planarlost's reviews
45 reviews

This book is well-written and informative on the topic of evolutionary biology. It is not, in my opinion, well-suited to beginners in the subject, and is quite dense. I would recommend Jerry A. Coyne's "Why Evolution Is True" over this book for those newer to the topic of evolution who don't want to read a textbook. Even so, this is well worth a read.

This book was informative on the subject of statistics and provided meaningful examples and interesting facts in its "by the way" sections. I used Joseph Healey's Statistics: A Tool for Social Research for a statistics course years ago, and it would be a perfect alternate to this book, as that text seems to use most of the terms this book calls "alternates" (for example, the Healey text uses the term class interval, but Bennett uses bin primarily, and calls class interval an alternative phrase). My former statistics professor had never heard the term "bin" before.

I don't know what else could be said. It does its job.

This book was recommended to me by a friend, and is the first work I've read by Cahill. His rhetorical style is enjoyable to read and the narratives he weaves are engaging. I never lost interest and learned throughout.

That said, I might argue that one should take this book nearer to the side of infotainment than a primary source for historical fact. I am not a historian, so take the following commentary lightly, but I gathered the impression at times when reading that Cahill was oversimplifying and glossing over certain points for the sake of pacing and his narrative (his commentary on Hypatia's murder, for example). That is not to say that the book is riddled with errors, but I would argue that it should only ever be supplemental to one's knowledge, gathered primarily from texts written by degreed historians by trade rather than authors with an interest in history, as Cahill seems to be.

I looked up a few of the items from Cahill's book that I wasn't entirely familiar with. His information seemed to be generally accurate, but with some "there was more to it than that" upon further investigation from other sources. Nonetheless, with the above points in mind, I would recommend this book to others. Cautious analysis when reading anything is key, especially when it comes to history.

I was looking for a biographical book on women in science history, but found this instead. I don't blame the book for that since I enjoyed it. Vivian Gornick's Women in Science is a soft sociological examination of the inequalities women face in science, which doesn't conflict much with the scholarly articles I've read on similar issues. Women in Science is mostly qualitative research, interviews, though Gornick does sprinkle in statistics from time to time.

I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the issues women face in science. Gornick is a competent and engaging writer, and I found her descriptions of some of her interviewees to be almost poetic. If you are looking for something more biographical, I might recommend Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky.

A useful introductory book to psychological study.

The Norman Conquest and its impact on the English language and England itself have always fascinated me. This book is an instructive and thorough look into the Conquest and the individuals involved (although, it only makes passing mentions of the impact of the Norman Conquest on English as a language, and most of these are near the end). The author did not speculate much, and when he did speculate based on the available evidence, he mentioned what was speculation and what was not. Morris also provided the names of his referenced chroniclers and documents with evaluations of their biases and accuracy or authenticity, which is appreciated.

The book was well-written and I would read it again and recommend it to anyone interested in the Norman Conquest or England from around 1066 to the 1080s. As the book concluded, I think readers will find that the Conquest was both good and bad and had a profound impact on England and the English which led to much of what makes England what it is today.

Eleanor of Aquitaine is, at least to me, one of the more fascinating figures of European history. I read nearly anything I can find on her, and this text was an enjoyable and decently informative read. The book seems to stick mostly to the facts and does not dabble too much in speculation or rumor-enabling. I would rather an author say something is unclear where history is concerned than utilize unreliable sources or conjecture.

If you are interested in the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine, this book is a good place to start, but it doesn't provide enough information to give you the total picture of her. (That's not necessarily a mark against it, in my opinion. I appreciated its brevity. It does what it sets out to do.)

An engaging read on neuroplasticity which includes a number of fascinating stories and examples. If you have an interest in learning about neuroscience and neuroplasticity, and how the brain deals with illness and damage, this book is one you'll want to check out.

This book is one of the more engaging works I've read recently. I sped through it. It is well-structured, well-written, and provides an interesting look at a complex topic. Saini's Inferior is chiefly about the takes of biology and anthropology on women, from their development as half the human species to their roles in society throughout history and how these roles came to be.

If you are expecting a lot of sociological retort or response to the biological and anthropological arguments discussed in this book, you won't find much. Saini does provide parts of interviews from people with more sociological perspectives and references sociological research on gender differences, but that is not the primary purpose of this book. She also does not claim the book is itself a refutation of all the arguments discussed, but rather, that she intended to give the issues she highlighted a balanced look.

Where balance is concerned, at least regarding the biological and anthropological subjects, I think Saini did a fine job. This book does not solve the matters it discusses entirely, and some of its analyses on certain topics are brief, but I would recommend it to anyone.

Funder has written a balanced textbook on personality psychology that I'd recommend to anyone interested in the topic.