Research that breaks boundaries
587884
We are a set of MS webforums that are eager followers of MS research as we badly want a cure! Many of us are HHV-6 active and place our hopes and prayers on the research covered in the Virus Within. It is a great book that breaks boundaries in MS research. For many years little was known of our disease. A diagnosis is bad enough but being diagnosed with the 'unknown' is terrifying. Many of us read Virus Within and saw ourselves as so many things fitted into place. It is a ground breaking book about ground breaking research that we hope will continue until the final answers to the puzzle of our disease are found. Highly recommended!
3513729
In this work, J. B. Rhine explores the various research done (at the time of the initial writing) on extra-sensory perception and concludes that there is such a thing.

The work is important because it is cited by a wide range of others including Dr Carl Jung in "Synchronicity."  Most other reasonably respectable research into similar topics has been derivative of Rhines.

Anyone interested in this field either to debunk or advocate it should read this work. Highly recommended.
74530
Nandita Sharma neatly explains the ways conceptions of home, identity and ethnicity are used to draw boundaries into which people may be invited or from which they may be strategically excluded. Her examples are from Canada but the ideas she investigates are applied around the world. Sharma's will interest everyone affected by and attempting to influence migration and mobility.
4101287
An important book for new methodological perspectives in nursing. Has liguagem cohesive and clear. Dense theoretical and liguagem appropriate. I recommend to those who want to break new perspectives of research in nursing.
1332727
A lot of loose talk circulates about various ESP phenomena with the consequence that many do not believe they even exist. But drowned in all the loose talk is a lot of serious scientific investigation that has demonstrated the reality of some of these phenomena under controlled scientific conditions, many done under double-blind protocols.
Harold Puthoff and Russell Targ, at Stanford Research Institute, probably the #2 scientific "think tank" in the U.S.A., did many of these studies beginning in the early 1970s under the sponsorship of several three-letter agencies concerned with national defense. This book is basically a reprint of many of their scientific reports, first published in the IEEE Symposia On The Nature Of Extrasensory Perception.
I found the scientific study to be much more interesting than the shallow gee-whiz stuff often found in the popular press. To give a taste of the book, I list some of the chapter titles:
2.) A Perceptual Channel for Information Transfer over Kilometer Distances... by Puthoff and Targ.
3.) Direct Perception of Remote Geographical Locations.
4.) Multiple Subject and Long-Distance Precognitive Remote Viewing of Geographical Locations [replicates the work of Puthoff and Targ at SRI at another institution by other investigators, validating the earlier work]
5.) EEG Correlates to Remote Light Flashes Under COnditions of Sensory Shielding
11 Chapters and a lengthy Appendix gy Robert G. Jahn who was Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Princeton University at the time he wrote it.
I highly recommend this book to those interested in these things from a scientific point of view instead of a mystical one.
1957856
In this new provocative and exciting perspective, Dr Fetting opens a space in our minds and in our culture to reexamine the notion of addiction.
She reaches far beyond the disease concept, which at the time of its inception, was helpful to move addiction away from a moral failure.
In this publication, Dr. Fetting introduces the "universal desire to escape reality" from ancient times to the present.
Her highly nuanced approach makes room for all human kind to explore without judgment this very basic desire.
 No longer is the treatment approach "one size fits all", the author sets the stage for an understanding of the use and misuse of drugs and alcohol on a continuum, from partaking to abstinence, at the center of which each person can be seen as a unique individual surrounded by specific circumstances.
As a clinician who has studied and reflected on these issues for many years, I welcome the 'reverie' that accompanies my work with patients who struggle to find their footing with their own use of substances. Dr. Fetting's passion, extensive research and beautifully written book on the subject continues to expand my own thinking and is a valuable contribution to the field.
4497014
Connected seeks to show the unique power of social networks. This is achieved through laying out the findings of many studies that have ultimately illuminated how the links between humans impact on our experiences in life. The authors look at topics including: the transfer of contagious illnesses, finding a spouse or partner, and political beliefs.

I found the book fascinating. At times I wondered about correlation vs causation. The lines did appear to be blurry. However, on balance the findings presented and the author's arguments provide strong support for the broad thesis. We are influenced by others in almost everything we do, and we influence others in almost everything that we do. A specific point that the book draws out is that this influence can be indirect and hidden (through degrees of separation).

