The Demon Under the Microscope

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Author :
Publisher : Crown
ISBN 13 : 0307352285
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (73 download)

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Book Synopsis The Demon Under the Microscope by : Thomas Hager

Download or read book The Demon Under the Microscope written by Thomas Hager and published by Crown. This book was released on 2006-09-19 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Demon Under the Microscope, Thomas Hager chronicles the dramatic history of sulfa, the first antibiotic and the drug that shaped modern medicine. The Nazis discovered it. The Allies won the war with it. It conquered diseases, changed laws, and single-handedly launched the era of antibiotics. Sulfa saved millions of lives—among them those of Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr.—but its real effects are even more far reaching. Sulfa changed the way new drugs were developed, approved, and sold; transformed the way doctors treated patients; and ushered in the era of modern medicine. The very concept that chemicals created in a lab could cure disease revolutionized medicine, taking it from the treatment of symptoms and discomfort to the eradication of the root cause of illness. A strange and colorful story, The Demon Under the Microscope illuminates the vivid characters, corporate strategy, individual idealism, careful planning, lucky breaks, cynicism, heroism, greed, hard work, and the central (though mistaken) idea that brought sulfa to the world. This is a fascinating scientific tale with all the excitement and intrigue of a great suspense novel.

The Demon Under the Microscope

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Author :
Publisher : Crown
ISBN 13 : 1400082145
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis The Demon Under the Microscope by : Thomas Hager

Download or read book The Demon Under the Microscope written by Thomas Hager and published by Crown. This book was released on 2007-08-28 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Demon Under the Microscope, Thomas Hager chronicles the dramatic history of sulfa, the first antibiotic and the drug that shaped modern medicine. The Nazis discovered it. The Allies won the war with it. It conquered diseases, changed laws, and single-handedly launched the era of antibiotics. Sulfa saved millions of lives—among them those of Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr.—but its real effects are even more far reaching. Sulfa changed the way new drugs were developed, approved, and sold; transformed the way doctors treated patients; and ushered in the era of modern medicine. The very concept that chemicals created in a lab could cure disease revolutionized medicine, taking it from the treatment of symptoms and discomfort to the eradication of the root cause of illness. A strange and colorful story, The Demon Under the Microscope illuminates the vivid characters, corporate strategy, individual idealism, careful planning, lucky breaks, cynicism, heroism, greed, hard work, and the central (though mistaken) idea that brought sulfa to the world. This is a fascinating scientific tale with all the excitement and intrigue of a great suspense novel.

The Alchemy of Air

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Author :
Publisher : Crown
ISBN 13 : 0307449998
Total Pages : 338 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (74 download)

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Book Synopsis The Alchemy of Air by : Thomas Hager

Download or read book The Alchemy of Air written by Thomas Hager and published by Crown. This book was released on 2008-09-09 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sweeping history of tragic genius, cutting-edge science, and the Haber-Bosch discovery that changed billions of lives—including your own. At the dawn of the twentieth century, humanity was facing global disaster: Mass starvation was about to become a reality. A call went out to the world’ s scientists to find a solution. This is the story of the two men who found it: brilliant, self-important Fritz Haber and reclusive, alcoholic Carl Bosch. Together they discovered a way to make bread out of air, built city-sized factories, and saved millions of lives. But their epochal triumph came at a price we are still paying. The Haber-Bosch process was also used to make the gunpowder and explosives that killed millions during the two world wars. Both men were vilified during their lives; both, disillusioned and disgraced, died tragically. The Alchemy of Air is the extraordinary, previously untold story of a discovery that changed the way we grow food and the way we make war–and that promises to continue shaping our lives in fundamental and dramatic ways.

