Mr. Thalers work is the result of a inquisitive ...
340702
Mr. Thalers work is the result of a inquisitive mind trying to understand how economic agents (humans) actually behave under real-life scenarios. After all, economics should be exactly that. Mr. Thalers contribution to behavioral economics by combining economic theory with applied psicology in a simple, easy to understand language should lead to further analysis of how economic agents behave.
3593971
A most interesting and revealing unconscious account of a Nobel prize winner's frustration in trying to untie the Gordian knot of consciousness armed with the scientific methodology approach. The real value of this book is the unarticulated pessimism it distills about the possibility of science ever being an effective tool to unravel the mysteries of life and consciousness. It happens everytime a mathematician or a theoretical physicist strays away from the safe axiom-structure of his discipline and navigates in the unchartered waters of biology, sociology or philosophy. It happens in the best of families, Nobelists Nirenberg, Crick and Edelman being just the most recent examples. After all, should anyone expect retiring baseball star Cal Ripkin to be as good playing chess? The rules and perspectives of the game are different. The clue to Dr. Crick's deception is found in his homily during the Sunday Morning service at the end of the book when he critizes the psalmist for saying: "I am fearfully and wonderfully made.", to which he responds, tongue in cheek: "..he had only an indirect glimpse of the delicate and sophisticated nature of our molecular construction." And we ask, after several decades of trying to focus directly on the brain, what has he -or anybody else- come up with? Or perhaps he has the illusion he has explained "life" with his double helix model of DNA?, as when he claimed that DNA structure accounts for the "..mysterious aspects of embryology." Can an engineer, after calculating how the construction materials used account for the structural stability of a building, claim to have a knowledge of the master plan in the mind of the architect who designed it? When you take stock of the book you realize that there is nothing astonishing, not even any hypothesis, only a frustration. Did he solve the problem he set out to resolve? Did he develop strategies for the "Scientific Search of the Soul"? Hardly. He projects his displeasure when he points out the "..poor record.." of philosophers who "..would do better to show a certain modesty rather than the lofty superiority that they usually display". In one occasion he complained why church goers do not instead conduct experiments to demonstrate life after death! When he declares how "..our behaviour..based on a vast, interacting assembly of neurons..." enlarges the view humans have of themselves, any charitable reader would conclude, it must be only the British humor....
4163824
The obvious and stated goal of AC Grayling's book was to provoke the intellect with aspects of history, the arts, science, philosophy, and other subjects. Grayling does a good job making the reader interested in often overlooked characters and stories in life, often creating more questions in his essays than answers. However, that itself is the beauty of the book, forcing the reader to dive into intellectual unknowns and piece together these memorandums to better comprehend life itself. Thomas Paine once said something in the respect "Mystery is the antagonist of truth," but mystery is an ally of the intellect, causing people an interest in learning and eliminating mystery ("yearn to learn" as I call it). To seek truth, one must at least be interested, and I indeed gained interest and respect in what I formerly viewed as bagatelles. A great example is my deepened respect for architecture, which Grayling enlightened me about the importance of its deep symbolism illustrating mankind's successes as the dominant animal of Earth, the golden crown of evolution. Other examples hold my deep appreciation, namely his views on science and literature. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in philosophy, science, arts, history, or all of the above. Some slow parts, but I was nevertheless impressed and have positive feelings towards the book.
185894
The reader should carefully study the credentials of the author and the dept and breadth of the study to establish credability of thw work. That done, you can't disbelieve the findings. It will change your life.
