Book Description
John Wood discovered his passion, his greatest success, and his life's work--not at business school or leading Microsoft's charge into Asia in the 1990s--but on a soul-searching trip to the Himalayas. Wood felt trapped between an all-consuming career and a desire to do something lasting and significant. Stressed from the demands of his job, he took a vacation trekking in Nepal because a friend had told him, "If you get high enough in the mountains, you can't hear Steve Ballmer yelling at you anymore."
See how John Wood came to start Room to Read and write Leaving Microsoft to Change the World in this video clip: high bandwidth or low bandwidth |
Instead of being the antidote to the rat race, that trip convinced John Wood to divert the boundless energy he was devoting to Microsoft into a cause that desperately needed to be addressed. While visiting a remote Nepalese school, Wood learned that the students had few books in their library. When he offered to run a book drive to provide the school with books, his idea was met with polite skepticism. After all, no matter how well-intentioned, why would a successful software executive take valuable time out of his life and gather books for an impoverished school?
But John Wood did return to that school and with thousands of books bundled on the back of a yak. And at that moment, Wood made the decision to walk away from Microsoft and create Room to Read-an organization that has donated more than 1.2 million books, established more than 2,600 libraries and 200 schools, and sent 1,700 girls to school on scholarship-ultimately touching the lives of 875,000 children with the lifelong gift of education.
Leaving Microsoft to Change the World chronicles John Wood's struggle to find a meaningful outlet for his managerial talents and entrepreneurial zeal. For every high-achiever who has ever wondered what life might be like giving back, Wood offers a vivid, emotional, and absorbing tale of how to take the lessons learned at a hard-charging company like Microsoft and apply them to one of the world's most pressing problems: the lack of basic literacy.
Book Description
John Wood discovered his passion, his greatest success, and his life's work—not at business school or leading Microsoft's charge into Asia in the 1990s—but on a soul-searching trip to the Himalayas. Wood felt trapped between an all-consuming career and a desire to do something lasting and significant. Stressed from the demands of his job, he took a vacation trekking in Nepal because a friend had told him, "If you get high enough in the mountains, you can't hear Steve Ballmer yelling at you anymore."
Instead of being the antidote to the rat race, that trip convinced John Wood to divert the boundless energy he was devoting to Microsoft into a cause that desperately needed to be addressed. While visiting a remote Nepalese school, Wood learned that the students had few books in their library. When he offered to run a book drive to provide the school with books, his idea was met with polite skepticism. After all, no matter how well-intentioned, why would a successful software executive take valuable time out of his life and gather books for an impoverished school?
But John Wood did return to that school and with thousands of books bundled on the back of a yak. And at that moment, Wood made the decision to walk away from Microsoft and create Room to Read—an organization that has donated more than 1.2 million books, established more than 2,600 libraries and 200 schools, and sent 1,700 girls to school on scholarship—ultimately touching the lives of 875,000 children with the lifelong gift of education.
Leaving Microsoft to Change the World chronicles John Wood's struggle to find a meaningful outlet for his managerial talents and entrepreneurial zeal. For every high-achiever who has ever wondered what life might be like giving back, Wood offers a vivid, emotional, and absorbing tale of how to take the lessons learned at a hard-charging company like Microsoft and apply them to one of the world's most pressing problems: the lack of basic literacy.
Customer Reviews:
John Wood, you inspire me!.......2007-09-07
Reading about John Wood's motivations and personal sacrifices, I found myself re-engergized for the volunteer work I do. This book is not just for business people, but for anyone who wants to make a difference in this crazy, beautiful world we live in. Providing children with books whether on a global scale or locally is one of the best gifts (and investments) a person can make. Bravo John! And thanks for making your adventures accessible to the rest of us.
Life Altering Book.......2007-08-21
I managed to finish this book on a flu episode with a fever that lasted two days. It was a great companion at that horrible time.
Now, i read a lot of books. And over time, i got to quickly notice good books from bad books. And ever more, i get to know great books from "books you buy to balance your shelf" books. I try to buy only good books and strive to get all the great ones. This is one of the great ones.
When first browsing through Amazon(yes, i am a very loyal customer), i noticed the title. And being the geek that i am, i wondered what it would talk about(you have to admit, MS and changing the world do not mix easily). I was afraid it would turn out to be a lame book as many books which carry a similar title are. So i took a gamble and i bought it.
It talks about the story of a man(John Wood, marketing executive working at Microsoft) who took a "no-computers" vacation to Nepal. And this vacation changed his life. He describes his life in detail. The details are typical of a modern young successful man working in a high-tech firm. Basically his life consisted of work, work, work and an almost non-existent social life(or any other kind of life for that matter). He thought he was happy this way, we all do, until we stop and take a good look at what we have accomplished.
In Nepal, he noticed that even though some provinces had schools, there were no books and no libraries. So he started out with a little project of collecting a few books for one particular school in Nepal. This all started with a promise to return to Nepal with books. And the whole idea avalanched into one of the most successful projects. An organization that builds schools/libraries and provides books and scholarships for young girls.
I don't want to give out too many details. The beauty of this story is in the events that took place and their chronological order. So i don't want to spoil it. However, i will talk about why i liked this book so much.
John saw the kids in Nepal. He saw that they were trying to learn, but with very poor resources. He also understood that education is the most important gift that you can bestow on a child. Especially girls, since these girls will grow up with this education in mind and carry this belief over to their children and families. "You educate a girl, you educate an entire generation."