Ten Drugs

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Author :
Publisher : Abrams
ISBN 13 : 1683355318
Total Pages : 342 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (833 download)

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Book Synopsis Ten Drugs by : Thomas Hager

Download or read book Ten Drugs written by Thomas Hager and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2019-03-05 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The stories are skillfully told and entirely entertaining . . . An expert, mostly feel-good book about modern medicine” from the award-winning author (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Behind every landmark drug is a story. It could be an oddball researcher’s genius insight, a catalyzing moment in geopolitical history, a new breakthrough technology, or an unexpected but welcome side effect discovered during clinical trials. Piece together these stories, as Thomas Hager does in this remarkable, century-spanning history, and you can trace the evolution of our culture and the practice of medicine. Beginning with opium, the “joy plant,” which has been used for 10,000 years, Hager tells a captivating story of medicine. His subjects include the largely forgotten female pioneer who introduced smallpox inoculation to Britain, the infamous knockout drops, the first antibiotic, which saved countless lives, the first antipsychotic, which helped empty public mental hospitals, Viagra, statins, and the new frontier of monoclonal antibodies. This is a deep, wide-ranging, and wildly entertaining book. “[An] absorbing new book.” —The New York Times Book Review “[A] well-written and engaging chronicle.” —The Wall Street Journal “Lucidly informative and compulsively readable.” —Publishers Weekly “Entertaining [and] insightful.” —Booklist “Well-written, well-researched and fascinating to read Ten Drugs provides an insightful look at how drugs have shaped modern medical practices. Towards the end of the book Hager writes that he ‘came away surprised by some of the things he had learned.’ I had the very same reaction.” —Penny Le Couteur, coauthor of Napoleon’s Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History

The Demon in the Machine

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Author :
Publisher : Penguin UK
ISBN 13 : 0241309603
Total Pages : 297 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (413 download)

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Book Synopsis The Demon in the Machine by : Paul Davies

Download or read book The Demon in the Machine written by Paul Davies and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2019-01-31 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A gripping new drama in science ... if you want to understand how the concept of life is changing, read this' Professor Andrew Briggs, University of Oxford When Darwin set out to explain the origin of species, he made no attempt to answer the deeper question: what is life? For generations, scientists have struggled to make sense of this fundamental question. Life really does look like magic: even a humble bacterium accomplishes things so dazzling that no human engineer can match it. And yet, huge advances in molecular biology over the past few decades have served only to deepen the mystery. So can life be explained by known physics and chemistry, or do we need something fundamentally new? In this penetrating and wide-ranging new analysis, world-renowned physicist and science communicator Paul Davies searches for answers in a field so new and fast-moving that it lacks a name, a domain where computing, chemistry, quantum physics and nanotechnology intersect. At the heart of these diverse fields, Davies explains, is the concept of information: a quantity with the power to unify biology with physics, transform technology and medicine, and even to illuminate the age-old question of whether we are alone in the universe. From life's murky origins to the microscopic engines that run the cells of our bodies, The Demon in the Machine is a breath-taking journey across the landscape of physics, biology, logic and computing. Weaving together cancer and consciousness, two-headed worms and bird navigation, Davies reveals how biological organisms garner and process information to conjure order out of chaos, opening a window on the secret of life itself.

The Demon in the Freezer

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Author :
Publisher : Fawcett
ISBN 13 : 0345466632
Total Pages : 306 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (454 download)

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Book Synopsis The Demon in the Freezer by : Richard Preston

Download or read book The Demon in the Freezer written by Richard Preston and published by Fawcett. This book was released on 2003-08-26 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The bard of biological weapons captures the drama of the front lines.”—Richard Danzig, former secretary of the navy The first major bioterror event in the United States-the anthrax attacks in October 2001-was a clarion call for scientists who work with “hot” agents to find ways of protecting civilian populations against biological weapons. In The Demon in the Freezer, his first nonfiction book since The Hot Zone, a #1 New York Times bestseller, Richard Preston takes us into the heart of Usamriid, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, once the headquarters of the U.S. biological weapons program and now the epicenter of national biodefense. Peter Jahrling, the top scientist at Usamriid, a wry virologist who cut his teeth on Ebola, one of the world’s most lethal emerging viruses, has ORCON security clearance that gives him access to top secret information on bioweapons. His most urgent priority is to develop a drug that will take on smallpox-and win. Eradicated from the planet in 1979 in one of the great triumphs of modern science, the smallpox virus now resides, officially, in only two high-security freezers-at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and in Siberia, at a Russian virology institute called Vector. But the demon in the freezer has been set loose. It is almost certain that illegal stocks are in the possession of hostile states, including Iraq and North Korea. Jahrling is haunted by the thought that biologists in secret labs are using genetic engineering to create a new superpox virus, a smallpox resistant to all vaccines. Usamriid went into a state of Delta Alert on September 11 and activated its emergency response teams when the first anthrax letters were opened in New York and Washington, D.C. Preston reports, in unprecedented detail, on the government’ s response to the attacks and takes us into the ongoing FBI investigation. His story is based on interviews with top-level FBI agents and with Dr. Steven Hatfill. Jahrling is leading a team of scientists doing controversial experiments with live smallpox virus at CDC. Preston takes us into the lab where Jahrling is reawakening smallpox and explains, with cool and devastating precision, what may be at stake if his last bold experiment fails.

