by Douglas A. Wyatt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 20, 2021
Vigorous, accessible advocacy for nutritional therapy and a possible method to achieve optimal health outcomes.
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A guide touts the controversial medical benefits of bovine colostrum.
In this book’s opening statement, Wyatt asserts that modern medicine is due for some fundamental changes in the way it’s taught and practiced in America. He writes that the misuse and overuse of medications lead to drug abuse and that a “return to basics and common sense” is very much in order. The author believes in the power of the “living, breathing pharmaceutical factory” known as the cow to deliver the lifesaving antibacterial and antiviral properties found in bovine colostrum, a unique, bioactive dairy secretion from the animal’s udders during the first few days after giving birth. Throughout his narrative, Wyatt references his wife, Kaye, who suffered from immune dysfunction for most of her life as a result of biological imbalances and chronic immunodeficiency. In a series of intriguing chapters discussing colostrum’s ancient history as an Egyptian “elixir of metamorphosis” and statistical data and clinical trials that demonstrate its anti-inflammatory, regenerative, and microbiome rebalancing properties, Wyatt explores how passive immunity can be obtained from nutrients and antibodies found in the secretion. He also details the arduous process of bringing colostrum in some form to the retail market. First introduced to its purported benefits by a colleague, the author vividly describes the dramatic effects the supplement had once his wife began ingesting it and how both were enchanted by this unorthodox remedy. The book chronicles Wyatt’s inspired, yearslong determination to heal his wife with colostrum. He considers himself and Kaye to be “pioneers of colostrum”; they established a nonprofit research organization on its behalf. Despite Kaye’s death, the author continues to promote what he claims is a key factor in human immune system resiliency. A military veteran, son of an herbalist, and grandson of an Idaho cattle rancher, Wyatt has no medical training or clinical experience. But the author’s thorough, clinically supported research and passionate treatment of what he calls an “ancient health remedy” will snag readers’ attention from the first page. With a section of informative guides, lists of bioactive components, and even recipes using powdered colostrum, his book will certainly inspire interest in further research by readers inclined to know more about this radical dietary supplement.
Vigorous, accessible advocacy for nutritional therapy and a possible method to achieve optimal health outcomes.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-736322-1-9
Page Count: 247
Publisher: Vibrant Life Institute
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Adam Frank ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 21, 2023
Solid data and reasoned conjecture strike a harmonious balance in a new SETI.
A jocular title does not even hint at the real wonders of this cook’s tour of alien life.
Astrophysicist Frank, author of Light of the Stars and The Constant Fire, has been obsessed with the idea of extraterrestrial life since childhood. After years of dreaming about exploring the cosmos for signs of intelligent life, he and other scientists are on the threshold of a new era of unprecedented discovery in the field of astrobiology. He details not only recent revelations in the detection of exoplanets, but also the search for technosignatures, indicators of technologically advanced species on worlds light years distant. These are not merely elements of science fiction. They are realities now within human reach thanks to the continuing development of ultra-powerful telescopes and to the sea change in a scientific culture that once scoffed at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Frank’s enthusiasm is contagious, occasionally over-exuberant, and there is plenty of hard science in this survey, which the author presents with economy and accessibility. The book brims with fascinating facts and speculations, from the particulars of astrobiology to Dyson spheres. Frank’s cosmic tour makes stops at such milestones as the Fermi Paradox and the Drake Equation, showing how these 1950s advances continue to inform our thinking about the possibility of technological civilizations. The author also recounts the origins and current manifestations of the UFO craze and how the advancement of actual science has been impeded by 70 years of pop culture images that haunt our collective expectations. Frank advises we look for alien life where it most likely exists: deep space. He also stresses the key point that we have only begun to peer into the universe with instruments capable of breakthrough discoveries, a useful riposte to critics of the effort. Throughout, Frank champions the importance of demanding standards of evidence: “They are, literally, why science works.”
Solid data and reasoned conjecture strike a harmonious balance in a new SETI.Pub Date: Nov. 21, 2023
ISBN: 9780063279735
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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by Jorge Cham & Daniel Whiteson ; illustrated by Jorge Cham ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 2, 2021
A solid foundational education in a handful of lively scientific topics.
Two science podcasters answer their mail.
In this illustrated follow-up to We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe (2017), Cham, a cartoonist and former research associate and instructor at Caltech, and Whiteson, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Irvine, explain the basic science behind subjects that seem to preoccupy the listeners of their podcast, Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe. Most of the questions involve physics or astrophysics and take the form of, is such-and-such possible?—e.g., teleportation, alien visitors, building a warp drive, entering a black hole). The authors emphasize that they are answering as scientists, not engineers. “A physicist will say something is possible if they don’t know of a law of physics that prevents it.” Thus, a spaceship traveling fast enough to reach the nearest star in a reasonable amount of time is not forbidden by the laws of physics, but building one is inconceivable. Similarly, wormholes and time travel are “not known to be impossible”—as are many other scenarios. Some distressing events are guaranteed. An asteroid will strike the Earth, the sun will explode, and the human race will become extinct, but studies reveal that none are immediate threats. Sadly, making Mars as habitable as Earth is possible but only with improbably futuristic technology. For those who suspect that we are living in a computer simulation, the authors describe what clues to look for. Readers may worry that the authors step beyond their expertise when they include chapters on the existence of an afterlife or the question of free will. Sticking closely to hard science, they deliver a lucid overview of brain function and the debate over the existence of alternate universes that is unlikely to provoke controversy. The authors’ work fits neatly into the recently burgeoning market of breezy pop-science books full of jokes, asides, and cartoons that serve as introductions to concepts that require much further study to fully understand.
A solid foundational education in a handful of lively scientific topics.Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-18931-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: Sept. 6, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2021
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