Social Sciences Books

This seller was the best seller I have ever gone through!!!!!
She sent out the book within a day of purchasing it. She was very easy to get in touch with.
BUY FROM THIS SELLER!

I am a regular person attending a NON-competitive community college and let me tell you all that this book stinks! It is entirely in German and makes no sense at all. Nobody in our class can even figure out what they want you to do. I have taken two years of German in high school and I am totally lost in the very first chapter. I think this book is poorly organized. If you must use this book for your class, I would consider looking around for a German class that you can transfer in which does NOT use this book!

This very detailed book is a perfect solution for a textbook in German. The format and layout is easy for one to navigate through the book. As studied through many German texts and this one stands out for being so clear on the subject.

Make sure you see what edition you're getting. I got stuck with the Second edition, and had to buy a new fifth edition. I'm kinda mad about it because the seller didn't make it clear, and I had to spend twice as much on a new book, plus the price for the old one. I'm never getting books from Amazon again.

This book set was used for my most recent German class. I found it helpful, but I was the only one in my class with any background in the language. Most of my classmates found it confusing. I wouldn't recommend it for someone just starting to learn German, but it's certainly a good "review" for speakers who need to brush up on their skills. Side note: the spoken examples on the cassette tape supplements are very fast, and have an odd accent, but are necessary to complete all work in the Arbeitsbuch.

Buy this book! Paul Farmer is a highly effective individual, and shows how one man can and did make a difference. He opens the window on what's going on in Latin America.

Paul Farmer, perhaps the most famous 'Third World doctor' living today, has written an eloquent and moving plea for a reconsideration of modern approaches toward healthcare in the developing nations in this book, "Pathologies of Power". Based on his personal experiences of care in Haiti, but also his professional visits to Russia, Africa, Central America, Mexico, Cuba and many other places besides, Paul Farmer demonstrates that the problematics of healthcare and those of poverty and inequality are insolubly linked in these nations. Whoever says "heal the sick" must also say "end poverty", for the one is not possible without the other; and whoever says "prevent disease" must also say "destroy socio-economic inequality", for the one is not possible without the other. That is the message of this book.

A large part of the work consists of reflections by Farmer on his experiences in Haiti and elsewhere and on the way in which the current worldwide economic structures engender a genuine and systematic violence against the rights of the poor. Strongly inspired by liberation theology (though not necessarily religious), Farmer eloquently and effectively contrasts the heavy importance attached to individual political and legal rights with the way in which the violations of rights done by structural inequalities and injustices is wholly ignored in the same circles that would complain about the former. Rights issues are the domain of jurists, development issues the domain of (liberal) economists; but the way in which the poor and weak are constantly crushed by the systematic repression that is poverty and inequality, at least as real and at least as much a violation as any torture, that seems to be the domain of nobody at all. As Paul Farmer clearly shows, even in the lately so blossoming domain of medical and bioethics the issue of socio-economic structures is completely swept under the carpet. As he says, this really is the "elephant in the room".

The same also goes for the oft-invoked importance of efficiency. Callous and counterproductive Western, often American, inspired healthcare policies in the developing nations (among which we must now sadly share Russia as well) generally fail at providing effective treatment against simple preventable disease such as TBC, because those medications that would actually help are considered "not cost-effective". This is in fact just a polite way of saying "we don't care about these people", but then phrased in a manner that will lead to less of an uproar in the newspapers. Farmer however is not fooled so easily, and sees this for what it is - a structural repression of the developing nations by the developed ones, in the name of "efficiency", i.e. efficiency in achieving the aims of the Western states.

This book is a very powerful work, and a strong indictment of the prevailing attitude towards healthcare and development issues and the little attention paid to their interrelation. It also demonstrates convincingly how the current worldwide economic system is bad for everybody's health. And what could be a more important thing than that?

