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University of California, San Francisco.Text on the molecular basis of cancer, for practitioners and residents. Covers etiology, biochemical mechanisms of cancer, molecular pathogenesis, and more. 11 contributors, 10 U.S. DNLM: Neoplasm - etiology. ... Read more

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In 1989 Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus were awarded the Nobel Prize for their discovery that normal genes under certain conditions can cause cancer. In this book, Bishop tells us how he and Varmus made their momentous discovery. More than a lively account of the making of a brilliant scientist, How to Win the Nobel Prize is also a broader narrative combining two major and intertwined strands of medical history: the long and ongoing struggles to control infectious diseases and to find and attack the causes of cancer.

Alongside his own story, that of a youthful humanist evolving into an ambivalent medical student, an accidental microbiologist, and finally a world-class researcher, Bishop gives us a fast-paced and engrossing tale of the microbe hunters. It is a narrative enlivened by vivid anecdotes about our deadliest microbial enemies--the Black Death, cholera, syphilis, tuberculosis, malaria, smallpox, HIV--and by biographical sketches of the scientists who led the fight against these scourges.

Bishop then provides an introduction for nonscientists to the molecular underpinnings of cancer and concludes with an analysis of many of today's most important science-related controversies--ranging from stem cell research to the attack on evolution to scientific misconduct. How to Win the Nobel Prize affords us the pleasure of hearing about science from a brilliant practitioner who is a humanist at heart. Bishop's perspective will be valued by anyone interested in biomedical research and in the past, present, and future of the battle against cancer.

Customer Reviews (1)

Noble Work
This is, of course, not a how-to on winning the Nobel Prize.Rather it is Bishop's personal account of what happened when he won the Nobel Prize in "physiology or medicine" in 1989.This is told in a rather light-hearted, self deprecating way that is at once amusing and informative--he provides plenty of background on the prize itself, as well as the logistics of the ceremony of the presentation.

Actually the book is something of a grab-bag of topics.It is partly autobiographical, partly historical accounts of cancer research, and partly a commentary on the issues of the public's perception and misperceptions on science and society. And partly about the discovery that he and Harold Varmus made--the first oncogene.

Although I much enjoyed the other parts, it was to learn something of the discovery itself that brought me to buy the book.And here I must say I was a little disappointed.Basically, they found that one of the four genes carried by the Rous sarcoma virus is also found in the dna of many species of animals, including man.In fact it is found in normal cells, as well as those that are cancerous, and is expressed in both.I found this all a bit confusing.Is it the over-expression of the SRC gene responsible for some cancers, or is it a damaged form of the gene that is responsible?Is it an oncogene or a proto-oncogene?What does it do?

The current paradigm for cancer causation is that one of a few oncogenes and/or tumor supressor genes malfunction to give rise to cancer.I had hoped for a clearer statement of this rather dogmatic idea, and perhaps even some pros and cons for it.What makes a gene qualify for oncogene status?This is never made clear.What has become of SRC?What has been found out in the 30 years since the discovery?Has anyone ever seen a cancer in which only the supposed oncogene is different from that seen in the normal cell?I don't think so.

An opposing theory to this is that the fundamental event in cancer is aneuploidy:the cancer cell contains an abnormal number of chromosomes, thereby over-expressing some thousands of genes at once.Surprisingly, Bishop does not mention this alternative at all.Maybe the oncogene hypothesis is just plain wrong after all.And Peter Duesberg's paradigm is closer to the truth.

Bishop's last chapter covers some of the public controversies:stem cells and cloning, genetic testing and evolution.He gives us his two cents worth on all of them, and I can't help but think he is right on most of what he says.He's got a lot of common sense, and expresses it pretty well. ... Read more

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Pages 483-817 ... Read more

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Bishop and Trout here present a unique and provocative new approach to epistemology (the theory of human knowledge and reasoning). Their approach aims to liberate epistemology from the scholastic debates of standard analytic epistemology, and treat it as a branch of the philosophy of science. The approach is novel in its use of cost-benefit analysis to guide people facing real reasoning problems and in its framework for resolving normative disputes in psychology. Based on empirical data, Bishop and Trout show how people can improve their reasoning by relying on Statistical Prediction Rules (SPRs). They then develop and articulate the positive core of the book. Their view, Strategic Reliabilism, claims that epistemic excellence consists in the efficient allocation of cognitive resources to reliable reasoning strategies, applied to significant problems. The last third of the book develops the implications of this view for standard analytic epistemology; for resolving normative disputes in psychology; and for offering practical, concrete advice on how this theory can improve real people's reasoning.This is a truly distinctive and controversial work that spans many disciplines and will speak to an unusually diverse group, including people in epistemology, philosophy of science, decision theory, cognitive and clinical psychology, and ethics and public policy. ... Read more

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Long Overdue
An extremely good book that describes what epistemology could be, as compared with the tedious academic exercise it has unfortunately become. As it stands, if traditional epistemology disappeared tomorrow, nobody outside of its small group of practitioners would notice or care.

Bishop & Trout's argument for a reorientation of epistemology is based in the "Aristotelian Principle" that in the long run, poor reasoning tends to lead to worse outcomes than good reasoning. That simple assertion licenses empirical testing of the relative goodness of competing reasoning strategies. It is also "a necessary precondition for the practical relevance of epistemology," because if better reasoning doesn't lead to better outcomes than bad reasoning does, then it wouldn't matter how we arrive at our beliefs, and epistemology in any form would be a pointless enterprise.

Reliabilism is the theory of epistemology that holds a belief to be justified if it results from some process of demonstrated reliability, one that has been shown to yield true beliefs. The purpose of this book is to make the case for something the authors call Strategic Reliabilism. SR is an epistemological theory that defines epistemic excellence as (1) efficient allocation of cognitive (reasoning, problem-solving) resources (2) to robustly reliable strategies, (3) applied to significant problems.

