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Discusses the destruction of the chemical munitions in the U.S. for more than a decade in keeping with recommendations from the NRC, and the U.S. Army selected incineration as the destruction method at all storage sites.Softcover. ... Read more

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Photovoltaics (PV) is the field of technology and research related to the application of solar cells for energy by converting sun energy directly into electricity. Due to the growing demand for clean sources of energy, the manufacture of solar cells and photovoltaic arrays has expanded dramatically in recent years. Photovoltaic production has been doubling every two years, increasing by an average of 48 per cent each year since 2002, making it the world's fastest-growing energy technology. They are best known as a method for generating electric power by using solar cells packaged in photovoltaic modules, often electrically connected in multiples as solar photovoltaic arrays, to convert energy from the sun into electricity. This book gathers the latest research from around the globe in this dynamic field. ... Read more

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This book intended for academic and industrial researchscientists and engineers, as well as industrial laboratories workingon sensors, biotechnology and opto/electronics details in 17 chaptersstate-of-the-art technologies and the prospects for micro-contactprinting and nanoimprint lithography. ... Read more

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Opinion leaders in science and politics examine findings and legislation in alternatives to animal testing!

Refine, reduce, replace - These are the three demands that scientists have placed upon themselves in their search for alternatives to animal testing. Indeed much interdisciplinary research is being carried on today, and new fields have emerged, such as in-vitro toxicology.

The three R's call for new scientific insights. Moreover, validation and acceptance strategies have to be adapted, a process of much ongoing interest and vital concern to the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.

Researchers need to know exactly what has been achieved and accepted in alternatives to animal testing in science and politics. In this book they have the opportunity to benefit from the knowledge and expertise of leading researchers and influential representatives of national and international regulatory authorities. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Lively but somewhat short-sighted
This is an interesting collection of articles. I wish to comment on some key themes, and in the process add some historical perspective, a point of view sorely missed in this book.

----Rigour and formalism.

It is with great pleasure that we read Ash & Ash's article outlining "A Sensible Approach to Calculus." This article makes a convincing case for their splendid "Calculus Tutoring Book" by contrasting it with the conventional alternatives. An example will convey the gist of their approach.

"Consider L'Hospital's rule ... Most texts prove the rule using the Extended Mean Value Theorem which in turn is proved using the Mean Value Theorem which in turn is proved using Rolle's Theorem which in turn is proved using an Extreme Value Theorem whose proof ironically is widely admitted to be beyond the scope of any calculus text." (p. 233)

Ash & Ash's alternative: "Corresponding to a numerator and a denominator both approaching 0, think of two runners at a starting line (the zero mark). At that moment the ratio of their positions is the arithmetic impossibility 0/0. But as they move, the ration of their positions near the starting line, where they began 'even with each other' depends on how fast they move. For example, if the first runner is going twice as fast as the second and they cross a zero line together, then very near that line, the first runner is twice as far from the line as the second. So it makes sense to replace the ratio of positions f(x)/g(x) ... by the ratio of velocities f'(x)/g'(x)." (pp. 234-235)

I say that an historical point of view could add considerable force to Ash & Ash's case, viz. by showing that Ash & Ash should have gone further still in their denunciation of the reigning dogma. Their unfortunate cautiousness consist in accepting the prevalent but very stupid attitude that "mathematicians" demand rigour whereas "physicists" prefer more intuitive arguments. This false dichotomy should not be accepted, for it is based on a despicably pompous and self-righteous notion of "mathematicians." Its stupidity should be apparent from the fact that the set of "mathematicians" so defined is confined to a snobbish 20th-century clique, and in effect excludes every single discoverer of every single theorem in all of undergraduate calculus.

----"Calculus courses focus too narrowly on closed-form methods applied to elementary functions" (p. 239).

This claim by Paul Zorn (which is echoed by others) is supported as follows.