Read this book. Paul Farmer is one of the few who can enlighten us to a more profound understanding of the mechanisms that underlie disease in so many of its forms. He sees farther than most of us and comes to his conclusions with a gigantic intellect and hard hard hands-on work with the poor and ill for over 2 decades in Haiti and elsewhere. He is our Albert Schweitzer. His concept of "structural violence", that set of social and economic intrastructure deficits that set aside "rich" from "poor" and lays open the environment for not only the contagious diseases like TB and HIV, but also allows for the malnourishment and the reduced choices in nutrition, allows for the maintenance of the dearth of available health care resources, sanitation and educational systems, the conflation of which prevents protection against the illnesses of poverty, puts the reader into the realm of being forced to see a hidden and dirty truth. His prose is mutedly angry. His emotions are unmistakably righteous. His undressing of some of the "liberal" NGO mentality is eye opening. He is the real deal. Read his elegant words and get a glimpse at reality. We are sadly blinded to it by some of the "pathologies" of the powers that be. I have been a physician for almost 30 years. I've given this book to my sons who are young physicians. The thoroughness of his presentation of the causes of the societal ills that allow for the illnesses, and the bibiography that supports his theses are encylopedic in scope. Again, he is the real deal.

Paul Farmer is a Harvard MD and PhD (anthropology), clinician, tuberculosis specialist, author of numerous books and scholarly articles, recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant, and Professor of Medical Anthropology at Harvard Medical School--when he is not living in a hut in his beloved Haiti where he founded Partners in Health, or traveling a quarter million miles a year to lecture, visit prisons, or meet with George Soros or the Gates Foundation. Most important of all, Farmer is an unapologetic, outspoken, and radical advocate for the poorest of the poor. Adequate health care, he insists, is a basic human right for every human being, and our world is failing miserably in this regard. His fascinating life story is told by Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Kidder in the book Mountains Beyond Mountains (2003).

According to a World Bank study from 1993, today in Sub-Saharan Africa "the median age at death is less than five years," (p. xi; no typographical error). Such deplorable disparities between rich and poor, Farmer writes, are not random occurrences, they are not accidental, inescapable or necessary. Rather, they result from pathologies of power, human agency, and structural violence. Quoting the liberation theologian Jon Sobrino, "The poor of the world are not the causal products of human history. No, poverty results from the actions of other human beings" (p. 143). Which is to say that the brutal asymmetry that consigns over half the world to wretchedness is not irremediable. Resignation, in fact, is the most inexcusable choice we could make. However daunting and complex, we can ameliorate these unacceptable conditions if we make other choices: "This book is a physician-anthropologist's effort to reveal the ways in which the most basic right--the right to survive--is trampled in an age of great affluence, and it argues that the matter should be considered the most pressing one of our times" (p. 6).

Farmer spends considerable time charting anecdotal evidence from his two decades of clinical practice serving the poorest of the poor. These detailed case studies from Haiti, Chiapas, Peru, Russia and Cuba are not mere examples but instead emblematic of the problem. Further, following liberation theologians who have deeply influenced him, Farmer strongly advocates listening carefully to the voices of the poor themselves, in their own words, and not only to health "experts" in Geneva, New York and Paris. "I believe," writes Farmer, that 'the poor and impoverished of the world, in virtue of their very reality, constitute the most radical question of the truth of this world, as well as the most correct response to this question'" (p. 202).

Some will dismiss rhetoric like that as from a wild-eyed idealist, or an angry extremist, but Farmer would respond that what is extreme and harsh are the conditions of way too many human beings in the world, which ought to evoke anger, and not his passionate advocacy for them (p. 254). Rather than merely "manage" these horrible social inequalities, Farmer challenges each one of us to make a difference by what he calls "pragmatic solidarity" with the poor.

Paul Farmer has long been famous, I take it, within the medical community as a brave lifesaver in some of the world's most destitute places. He's lived in Haiti for 20-some years, tending to the poor and sick. He used his success against tuberculosis there as a springboard into Russia, where he's helped prevent the spread of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDRTB) within and beyond the country's prison population. He is, to put it succinctly, a saint.

His fame spread to a much broader audience with the publication of Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains: Healing the World: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer. Mountains Beyond Mountains is a hopeful, awe-inspiring, life-changing book. A couple years after reading it, I picked up Farmer's own Pathologies of Power, expecting great things.

