around me inhabit. <br /><br />In a strange way it helps that Paul Gilbert is a clinical psychologist who has himself suffered with depression; it means he writes in both a practical and informative style. The book is medical without being hard to follow & helpful without being pink fluffy cloudy.

A Trainer's Bible

This is the best I've come across for gaining a clear understanding of what muscles you train when you do specific weight exercises. A great book for economic workout sessions and avoiding overtraining.

Serious freedom from an eating disorder

I have suffered from bulimia and anorexia for over ten years and I<br />have had many types of therapy, books, hypnosis but everything is<br />always temporary. I always go back to overeating which in turn goes<br />back to the bulimia because of the fear of weight gain, which happens<br />anyway...! I am so happy to have found this way, it sounds so simple<br />but it is so true and I finally accept that it may be a long road but<br />IS the right one. One thing I wanted to mention which I really could<br />recommend for other overeaters. I carry with me now a little card and<br />make a tally for any times during the day I even slightly want to over<br />eat or eat when I am not hungry. This is great way to watch progress<br />without the scales! I started at about 800(!) times a day and<br />yesterday I was on 14! <br /><br />These changes will affect you immediately and not from tomorrow morning! The book shows you how to be free from thinking about safe and trigger foods and teaches you how to listen to and respect your body.<br /><br />The madness can end, trust me!

A"bible" on how to live self-suficiency

Well, this is a classic and still so updated.<br />Maybe you will have to buy some eco building books, and permaculture manuals, but this is a must for anyone on the eco, self-sufficient movement.<br />It is a must. A classic pointing to all old tradicional ways of living, going to nearly everything, such as food, growing, harvesting, storage, animals, energy, doing stuff with metal or wood, case-studies, etc...<br /><br />Well worth the price and believe it will stand pretty well on your library!<br />

Not Just for the Bright Spaks!

This book is outstanding; please don't just take my word for it.<br />When looking to spend my hard earned cash gained after a terrible day re-wiring an old listed building, I wanted something worth reading, full and final.<br /><br />This book is great having"real world" pictures to help you understand the more complex subject material.<br /><br />If you are in the game or even learning at college don't buy anything else, and if your tutor has not recommended it he probably doesn't know it exists, yet.<br /><br />There is more than enough technical information even the brightest spark will learn from this.<br /><br />The author is clearly from an industrial background and not some"pretender" why can't all books be like this.<br /><br />I could go on but hey ho, I have to write the invoices otherwise its no more books for me!<br /><br />Top Book!<br /><br />

good addition to The Selfish Gene

Published ten years after The Selfish Gene, this book is just as enlightening and entertaining as that first book by Dawkins. More examples of evolution in the natural world, and more evidence that evolution has indeed shaped the diversity of living things, past and present, on the earth. Very well written, it's a pleasure to read. One criticism of this and especially The Selfish Gene: Dawkins seems to think that there's no or very little selection at the level of the group, and that natural selection takes place at the level of the individual or even his or her DNA. However, I think it's clear that there is a good deal of selective pressure at the level of the group or tribe, and even to some degree at the level of the entire species. If a group of animals dies, that includes every member of the group, so it stands to reason that there should be some selection at the level of the group, even if that selection runs counter to the immediate goals of the individual within that group. In spite of this criticism, any curious person should give this, and The Selfish Gene, a read. Author of Adjust Your Brain: A Practical Theory for Maximizing Mental Health.

Fate of Space and Time: Blackholes to Big Crunch

This is one of the early books written for those who prefer words to equations to understand cosmology of blackholes. The author attempts to answer basic questions such as; was there a beginning of time? Is there an end to the universe? What are similarities of blackholes, singularity, and Big Crunch? Is the universe infinite? Or does it have boundaries? What are the effects of the critical value of the universe's density on its rate of expansion? What is the role of God in the creation of the universe and how it can be evaluated by the anthropic principle? Did God creat laws of quantum mechanics and theory of relativity and let it evolve itself without leaving an option for him to intervene? How did he choose an initial state or configuration of the universe? What were the boundary conditions at the beginning of time? The author reviews the literature that includes Newton's laws of gravitational force, Einstein's theory of relativity, and quantum mechanics. Problems arise when one combines these theories to understand the four natural forces; the electromagnetic force; the strong and weak nuclear forces; and the gravitational force by one unified field theory (Quantum theory of gravity, and Superstring Theory). This theory must unify the forces of the cosmos and forces of microcosm so that it can explain the grand plan of God in the creation of heaven and earth. The author describes quite a few interesting anecdotes in academic research: The first experimental evidence in support of Einstein's theory of relativity contained errors that were as great as the effect they were trying to measure. In 1920s it was supposed that there were only three men who understood theory of relativity and now thousands of graduate students and many millions are familiar with this theory: Many readers should be encouraged at this. When the author presented his theory that black hole radiates like a hot body, many repudiated his assertion and later accepted it. Max Born, a Nobel Laureate in 1928 told a group that physics research will end in six months, when Dirac published equations for an electron, in the anticipation that the whole of physics problems are solved. This should remind all of us how far the science and mankind has progressed despite this prediction. Newton, one of the greatest scientists of this planet also had a streak of meanness in him. Einstein's honesty as a scientist could be found when he admitted that his universal constant to account for a static universe is a mistake, but he was also less willing to accept quantum mechanics; this is known by his well known comment that"God does not play dice." Hawking having a bet with Kip Thorne over the existence of black holes in Cygnus X-1 for Penthouse magazine to Private Eye magazine shows the fun side of academic rivalry. This is one of the very few books I have read that discusses God's role at the level of quantum mechanics. The reader should feel lucky to have such a book for his/her personal library.