The goal is a more prescriptive, reason-guided epistemology, relevant to problem solving in the real world by offering practical recommendations about how to reason better and thus achieve better outcomes. It would be based in empirical research on the limitations and foibles of human reasoning and how to avoid or compensate for them. Strategic Reliabilism is not a theory of justification; its focus is on comparing reasoning strategies to identify the better ones so they can be used instead of ones that are less good. The importance of this effort can be seen in the enormous costs connected with poor reasoning. A patient with a positive result on a diagnostic test for cancer or AIDs needs good information about the likelihood that he actually has the disease. In fact, one study showed that only 18% of faculty and staff at Harvard Medical School were able to reason to the correct interpretation of a positive diagnostic test; the average estimated likelihood was 28 times too high.

"Ameliorative Psychology" is Bishop & Trout's term for the empirical discipline that searches for better reasoning strategies and, from the results of empirical tests, makes normative recommendations about how to reason better. The specific techniques described that have so far been found to improve reasoning include: Statistical Prediction Rules; thinking in terms of frequencies vs. probabilities in Bayesian problems; and recognition of common sources of bias and error (overconfidence, the interview effect, the generalized attribution error, lack of comparison in causal attribution, regression effects, leaping to plausible but ungrounded causal fictions for rare events). The many examples of these common problems in reasoning are highly interesting and troubling, especially as they show up in professionals who you assume would know better.

Traditional epistemology (referred to SAE: Standard Analytic Epistemology) emphasizes knowledge defined as justified true belief. But it provides no guidance about how to arrive at that worthy goal. SAE emphasizes a priori intuition as the method of evaluating clever examples involving strange hypothetical situations. B&T argue that these word games make little contact with real-world problems, that such intuitions are not, in fact, a priori, and that there is no evidence that the intuitions of philosophers produce trustworthy judgments about epistemic matters. SAE has failed to deliver.

This is a terrific book, one that offers a meaningful future for epistemology, joining it with scientific psychology to create a specialty with something of real value to offer the world. Whether it will be received that way by philosophers is another question entirely, although one can always dream.

Great book!
Great book! I am what the authors call a "Standard Analytic Epistemologist", and I'm finding it hard to escape their arguments. The book is intelligent, fair, and beautifully written. It is also funnier than most philosophy books (not very hard to do, I know). Epistemology and the Psychology of Human Judgment is not written to preach to those already converted to naturalism. Rather, it is an honest experiment in naturalism, in all of its multi-disciplinary splendor. In developing their version of naturalistic epistemology - called strategic reliabilism -- they expose contemporary epistemology for the insular field that it is. Highly recommended. ... Read more

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As the population ages, issues and challenges are emerging for elder care providers. This manual has been designed to take an in-depth look at planning for the elderly. ... Read more

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Regine Pernoud, the highly acclaimed French medieval historian, and author of best-selling titles on Joan of Arc and Hildegard of Bingen, as well as the book Those Terrible Middle Ages, presents an enlightening biography of one of France's most revered saints, and a man whose impact on France, and Europe, continues to this day. Martin of Tours lived in the 4th century, at that great turning point in history when the Roman Empire fell and the Church took charge in the West. He left a successful career in the military life to become a monk, and later a Bishop who traveled extensively, evangelizing the countryside and creating that particular sort of community life in a village that is now called a "parish". More than four hundred towns and some four thousand parishes in France are named after St. Martin. The term "chapel" is derived from the actual church where pilgrims venerate Martin's "cape" or cloak. Martin of Tours was a servant of the common man, as well as the nobility, and a very humble man who responded to the needs of his times and opened up vast perspectives for ordinary, everyday life. Given the crisis of the Christian Faith now facing France and all of Europe, the story of this soldier and great apostle and Christian evangelist is a timely one indeed. ... Read more

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Making use of the only records available -pastoral visits and synodal statutes -the authors introduce fresh evidence and interpretations. They shed new light on the medieval origins of the Catholic Reformation and the nature of the reform movement in the sixteenth century. Their work shows the importance of French bishops in starting the early-modern reform and their subsequent role in preparing the Catholic Church to weather the French Revolution. They also explore both the role of the French monarchy in the creation and collapse of the Catholic Reformation, and the changing attitude of peasants and the proto-proletariat toward official religion. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Journal of School Health, published by American School Health Association on August 1, 2002. The length of the article is 4656 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the author: This study evaluated "All's Well That Eats Well," a theater production performed in 20 schools in the Twin Cities, Minn., metropolitan area in winter 2000. The production sought to change food-related knowledge and food choices concerning fruits and vegetables among children in grades 1-6. The study used a pretest-posttest design with two randomly-assigned, sequential intervention-control groups (N = 4,093). All students completed surveys prior to and then following the theater production and the classroom and home activities. No differences existed between the groups at pretest. Significant differences occurred in food-related knowledge, food choices, and food recall from pretest to posttest for all students. Significant differences also occurred between intervention groups in food-related knowledge and food choices. The study indicates that professional theater productions in schools can create at least a short-term effect on children's nutrition knowledge and behavior.

Citation Details
Title: Evaluation of a theater production about eating behavior of children.(Critical Essay)(Statistical Data Included)
Author: Cheryl L. Perry
Publication: Journal of School Health (Refereed)
Date: August 1, 2002
Publisher: American School Health Association
Volume: 72Issue: 6Page: 256(6)

Article Type: Critical Essay, Statistical Data Included

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Includes: Cherubim; The Roman Census; Anna the Prophetess; etc. ... Read more