It shouldn't be surprising that Farmer is a true Christian. Reading a lot of economics -- and even a lot of politics inspired by economics -- and then reading Farmer, I'm struck by how arid the former sounds in contrast to the latter. A cold calculus might explain to us why we should treat the poor well. Maybe we can justify redistribution to the poor because their utility from one marginal dollar is higher than that for a wealthy person. Or maybe we should aim to stop MDRTB in prisons because those prisoners will go out into the outside world and infect the nonpoor. Farmer cuts through that: *we should help the poor because they are poor, and it is our obligation as humans to serve the least fortunate*.

Not only that: we should help them because, in most every case, their poverty is a sign that we have failed them. Farmer angrily ticks off case after case, most of them straight from his first-hand experience, where what initially looks like a senseless, random death is seen to be a symptom of a deeper systemic problem. The most haunting of these may be the death of a young Haitian girl named Acephie who contracted HIV from a Haitian soldier. She had sex with him because soldiers are some of the few Haitians with dependable salaries. But what led Acephie into that position of economic dependence to begin with? It didn't help that the Haitian government, with the blessing of Western development agencies, had evicted Acephie's family years before to build a dam; the family had to move to higher, poorer ground because of someone's idea of what was good for them. The road from there leads more or less directly to the AIDS death of a Haitian girl. (James Scott's Seeing Like A State contains a lot more tragedies in this direction.)

Pathologies of Power is filled with stories like that. It is not a hopeful book; it is very, very bitter. This despite Kidder's blurb on the cover to the contrary: Kidder recognized the anger, but saw hopefulness that I didn't.

We won't permanently end the suffering of the poor, says Farmer, until we fix the causes of that suffering. He labels these causes "structural violence." Structural violence is what leads poor Haitians to die of preventable disease ("stupid deaths," to use the Haitians' phrase) because the World Health Organization deems their treatment "cost-ineffective," while pharmaceutical companies get wealthy and we argue over the cost-effectiveness of keeping old Americans alive longer. A world devoted to lifting up the least fortunate would stop the stupid deaths first. Drug companies and governments would help the poor *even if there were no money to be made from them*.

Based purely on its message, I couldn't recommend this book highly enough: everyone should learn to think like a true Christian in the midst of rapacious capitalism. But stylistically it's a chore; Farmer is angry, and is lashing out in all directions. His anger leads him to repeat himself 20 or 30 times throughout the book, and to offer very few actual solutions. Which is surprising: the man himself lives to solve the problems of the destitute.

So I think it's vital to differentiate Farmer The Man from Farmer The Author. That's also why I'd recommend that you go right out and read Mountains Beyond Mountains instead: it teaches the same powerful lessons, only a lot more concisely and inspiringly.

This is an interesting little book and easy to read. If you get anything from this book, it will be to share positive thoughts and comments with your co-workers, family and friends. The author emphasizes how a positive comment can encourage and motivate a person to be the best they can be, while a negative one can bring them down. I was left wishing I had practiced "bucket filling" earlier in my life, but going forward will take what I have learned and hopefully be a positive influence on the people in my life.

We see so much on this idea of being, acting and feeling positive. The use of 'bucket' as a metaphor really works showing you how you put in and take out of your 'bucket'. Great book and similar to the Law of attraction. Read Living The Secret Everyday: My Secret Workbook that deals with positive thoughts that activate beliefs and then having the positive attitude attracting other positive experiences, people and things into your life.

This book gets you out of bed and into the world by telling you how to make a world you can want to live in now.

HOW FULL IS YOUR BUCKET by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton explores the benefits of positive reinforcement in business, scholastic, marital and other settings. This is an easy read with sound information presented in ways that are applicable immediately. The work focuses on the premise that we each have our own bucket. Positive reinforcement, given or received, fills the bucket. Negative interaction, given or received, dips out of our bucket.

Good examples are given such as John Gottman's marital study of 700 engaged couples. Gottman concluded after just a 15 minute video of each couple's interaction, which couples marriages would end in divorce. His predictions, 10 years later, were over 90% accurate, clearly illustrating the necessity to fill buckets with praise, rather than drain them with nagging and negative interactions. Perhaps a good indication of our current 50% divorce rate.

