Dark Winter PDF

Dark Winter: How the Sun Is Causing a 30-Year Cold Spell
Author: John L. Casey ID: 1630060356

Review

“The history of science is filled with examples of individuals with new ideas being met by the current scientific establishment not with enthusiasm, but rather with disregard and sometimes, even ridicule, like Louis Agassiz with glaciation and Alfred Wegener with continental drift. This also applies very much to the book Dark Winter, by John Casey. This book represents a fascinating read, and the potential consequences outlines are no less than far ranging.”
—DR. OLE HUMLUM, Professor of Physical Geography, University of Oslo, Norway

“Dark Winter is an important contribution for understanding and facing the environmental challenge, in its multi-faceted and often disquieting manifestations. John Casey approaches problems like a true scientist, who follows Leonardo da Vinci and he also knows how to explain concepts in a form that anyone can understand.”
—DR. GIOVANNI GREGORI, Theoretical Physicist, Italy

“Dark Winter is simply a great work! It throws new light into the climatic patterns of the Earth. John’s concepts will help people better understand nature and the full story of what is behind our climate changes.”
—DR. NATARAJAN VENKATANATHAN, Professor of Physics, SASTRA University, India

“The air is filled with lectures and rumors that our Earth is getting warm. The author of Dark Winter, John Casey has found evidence to the contrary. His work is quite a revelation that marks a step toward a new scientific civilization. This book adds a brilliant page to the history of science!”
—DR. FUMIO TSUNODA, Professor Emeritus of Geology, National Saitama University, Japan

About the Author

John L. Casey: John L. Casey (Orlando, FL) has served his country, science, and high technology industries for over thirty-five years. He has been a national space policy advisor to the White House and Congress, a space shuttle engineer, consultant to NASA Headquarters, and consultant to or president of several leading edge technology start-ups. He
is currently the President of the Space and Science Research Corporation (SSRC) a leading, independent, research organization in Orlando, Florida, USA. The SSRC specializes in the science and planning for the next climate change to decades of cold weather including its predicted concurrent ill effects of record earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The SSRC is the primary USA advocate for national and global preparedness for this next cold climate era.

Hardcover: 190 pagesPublisher: Humanix Books (August 19, 2014)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 1630060356ISBN-13: 978-1630060350 Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 9.3 inches Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #8,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #5 in Books > Textbooks > Science & Mathematics > Earth Sciences #5 in Books > Textbooks > Social Sciences > Political Science > Public Policy #6 in Books > Science & Math > Earth Sciences > Rivers
As the subtitle indicates, Casey predicts a 30-year cold spell, beginning very recently. If you live in North America anywhere east of the Rocky Mountains you probably saw enough winter last year to concede that he might have a point.

His calculations are based on solar cycles. A couple of years ago the publishers of the Olde Farmers Almanac stated for publication that their method of predicting weather is based on 11 and 22-year sunspot cycles, and has had essentially the same prediction method for more than 2 centuries. At that time the official weather office predictions were based on fluid mechanics. The original researchers on Chaos Theory showed conclusively that the fluid mechanics theory had an absolute maximum usefulness of 23 days. Beyond that time it is totally useless. The weather office claimed that the Farmers Almanac method was unscientific. I disagreed with that position on the basis that the two prediction methods should be judged on the accuracy of their results, not the horsepower of their computer sections.

About 20 years ago the Farmers Almanac was more accurate for weather more than about a week in the future. With advances in satellite technology this breakpoint may have been extended another few days.

Casey has done his homework. He is actually a scientist, not a politician, and every page of his book shows it. He proceeds in the scientific manner. His figures show, as do most similar researchers, that there are strong weather cycles of about 100 years and about 206 years. These strongly indicate a cold period ahead, with the coldest part in about 2030. He quotes figures from other researchers. Most of these are in general agreement. I note that he quotes several Russian researchers.
I hate to give this book two stars, because I agree with the role of sunspot cycles for the global climate.

But the book does too much with too little.

1) Solar cycles have only been metrically recorded since 1755. That’s too little time with which to create an adamant pronouncement of a 206 year solar cycle. That’s basically one full cycle. You just can’t create a real pattern based on a single cycle.

2) The presence of a solar cycle does not prove the absence of a CO2 correlation. It’s like trying to argue that unmarried couples can’t get pregnant because married couples do. The one does not negate the other.