3656647
Several works have currently been released to capitalize on the public fascination surrounding the discovery of George Leigh Mallory's remains in 1999. Most are by members who took part in that expedition and I suppose we can't begrudge them for cashing in on their moment of fame. Many are unaware that previous exeditions have been mounted to find out what happened to Mallory and Irvine. In 1986 Tom Holzel reignited interest, if not generally then among the climbing community, in the posibility that evidence may still exist to prove that Malllory and Irvine beat Hillary to the top of Everest by 30 years. Thanks largely to Tom Holzel that interest has never flagged. This work THE MYSTERY OF MALLORY AND IRVINE should be the starting point from which those interested should embark. If one is merely interested in oggling pictures of a corpse then by all means skip straight to Ghosts of Everest by J. Hemmleb but for those more interested in the man rather than the cadaver there are few biographies as exhaustive as this one. Although delving into speculative arts (questioning sexual orientation seems a bit tacky) there is much use of correspondence between Mallory, his friends and family, which assists in giving flesh to a mere biography. Those interested in the adventure of the Everest expeditions will also appreciate the thoroughness of Mr Holzel's research. Much of what is presented is not speculative as it is presented with the corroboration of personal correspondence. It is only the events of summit day June 8th, 1924 that speculation takes over. We know more now than when this book was first written and subsequent editions will no doubt fill in the missing data. Is Irvine still out there clutching the Kodak? I doubt it but till he's found the debate will continue as will our fascination.
3011613
Few persons are ready to read what this man has researched.  His conclusions require an open and somewhat disciplined mind devoid of pre-conceived or conditioned response to anything considered critical to fundimental teachings.  He touches what we all crave to understand!  Where did we come from and what makes us the way we are.  If one chooses not to think, don't read him.  Otherwise, feel the thrill of a fresh wind blowing through clogged passages of the mind.  I sincerely appreciate his efforts.  Clifton H. Bush
1912919
This book is very informative however there is much more work that could have caught the reader's eye and mind.  Ask yourself if you would place more information in this book!!!
3728335
Among the reviews below there is a negative review by one Simon Richter (my father) and a response by Inez Hollander (the author) to that review in which she assumes that I (also Simon Richter, professor at the University of Pennsylvania) am the one who penned the original negative review. I did not. I have apologized to Inez for this confusion and would merely like to state that I do not make a habit of ripping the work of colleagues in public forums such as this.
771257
Ever look at a painting in a museum and wonder how it got there?  Who determined it was fine art?  This book gives some insight into what I will call society's tastemakers, and the big business of buying and selling fine art.  Elmyr, the "Premier Art Forger" referenced in the title, is quoted as making both cynical and complimentary observations about painters whose names you will recognize.  I thought Elmyr's reflections were particularly interesting.  As indicated in the title of this review, the book is fascinating, and  I highly recommend it.  Oh, throughout the book, the word "lie" appeared where I thought the word "he" should have been used.  But, I would still recommend the book.  Just thought this notation would eliminate possible confusion for future readers.
2300704
It provokes my thought to see how a scientist puts God on the same platform as any other human quest to find out about the world that we live in. Really, is there a reason that there should be any question that we should not ask? Other than not wanting to hurt the feeling of our fellow human beings...
3139762
Vladimir Nabokov, the poet/literary stylist, was also a very accomplished Lepidopterist, very much in the European gentlemanly tradition, a taxonomic "splitter" by inclination, and blessed with a very keen biological insight unencumbered by such methodological advances as multivariate morphometrics, electron microscopy, or molecular genetics. Those methods came too late to help Nabokov reach his conclusions--but, by and large, they vindicated them a posteriori! There is now quite a worshipful canon of Nabokov The Biologist to supplement that of Nabokov The Wordsmith. Nabokov was also an accomplished artist/biological illustrator, more or less in the tradition of Ernst Haeckel, and unlike Haeckel never accused of falsifying his representations to match his theory. But like Haeckel, VN was imaginative. He often drew imaginary butterflies purely for fun. The late antiquarian bookseller in Berkeley, Peter Howard, once showed me a Nabokov book which he had graced with a colorful butterfly drawing on the flyleaf. This of course increased its value, and Peter thought if he could get an ID of the butterfly that might boost its value even further. I told him it was an anatomically-correct swallowtail (family Papilionidae), but one God had not gotten around to creating yet.
For Nabokov lovers or butterfly lovers, the book is a "must." It's also beautiful.
2978509
Mister Mathers is back with another release from the upcoming album MMLP2. This is a fine example of how he is taking the genre to a higher level. The skills exhibited are showing the evolution of music. He is pushing rock and roll and hip hop and rap into the next form of music. He not only making the best music, he is creating art in a new form and creating a new category of music.