I actually purchased the book on CD and it came with some additional web-based free content, which I have not yet looked at. I can only assume the book carries the same additional access. My one knock on this CD set is, even though it is unabridged, it is only about 3 hours total. More information in the form of case studies and implementation would have added greater value.

I believe this book would be helpful in many different situations, but would particularly recommend it for business leaders, married couples and parents.

A quick read, this book provides a fairly straight-forward approach to improving our environments and interactions in work and in life. Using the metaphor of "the dipper and the bucket," the authors present their research-backed (and commonsense) theory that people do best in environments that fill---rather than drain---them. People who loved "Who Moved My Cheese?" and "The Secret" will likely eat up this book as well. Although the theory may at times be a bit too simplified and watered-down (sorry to rain on the positive parade), it provides a good reminder of what makes us tick---and what ticks us off.

I was very satisfied with this book. I was tremendously satisfied with the prompt delivery.

PREGO! is an excellent and very popular classroom introductory Italian program, here in its 7th incarnation. Lazzarino and coauthors have created a beautiful, easy-on-the eyes layout with interesting cultural readings, charming illustrations, and cute (topic related) cartoons. It's great to see different ethnicities represented in the illustrations (a trend that many publishers seem to be following -- it's about time!).

I began my studies with an early edition of PREGO! and have a fondness for this 2-semester program. I've looked at many other introductory Italian language textbooks and I believe PREGO! remains a best-seller because it provides a fun and attractive approach to rigorous grammar study. It appears to me to be the most polished and visually stimulating textbook on the market, with updated cultural scenarios (including the increasingly multicultural Italian demographic).

The supplemental DVD follows an "American" journalist in Italy and his Italian friend through chapter-related scenarios. It is a well-produced and entertaining enough and provides an opportunity for listening comprehension (with optional Italian subtitles -- better, I believe, in aiding Italian study than having English subtitles).

Students will likely get the most bang out of these materials in a formal study (classroom or tutor) setting. Those who can easily afford these (relatively expensive) materials might want to purchase them simply for a good workout.

You can visit the mhhe site (i.e. McGraw-Hill Higher Education -- I can't post the link) to see a sample chapter (Capitolo 1) and check out the audio files and exercises, etc. Here are the correct ISBN's (from the mhhe site) should you want to order these supplements: Workbook (0073266760) Workbook to accompany Prego! An Invitation to Italian; Laboratory Manual (0073266698) Laboratory Manual to accompany Prego! An Invitation to Italian; Audio CD Program, Part A (Audio CD Program (Part A) to accompany Prego! An Invitation to Italian (7th ed.)); Audio CD Program, Part B (0073266647) Audio CDs (Part B) to accompany Prego! An Invitation to Italian (7th ed.); DVD (DVD to accompany Prego! An Invitation to Italian)

You don't need to purchase the (expensive) audio CDs as the sound files are available at the online learning center for Prego7, though some may choose to as they feel more comfortable with CDs in hand. I believe you have to pay for access to the online workbook and lab manual if you choose not to purchase the print versions.

N.B. the "buy together" links don't always link the correct editions of supplementary materials, so use the advanced book search or advanced DVD search to choose the proper materials (if edition is listed correctly) to load into your shopping cart. I've inserted links to the correct supplements above.

Also available: AVANTI! by Janice Aski, et al, is a more communicative approach, introductory Italian language program from McGraw-Hill. Avanti!'s emphasis is on repetition. There is much of value in both of these programs. Avanti! is also somewhat expensive and should also be used with other students with an instructor and/or tutor. Avanti: Beginning Italian Student Edition with Bind-in passcode

Those who cannot attend a college course might fare better with the purchase of any number of text + audio programs or all-audio programs (Living Language, etc.) and inexpensive grammar workbooks.