3) The book doesn’t give real data. He gives his conclusions and implications, but he doesn’t walk his readers through the process of reaching the same conclusion.

4) The book reads like an advertisement for his blog. I write a blog myself, but if I were to put my blog into a book I would make the book the standalone and use the blog to advertise it — not the other way around.

5) The book counters global warming alarmism with global cooling alarmism. Perhaps the answer is to be less alarmed and more strategic. Historical climate changes vary by 24.5 degrees Celsius over the course of 100,000 year ice age cycles, and the news is alarmed at the possibility of a change by 1.5 degrees. The answer to global warming alarmism isn’t to deny temperature changes and rising oceans, nor is it to try to stop them from happening (like the boy with his finger in the dike), but rather to plan accordingly — with major cities a little further inland and technological innovation for renewable energy (not to eliminate future warming, but to survive future cooling).

6)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Too! Many!
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Incognito

Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain Hardcover – May 31, 2011
Author: Visit ‘s David Eagleman Page ID: 0307377334

Review

“A stunning exploration of the ‘we’behind the ‘I’. Eagleman reveals, with his typical grace and eloquence, all the neural magic tricks behind the cognitive illusion we call reality.” –Jonah Lehrer,  author of How We Decide

“Eagleman has a talent for testing the untestable, for taking seemingly sophomoric notions and using them to nail down the slippery stuff of consciousness.” –New Yorker

“Your mind is an elaborate trick, and mastermind David Eagleman explains how the trick works with great lucidity and amazement. Your mind will thank you.” –Kevin Kelly, Wired Magazine

“A fun read by a smart person for smart people…it will attract a new generation to ponder their inner workings.” –New Scientist

“Written in clear, precise language, the book is sure to appeal to readers with an interest in psychology and the human mind, but it will also please people who just want to know, with a little more clarity, what is going on inside their own skulls.” –Booklist 

“Original and provocative…Incognito is a smart, captivating book that will give you a prefrontal workout.” –Nature 
 
“Incognito is fun to read, full of neat factoids and clever experiments…Eagleman says he’s looking to do for neuroscience what Carl Sagan did for astrophysics, and he’s already on his way.” –Texas Monthly

“Although Incognito is face-paced, mind-bending stuff, it’s a book for regular folks. Eagleman does a brilliant job refining heavy science into a compelling read. He is a gifted writer.” –Houston Chronicle

“A popularizer of impressive gusto…[Eagleman] aims, grandly, to do for the study of the mind what Copernicus did for the study of the stars.” –New York Observer 

“The journey to the heart of neurological darkness is also a kind of safari, and we spend a lot of time taking in the marvelous birds…Incognito proposes a grand new account of the relationship between consciousness and the brain. It is full of dazzling ideas, as it is chockablock with facts and instances.” –The New York Observer   
 
“Incognito does the right thing by diving straight into the deep end and trying to swim. Eagleman, by imagining the future so vividly, puts into relief just how challenging neuroscience is, and will be.” –Boston Globe 
 
“Appealing and persuasive.” –Wall Street Journal

“Eagleman has a nice way with anecdotes and explanations…delightful.” –The Observer’s Very Short List
 
“Eagleman presents difficult neuroscience concepts in an energetic, casual voice with plenty of analogies and examples to ensure that what could easily be an overwhelming catalog of facts remains engaging and accessible…the ideas in Eagleman’s book are well-articulated and entertaining, elucidated with the intelligent, casual tone of an enthusiastic university lecturer.” –The Millions
 
“A fascinating, dynamic, faceted look under the hood of the conscious mind…Equal parts entertaining and illuminating, the case studies, examples and insights in Incognito are more than mere talking points to impressed at the next dinner party, poised instead to radically shift your understanding of the world, other people, and your own mind.” –Brain Pickings

“Eagleman engagingly sums up recent discoveries about the unconscious processes that dominate our mental life.” –The New York Times Book Review 
 
“Fascinating…Eagleman has the ability to turn hard science and jargon into interesting and relatable prose, illuminating the mind’s processes with clever analogies and metaphors.” –SaltLake City Weekly
 
“A great beach read.“ –Philadelphia City Paper
 
“Touches on some of the more intriguing cul-de-sacs of human behavior.“ –Santa Cruz Sentinel

“Startling…It’s a book that will leave you looking at yourself—and the world—differently.” –AustinAmerican Statesman
 