"Because closed-form methods fail with so many innocuous-looking problems ..., exercises and applications are carefully contrived, and they show it. Arc-length integral problems are especially ludicrous: they can almost never be computed in closed form. An excellent opportunity to use numerical integration where it is needed is usually wasted." (p. 240)

We could not agree more that many calculus problems are contrived and ludicrous. However, that does not mean that computers are "needed." The truth is rather that we do not "need" to evaluate arc lengths numerically at all. These problems assigned because they are drillable and quizzable, and so can be taught by the most bored instructor to the most bored students, and affords a convenient way of sorting the latter into As, Bs, Cs, etc. That is the only sense in which these problems are "needed."

Instead of having computers calculate these worthless numerical results we should ignore them altogether and instead teach the beautiful results obtainable by using arc lengths. For example, arc length calculus enables a very insightful treatment of the derivatives, power series, etc. of the arc-trigonometric functions. This approach has remarkable added benefits such as leading to Leibniz's beautiful formula for pi derived by calculating the arc of the unit circle corresponding to arctan(1). The excitement of such derivations cannot be matched by any sterile computer output.

Zorn seemingly takes an approximate, numerical, computer-supplied answer to be on par with a closed-form answer obtained by human contemplation. History knows better, and helps us realise that an intellectual ocean separates the two. Recall Leibniz's excitement upon finding the expression for the catenary. If a numerical answer had been just as good there would have been an easy shortcut: just nail a chain to the wall and trace it onto a graph paper and voila, there's your catenary. Not only would this have taken all the life out of an exciting derivation, it would also have precluded the discoveries prompted by the closed-form expression, such as Leibniz's idea that a ship navigator having lost his table of logarithms could reconstruct one from a catenary on the wall of his cabin.

----"Computer Algebra Systems, Tools for Reforming Calculus Instruction."

This is the title of the contribution by Small & Hosack. In it we find the following unfortunate recommendation:

"Because of the algebra involved we usually do not ask students to compute very many Riemann Sums or to experiment by considering different partitions or varying the points in the partition intervals where the function is evaluated. It would be easy to carry out these types of experimentation with CAS and in the process give students a hands on type experience." (p. 152)

This is a very harmful attitude that infects people who have never taken their noses out of textbooks. The fact that Riemann lived two hundred years after the invention of calculus should give us a hint that his sums are not as fundamental as they are made out to be. Indeed, when we look at history we find that *no one, including Riemann, ever evaluated a single integral using Riemann Sums.* That is simply not what they are for. Riemann invented his sums as a *theoretical* tool to tackle a narrow, *theoretical* problem regarding Fourier series. Evaluating Riemann sums numerically is completely pointless and gives an absurdly distorted impression of what they are for and what the foundations of calculus are, which is why no actual mathematician have ever bothered to evaluate a single one.

This is an instance of a more general folly. Finding the derivatives "from the definition" is anachronistic and misleading in exactly the same way. Nor did anyone "experiment" in order to "discover" that sin(x)=x for small x, even though some calculus textbooks of today make a fuss about this example. This result is obvious with the correct conceptual understanding, an insight that longwinded numerical experimentation and pseudo-discovery-learning will muddle at best and prevent at worst.

----Conclusion on computers.

More generally, I say that the naive arguments for the value of computers offered by people like Zorn and Small & Hosack and a number of other authors in this collection are predicated on the misconception that the bottom-line, bread-and-butter purpose of calculus is to solve problems with definite numerical answers, e.g. evaluating specific definite integrals. Such problems are indeed superfluous now that computer systems can do everything we can do in this domain. But the overlooked fact is that *these problems were superfluous already* and always have been. They are taught for one reason and one reason only: they are "teachable" in the modern sense of teaching, i.e., even the most talentless teacher can cram their solution into the heads of students, who can then repeat them back at an exam, which results in a process that has some superficial semblance of learning.

