It should not be so hard to write both poetry and fiction. Both arts, after all, make use of the same materials, words and punctuation. Poems...
Continue »
Dr. Mukherjee has filled a noticeable & frustrating gap in the cancer literature, which, except for a few books like Susan Love's book on breast cancer, seems to encompass two poles: popularly written "think positive" pep talks, and indecipherable (to the layperson)medical literature. Reading this book, I realized, for instance, why leukemia's over-production of white cells does not assist (as white cells usually do) the body's fight against infection--because these are immature white cells incapable of therapeutic function. Dr. M. also strikes a good balance between optimism about what cancer researchers may come up w/ in the future, in the way of new therapeutic & preventive drugs, and a warning about the thus-far intractable nature of cancer (its power of mutation). As a survivor now undergoing chemotherapy for the third time, I have no illusions about my ability to "get over" cancer, but I do appreciate the dedication of my doctors & all the researchers over the years whose struggles are so clearly & patiently chronicled by Dr. Mukherjee. He is that rare combination--a compassionate physician, a careful researcher, and a good writer.
Once you read this book, you will never again (I hope!) dismiss an opponent's argument as "mere semantics." Not only does Pinker prove that shades of meaning among words are important (hardly a revolutionary insight), but he also shows how the meanings attached to certain words reveal structures in the brain that have nothing to do with language or the words we use--and this IS revolutionary! If you've ever wondered how human beings managed to think for nearly 3 million years before language was invented, this book will make that clear.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(28 of 48 readers found this comment helpful)
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.
Don't Miss
Customer Comments
patswee2006 has commented on (2) products.
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
patswee2006, January 2, 2011
Dr. Mukherjee has filled a noticeable & frustrating gap in the cancer literature, which, except for a few books like Susan Love's book on breast cancer, seems to encompass two poles: popularly written "think positive" pep talks, and indecipherable (to the layperson)medical literature. Reading this book, I realized, for instance, why leukemia's over-production of white cells does not assist (as white cells usually do) the body's fight against infection--because these are immature white cells incapable of therapeutic function. Dr. M. also strikes a good balance between optimism about what cancer researchers may come up w/ in the future, in the way of new therapeutic & preventive drugs, and a warning about the thus-far intractable nature of cancer (its power of mutation). As a survivor now undergoing chemotherapy for the third time, I have no illusions about my ability to "get over" cancer, but I do appreciate the dedication of my doctors & all the researchers over the years whose struggles are so clearly & patiently chronicled by Dr. Mukherjee. He is that rare combination--a compassionate physician, a careful researcher, and a good writer.The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature by Steven Pinker
patswee2006, November 15, 2007
Once you read this book, you will never again (I hope!) dismiss an opponent's argument as "mere semantics." Not only does Pinker prove that shades of meaning among words are important (hardly a revolutionary insight), but he also shows how the meanings attached to certain words reveal structures in the brain that have nothing to do with language or the words we use--and this IS revolutionary! If you've ever wondered how human beings managed to think for nearly 3 million years before language was invented, this book will make that clear.(28 of 48 readers found this comment helpful)