Steroids

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Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 189 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (161 download)

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Book Synopsis Steroids by : Joan E. Standora

Download or read book Steroids written by Joan E. Standora and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2017-03-20 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providing a significant source of information for upper high school and community college students concerning steroids and their derivatives, this book provides a holistic overview of this controversial class of drugs. The risks of recreational steroid use are often ignored or misunderstood by those who try them. At the same time, the therapeutic use of steroids can be dangerous when they're used incorrectly. Part of the Story of a Drug series, this timely book is specifically tailored to address the questions and concerns of young people, providing readers with an accessible source of information for understanding steroidal drugs. Chapters cover the history of steroids, including the development of synthetic steroids, steroid biochemistry, and the drugs' therapeutic functions, notably the importance of natural steroids in maintaining human life. The book discusses the current state of recreational use among athletes and students and of the dangers of misuse and overdose, and covers legal and governmental regulations relative to both therapeutic and recreational use of the drugs. The reader will come away from this volume with a comprehensive understanding of the pros and cons of steroid use based on current research, and grasp the possible risks—medical and legal—related to misuse of these powerful drugs.

Force of Nature

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 736 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Force of Nature by : Thomas Hager

Download or read book Force of Nature written by Thomas Hager and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 736 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this thoroughly researched biography of one of the greatest American scientists of this century--the only person ever to win two unshared Nobel Prizes--Hager had the full cooperation of his subject, plus unrestricted access to Pauling's personal papers. of photos.

Pandemic Surveillance

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Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1509550321
Total Pages : 94 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (95 download)

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Book Synopsis Pandemic Surveillance by : David Lyon

Download or read book Pandemic Surveillance written by David Lyon and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2021-11-11 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted life as we knew it. Lockdowns, self-isolation and quarantine have become a normal part of everyday life. Pandemic surveillance allows governments and corporations to monitor and surveil the spread of the virus and to make sure citizens follow the measures they put in place. This is evident in the massive, unprecedented mobilization of public health data to contain and combat the virus, and the ballooning of surveillance technologies such as contact-tracing apps, facial recognition, and population tracking. This can also be seen as a pandemic of surveillance. In this timely book, David Lyon tracks the development of these methods, examining different forms of pandemic surveillance, in health-related and other areas, from countries around the world. He explores their benefits and disadvantages, their legal status, and how they relate to privacy protection, an ethics of care, and data justice. Questioning whether this new culture of surveillance will become a permanent feature of post-pandemic societies and the long-term negative effects this might have on social inequalities and human freedoms, Pandemic Surveillance highlights the magnitude of COVID-19-related surveillance expansion. The book also underscores the urgent need for new policies relating to surveillance and data justice in the twenty-first century.

Electric City

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Author :
Publisher : Abrams
ISBN 13 : 1647000440
Total Pages : 322 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (47 download)

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Book Synopsis Electric City by : Thomas Hager

Download or read book Electric City written by Thomas Hager and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2021-05-18 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The extraordinary, unknown story of two giants of American history—Henry Ford and Thomas Edison—and their attempt to create an electric-powered city of tomorrow on the Tennessee River During the roaring twenties, two of the most revered and influential men in American business proposed to transform one of the country’s poorest regions into a dream technological metropolis, a shining paradise of small farms, giant factories, and sparkling laboratories. Henry Ford and Thomas Edison’s “Detroit of the South” would be ten times the size of Manhattan, powered by renewable energy, and free of air pollution. And it would reshape American society, introducing mass commuting by car, use a new kind of currency called “energy dollars,” and have the added benefit (from Ford and Edison's view) of crippling the growth of socialism. The whole audacious scheme almost came off, with Southerners rallying to support what became known as the Ford Plan. But while some saw it as a way to conjure the future and reinvent the South, others saw it as one of the biggest land swindles of all time. They were all true. Electric City is a rich chronicle of the time and the social backdrop, and offers a fresh look at the lives of the two men who almost saw the project to fruition, the forces that came to oppose them, and what rose in its stead: a new kind of public corporation called the Tennessee Valley Authority, one of the greatest achievements of the New Deal. This is a history for a wide audience, including readers interested in American history, technology, politics, and the future.