“Incognito feels like learning the secrets of a magician. In clear prose, Eagleman condenses complex concepts and reinforces his points through analogies, pop culture, current events, optical illusions, anecdotes, and fun facts.” –Frontier Psychiatrist
 
“One of those books that could change everything.” –Sam Snyder, blog

“Sparkling and provocative…a thrilling subsurface exploration of the mind and all its contradictions.” –Louisville Courier-Journal  
 
“Buy this book. The pithy observations, breezy language and wow-inducing anecdotes provide temporary pleasure, but the book’s real strength is in its staying power.“ –Science News
 
“A whirlwind, high-definition look at the neural underpinnings of our everyday thinking and perception…fascinating.” –Brettworks.com

“Eagleman embodies what is fascinating, fun, and hopeful about modern neuroscience.” –Brainstorm.com  
 
“After you read Eagleman’s breezy treatment of the brain, you will marvel at how much is illusory that we think is real, and how we sometimes function out autopilot without consciously knowing what is happening…This is a fascinating book.” –The Advocate
 
“A pleasure to read…If a reader is looking for a fun but illuminating read, Incognito is a good choice. With its nice balance between hard science and entertaining anecdotes, it is a good alternative to the usual brainless summer blockbusters.” –Deseret News
 
“Funny, gripping and often shocking…Eagleman writes great sentences of the sort that you might be inclined to read to those in your general vicinity.” –bookotron.com

“Incognito reads like a series of fascinating vignettes, offering plenty of pauses for self-reflection. Eagleman’s anecdotes are funny and easily tie to the concepts he explains. Moreover, his enthusiasm for the subject is obvious and contagious.” –Spectrum Culture

“Incognito is popular science at its best…beautifully synthesized.” –Boston Globe Best of 2011

About the Author

DAVID EAGLEMAN is a neuroscientist, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a New York Times bestselling author. His books have been translated into 27 languages. Eagleman heads the Laboratory for Perception and Action at Baylor College of Medicine, and is the founding Director of the Initiative on Neuroscience and Law. He is the author and presenter of the PBS series The Brain.

See all Editorial Reviews

Hardcover: 304 pagesPublisher: Pantheon; 1st edition (May 31, 2011)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0307377334ISBN-13: 978-0307377333 Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.2 x 9.5 inches Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #41,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #94 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > Neuropsychology #133 in Books > Law > Criminal Law #145 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Neuropsychology
Perhaps I shouldn’t have read this book. I am a neuroscientist, and clearly this is meant for a lay audience, however I often enjoy such books for their concise synthesis of research and the freedom they give the author to speculate. Unfortunately it became clear quickly that this would not be such a book – p.19 announces that the author is from the Malcolm Gladwell school of nonfiction "Why was Topsy the elephant electrocuted by Thomas Edison in 1919? … is there a real Mel Gibson? … why do strippers make more money at certain times of month?" Ask intriguing questions, link them with vague explanations, file them under a catchy one-word title, and voila NY Times bestseller. While I have little doubt that this book will do well commercially and be enjoyed by many, I cannot recommend it to anyone with a serious interest in neuroscience.

While chapter two is a solid introduction to perception as inference, it is downhill from there. It becomes clear that Eagleman is not interested in any systematic review of the unconscious factors that influence our decisions, but is merely interested in presenting flashy examples. This by itself wouldn’t be so objectionable, if he had actually come up with interesting and novel examples, instead of simply reciting old standards and cribbing from other authors. Eagleman has borrowed so much of his material that V.S. Ramachandran should demand royalties. However, Eagleman apparently hasn’t read Ramachandran carefully enough, as he references his paper "Why do gentlemen prefer blondes?", apparently unaware that the paper was satirical. How embarrassing.

Eagleman attempts to go beyond the flashy examples in Chapter 5, declaring that the brain is a "team of rivals." This reference to D.K.
I thought I already knew quite a bit about neuroscience and human behavior, but I learned so much from this book that my mind is still reeling. While reading Incognito, I actually experienced the kind of spiraling mind-expansion that I haven’t felt since…well…never mind….

The book, which is grounded in a massive amount of neuroscience research, is written in a conversational manner with lots of analogies and metaphors that make the information both accessible and retrievable. For example, consciousness is described as being like the CEO of a very large company, having little awareness of the details of day-to-day operation, responsible only for setting major goals and for adapting to major changes. While his metaphors become redundant at times (especially "team of rivals," a phrase repeated so often as to become irritating), the author is generally skilled at finding ways to explain complicated processes in a straightforward manner. He also creates opportunities for active engagement by providing optical illusions and mental exercises that help the reader actually experience some of the idiosyncrasies of the brain.