After John returned from Nepal, he tried to get back to his old lifestyle. But he could not. How could he? Everything he will do now will seem so empty. How can he go on working knowing that there are children in the world that are not getting the opportunities that we take for granted. He felt so empty. And even if, according to our standard, he is very successful....his life felt meaningless in light of this issue. Everything he accomplished looked so insignificant.
What is truly remarkable though, is that he ran his organization in the same way he would run a normal business. So unlike the other charities around, he never asked people for money out of pity. So instead of showing children with sad faces and sick people like all charities do, he showed the schools he built and the books that he got and the children making use of all of this. It is his belief that contributers do not give money to charity because they don't know where their money is going. They never see results.
I also believe that any book you read must alter your life in some sense. This book did just that. I learned that you shouldn't listen to all the nay-sayers. I learned that for every 1 idea you come up with, there will be a 100 people telling you how it won't work. I also learned to never give up.
If i would only take away one thing from this book, it would be my current favorite quote(which according to the book is an old Chinese quote)
Those who say it cannot be done should not criticize those who are doing it.
This books is highly recommended with 5/5 stars.
great inspiration along with fantastic advice for those who want to change the world.......2007-08-20
Wood brings a fresh, business-like perspective to the often stale world of not-for-profits. His personal journey from career success, to existential angst, to leaving the rat race to change the world is a true inspiration.
Giving back by giving effectively.......2007-07-06
There are plenty of books about one individual's accomplishments in the march to change the world. This book is different because--along with his passion for education and libraries--John Wood brings a model for transforming that passion into sustainable organizations on the ground. If you are actively involved in a nonprofit organization, you will enjoy John's down to earth advice about focusing on results, fundraising, and having fun while you're doing the hard work.
going from corporate executive to do gooder champion.......2007-06-05
This is a good book to understand risk that is inspired by passion. this guy had everything to lose and so much to gain and he did it. Kudos to him and kudos for a well written book.
Book Description
Thoroughly revised and updated, Educational Administration: A Problem-Based Approach shares with readers the very latest thinking in the field and relates it to significant real-life problems of practice.
Reflecting on current changes and thinking in educational administration, this book includes updated expert analysis pieces by noted authorities in every chapter. The book uses a problem-based approach and provides readers with opportunities to analyze and apply their knowledge to authentic situations. . It emphasizes a number of important challenges such as the increasing diversity in our schools and society and the impact of reforms and technology on learning environments.
For those involved in educational administration.
Amazon.com
In a time when educators and politicians in the United States are fumbling for a fix--from vouchers to smaller class sizes--for ailing public schools, it's refreshing to read the more sophisticated take on what can be done to improve American education found in The Teaching Gap, a straightforward analysis of approaches towards teaching around the world. James W. Stigler, a UCLA psychology professor, and James Hiebert, an education professor at the University of Delaware, argue that America's culture of teaching needs to be changed before we see any real change in student achievement--and they're not simply talking about higher pay and more respect.
The bulk of The Teaching Gap examines the cultural differences among teaching methods, with detailed accounts of video observations of eighth-grade math teachers that were part of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMSS (which Stigler directed). American teachers in the videos tend to emphasize terms and procedures, thinking of math as a set of tedious skills. They try to interest students with praise and real-life problems. In contrast, Japanese teachers are more likely to emphasize ideas, expecting the concepts alone to stir students' natural curiosity. They weave together lessons that have a distinct beginning, middle, and end. Teachers in the other countries are more likely to share lessons on what works in the classroom and receive more sophisticated training, the authors found. Only seven out of 41 nations scored lower than the U.S. in TIMSS, placing American eighth-graders with those from Cyprus, Portugal, South Africa, Kuwait, Iran, and Colombia. Without falling into teacher-bashing mode, Stigler and Hiebert insist that reform efforts need to originate with teachers, not university researchers. They call for overhauling the teaching profession with stricter requirements, better peer review, and more demanding academic standards, as well as improved interaction between teachers. Their detailed examination of the study's video observations gets to the heart of the matter and should be worthwhile reading for educators, policymakers, and anyone interested in the condition of today's education system. --Jodi Mailander Farrell
Book Description
Comparing math teaching practices in Japan and Germany with those in the United States, two leading researchers offer a surprising new view of teaching and a bold action plan for improving education inside the American classroom.
For years our schools and children have lagged behind international standards in reading, arithmetic, and most other areas of academic achievement. It is no secret that American schools are in dire need of improvement, and that education has become our nation's number-one priority. But even though almost every state in the country is working to develop higher standards for what students should be learning, along with the means for assessing their progress, the quick-fix solutions implemented so far haven't had a noticeable impact.
The problem, as James Stigler and James Hiebert explain, is that most efforts to improve education fail because they simply don't have any impact on the quality of teaching inside classrooms. Teaching, they argue, is cultural. American teachers aren't incompetent, but the methods they use are severely limited, and American teaching has no system in place for getting better. It is teaching, not teachers, that must be changed.
In The Teaching Gap, the authors draw on the conclusions of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) -- an innovative new study of teaching in several cultures -- to refocus educational reform efforts. Using videotaped lessons from dozens of randomly selected eighth-grade classrooms in the United States, Japan, and Germany, the authors reveal the rich, yet unfulfilled promise of American teaching and document exactly how other countries have consistently stayed ahead of us in the rate their children learn. Our schools can be restructured as places where teachers can engage in career-long learning and classrooms can become laboratories for developing new, teaching-centered ideas. If provided the time they need during the school day for collaborative lesson study and plan building, teachers will change the way our students learn.
James Stigler and James Hiebert have given us nothing less than a "best practices" for teachers -- one that offers proof that how teachers teach is far more important than increased spending, state-of-the-art facilities, mandatory homework, or special education -- and a plan for change that educators, teachers, and parents can implement together.
