by Jon Palfreman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 15, 2015
In this illuminating book, Palfreman reminds patients that exercise and a positive attitude help, and he urges them to...
Prospects for better treatments for Parkinson’s disease are the hope that lies at the end of this well-researched history and overview of the current state of research.
Palfreman (Emeritus, Broadcast Journalism/Univ. of Oregon; co-author: The Case of the Frozen Addicts, 1996, etc.) brings his skill as a science writer and a deep personal commitment to an initially dark narrative. A generation ago, L-dopa was the breakthrough drug that would supply dopamine, the neurotransmitter no longer available from diseased brain cells, to neurons in movement control centers. Thus it would stop the tremors, falls, and other signs of Parkinson’s—except when it didn’t. L-dopa is notoriously difficult to deliver to the brain, and when it arrives, its release fluctuates, producing on-again, off-again effects. So the race was on to protect, revive, or transplant new cells to replace the dying ones. None of these approaches really worked, writes the author, probably because by the time movement symptoms appear, most of the dopamine cells are gone. In that sense, the tremors are only the tip of the iceberg. Among Parkinson’s “prodromal” symptoms are constipation, loss of the sense of smell, sleep disorders, anxiety, and depression. Moreover, Parkinson’s comes in many varieties, with different ages of onset and different rates of progression. Fortunately, there are promising developments on the horizon—e.g., the chance discovery that a particular phage can invade and devour the misfolded proteins in brain cells, restoring function. A small company has now developed a phage-derived protein that forms the key to opening the cells, and they are planning human trials. Other developments include new forms of L-dopa to ensure stable amounts and sustained delivery and possible exploitation of the placebo effect, which has been shown to stimulate dopamine release from other brain systems.
In this illuminating book, Palfreman reminds patients that exercise and a positive attitude help, and he urges them to participate in clinical trials and take to task drug companies reluctant to initiate huge trials for what they dismiss as a non–life-threatening disease. Just ask Michael J. Fox.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-374-11617-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 12, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
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by Lulu Miller illustrated by Kate Samworth ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 14, 2020
A quirky wonder of a book.
A Peabody Award–winning NPR science reporter chronicles the life of a turn-of-the-century scientist and how her quest led to significant revelations about the meaning of order, chaos, and her own existence.
Miller began doing research on David Starr Jordan (1851-1931) to understand how he had managed to carry on after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed his work. A taxonomist who is credited with discovering “a full fifth of fish known to man in his day,” Jordan had amassed an unparalleled collection of ichthyological specimens. Gathering up all the fish he could save, Jordan sewed the nameplates that had been on the destroyed jars directly onto the fish. His perseverance intrigued the author, who also discusses the struggles she underwent after her affair with a woman ended a heterosexual relationship. Born into an upstate New York farm family, Jordan attended Cornell and then became an itinerant scholar and field researcher until he landed at Indiana University, where his first ichthyological collection was destroyed by lightning. In between this catastrophe and others involving family members’ deaths, he reconstructed his collection. Later, he was appointed as the founding president of Stanford, where he evolved into a Machiavellian figure who trampled on colleagues and sang the praises of eugenics. Miller concludes that Jordan displayed the characteristics of someone who relied on “positive illusions” to rebound from disaster and that his stand on eugenics came from a belief in “a divine hierarchy from bacteria to humans that point[ed]…toward better.” Considering recent research that negates biological hierarchies, the author then suggests that Jordan’s beloved taxonomic category—fish—does not exist. Part biography, part science report, and part meditation on how the chaos that caused Miller’s existential misery could also bring self-acceptance and a loving wife, this unique book is an ingenious celebration of diversity and the mysterious order that underlies all existence.
A quirky wonder of a book.Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5011-6027-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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by Carlo Rovelli ; translated by Simon Carnell & Erica Segre ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2016
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both...
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Italian theoretical physicist Rovelli (General Relativity: The Most Beautiful of Theories, 2015, etc.) shares his thoughts on the broader scientific and philosophical implications of the great revolution that has taken place over the past century.
These seven lessons, which first appeared as articles in the Sunday supplement of the Italian newspaper Sole 24 Ore, are addressed to readers with little knowledge of physics. In less than 100 pages, the author, who teaches physics in both France and the United States, cogently covers the great accomplishments of the past and the open questions still baffling physicists today. In the first lesson, he focuses on Einstein's theory of general relativity. He describes Einstein's recognition that gravity "is not diffused through space [but] is that space itself" as "a stroke of pure genius." In the second lesson, Rovelli deals with the puzzling features of quantum physics that challenge our picture of reality. In the remaining sections, the author introduces the constant fluctuations of atoms, the granular nature of space, and more. "It is hardly surprising that there are more things in heaven and earth, dear reader, than have been dreamed of in our philosophy—or in our physics,” he writes. Rovelli also discusses the issues raised in loop quantum gravity, a theory that he co-developed. These issues lead to his extraordinary claim that the passage of time is not fundamental but rather derived from the granular nature of space. The author suggests that there have been two separate pathways throughout human history: mythology and the accumulation of knowledge through observation. He believes that scientists today share the same curiosity about nature exhibited by early man.
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both scientists and general readers.Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-18441-3
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
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by Carlo Rovelli ; translated by Simon Carnell
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by Carlo Rovelli ; translated by Marion Lignana Rosenberg
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by Carlo Rovelli ; translated by Erica Segre & Simon Carnell
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