One of the most beautiful countries on Earth is waiting for you -- and your experience will be so much richer with Italian language skills. Please don't be turned off by the fact that acquiring advanced language skills is for most a long-term endeavor. I believe those new to the experience will find the "discipline" of language study to be its own reward (see FLOW by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience And note that some of the non-native speakers I know that have gained the richest knowledge of Italian history and culture in their travels speak (they're the first to acknowledge this) very exaggerated English-accented Italian. They laugh at themselves and continue to enjoy their new experiences as they know that a goofy accent DOESN'T MATTER! (It's often charming.) Grammatical errors? Who cares! Stumble out there and don't cheat yourself out of a rich new experience!

I ended up returning this item because I had bought one earlier (not through Amazon) that I feared got lost in the mail... but I eventually received the first book I ordered. However, the price on this order was good and the item arrived on time.

*This was a required item for beginning Italian courses. It's really comprehensive and quite thorough in explanations!

Carl Sagan was a wonderful man, and was one of the first people to get me interested in science. In this book, he looks over claims of alien abduction, crop circles, visions, astrology, and other pseudoscientific claims. A great read.

This is a great rebuttal to pseudoscience and superstition. Well-written and interesting. One of my favorites.

Carl Sagan was a great man and had a great way of explaining the awesomeness of the universe to the average man or woman. This book is like that. It allows us to understand logical, rational thaught which we sometimes allow ourselves to ignore.
At the very least it will teach you how to win an argument.

When I started reading this book, it seemed to go slow and I thought about giving up. But, as I went on, the relevance of what he wrote made more and more sense. When I was through, I was pleased that I had read it all the way through and now I am a much more critical thinker.

Taking a broad and accurate swipe at superstition and pseudo-science, Carl Sagan makes a compelling case for scientific thinking. Though Sagan was clearly preaching to the choir in my own case, I found his insights very valuable. Sagan obviously had done alot of thinking about the subject and first sought to understand why people believe implausible and unfalsifiable ideas, but also tries to explain science in the context of our every day lives.

Sagan asks the question of whether humans are simply not proned towards scientific thinking and to the belief in the supernatural. He then goes on to explain hunter-gatherer behavior from the perspective of science. He points out that the careful and learned observations made by bush hunters of game in Africa, utilize a scientific perspective, carefully examining tracks, understanding from past experiences when and where game are likely to be, etc. Science as Sagan explains it is reasoned thinking that results in success as a species. A scientific mind is what has led humans to dominate the planet.

Sagan also examines the nature of superstition and how easy it is for individuals to be sucked into this line of thinking. Dealing with the scary uncertainties in a dark, daunting, demon-haunted world, science is the candle which illuminates. To superstition, criticism is the enemy, but to science, it is the engine by which progress is made. Science is about asking the hard questions, not accepting explanations at face value.

I think any high school science teacher worth his/her salt, would require the reading of this great book and also require a book report on it. Sagan makes a strong case, that our very survival and prosperity are riding on the rejection of superstition and bringing scientific thinking back from the abyss our nation seems to be moving into. I wholeheartedly agree with his assessment.

I used this book to prepare for the AP Psychology exam and was thrilled! I had never taken a psychology course before and thought it would be challenging to try to succeed on the exam to earn college credit. It was easy to read and the practice test questions were extremely similar to those on the actual exam. I was excited to hear that I received a 5 on my exam... and the only aid I used was this book! I would recommend this to anyone.

I am a listener of the Glenn Beck radio show and I found much of his book to repeat what he says on air (surprise, surprise). I would recommend this book to a person that has not listened to Glenn Beck, or someone that wants the hard facts about oil, the economy, and global warming. I found the facts the most interesting part of the book and I will continue to use these facts as I face my liberal friends in debates!

Glenn Beck's book often shows the flaws in the world today. While reveling the troubles in our world and nation he often criticizes the liberals and even some conservatives for their wreckless decesions. he often provides humuros ways to solve our problems, some take these too seriously. Although he jokes about many things he often provides true thought out ideas on how we can fix problems such as the border. - great read if your not a liberal without a sence of humor.

My wife bought me a copy of Glen's Book for my birthday. As a fan of his television show, it was the perfect gift.

As a person who has first hand experience with the problems surrounding immigration, I could relate and agree with Glen's assessment.