Customer Reviews:
This is how it should be done. .......2007-06-08
Why is American Schools being out performed by schools in other countries? It couldn't be the teaching methods taught in today's Teacher Prep colleges, could it? It is not a thick book. Read it and think. then read related materials.
Can it be done? It is being done, just not hear. This is a research book worth reading in an easy reading format.
Do The Easy Things First!.......2006-09-12
American middle-school and high-school pupils continually lag their peers in other developed countries - especially in mathematics - despite years of decreasing class size, building ornate new structures, "new" math, etc. However, these efforts are bound to fail if what goes on inside the classrooms is poorly structured.
The "bad news" is that we are often blind to the most familiar aspects of our everyday environment; the "good news" is that looking across cultures is one of the best ways to sharpen our view of ourselves. In "The Teaching Gap" the German and Japanese 8th-grade classes studied were comparable to the American classes - yet, substantive differences were noted.
Content in the U.S. was less advanced and presented in a more piecemeal and prescriptive way - there were twice the number of definitions presented in the U.S., and more concepts were simply given/stated vs. developed/derived. There was also more topic switching in the U.S., more interruptions (0% in Japan, 13% in Germany, and 31% in the U.S.), less coherence of U.S. lessons, less student involvement in doing the work (9% in the U.S., 19% in Germany, 40% in Japan).
Another difference is that Japanese teachers do not use overhead projectors - instead, they work their way around the room on chalkboards, leaving a record of the entire lesson for the pupils. Still another is that Japanese teachers focus on joint efforts at continuous improvement - a concept probably taken from Toyota's much vaunted "Toyota Production System."
"The Teaching Gap" concludes that most popular U.S. reform efforts have avoided a direct focus on teaching. The evidence presented within the book indicates that it is time we did.
It may not be correct, but..........2005-12-29
After reading the book and the previous posters, even if the Japanese mathematics classes were not representative of the education system as a whole, the implications of this study and the ideas that the authors came up with are what we should be focusing on.
The question "why?" is asked far too little in all mathematics classes. If only we would take some time to teach the methods and reasons of mathematics, rather than just the process, I am sure that all students will benefit and be able to truly understand the concepts that are currently being taught with a "learn it for the test" attitude.
The book brings up these vital points, so that teachers may question their styles, regardless of the authenticity of some of their claims.
Interesting for a Education Student.......2004-02-17
I am in a program to become a High School math teacher. Our professor recommended this book. I found it to be pretty interesting. The authors do a detailed analysis of a video study from the TIMSS study. Their analysis compares how math is taught in the US, Germany and Japan. Their conclusion is that the US approach focuses on teaching terms and procedures where as the other countries emphasize understanding concepts. They go onto to propose a system of "lesson planning" to improve teaching in the US. Lesson planning calls for teachers to work in teams and develop a single lesson plan (maybe one per semester). The process of developing the lesson plan and refining it imparts to the teachers involved a kind of "best practices" that they can then use in their everyday planning. I am not sure if this is practical, but it sure sounds reasonable to me.
Inaccurate.......2002-06-30
I read the part of this book regarding Japan. I've taught in a Japanese public junior high school and found lots of inaccuracies in the text. The conclusions they came to are outdated and in places in accurate.
For example, the authors state that there is no widespread reforms in Japanese education, that teachers constantly strive for improvement. This year the Ministry of Education has instituted widespread reform and there has been a lot in the Japanese media about the preparations for this. Japanese people are very dissatisfied with the schools and some wish they'd adopt a few Western style practices.
However, there is little or no accountability in Japanese instruction. Teachers can blythely ignore any required changes and a few have told me that they've been teaching their way for years and don't want to change. None of this is in the book.
While there are a lot of teachers' meetings in Japan, improving one's performance is optional. Often the teachers who do strive for excellence are ostrasized.The book didn't mention this.
Japanese schools are in crisis. There's rampant absenteeism and classroom violence and breakdown. It's not a system we should emulate. Buy another book.
Average customer rating:
- On the upside...
- Good to get it out there
- Odd Girl Out---the book
- Interesting interviews, but feels repetitive and incomplete.
- Now I understand why some girls are suddenly so mean!
|
Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls
Rachel Simmons
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
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ASIN: 0156027348 |
Amazon.com
There is little sugar but lots of spice in journalist Rachel Simmons's brave and brilliant book that skewers the stereotype of girls as the kinder, gentler gender. Odd Girl Out begins with the premise that girls are socialized to be sweet with a double bind: they must value friendships; but they must not express the anger that might destroy them. Lacking cultural permission to acknowledge conflict, girls develop what Simmons calls "a hidden culture of silent and indirect aggression."
The author, who visited 30 schools and talked to 300 girls, catalogues chilling and heartbreaking acts of aggression, including the silent treatment, note-passing, glaring, gossiping, ganging up, fashion police, and being nice in private/mean in public. She decodes the vocabulary of these sneak attacks, explaining, for example, three ways to parse the meaning of "I'm fat."
Simmons is a gifted writer who is skilled at describing destructive patterns and prescribing clear-cut strategies for parents, teachers, and girls to resist them. "The heart of resistance is truth telling," advises Simmons. She guides readers to nurture emotional honesty in girls and to discover a language for public discussions of bullying. She offers innovative ideas for changing the dynamics of the classroom, sample dialogues for talking to daughters, and exercises for girls and their friends to explore and resolve messy feelings and conflicts head-on.