I do not wish to say that computers are to be neglected, only that we apply them were there is an intellectual purpose to be served (e.g. for differential equations; cf. Lax's apt remarks on pp. 70-71), not to alleviate us from computing drill problems that should never have been taught in the first place. Such problems should be avoided not because computers can do them but because they are boring and worthless. As history shows, the real purpose of calculus is to reach interesting insights, e.g. to prove the law of ellipses, the laws of reflection and refraction, the focal property of the parabola, the prime number theorem, etc. For this we need old-school computational skills, and no computer in the world has a clue how to help us.

----"The Logic of Teaching Calculus."

This is the title of the contribution by Epp, who recommends explicating "logic" in order to prevent the supposedly deplorable fact that "students seem to lack any well defined notion of variable or of function" and show "lack of understanding of definitions, not just of sophisticated concepts such as limit but also of more fundamental ones such as secant and tangent" (p. 49). Again history shows the folly: "well defined notions" of variable, function, limit, etc. are superfluous for all the classical purposes of calculus, which is why they were not provided until hundreds of years after calculus itself. You can do logical gymnastics hour after hour to try to contort these concepts into the heads of students but it will not lead anywhere because *the concepts you teach are worthless.* The students say so and history proves them right. ... Read more

Product Description
At least half a million American cancer patients are using complementary and alternative medicine therapies such as dietary programmes, supplements, imagery and herbs, but little has been done to evaluate these therapies or to provide information about them to the public. As North American cancer rates in recent decades have risen so that a person's lifetime risk is now over one in three, the questions that patients and clinicians have about alternative treatments have continued to grow. How can patients and clinicians make sense of the various options? "Evaluating Alternative Cancer Therapies" offers an approach to the evaluation problems. Hess interviewed the major opinion leaders in the alternative cancer therapy field - clinicians, researchers, patient advocacy leaders and journalists - who explain their philosophy of evaluation, their therapeutic preferences, and the political and economic hurdles to getting the necessary research done.Both a guide to the guides and a survey of the field, "Evaluating Alternative Cancer Therapies" provides a framework for evaluation problems that clinicians and patients face - from patient needs and the quality of potential clinical care givers to research methods, proposed policy reforms and the therapies themselves. Those interviewed include: Berkley Bedell; Keith Block; John Boik; Douglas Brodie; Francisco Contreras; Michael Culbert; Barry Chowka; W. John Diamond; John Fink; Norman Fritz; Gar Hildenbrand; Robert Houston; Michael Lerner; Patrick McGrady; Ralph Moss; Ross Pelton; Susan Silberstein; Morton Walker; and Frank Wiewel. ... Read more

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Biodiesel production is a rapidly advancing field worldwide, with biodiesel fuel increasingly being used in compression ignition (diesel) engines. Biodiesel has been extensively studied and used in developed countries and is increasingly being introduced in developing countries, especially in regions with high potential for sustainable biodiesel production. Biodiesel Science and Technology provides a comprehensive reference on the technological developments involved in improving biodiesel quality and production capacity that are crucial to the future of the industry.

This book begins by systematically reviewing feedstock resources and vegetable oil formulations, including the economics of vegetable oil conversion to diesel fuel. It also covers emerging energy crops for biodiesel production. The book then discusses the transesterification process, including chemical (catalysis) and biochemical (biocatalysis) processes, with extended coverage of industrial process technology and control methods and standards for biodiesel fuel quality assurance. Final chapters cover the sustainability, performance, and environmental issues of biodiesel production as well as routes to improve glycerol by-product usage and the development of next-generation products.

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Aggressive, effective safety inspection programs are key elements to ensuring that oil- and gas-producing platform operations on the outer continental shelf are conducted in a safe and environmentally sound manner. Although the oil and gas leaseholders themselves are primarily responsible for the soundness of their operations, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the Department of the Interior is charged with prescribing safe practices and inspecting platforms. In response to an MMS request, this book examines possible revisions of MMS's inspection system, appraises inspection practices elsewhere - both in government and industry - assesses the advantages and disadvantages of alternative procedures, and recommends potentially more efficient practices aimed at increasing industry's awareness of its accountability for safety. ... Read more

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Get the truth about alternative energy and make it part of your life

Want to utilize cleaner, greener types of energy? This plain-English guide clearly explains the popular forms of alternative energy that you can use in your home, your car, and more. Separating myth from fact, this resource explores the current fossil fuel conundrum, the benefits of alternatives, and the energy of the future, such as hydrogen and fuel cell technology.