The biggest insight to arise as I reflect on this book is the idea that humans are fundamentally relational beings. We are impacted by who we know moreso than we are impacted by what, exactly, we hear.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in how humans relate to one another.
1742758
VISUAL RESEARCH is a short and easily readable guide to lead researchers in the social sciences and related professional fields into current methods of expanding observed reporting beyond the time-tested paper-based ones of note-taking, evaluating, writing and publishing results. Although most immediately aimed at students and practitioners of anthropology, especially ethnology, the authors practical tips are much more broadly useful. They include inquiry ethics, organization and implementation of research objectives, and solving technical problems applicable to everybody from schoolteachers, professors and students to all professionals who need to document their investigations by incorporating the newest multimedia, visual and aural techniques. Even old dogs like this reviewer can benefit mightily from the new tricks that will be required in future.
1466764
This is a detailed book into research genres for music education and music therapy. Everything from Qualitative to Quantitative and the subgenres therein. Included with each description is an article that is considered an example of the research type. Music Research is needed today simply because it is so relatively new in academia. We've always believed that "music is art" and it has sway on cultures and individuals but that's it. Here we find a need to expand our knowledge into 'why', 'how' and 'what' music does what it does to students and society around.
3455598
Very fine research on a much relevant topic
3012952
This is a great resource for findings in the latest research in developmental psychology.  Medina really breaks it down for you.  He discusses, and applies, studies that have monitored how experience in early childhood can affect the latter years of your child.  Medina even takes into account studies that are not focused on infants, but in young adults, to prove his points on how the brain absorbs information.  An absolutely great read from a pro in the field of developmental molecular biology and researcher specializing in the isolation and characterization of genes involved in human brain development and the genetics of psychiatric disorders.
1132369
Some dogs seem to know when their owners are coming home. No, not when they are walking up the front steps, but when they are still at the office DECIDING to come home. Some animals know when their owners are in distress or dying, far away. Some animals know when their owners are about to have a seizure, or attempt suicide.

Author Rupert Sheldrake has compiled a database of hundreds of fascinating anecdotal reports, supplemented by simple but  clever research studies. He challenges us to consider these unusual but intriguing phenomena, that do not depend on physical distance or any known sensory pathways. He has a healthy respect for scientific method (and uses it when he can) but none at all for scientific dogmatism. To skeptics who  discount these remarkable observations as mere "selective recall," he says, do the research and prove it.

This is a fascinating and well-written book. It was hard to put down, and in fact, I may read it again. To be sure, Sheldrake can't explain the phenomena he describes. He invokes the concept of morphic fields but can't really tell us what they are. Further research is needed, and, to his credit, Sheldrake is attempting to recruit people all over the world, to participate in just such research. Why, even you could participate. I recommend this book highly. Run out and buy it today. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.
2740018
The thoughtfully and thoroughly presented ideas in this book explain the prevalence of mythological creatures such as dragons, giants and composite beasts throughout ancient cultures all over the world. It is a breakthrough in interdisciplinary thinking. The compartmentalization of scholarly pursuits has kept scientists from realizing the seemingly obvious for over a century. Adrienne Mayor comes upon the truth by returning to the holistic approach of Greek scientists, hitting a scholarly gold mine.
209427
This book offers a fascinating, informative and non-judgmental exploration of two interrelated questions: (1) Why are some people relatively altruistic and others less so? (2) How does our attitude towards others affect our own emotional well-being and physical health?

Graham Music addresses these questions by elucidating the interactions between our childhood experiences, social world, cultural environment and evolutionary heritage.  As part of that endeavor he interweaves a wealth of research from fields as diverse as attachment theory, interpersonal neurobiology, endocrinology, social and moral psychology, game theory, primatology and evolutionary anthropology.  Particularly impressive is the way that Music makes this research accessible and engaging, without glossing over the contradictions and subtleties of our complex nature.

I thoroughly recommend this book to anybody who is interested in what makes us who we are, as well as to all those who are concerned with fostering well-being.
459210
Paul Rabinow, professor of anthropology at UC Berkeley, has scrutinized the invention and development of a major biotechnological tool that underlies most present-day gene detection and manipulation.  This book tells the story of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on the basis of personal interviews with most of the major players as well as extensive reading of the scientific and autobiographical literature.  It is really several books in one: a somewhat cerebral analysis of the ultimate meaning of science in human affairs, a historical account of the emergence of PCR, a description of the issues surrounding the rise of the biotechnology industry, and a trenchant account of the roles individual psychology and personal character play in research, especially in the industrial context.  Different readers may wish to concentrate on some of these elements and gloss over the others.  It's a rich tapestry of a book and I plan to return to it from time to time as one or another of its themes addresses my current interests.  This book belongs on the required reading list of anyone either in or contemplating a career in biotechnology.  Ditto for historians of post-WWII science.
4268076
This 142 page book is based on Krafts PhD sociological research. Kraft surveys BMBs (Believers from Muslim Background) in both Egypt and Lebanon using ethnographic collection methods that capture their real and rare voices and opinions. Still, the book contains a lot of academic theories and the spirit of a PhD dissertation. I sometimes wished I could hear more of the voices of these BMBs, but I could understand that this was research and she needed to deliver the results of the findings and not to dwell on the details. As an BMB from that region, I identified with what Kraft captured and presented of those BMB issues and hopes.
525514
Interesting book that turns many parenting assumptions on their heads, including the effects of praise, the static nature of intelligence (in other words, it's not static in kids like it is in adults), sibling rivalry, teen rebellion, and more. The research is well described without getting too technical, though I'd like to know more about the various studies' methodologies before taking the results at face value. All in all, a very eye-opening read. Despite my background in pediatrics, I picked up new information and had to rethink some prior assumptions. I recommend this book to parents and non-parents alike.