One intriguing chapter contrasts truth telling in white middle class, African-American, Latino, and working-class communities. Odd Girl Out is that rare book with the power to touch individual lives and transform the culture that constrains girls--and boys--from speaking the truth. --Barbara Mackoff
Book Description
Dirty looks and taunting notes are just a few examples of girl bullying that girls and women have long suffered through silently and painfully. With this book Rachel Simmons elevated the nation's consciousness and has shown millions of girls, parents, counselors, and teachers how to deal with this devastating problem. Poised to reach a wider audience in paperback, including the teenagers who are its subject, Odd Girl Out puts the spotlight on this issue, using real-life examples from both the perspective of the victim and of the bully.
Customer Reviews:
On the upside..........2007-06-09
What an incredible walk through our nation's schools--though only eye-opening because I didn't realize how prevalent my own experiences were among others. How sad that girlhood aggression has been labeled a "culture". On the upside, that ought to give it the attention that such destructive behavior is due. I know, I know, it's been said before: EVERY girl and her mother needs to read this.
Good to get it out there.......2007-05-02
I think the value in this book is its ablility to open up discussions about this subject. For generations, nothing has been said about it. Parents, teachers, school administrators, nobody wanted to talk about it. Without that discussion, nothing will ever change.
Odd Girl Out is beautifully written, sometimes heart-breaking, often maddening. I would have liked to have seen the author offer more solutions to the problem, but overall, I think it is a very valuable book and would recommend it to anyone with daughters.
Odd Girl Out---the book.......2007-04-15
Great book, very easy to read. Parents and girls should read this.
Interesting interviews, but feels repetitive and incomplete........2007-04-10
In Rachel Simmons' book, "Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls," she introduces us to three hundred girls from thirty schools across the country. Blasting the stereotype that girls are the kinder, gentler sex, Simmons' premise is that girls are taught to "be nice" and to "make friends," and, as a result, are unable to express anger that might destroy the façade of friendship. Because our culture does not grant girls "permission" to confront conflict directly, Simmons asserts, there exists a "hidden culture of silent and indirect aggression" consisting of "backbiting, exclusion, rumors, name-calling, and manipulation to inflict psychological pain on targeted victims." Simmons remembers how she felt when a third grader named Abby told the other girls not to play with her; she remembers her own responsibility in giving another girl the silent treatment. It is from that base of personal experience that Simmons conducted her interviews.
The book consists of Simmons interviews...many, many interviews. Over time, the interviews begin to seem mind-numbingly similar. Natalie's story, Lisa's story, Molly's story, Dina's story...each story becomes repetitive. At one point, I set the book aside for a week and found that I had lost my place. I attempted to find the exact page where I had stopped reading, but I found that it was impossible to do so. Since none of the stories stood out distinctly in my mind, I gave up my search for the "right" page; I picked a random early chapter that I knew I must have read already and resumed my reading.
I enjoyed reading the book, even given its repetitiveness problems, and with a lifetime of experience being the "odd girl out," I found it somewhat cathartic to read stories of young women who had experienced similar trauma. Simmons does some things well. Her explanation of the devastating impact of girls' aggression is compelling, and she does an excellent job of describing the dynamics of the hidden aggression. In addition, Simmons relates the various interviews in a compassionate and thoughtful manner.
Where she does not succeed, however, is in giving her readers tangible suggestions about ways to address the problems she emphasizes.
Odd Girl Out contains two hundred and seventy pages, but it is only during the last thirty of those pages that Simmons addresses possible solutions to the problems she outlines. In those thirty pages, Simmons tells readers to talk to their daughters, to tell teachers about what is happening, and to make sure that teachers take the problems seriously. Those are reasonable suggestions, but I wanted more. I did not find a plan to keep these things from happening to my young adult daughter in the first place, nor did I find a plan of action in the event these things happen to my daughter. It is not enough to recommend we talk to our daughters and to their teachers - my friends and I could suggest that plan to one another over a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Simmons has made a good first step in raising awareness of the problem. She needed to work harder, though, to provide parents and teachers with skills and with plans for action when facing these issues.
Now I understand why some girls are suddenly so mean!.......2007-03-14
I read this book in preparation for my daughter's middle school years. I can honestly say it helped prepare me the first time she came home in distress over a friendship that had taken a negative turn. It gives insight into what might be going on in a girl's mind when she suddenly starts displaying RA tactics, and the devastating effects it has on both the aggressor and the victim.
My daughter took great comfort from this book as well as the companion book, Odd Girl Speaks Out - they helped her understand her friend's possible motives and gave her some tools to use to turn the situation around. It also helped me open up a dialogue with her school, who were very responsive. RA can be overcome, but you have to educate yourself and your community. Sometimes this has to start with the parent, not the teachers. This book is a fantastic first step.
Book Description
This textbook brings modern I/O analysis to the undergraduate level. Consistent with modern analysis, the authors focus explicitly on the nature of strategic interaction and make extensive use of game theoretic tools. At the same time, they never lose sight of the policy motivation behind much IO analysis. Formal analysis is combined with many practical applications, and the presentation does not assume familiarity with calculus, rather it relies on the ability to work through algebraic equations.
Customer Reviews:
Not very clear.......2007-08-10
I had a very hard time following what's going on because the language is not very clear and too verbose. The book focuses on the beauty of language rather than how to express the ideas in a clear and understandable manner. Makes simple stuff a lot harder than it should. Translating equations into words is sometimes confusing, and the concepts are too ideal that they can hardly apply to the real world situations.
do not touch.......2006-12-26
the book is filled with typo. Given that this is third edition, the author doesn't seem to pay much attention to the hw. I was a TA for this class, and it took me some times to figure out what i did wrong because the hw questions are wrong. The theories in this book can only be applied in the context of the book's examples; some of these theories are not general and can't be applied in a broad sense.