• The ABCs of alternative energy — what it is, how it works, and what the real costs are

• Where we are now — learn where our current energy comes from and how much longer it will last

• Take the first step — see how energy efficiency and conservation can reduce your reliance on fossil fuels

• Grasp the alternatives — from nuclear power to geothermal energy to wood burning, understand the benefits that alternative energy can have on the nation

• Apply alternative fuels to transportation — from biofuels to exotic propulsion to electricity, see how they are best used and how hybrid, all-electric, and fuel cell–powered vehicles work

• Get a peek into the future — see what the outlook holds for each form of alternative energy discussed

Open the book and find:

• The pros and cons of alternative energy

• A review of the current world energy economy

• The problems with fossil fuels, from smog to global warming

• Advantages of alternative energy

• Practical results of alternatives you can use in daily life

• Guidelines for investing in alternative energy vehicles

• Ten ways you can bring about change right now

• Insight into the future of energy production — and how you can invest in it

Customer Reviews (8)

Energy Basics - Surprisingly Comprehensive
I was expecting the usual hodge podge of alternative energy, but this book delves deeper into the meaning of energy, and the fundamental problems inherent in all energy processes.This is not a rah rah book, but a sober analysis of the problems facing alternative energy, along with realistic solutions.Realism will solve the green dilemma, not partisanship and wishful thinking.
Highly recommended if you want a comprehensive viewpoint of energy.

Basics on Alternative Energy
As a 'green' thinker, I was looking for some ideas as to how to reduce my dependencies on the utilities and energy providers. I had some preconceived notions as to what was available, but really did not know the advantages or disadvantages of the choices.

The author does a great job producing content that can be scanned for items of interest without requiring that you read the book cover to cover.Each of the alternative energy options are explored, with pros and cons, estimated pricing options, and a good comparitive summary.

Required an Editor
The book is very sloppy in both content and style.There were paragraphs that I had to read seven or eight times to try and figure out what part of the message the author left out.There are "facts" included in the text that don't even pass the giggle test.It appears there are many key words that are missing, little clues that might indicate a number represents "millions" of tons, and not tons.Of course the correct answer might be "billions", the text offers no clue.

The author begins the book by stating that he will be "neutral" on the issue of anthropogenic global warming, and then throughout the book takes every opportunity to link alternative energy to AGW -- focusing on carbon emissions, which he always refers to as "greehouse gases".

I love the DUMMIES series, and have well over a dozen in my library.This is the first one that really disappointed me.A decent editor with knowledge of the subject could have fixed it.

Alternate energy
This is a very informative book. I may not do much of it but any energy savings is good for me and the planet.

Easy Reading Low Level Descriptions of Alternative Energy
I am a professional engineer with degrees in mechanical and nuclear engineering. I specialize in energy systems for building heating, cooling, and lighting. I have forty years of work experience. This book with twenty-three chapters and 362 pages covers pretty much the full range of alternative energy options that are commercially available or nearly so for consumers. The technical level seems to me about what one would expect for articles in Parade, the Sunday newspaper supplement. Diagrams are few and very simple. (There is nothing wrong with writing for this level of reader.)

Certainly a qualitative discussion of how alternative systems work and what advantages they bring is helpful, but even an interested high school physics student would be looking for more technical content. The book's cover has as the first objective learning to "evaluate the various forms of alternative energy," but evaluation (a comparison of alternatives for example) requires thermodynamic and other technical facts and energy and system cost data far beyond those presented in this book.

After reading this book you will be able to describe in general terms (but certainly not engineering terms) the various alternatives; but you will have little basis for comparisons and selections.