Since I had read some of the reviews before finishing the book, I was apprehensive about the penultimate chapter on the justice system and the concept of culpability. I thought the main point would be that nobody should be held culpable for misdeeds because so many of our actions are not under our control. But the author clearly states that "explanation does not equal exculpation." He does, however, suggest that although we don’t currently have the scientific sophistication to find the biological underpinnings of all deviant behavior, we have learned enough to suggest that we will keep finding more explanations.
This is an exceptionally well done work. I thought the first couple of chapters weren’t going anywhere particularly interesting but just then author, David Eagleman, really started building his argument and tying it all together. Incognito does a remarkably good job of mixing in just enough anecdote to explain his points without overdoing them like many writers of popular science do nowadays. This book is mostly scientific information and thoughtful analysis. Maybe this is because he isn’t a writer by profession, but actually practices in the field of neuroscience. In a relatively short book of 250 pages he packs in a lot of information and in my opinion is very persuasive.

This book argues the following ideas and more:

1) Your conscious mind is the "tip of the iceberg" and the rest of the iceberg (your brain) is what is really running the show
2) The vast majority of your brain’s processing which leads to what you do and what you think is not accessible to your conscious mind
3) Your brain contains many modules that overlap and compete as rivals
4) "You" are your biology, but you can’t be understood by simple reductionism
5) You have little if any "free will" and what that means
6) Your neurobiology is a result of a constant interplay of genes and environment

The ideas in this book in general are not new to me although they probably are to many people. If you have read popular books about the mind in the last decade, the idea that much of our mind is not accessible to us introspectively is hardly a revelation. However the author articulated some of my own vague ideas about what this actually means and I found myself say "Yes!" fairly frequently.
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Cellular and Molecular Immunology: with STUDENT CONSULT Online Access Kindle Edition PDF

Cellular and Molecular Immunology: with STUDENT CONSULT Online Access (Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Abbas) Kindle Edition
Author: Visit ‘s Abul K. Abbas Page ID: B00N04AZLW

Done.
File Size: 71177 KBPrint Length: 525 pagesPage Numbers Source ISBN: 0323222757Simultaneous Device Usage: Up to 4 simultaneous devices, per publisher limitsPublisher: Saunders; 8 edition (August 22, 2014)Publication Date: August 22, 2014 Sold by:  Digital Services, Inc. Language: EnglishID: B00N04AZLWText-to-Speech: Enabled X-Ray: Not Enabled Word Wise: Not EnabledLending: Not Enabled Enhanced Typesetting: Not Enabled Best Sellers Rank: #222,008 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) #8 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Medical eBooks > basic science > Microbiology #30 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Medical eBooks > Basic science > Immunology #41 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Medical eBooks > Internal Medicine > Infectious Disease > Communicable Diseases

Studying on my own…this is a great text, fine illustrations and glossary; using this in conjunction with Erridge’s "Undergraduate Immunology" for tablets. 5 stars for Abbas

This was a required text for a graduate level course that I took. GREAT BOOK!! The book is well written, and the diagrams are great; very informative and illustrative. I relied on this book heavily for my course, as my professor was new. In studying for the course, I also consulted Janeway’s Immunobiology and Kuby’s Immunology; I believe this book is superior to them both. Janeway’s isn’t written very well, in my opinion. It has a ton of information, but it’s sometimes too technical is some sections and too abstract in others. Kuby’s illustrations don’t compare with this book. The diagrams, illustrations, and charts only make Abbas’ text a cut above the rest. The only downside to Abbas’ Immunology is the absence of review/practice questions at the end of each chapter. The lack of questions didn’t distract me in any way. I especially liked the "Additional/Suggested Reading" lists at the end of each chapter, as well as the bullet summaries at the end of each chapter. No matter the textbook, immunology is a tough subject to study. Reading Abbas’ Cell and Molecular Immunology was enjoyable and informative.

Wow this is dense. I am using this book to study during my allergy and immunology fellowship. It is exceedingly dense for my purposes, and the authors sometimes go off on what I consider to be unnecessary tangents. However, the figures are excellent and its saving grace. Overall, I am pleased with this book. It is a nice reference.

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