Induvitably excellent book!.......2003-11-04
Above all, it enraptured me with its practical orientation,
which really builds the economic sense at the reader. Numerous, straight superior and often also heartbreaking examples make theory well comprehensible. There doesn't lack nor more complex mathematical assecession for more serious study. 1A
Induvitably excellent book!.......2003-11-04
Above all, it enraptured me with its practical orientation,
which really builds the economic sense at the reader. Numerous, straight superior and often also heartbreaking examples make theory well comprehensible. There doesn't lack nor more complex mathematical assecession for more serious study. 1A
Book Description
For top grades and an excellent understanding of biology, this powerful study tool is the best tutor you can have. It's been updated to include the latest advances in the field. Features detailed illustrations of complex biologic systems and processes, and takes students by the hand from the smallest elements of life to the primates. Hundreds of problems with fully-explained solutions cut down on study time and make important points easy to remember. Additional problems with answers let students gauge their progress every step of the way.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book for Biology GRE Preparation.......2007-10-07
Although it's not marketed this way, Schaum's outline is a concise yet complete study guide for the Biology GRE subject test. Topics like the endocrine system, plant evolution and development, and nutrition, which are given short shrift in the Princeton Review and Kaplan study guides, are fully covered in this book. More diagrams are provided (although there are no color figures - ditto for PR and Kaplan), as well as handy review tables. The explanations are at an appropriate level for GRE examinees: there is not too much extraneous information. Occasionally, the authors will throw in a humorous aside or phrasing (see def. of sexual selection, parts of Ch.17, etc.), which makes you pay closer attention, but overall the tone is serious (no BS analogies or condescension here).
At the end of every chapter are worked problems in essay and multiple choice formats. These questions cover GRE material but aren't presented in the same style. If you're using this book for GRE preparation, you should also consider buying a book with one or more practice tests in order to familiarize yourself with the exam format.
This Book's Got It All!.......2007-01-17
I bought this book to prepare the DAT. It helped so much and I couldn't have made it without it. I do recommend it, it's way better than those common books dealing with how to prepare the DAT, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, they're just not as specific as this one. Totally worth the money, go for it!
Useful book for recalling established knowledge.......2006-11-08
Well organized, full text book with essential topics on biology. Excellent tool for GRE exams and anyone with basic knowledge on biology, who needs a quick reviewing.
GOOD Reference, LOTS to Read.......2006-07-25
My favorite chapters included Kingdom Fungi, Photosynthesis,excretory system and structure and function of chloroplasta. Like a previous reviewer, I used this book to prepare for the biology section of the DAT (Dental Admission Test). This is a good reference, it explains with examples that get the facts to stick to your brain. Yes, it requires studying, but then again what subject doesn't?
Another great book I totally recommend is "The Ultimate Study Guide for Biology: Key Review Questions and Answers with Explanations". Volumes 1,2 and 3. It is written by Patrick Leonardi. It is an excellent review for the biology portion of the DAT exam..
Too much information... Just make it simple.......2006-02-27
I was looking to get up to speed to teach an intro bio class for community college. After reviewing bio texts, I bought this book thinking that it would be a great summary, review and offer quiz questions for bio. I wanted it to be to the point, revelant, and a pithy supplement. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. This book didn't highlight or sum up bio. It went into in-depth discussions that might be of interest to grad students. I looked at Biology the Easy Way and liked it much better.
Book Description
The Closing of the American Mind, a publishing phenomenon in hardcover, is now a paperback literary event. In this acclaimed number one national best-seller, one of our country's most distinguished political philosophers argues that the social/political crisis of 20th-century America is really an intellectual crisis. Allan Bloom's sweeping analysis is essential to understanding America today. It has fired the imagination of a public ripe for change.
Customer Reviews:
Plato, Socrates...and Woody Allen?.......2007-10-18
The Closing of the American Mind is a powerful, formidably intelligent book that sweeps across the state of humanities in modern education. It is marred, in places, however, by the author's prejudices and blind spots.
Bellow, great ally and friend of Bloom's at the University of Chicago kicks off with the intro, a rallying cry for the noble old humanities subjects, the 'submerged Atlantis' of a great books education. The value of such an education is to cultivate the higher mental life. Of course, Bellow was obsessed by this notion throughout his writing life. This culminated in the masterful 'Herzog', the story of a man who has nurtured the higher philosophical questions to an extreme yet has no clue how to master or even cope with the practicalities of modern life and is bankrupt and broken by the end.
Bloom himself was a formidable scholar, the inspiration for the character of Ravelstein in Bellow's final novel. A larger than life intellect, he was firmly of the view that reading Plato and Shakespeare is the most valuable thing you can do with your life. Far more useful and noble than studying MBAs, or how to reform the health service, or the natural sciences. No, the real ultimate education is philosophy - freewheeling, old style philosophy from Socrates, through Plato, through Aristotle and on to the Renaissance - Locke, Rousseau: the enlightenment, and modern democracy. Do students today appreciate all this? The hell they do! Modern life is a cultural desert, based on the notorious 'reforms' of the 60s when liberalization of university life destroyed much of what was good about education and turned it into a flaccid grab bag where you studied subjects that could be harnessed to useful ends, plus the odd paper that took your fancy.