The book has many technical mistakes. For example, the book states, "According to Carnot's law, these smaller power generating machines can never achieve the efficiencies of the massive power plants..." He is speaking here of the Carnot thermodynamic cycle; but that "law" says nothing at all about the size of the system. Carnot (French engineer, 1796 - 1832) found that the theoretical efficiency of an engine operating on the Carnot thermodynamic cycle depends only on the temperatures of the hot and cold reservoirs.

Describing a nuclear reactor the books says, "so there is a need to constantly keep feeding in new uranium material in order to keep the consistent, steady flow of energy that is desired from a nuclear reactor." Nuclear reactors powering electrical generating stations or naval vessels control the power output by raising and lowering neutron-absorbing control rods. New nuclear material is added only during refueling, which take place every year or two while the reactor is shut down.

The book states that steam is produced in a nuclear power plant in "the boiler (this is similar to the boilers used for fossil fuels.) The steam in a nuclear plant is produced in a steam generator that is far different in design than a fossil fuel boiler.

The book states, "Some reactors don't allow the water to boil; they keep it under high pressure and use that pressure to spin the turbine." In every common reactor system, the water that cools the reactor in the end produces steam. For example high pressure water that goes through the reactor in a pressurized water reactor turns lower pressure water in a separate circuit into steam in the steam generator, which is just a big water to water heat exchanger. All turbines that drive generators in reactor plants are steam turbines.

All of us must start with simple descriptions of new things. But one can not stop there if one wants to make accurate decisions. It is not common sense or higher moral values that drive innovation, but rigorous and often difficult engineering together with a knowledge of the economics of energy markets and knowledge of systems installation costs and operating costs.






... Read more

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Animal experimentation has long been a controversial issue, with impassioned arguments on both sides of the debate. Increasingly it has become more expedient and feasible to develop new methods that avoid the use of animals. There is agreement on both sides that reduction and refinement of experiments on animals should be an important goal for the industries involved.

Alternatives to Animal Testing, written by leading experts in the field, discusses the issues involved and approaches that can be taken. Topics include: the safety evaluation of chemicals; international validation and barriers to the validation of alternative tests; in vitro testing for endocrine disruptors; intelligent approaches to safety evaluation of chemicals; alternative tests and the regulatory framework.

The book provides an up-to-date discussion of the current state of development of alternatives to animal testing and is ideal for professionals and academics in the field. It would also be of use for graduate students wishing to pursue a career in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.

Product Description
Renowned as a writer of classic adventure stories such as The Call of the Wild and White Fang, Jack London also had a parallel career as a writer of science fiction and fantasy. In Leonaur's three volume, The Collected Science Fiction & Fantasy of Jack London, his SF and fantasy novels and shorter works are brought together for the first time. In the early twentieth century the USA diverged from the path of the history we know. Viewed from 800 years in the future, through the pages of an ancient manuscript, we learn that huge business conglomerates became all powerful, and ordinary people little more than slaves - the property of a despotic regime that controlled their lives. Those savage and inhuman times are vividly depicted in The Iron Heel, one of Jack London's finest novels. Also in this volume are five shorter works that demonstrate both the scope of London's imagination and his concern for the future of our world. ... Read more

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A survey of the extensive field of sucrose alternatives, detailing scientific information, technical applications, and regulatory ratings for a wide array of sweeteners. It highlights the change in status of saccharin, the increased use of polyols, and the possibilities provided by the availability of a variety of alternative sweeteners and their uses in combination. This third edition contains new chapters on neotame, tagatose, trehalose, erythritol, and aspartame-acesulfame salt. ... Read more

