Readers Preference Reviews

Although it focuses on the western part of the United States, this is one of the best books on weather that I have read and the information is applicable to everywhere in the U.S. The book starts with the causes of weather and covers everything from the effect of an atmosphere and the warming of it by the sun to the effect of the earth’s rotation, moisture, land masses, etc. After that base for understanding weather they move into the specifics of weather phenomenon like fronts, jets, cyclones, snow, rain, thunderstorms, hurricanes, whirlwinds, and lights in the sky.

Unable to read through the book in one setting, I found myself desperately trying to find ways to get back to it as soon as possible. Who would have thought that you could take the subject of sexual reproduction and evolutionary biology and made it into such a thoroughly entertaining read?

In one of the most unique formats for such a book, the author has produced a highly educational and yet entertaining book on space travel. Written in a tourist handbook style, it starts with a series of vacation postcard style pictures including space pictures, vehicles, and training. From there you turn to the various potential space destinations. This section includes Spaceports you might leave from and destinations you might go to such as a space station or the moon. Now that you have picked your destination you have to choose how to get there.

This book is not at all what I had expected from the title but is a fascinating book with some of the most up-to-date research on how to take care of your brain. We tend to equate the brain mainly with memory and so it is a natural assumption that this book is about memory. Quite the opposite it is truly a book on making the brain run at its best and healthiest. The book is divided into two parts with the first one dedicated to changing the way you look at your brain and what can harm, or help it and why you should care.

By looking at the biographies of prominent people in the world of medicine this course takes you through medical history in a unique and very interesting way. Instead of just hearing that something was developed at a particular time you learn the problems and how they were solved by the individuals discussed. For example, I loved the story of Rene Laennec and the invention of the stethoscope. At a time when doctors placed their ear on a person's chest to hear the heart he wasn't able to do so on a particularly buxom young woman.

Is it possible to find someone who ranks as the most average person in America?

If you've ever wanted to learn astronomy as a hobby or as a serious amateur you'll find everything you need to get started and well along the path in this book. In addition to the things you would expect to find in a book like this (star names, constellations, Messier objects, etc.) the authors also cover things like etiquette when observing with groups, how to choose binoculars and the right telescope for you. The tips on how to choose the right telescope and how to avoid being cheated is well worth the price of the book by itself.

Very few things create the visualization of dozens of students sleeping in class like mentioning the subject of statistics. But, statistics can be interesting, fun, and useful as Bruce Frey demonstrates in this very approachable introduction to the subject. The first three chapters cover the necessary introduction to statistics with a discussion of sample size, distributions, standard deviation, correlations, chi-square, and random sampling.

In this excellent series of lectures Dr. Colavita examines the relationship between the physical environment, human perception, and behavior. The physical environment affects our senses, our senses affect our perception of the world, and that perception affects our behavior.

Before this course I thought that what we know of science is one of the few things we know for certain. But that may not necessarily be the case. In this course Professor Steven L. Goldman turns the whole concept of knowledge derived from scientific methods on its head. Starting 2400 years ago with an examination of Plato’s allegory between the gods and the earth giants Professor Goldman walks the student through the history of scientific knowledge and how widely accepted theories have been replaced again and again and even their replacements have been superseded.