Bloom's analysis is much deeper than this however and some of his specific diatribes are amongst the most powerful and funny parts of the book. Take music - rock music is all noise, not a patch on the noble constructions of Beethoven. Love - pah! The youth of today have no idea how to love, they haven't the chops for it, all they do is mope around whining about 'commitment' and 'relationships'. Actually, Bloom says very sound things about these 'lifestyles', not human lives worthy of the name. But his diagnosis is bizarre. He seems to think Woody Allen is responsible for a lot of this with his films just variations on what it is like to have no self (Zelig the worst culprit). C'mon Allan - surely you can see that the other Allen is fundamentally a humourist, not a philosopher, as he has reluctantly acknowledged himself. If you think Woody Allen is indicative of all that is wrong with modern life you have a pretty skewed view of things.
Still, delve deeply into this book, give it your concerted attention for a few weeks, and it will burrow deep into your marrow. Certainly Bloom makes a powerful case for reigniting the flame of philosophy in the Socratic sense in American Universities so students can discover the highest friendship and shared great moments, debating the ultimate questions through deep reading of the great philosophers that will last their whole lives.
I studied philosophy and politics myself at university, and it is true that the books that stuck with me the most were the great texts. The deep humanistic education that is vital to the cultivation of the soul, and the asking of that ultimate and most fundamental of questions - what is life for?
How many people these days would give you the glib answer of: '42'? And that is Bloom's point.
The value of a liberal education........2007-07-08
"Men may live more truly and fully in reading Plato and Shakespeare than at any other time, because they are participating in essential being and are forgetting their accidental lives. The fact that this kind of humanity exists or existed, and that we can somehow still touch it with the tips of our outstretched fingers, makes our imperfect humanity, which we can no longer bear, tolerable. The books in their objective beauty are still there, and we must help protect and cultivate the delicate tendrils reaching out toward them through the unfriendly soil of students' souls. Human nature, it seems, remains the same in our altered circumstances because we still face the same problems, if in different guises, and have the distinctively human need to solve them, even though our awareness and forces have become enfeebled" (p. 380).
Allan Bloom (1930-1992) was a professor of philosophy and political science at the University of Chicago, and the subject of Saul Bellow's final novel, Ravelstein (2000). In his bestselling book, The Closing of the American Mind (1987), Professor Bloom draws from his training as a philosophical thinker and his long career as a teacher to describe "how higher education has failed democracy and impoverished the souls of today's students."
Summarizing Bloom's book in a short review is no easy task. He believes in "the good old Great Books approach" to education, and observes how students, in a culture of movies and rock music, have "lost the practice of and the taste for reading." He not only believes the high incidence of divorce has left students less critical in their thinking, but argues their lax sexual mores deprive students of what Plato described as the "erotic" element in education--the element of excitement, mystery, and longing inherent to a liberal education. Bloom believes the "openness" of cultural relativism--the practice of valuing the opinion of each person equally--undermines critical thinking with indifference, devalues the study of languages, philosophy, and science, and deprives students from searching for the truth that leads to a higher life. In his book, Bloom is concerned with nothing less than "the state of our souls."
Professor Bloom's argument is carefully reasoned, and reveals a great mind at work. The Closing of the American Mind is truly profound. Although it was published twenty years ago, it remains relevant nonetheless and should be considered essential reading in understanding the value of a liberal education in our society.
G. Merritt
Necessary Questions.......2007-05-22
This was the most difficult fun and knowledge seeking free time reading I have done in years. At times Dr. Bloom was speaking to me, freely articulating my own disappointment with the academy. His comments about the free fall of traditional inquiry and the current status of the social sciences and humanities was piercing. Since I was born in the 50s, the transformations he spoke of that became so apparent to him in the 80s were experienced in the public school and university careers of those of us born in the first decade or so after WWII.
In spite of the delight in reading Dr. Bloom's astute observations of those years, in no time, the next pages would lose and confuse me, forcing a re-read and consultation of other sources. Ironically, this exemplified the point he was making since those areas had to do with philosophy. (Plato is next.) Nonetheless, this is a marvelous work of incredible intellectual depth by a very scholarly man who was aware, and somewhat saddened, by the trends of his times.
The book is long, requires real dedication, but in my opinion it was well worth the read. The first two thirds of the book seem as if they are not related to one another, but then, by the last part, especially the chapter The Sixties, all the detail about the German School, Marcuse, Plato, converge. Although the 60s seemed groundbreaking and exciting to the youth of its time (including me), Bloom ventures to state, quite convincingly, that it was void of intellectual gravitas due a highly stylized, yet simplistic view of its philosophical and historical context.
Dr. Bloom also greatly delves into the role of the university and his founded fears of the compromise of the special status of inquiry in the academy being wedded to popular culture and politics. He repeatedly asserts that there's a lack of support, in his experience even among some professors, to uphold the bigger questions of existence, philosophy, religion, science, culture - what have you - that transcend popular culture and politics.
On the topic of politics, one might be tempted to state that Dr. Bloom took sides, and that his opus has left-right implications. It may have appeared a bit critical of what is commonly thought of as the left, but the notion of being "progressive", of throwing off tradition, of being less discriminate about what is good or evil, ugly or beautiful, right or wrong, tends to be the territory of the modern left. I never felt he was simply being opinionated, but that he just attributed his assessment of the late 20th century academia to certain movements and philosophies that permeated many areas of the university. Dr. Bloom greatly laments what the university has become because he clearly loved the institution and believed it was indispensable to the knowledge and mysteries of mankind.
See Evan Sayet's analysis..........2007-05-19
Evan says that Prof Bloom's book influenced him, but Evan has expanded on the reasons why Modern Liberals act like they do.
I recommend everyone watch Evan's talk.