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In this thrilling and compelling exploration of the human con-dition, Appleyard exposes the central role of science in shaping our lives and our beliefs, tracing the history of science from Copernicus, Newton, and Descartes to Einstein, Feynman, and Hawking. He argues that the birth of environmentalism and the diminished importance of religion and philosophy in today's society are direct results of science's 400- year assault on our view of ourselves and the universe. Understanding the Present reflects views regarding the progression of science that are held by many people, especially non-scientists. With issues such as cloning and 'designer' babies coming to the forefront of the scientific debate, one question is repeatedly posed: 'How far should science go?' This valuable book explains why this question is being asked and provides the non-scientific reader with an accessible history of the discipline-and its place in society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Outdated thinking
This book, and others like it, are like the cry of an infant when its parent doesn't come. Applegate basically complains that the universe doesn't agree with his philosophical point of view, and therefore we should ignore the great strides and improvements science has brought about and retreat to our mothers' skirts, tinfoil on our heads. And maybe when we grow up, to assuage the awful feeling of insignificance, we should tell our children reassuring lies that keep their egos on solid ground, instead of letting their intellects soar.

Freedom from the Monster
Science has been good to me.

Not only has it provided the tools to have a life that would have been unimaginable when I was born, but also the fruits of science helped save me when I had a surprising medical challenge. And it became a building block of a successful career.

But I have also been beset by nagging worries about the direction of the scientific enterprise and by the disinterest of most scientists in the implications of what we are doing.

In discussions with many prominent scientists, most go blank or shrug when asked about the philosophical underpinnings of science, or the practical implications of unfettered and unaccountable scientific experimentation.

Enter Bryan Appleyard's excellent book. Bryan is a journalist who writes mainly for the Sunday Times in London, though he has some other outlets: if you are interested, I subscribe to his wonderfully iconoclastic weblog - Thought Experiments - through mine: RichardGPettyMD.blogs. You will have to work out the final part of the address: this review will not allow me to post the whole link!

This is a book about the "appalling spiritual damage that science and how much more it can still do." Not the physical damage of rampant technology, but from an inner desolation.

Attacks on science are two-a-penny, but rarely do they come from someone birthed into a family of engineers, who taught him to respect science and its handmaiden: technology. He does not want some return to nature of like Rousseau or the Luddites: he wants to restore balance into human affairs.

As he says, despite the admirable intentions of most scientists, "science, quietly and inexplicitly is talking us into abandoning ourselves."

He goes on to say that,
"Science is not a neutral or innocent commodity which can be employed as a convenience by people wishing to partake only of the West's material power. It is spiritually corrosive, burning away ancient authorities and traditions. It cannot really co-exist with anything... As it burns away all competition, the question becomes: what kind of life is it that science offers to its people?.... What does it tell us about ourselves and how we must live?"

Though most scientists tend to disclaim responsibility for social and spiritual matters, they cannot continue to do so.

The trouble he says, is not with science, which is simply a method and a tool, but scientism: the belief that science is, or can be the complete and only explanation for life, the universe and everything. But explaining everything means understanding everything that exists, and that is a tall order.

So "scientists inevitably take on the mantle of the wizards, sorcerers and with doctors," and they have become the preferred authority on matters of morality and spirituality. Bryan cites a troubling quotation form the former Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru: "
"It is science alone that can solve the problems of hunger and poverty, of insanitation and illiteracy, of superstition and deadening of custom and tradition, of vast resources running to waste, or a rich country inhabited by starving poor... Who indeed could afford to ignore science today? At every turn we have to seek its aid... The future belongs to science and those who make friends with science."

The trouble is that science by its very nature is designed to be objective, and when scientism rules supreme, Nature and the universe are no longer seen as a living whole with purpose and meaning, but is instead dead material for study. Science provides us with descriptions of the universe that contain everything except us.

Subjectivity is not an illusion, even though we constantly see people who claim that all of our thoughts and emotions are simply reflexes.

So what are the solutions?

Bryan believes that understanding the limitations of science and of what it can explain is all to the good. After pointing out the limitations of a purely objective science, he believes that our thoughts and feelings, our relationships with others and the meanings that they create are the bedrock of existence. He also alludes to the idea of a new science that will se beyond the objective and may contribute to the development of a new spirituality.

In this he presages the fascinating work by Alan Wallace who is creating a "contemplative science" that incorporates contemplative practices and contemporary neuroscience to arrive at an extraordinary synthesis.