1294516
A timely book describing the way of science practised by Goethe and still  continued today through the talents of Bockemuehl, Schad and others.  Thankfully Goethe's "way" has not died the seemingly natural  death expected after the assault of scientific  positivism/reductionism/mechanism which has been the mainstream approach  associated with science since Galileo, Newton and Descarte. In fact science  has come to mean this very method. Whether it is admitted or not by many  scientists, they do feel a certain dimunition in the sense of life first  experienced when exposed to the original dynamic ideas of science such as  general relativity, evolution or the concept of the atom. This sense, well  expressed by Blake's beautiful poetic lines "universe in a grain of  sand and heaven in a wildflower" is what drew them to a scientific  career in the first place and shows that scientists just as much as artists  are searchers for wonder in the universe. The question remains how has this  sense of wonder been eradicated from the modern scientific approach. The  answer is it hasn't, not completely, investigators still feel this sense of  wonder as they investigate a new phenomenon for the first time and the  associated flood of ideas emanating from it. However once past this initial  stage scientific investigations progress in a very methodical way which  leaches the life from the initial phenomenon. Goethe initiated a science  which tries to maintain this "living" sense at all stages of the  investigation without the influx of total subjectivity. This book  demonstrates some investigators' own contemporary scientific investigations  from the growth of plants to the evolution and structure of mammals.  Hopefully such expositions will be read and digested by future scientists  and lead to a new revitalisation of science in a creative living way, where  this very approach becomes part of the life of the scientist rather than as  a separate part of his world.
3128577
Charles Sanders Pierce urged mathematicians to present their results with demonstrations that showed how they actually got there, rather than the usual way, which is to tidy up a nicely polished pyramidal proof that leads enexorably, pontifically from axioms to Q.E.D., and then to throw away the scaffolding and sweep away all traces of the parallel paths, false starts, and tangents of the actual process. This suggests a difference between mathematical reasoning as practiced and mathematical reasoning as mathematicians feel it ought to be. We may also distinguish mathematical reasoning from mathematical knowledge, as for example the toolbox of rules and formulae that every high school student of algebra is asked to master.

Nickerson is a research psychologist inquiring into how reasoning is done in the diverse fields of mathematics as an outsider, as he presumes us, his readers, to be. This book is very readable, and also very thorough. One must be prepared to commit mental resources to taking in a lot, and one very much needs the readability lest the scope, variety, and depth of coverage appear to be too daunting. Nickerson's coverage is impressive, and his intent is very ambitious.

I think that mathematicians as well should benefit from reflecting on how they reason, perhaps agreeing at some times and then when they disagree it may be finding themselves on occasion brought to an unfamiliar but possibly fruitful self-reflection. Also, mathematicians naturally specialize, and a survey of the field can be like looking up from myopic concentration at a desk and gazing out the window to scan a distant and opening horizon.

I haven't yet read enough to comment on the success of Nickerson's project, but what I have read has led me to recommend it a few times, and I now recommend it to you.
2393148
the author carefully describes an experiment in which he dressed as a homeless person and begged for cash at a busy intersection over several weeks. His goal was to find out if it was possible to live off the proceeds of begging. his description of the experiment is clear and he lists the possible shortcomings of his experimental design as a good scientist should. i rated this essay with three stars because with only one person begging in one location in one season it is difficult to draw any meaningful conclusions. he did describe several encounters where good hearted people offered him help beyond cash, for example steering him to resources that might help him obtain a job or otherwise better himself.
501933
Thank you Mr. Dubay. Even though this is the grandest of all conspiracies I have yet come to know, I am sure there will be something in the near future that will only build upon your work. That which man uses to control others is slowly being depleted. The knowledge you have thrown into the modern day arena can not be beaten. Those choosing to ignore this freshly rehashed reality will soon find themselves in a world of confusion and frustration, not to mention mental and physical pain. Cognitive Dissonance is not a friend of the mind. It is the manual self- decapitation of one's mind. A task very few can complete. Once again, thank you for your hard work.
1569734
Having in mind that this is not a novel, but the result of an investigation (very well documented, by the way), at some point it can be a little repetitive.