RPG Maker for Teens

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Author :
Publisher : For Teens
ISBN 13 : 9781435459663
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (596 download)

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Book Synopsis RPG Maker for Teens by : Michael Duggan

Download or read book RPG Maker for Teens written by Michael Duggan and published by For Teens. This book was released on 2011-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contains instructions and advice for teen and beginning game developers to create fun and exciting role-playing games.

The Invisible Siege

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Author :
Publisher : Crown
ISBN 13 : 0593239245
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (932 download)

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Book Synopsis The Invisible Siege by : Dan Werb

Download or read book The Invisible Siege written by Dan Werb and published by Crown. This book was released on 2022-03-01 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A journey into the origins of COVID-19 and the discovery of vaccines and potential cures . . . I learned so much that I didn’t know before—above all, I met the subtle warriors of the laboratory who are working to save all of us from the horror of new pandemics.”—Richard Preston, bestselling author of The Hot Zone and The Demon in the Freezer One of Publishers Weekly’s top ten science books of the season The urgency of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic has fixed humanity’s gaze on the present crisis. But the story of this pandemic extends far further back than many realize. In this engrossing narrative, epidemiologist Dan Werb traces the rising threat of the coronavirus family and the attempts by a small group of scientists who worked for decades to stop a looming viral pandemic. When virologist Ralph Baric began researching coronaviruses in the 1980s, the field was a scientific backwater—the few variants that infected humans caused little more than the common cold. But when a novel coronavirus sparked the 2003 SARS epidemic, and then the MERS epidemic a decade later, Baric and his allies realized that time was running out before a pandemic strain would make the inevitable jump from animals to human hosts. In The Invisible Siege, Werb unpacks the dynamic history and microscopic complexity of an organism that has wreaked cycles of havoc upon the world for millennia. Elegantly tracing decades of scientific investigation, Werb’s book reveals how Baric’s team of scientists hatched an audacious plan not merely to battle COVID-19 but to end pandemics forever. Yet as they raced to find a cure, they ran into a complicated nexus of science, ethics, industry, and politics that threatened to derail their efforts just as COVID-19 loomed ever larger. The Invisible Siege is an urgent and moving testament to the unprecedented scientific movement to stop COVID-19—and a powerful look at the infuriating factors that threaten to derail discovery and leave the world vulnerable to the inevitable coronaviruses to come.

All of Us Warriors

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Author :
Publisher : She Writes Press
ISBN 13 : 1631527967
Total Pages : 345 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (315 download)

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Book Synopsis All of Us Warriors by : Rebecca Whitehead Munn

Download or read book All of Us Warriors written by Rebecca Whitehead Munn and published by She Writes Press. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In All of Us Warriors, Rebecca Whitehead Munn paints a realistic picture of the impact cancer has on an individual’s life, and she attempts to demystify the experience by sharing heartfelt stories from twenty survivors and the loved ones of those that passed. They are mothers and fathers with seven types of cancers and all stages of the disease, as well as advice regarding how to approach someone you love living with cancer and tips and tricks for helping others feel joy in the midst of pain. This inspirational book provides a positive outlook of strength and perseverance through belief in a higher power, reinforcing the idea that the reader is stronger than cancer and not alone, and offering real strategies that cannot be found in online medical sites. Like a conversation with a new best friend (or twenty of them), All of Us Warriors is full of understanding, acceptance, and practical advice gained from personal experience.

Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States

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Author :
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309142393
Total Pages : 348 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States by : National Research Council

Download or read book Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2009-07-29 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scores of talented and dedicated people serve the forensic science community, performing vitally important work. However, they are often constrained by lack of adequate resources, sound policies, and national support. It is clear that change and advancements, both systematic and scientific, are needed in a number of forensic science disciplines to ensure the reliability of work, establish enforceable standards, and promote best practices with consistent application. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward provides a detailed plan for addressing these needs and suggests the creation of a new government entity, the National Institute of Forensic Science, to establish and enforce standards within the forensic science community. The benefits of improving and regulating the forensic science disciplines are clear: assisting law enforcement officials, enhancing homeland security, and reducing the risk of wrongful conviction and exoneration. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States gives a full account of what is needed to advance the forensic science disciplines, including upgrading of systems and organizational structures, better training, widespread adoption of uniform and enforceable best practices, and mandatory certification and accreditation programs. While this book provides an essential call-to-action for congress and policy makers, it also serves as a vital tool for law enforcement agencies, criminal prosecutors and attorneys, and forensic science educators.

The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat

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Author :
Publisher : Henry Holt and Company
ISBN 13 : 1627796444
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (277 download)

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Book Synopsis The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat by : Eric Lax

Download or read book The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat written by Eric Lax and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2015-06-02 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The untold story of the discovery of the first wonder drug, the men who led the way, and how it changed the modern world The discovery of penicillin in 1928 ushered in a new age in medicine. But it took a team of Oxford scientists headed by Howard Florey and Ernst Chain four more years to develop it as the first antibiotic, and the most important family of drugs in the twentieth century. At once the world was transformed-major bacterial scourges such as blood poisoning and pneumonia, scarlet fever and diphtheria, gonorrhea and syphilis were defeated as penicillin helped to foster not only a medical revolution but a sexual one as well. In his wonderfully engaging book, acclaimed author Eric Lax tells the real story behind the discovery and why it took so long to develop the drug. He reveals the reasons why credit for penicillin was misplaced, and why this astonishing achievement garnered a Nobel Prize but no financial rewards for Alexander Fleming, Florey, and his team. The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat is the compelling story of the passage of medicine from one era to the next and of the eccentric individuals whose participation in this extraordinary accomplishment has, until now, remained largely unknown.

Transmission Electron Microscopy

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Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319266519
Total Pages : 518 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (192 download)

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Book Synopsis Transmission Electron Microscopy by : C. Barry Carter

Download or read book Transmission Electron Microscopy written by C. Barry Carter and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-08-24 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text is a companion volume to Transmission Electron Microscopy: A Textbook for Materials Science by Williams and Carter. The aim is to extend the discussion of certain topics that are either rapidly changing at this time or that would benefit from more detailed discussion than space allowed in the primary text. World-renowned researchers have contributed chapters in their area of expertise, and the editors have carefully prepared these chapters to provide a uniform tone and treatment for this exciting material. The book features an unparalleled collection of color figures showcasing the quality and variety of chemical data that can be obtained from today’s instruments, as well as key pitfalls to avoid. As with the previous TEM text, each chapter contains two sets of questions, one for self assessment and a second more suitable for homework assignments. Throughout the book, the style follows that of Williams & Carter even when the subject matter becomes challenging—the aim is always to make the topic understandable by first-year graduate students and others who are working in the field of Materials Science Topics covered include sources, in-situ experiments, electron diffraction, Digital Micrograph, waves and holography, focal-series reconstruction and direct methods, STEM and tomography, energy-filtered TEM (EFTEM) imaging, and spectrum imaging. The range and depth of material makes this companion volume essential reading for the budding microscopist and a key reference for practicing researchers using these and related techniques.

Benzo Land: How Doctors and Drug Companies Enslave Us

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Author :
Publisher : Invisible Man Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 115 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Benzo Land: How Doctors and Drug Companies Enslave Us by : Richard Crasta

Download or read book Benzo Land: How Doctors and Drug Companies Enslave Us written by Richard Crasta and published by Invisible Man Press. This book was released on 2017-07-11 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Benzodiazepines, a class of tranquilizers and sleeping pills (including Valium, Xanax, and Ambien), are dangerously addictive; the author, exposed to a range of Benzodiazepines, antidepressants, and psychiatrists, tells the story of his unusual journey: for his own sake, for his friends, and for others who might wish to compare their own journeys with his.