The myth of an all-seeing all-knowing science that insists that we are simply bio-molecular machines is dangerous in that, if taken too far, it strips us of some of the key components of our humanity.

Although this book was originally written several years ago, its arguments are even more important today, and I recommend it to anyone with any interest in the philosophical foundations of the modern world.


Richard G. Petty, MD, author of Healing, Meaning and Purpose: The Magical Power of the Emerging Laws of Life

Bracing Critique of Materialist perspective and Modernity
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is the modernist or skeptic's assault on modernity in general and the regime of science specifically. As limited as this view must be relative to a traditional or symbolist perspective (i.e., from someone not using the methods criticized to criticize them), I have not read a more accessible book on the subject. If you want to know how much and in what ways our present time (as all times) are an 'Age' with peculiar blind spots, graces, and misconceptions, this is the place to start. Ignore the two reviews below that offer apologies for the regime and accuse Applyard of pessimism; the man who sees the train about to roll over him - rolling over him? - is not a pessimist. Guenon's The Reign of Quantity and Upton's System of AntiChrist are this book's betters but they assume much more on the reader's part; please find this book and delight in his illumination of the ideas that frame our shallow and narrow worldview in the present time. Then read Swift's Battle of the Books and see that this fight is an old one each person must come to terms with.

Integration Not War
I found this book to give a spirited overview of the paradigms of modern science and the place of man's sense of self within these paradigms which is no place at all.However, I am not as pessimistic as Appleyard in that I believe science and spirit can be integrated. After readers get aroused by Appleyard they should read Ken Wilber's "The Marriage of Sense and Soul"and E.O. Wilson's "Consilience" for ideas on how these two apparently conflicting worldviews can be integrated. For example, Wilber suggests the method of science can be applied to both the subjective and objective domains of knowledge.

Interesting, Yet Overly Pessimistic
I picked this up in a bargain bin thinking it was a pop science book. A few pages in, it became apparent that the book was a criticism of science's failure to provide a sense of comfort about the big issues ("what is our purpose in life" etc). The author compares science to olde time religion and comes to the conclusion that religion is a lie that makes people happy, whilst science is a truth that saddens.

While this may be an accurate description of the general metaphysical discomfort caused as religion loses ground, it seems a bit presumptuous to suggest we devalue truth and return to the dark ages. As some ancient Roman guy once said, "the desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise". Instead of seeking wonder, purpose and freedom in a godless universe, Appleyard invites us to throw in the towel. And that is what makes this book so morbidly interesting... ... Read more

Product Description
Using information he developed in The Energy Grid (see below), Cathie offers this exciting sequel, exploring and extrapolating further about the nature and uses of the web of pulsating energy that envelops the earth. Delving into the mysteries of energy harmonics and the elusive possibilities of harmonic convergence, he analyses the mathematics of the world energy grid for past occurrences and future possibilities. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Toward A Unified Theory Of The Cosmos
Captain Bruce Cathie shows how HARMONICS - wave forms of light - and their interaction and resonance, form the basis or "matrix" of the universe. Advanced applications for space travel, "free" energy production and much more could be developed. An important book, filled with mathematical data and derivations to back up his case. He shows examples of how the ancients used this knowledge to design the Great Pyramid, the world grid system, and even the basis for the English system of measurement. He is convinced a secret group is utilizing this knowledge and purposefully keeping the world ignorant and backward. Based upon the impact this kind of advancement would have on the "profitable" fossil fuel monopoly, it's hard to argue with him. Carefully written for both the scientist and the layman, The Bridge To Infinity is a powerful and important book and ahead of its time. To those with ascientific background, it's a "must-read". To those without such a background, I say READ IT ANYWAY.

More of Cathie's Energy Grid
All of Cathie's books are important, but this one gives important reinforcement to his early work, THE ENERGY GRID. He gives new information on the energy grid, plus analyses the harmonics of several free energydevices, and Tibetan levitation, Irish round towers and more. I highlyrecommend all his books. ... Read more