You can find it at YouTube by searching on "Evan Sayet". Choose "How Modern Liberals Think". It's phenomenal.
Nice Intro..........2007-04-24
The best part about this book was the intro. In fact all you need to understand what the late Mr. Bloom was trying to put forth is in the introduction.
The rest of the book is a chore to read. The confusing and tedious writing style leads to a lot of re-reading of sentences to figure out the point the author is trying to make. Someone should have counseled Mr. Bloom that "Brevity is the soul of wit."
Book Description
This comprehensive book encourages future educational leaders to be proactive rather than reactive, and arms them with an understanding of educational policy and the important political theories upon which it is based. Coverage addresses theory, analysis, development, and implementation of educational policy, with the knowledge base of the typical reader in mind. It explores the reasons for change in educational policy, ways to track its evolution, and techniques for influencing its ultimate destination. Includes updated statistics drawn from the 2000 Census and explores economic changes expected from the business cycle downturn and the effect of war. Features new news stories for analysis—related to chapter content as well as key current issues, including the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001; New case studies on the teaching of Darwinian evolution and on parent revolts against state testing programs; An entire chapter devoted to policy values and ideology. Extensive coverage on educational policy at the state level. For future educators and educational leaders.
Customer Reviews:
Good book and service!.......2007-10-19
I ordered this book and it came in excellent condition and in a timely manner.
Fowler surfs the waves of educational public policy!.......2003-05-01
An excellent source of information for the layperson or serious student of American education systems. Dr. Fowler explains in great detail a variety of such substantive areas as the meaning of policy; power and education; a discussion of the policy environment; some types of political systems and culture; ideological and value systems; who sets the stage in the making of education policy; the various stages of the policy process and so forth. Enjoyable! Thorough! Substantive!
Educational Leaders.......2001-03-13
This book was very easy to read and understand. Coming from a teaching background, and not knowing anything about policy making, this book was a true education. I used it in my grad class, and every student commented on the ease of understanding and the interest in the text. This is a must buy if you want to learn anything about education, teaching or being an administrator!
Book Description
How do cultural differences and real-world issues affect the education of students, in this case, American Indian students? What approaches have real teachers found that work well with American Indian students? This books answers these and more thoughtful questions about teaching in today's diverse school communities.
KEY TOPICS: This book captures the collected wisdom of nearly 60 teachers of American Indian students, their frustrations, joys, and challenges. It provides in a very real way, a portrait of the issues that challenge these students, as well as the successes some teachers have in working with American Indian students. It provides new and fresh perspectives on learning styles and literacy issues. It is also the first book to confront issues of historic oppression and its impact on contemporary Indian education. New and practicing teachers seeking to enhance their awareness and teaching methods to meet the needs of today's diverse classrooms.
Customer Reviews:
A must-read!.......2000-05-24
Possibly the most useful book available for anyone working in or considering working in elementary and secondary American Indian education. As a tribal school employee, I felt the authors may have used our school as a case study! Thought provoking and inspirational - highly recommended.
A journey in understanding.......1998-12-12
These gentle, generous-spirited writers have contributed a great deal to the field. Their book is full of stories, true tales of work in classrooms. Each leads you further into the depths of insight needed to be of use as an educator of Native American students.
Book Description
How have Japanese companies become world leaders in the automotive and electronics industries, among others? What is the secret of their success? Two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi, are the first to tie the success of Japanese companies to their ability to create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. In The Knowledge-Creating Company, Nonaka and Takeuchi provide an inside look at how Japanese companies go about creating this new knowledge organizationally. The authors point out that there are two types of knowledge: explicit knowledge, contained in manuals and procedures, and tacit knowledge, learned only by experience, and communicated only indirectly, through metaphor and analogy. U.S. managers focus on explicit knowledge. The Japanese, on the other hand, focus on tacit knowledge. And this, the authors argue, is the key to their success--the Japanese have learned how to transform tacit into explicit knowledge. To explain how this is done--and illuminate Japanese business practices as they do so--the authors range from Greek philosophy to Zen Buddhism, from classical economists to modern management gurus, illustrating the theory of organizational knowledge creation with case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, Nissan, 3M, GE, and even the U.S. Marines. For instance, using Matsushita's development of the Home Bakery (the world's first fully automated bread-baking machine for home use), they show how tacit knowledge can be converted to explicit knowledge: when the designers couldn't perfect the dough kneading mechanism, a software programmer apprenticed herself with the master baker at Osaka International Hotel, gained a tacit understanding of kneading, and then conveyed this information to the engineers. In addition, the authors show that, to create knowledge, the best management style is neither top-down nor bottom-up, but rather what they call "middle-up-down," in which the middle managers form a bridge between the ideals of top management and the chaotic realities of the frontline. As we make the turn into the 21st century, a new society is emerging. Peter Drucker calls it the "knowledge society," one that is drastically different from the "industrial society," and one in which acquiring and applying knowledge will become key competitive factors. Nonaka and Takeuchi go a step further, arguing that creating knowledge will become the key to sustaining a competitive advantage in the future. Because the competitive environment and customer preferences changes constantly, knowledge perishes quickly. With The Knowledge-Creating Company, managers have at their fingertips years of insight from Japanese firms that reveal how to create knowledge continuously, and how to exploit it to make successful new products, services, and systems.
Download Description
Manufacturers around the world have learned much from Japanese manufacturing techniques. However, any company that wants to compete on knowledge must also learn from Japanese techniques of knowledge-creation. Managers at Japan's most successful companies recognize that creating knowledge is not simply a matter of processing objective information. Rather, it depends on tapping the tacit and often highly subjective insights, intuitions, and ideals of employees.