I could also fully agree with the solutions to poverty and the sins of self-serving politicians. While I agree with these viewpoints, I hope that others that maybe wanted to agree find that the over the top humor, may dispel the gravitas of the message. Personally, I like the humor of the book and find this makes for much more interesting read than the typical "I have the answer" type of books.

Hopefully Glen Beck, through his radio, television and books will keep the heat on the groups that are slowing but surely destroying our country and our way of life. Michael L. Gooch, SPHR, Author of Wingtips with Spurs

If you can stomach this guy, maybe you will like the book. I can't, and didn't. I received the book as a gift and began reading with an open mind as I don't normally get to see him on television. It became apparent very quickly that he is more concerned about himself than any of the issues that he discusses. In fairness, I did not reach the end of the book so I'm basing this on the front half. Why did I not reach the end of the book, you ask? (see line one) If Glenn, himself, were to answer this review, I think he'd spend more time attacking those who do not support his views than discussing the views themselves. I can't say that I disagreed with every written word in the book, but I can say that the arrogance of the author did show through with every word.

An Inconvenient Book, as you can tell by it's hilarious title spoofing Al Gore's global warming borefest, is Glen Beck at his best. One of the real solutions which Beck proposes is to burn Mexicans for fuel. But then he scrunches up his face and decides that wouldn't be right and gayly declares.."oh, that would by psychotic! Maybe sociopathic!!".. all the while with the hilarious facial expressions. His solution to the problem of Micheal Moore? Shoot him!! The only complication there is whether he should do it himself or hire somebody. But after loudly pondering it himself while doing the great comic contortions with his face, he determines that he could do it himself! Just look at the book cover, with Beck spewing a map of California!! California, land of hippies and windfarms and organic groceries!!! And the look on his face!! Jim Carrey, watch out. The cover is funny, because it's so true!! The level of intelligence in his groundbreaking satire puts Stewart and Colbert to shame. Simply hilarious! What about Michael Berg, (father of Nick Berg who was beheaded in Iraq)) who criticized Bush's decisions regarding the Iraq war? Beck humorously refers to him as a scumbag on national TV. 9/11 wives who want answers? Get this -- Beck hates them!! And it's so funny listening to why he hates them. I was doubled over! This is political humor of the highest caliber. How fortunate we are that the visionary executives at CNN recognized the brilliance and awe-inspiring comedic talent of Glen Beck and gave him a daily show on a nationally broadcast news network, so that it has the air of a lighthearted mainstream news program, like Entertainment Tonight. And who can resist the magical giddy rapport he has with CNN sexpot Robin Meade? It's such a delight to watch him do the flamboyant facial gestures and vocal inflections as he engages in stimulating banter with his fellow connoisseur of highbrow humor. Thank you CNN.

Okay, this is a textbook for a lower-level course in psychology of human development. It is pretty simplistic, I think. I wouldn't buy it unless it was assigned to me in a class or I was writing TV screen play and need some names and vocabulary to stick in a character's mouth.

I was very happy with this book. It's nice and has a wealth of information. It's also a great buy for the price compared to buying it at the bookstore.

I bought this at Amazon.com from an Awesome Deal I found on DailyTool.com. I enjoyed reading the book and it helped me get through the summer class.

I enjoyed the readings for most chapters in this text. The information is generally well-presented and nicely segmented for quick reading. The author incorporates the little asides (mini research articles) to break things up and add some flavor and interest at different points in the book, which I also appreciated.

Unfortunately, the chapter on Intelligence is a train wreck. It's fine and expected to mention Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, but the author couches that theory as the intelligence theory of choice for psychologists. His fawning over Gardner's theory is irresponsible given the total lack of empirical support. Then the author proceeds to rake Jensen over the coals, despite the fact that Jensen's research is extensive and well-supported. The author, at times without citations, directs the student to ridiculous conclusions about intelligence research. For example, he downplays the importance of heritability in intelligence and states a hyperbolic case for the effects of environment. Being very familiar with the intelligence research, I was surprised, but shouldn't have been, that someone could selectively choose to ignore what the vast body of data shows. I can only hope that most grad students will look beyond this treatment of the subject of intelligence for something more substantial and less partisan.