Customer Reviews:
Not even worth one star.......2005-11-21
I was very disappointed by this book. Not only was it painful to read, because it dragged on and was full of academic nonsense, the authors views were also unconvincing and based on old research.
This book is outdated and not relevant to the way Japan is today. The authors use a lot of research and examples from the 80s and even the 70s. They make the claim that Japanese firms experienced a lot of success in the late 70s and 80s because of their superior ability to "create knowledge." They seem to be in complete denial that Japan's economic bubble had anything to do with this "success" that they are talking about. Also, the book was written over 10 years ago, before the financial crisis and before people realized that a lot of this so-called success was just cooked in the books by accountants.
They do give some reasonable examples of knowledge creating firms that are successful, but that's all they are, just a few examples and not an accurate representation of the whole picture of Japanese Management. Also, most of the examples are of Japanese manufacturing firms. What about the service sector? Suspiciously they did not use examples of companies from Japan's service sector, which are extremely inefficient and not the text book perfect examples of successful "knowledge creating" firms.
The theories and models in this book are a bunch of overly abstract vague pretentious academic nonsense. The real life examples are so nebulously related to the theories and models that most successful (or unsuccessful) companies can be used as examples.
If you want to read a bunch of nonsense based on old research with the names of Harvard professors and some philosophy thrown in to make the nonsense seem legit and intelligent, then by all means, read this book. But if you are like me and want to learn about Japanese management, don't waste your time or money on this book.
BEWARE! Digital version is only a 10 page summary!.......2004-03-16
Don't get caught like I did.
From information-processing machine to knowledge-creating co.......2002-08-28
This book is the classic in the organizational learning approach. But it¡¯s more than that. This book is not about lean production or Japanese kaizen system, but about how to enhance a firm¡¯s adaptability to turbulent environment through knowledge creation. with suggesting new concept of knowledge-creation as the tangible base of organizational capabilities or innovation, this book serves as the bridge between organizational learning school and resource-capabilities view.
As the being to survive in environment, the firm processes signals or information from environment. Knowledge is the framework to process info to interpret the state of environment. Up to 1980s, the company was viewed as information-processing machine. Indeed, firm is the flow of information. That kind of view has been justified against the business reality. Actually, it¡¯s the very picture of bureaucratic organization which culminated in GM¡¯s M-form model. Here, CEO like Jack Welch is the hero. Such an organization is effective when the environment is stable and predictable. But since 1970s, things have changed. Uncertainties have been amplified with the hypercompetition on global scale. Now the framework to interpret the signal from environment, itself should incessantly and systemically be adapted to turbulent reality. Knowledge and innovation have come the words of the day. Not surprisingly, there has been growing dissatisfaction with traditional organizational structure. Kao¡¯s CEO, Maruta put it in this way: ¡®The intelligence of a firm does not come from the president nor top management. That must come from the gathering of all knowledge of all members.¡¯ This book is about to how to build organization as the effective innovation site. To do so, all the available knowledge in and out of company should be able to be mobilized and freely flow throughout the firm. For instance, front line employees are constantly in direct touch with the outside world. They can obtain access to the up-to-date info on the market, technology, or competitors. But their knowledge is, in most cases, not able to be expressed in explicit way. Generally, it¡¯s the tacit knowledge. But to survive more and more intensified competition, the firm should be apt to mobilizing their tacit knowledge. To achieve such a goal, task force or bottom-up organizational model emerged. In those model, the creative knowledge worker, in Peter Drucker¡¯s term, is the hero. But in those models, knowledge tends to be confined to narrow front line, and comes and goes with creative employees. And worse, the firm can¡¯t react as an efficient unit to threats from environment. As a result, innovation is the haphazard event. So there should be some integrating mechanism like hierarchy. To be efficient unit, knowledge should flow all over the company. Here, authors rediscover the significance of middle managers. They play the role of midwife and amplifier of knowledge from front line employees and between various divisions in the firm. They coordinate the flow of knowledge and maintain the firm as a coherent knowledge-creating unit. In short, the firm should be organized as the melting pot of member¡¯s knowledge. Authors take examples from Japanese firms to illustrate what¡¯s like such a site.
A look at knowledge creation.......2001-11-26
I came to this book through a reference in Novak & Gowin. What caught my eye was that someone was willing to talk about an epistemological stance other than the analytic, reductionist view held in science. For the most part, I found this book's understanding of Western epistemology to be reasonable; I can't speak for the Japanese epsitemology cited. What interested me, and for which I recommend the book, is their view of knowledge creation. The case studies lend weight to their view, but they do explicate a possible model for turning subjective knowledge into explicit knowledge. They suggest a management model for making it happen. The book is very well written and edited.
I believe the book needs a very careful read *outside* the business community. I would put this book down as the business version of Feynman's *The Character of Natural Law*.
An essential book on knowledge management.......2001-09-28
This is perhaps one of the most important books presently available on knowledge management. The authors demonstrate how 'knowledge' is vital to innovation within Japanese firms, with clear distinction made between 'tacit' and explicit' knowledge. An effort is made to distinguish the differences between Japanese and Western firms through an emphasis on the importance of 'tacit' knowledge and a 'middle-up-down' management process. Other than Chapter 2 (a review of philosophical background relating to epistemology which might put some readers off), this book has minimal jargons and complexities and would be an easy and enjoyable read even for non-academics. The arguments presented by the authors are well-illustrated with relevant industrial examples. Overall, this is a book that not only brings a new perspective to knowledge management but also raises questions for the ardent researchers who might ponder over its relevance to non-Japanese firms.
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