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Summary: And The Waters Turned To Blood
Review: this book is about this woman Dr. Burkholder who discovered pfiesteria. we enjoyed this book because it not only told us pfiesteria, it also told us about her personnel reviwe and made the book interesting.
things that we did not like about the book was towards the end , it all came down to politics.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic
Review: This book not only made me want to go out there and start doing research along with the main character, but it made me want to study harder in school so i could possible do that! Don't make the mistake of not reading this book. It opens your eyes! FANTASTIC!
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Summary: A perfect example of how far the bureaucracy can go to
Review: This was a book that I just could not put down for the life of me. I had a test a school but instead of studying, I read this book. Shocking!!!! A compelling book that portrays the gauntlet of bureaucracy that Dr. JoAnn Burkholder had to ordeal when she discovered something in the waters off of the Eastern Seaboard. The leaders of N.C.'s DEM, and the DEHNR showed their obvious distaste for her and her work when this information proved to be threatening "the machine" of business as usual. What's most shocking about the whole things is 1. The lengths that the health department officials will go to cover this up, and truly not deal with an obvious health crisis; and 2. THIS IS A TRUE STORY that is still unfolding today off the East Coast. Well written and with courage. 5 - stars! "Get into the fight before it's too late"
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Summary: very informative and thought provocking
Review: Very good book, makes you think of the buearacracy of enviromental agencies.
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Summary: And the waters turned to politics
Review: We had to read this book for a school assignment. The beginning of the bool started off with a good plot. It was interesting, want to know what was going to happen. After about half way through it started to become too political and too many character came into the story. The book dropped characters such as Mike and Dr. Noga we never find out what happens to them. The fact that we live in RAeigh made the story come closer to home. Despite the slow and repetitious plot, the movel made each of us more aware of the enviromental and health concerns involved with Pfiesteria.
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Summary: An excellant and informative book
Review: When I first read this book, I thought it was a ficticious novel but later discovered it was a true story. That really disturbed me. I had heard of dinoflagellates before I read this book, but none that were deadly. Since I have finished reading this book, I have done a great deal of research about the "killer dinoflagellate" and learned qutie a lot about them and thier life cycles. One thing that I really appreciate about the author is that it seemed like he really did his homework in studying the dinoflagellates. Many authors that write books about science don't have a clue what they're talking about. I recommend this book to anyone interested in "weird science".
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Summary: Something fishy
Review: While I do not have any dog in this fight, I think some people should dig around a bit more before jumping to conclusions. Everyone has an agenda, in the end. According to the reprint date on the cover, it has been over three years since the book was reprinted, amid a flurry of speculation and brazen (and often shoddy) reporting by agenda and deadline driven journalists about the "threat" of Phisteria. Barker and Berkholder were followed by the Raleigh News and Observer, who took the bait and started crying foul to the State and to NCDEHNR. The heat lasted a little while, but eventually subsided. And now, let's take a look at what happened. The epidemic that was predicted has not surfaced. The deaths in question, although tragic, have not been directly and conclusively linked to Phisteria. And the coverup that the N&O among others sought out, didn't materialize. And Barker and Berkholder dissappeared from the media limelight, with allegations of fraudulent research methods and shady personal affiliations (Berkholder's dealings with a research assistant, among one). And while the storm seems to have passed, a lot of the accusations that were leveled were never retracted or withdrawn. This book stinks of blatant manipulation, sensationalism and exploitation of other's suffering for a bit of the limelight. The real story is out there, but I'm afraid it's just not as much of a page turner as Barker and Berkholder had hoped.
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Summary: A very important and exciting read!
Review: Who says truth isn't stranger than fiction? Rodney Barker's book "And the Waters Turned to Blood" reads as good or better than any scientific-politico thriller I have ever encountered! It has the heroines and heroes, the villains and buffoons, the suspense and emotional tension, everything to make a good story. Yet, this is no work of fiction, it is a true testimonial to a rare form of tenacity, a commitment to scientific integrity unusual in this day of fraudulent scientific and medical practices. It is the true story of JoAnn Burkholder, Ph.D., a bright young woman, part Cherokee, and freshly appointed assistant professor of aquatic biology at North Carolina State, Raleigh, North Carolina, plowing her way into a male dominated profession. While dinoflagellates had been part of her general algal studies in college, not a great deal was generally known about them, and calls from the Department of Veterinary Medicine to assist in identifying what was killing off the aquarium fish was not exactly her cup of tea. Her very survival depended upon the writing of successful grant proposals in her own field and these calls to do animal studies were intruding greatly upon her time, patience, and commitment elsewhere. But fate prevailed and JoAnn Burkholder was launched into a program that changed her life. With the identification of Pfiesteria piscicida as the destructive killer dinoflagellate, the "cell from hell" firmly established along with observation of up 24 different life-cycle stages, surviving in salt and fresh water alike, unicellular animal replete with cyst, flagellated swimmer, flesh eating peduncle, and killer amoebic stages, JoAnn Burkholder rapidly became the expert capable of solving the Pamlico Sound fish kill mystery as well. The fact that this little killer was also the generator of some of the most potent neurotoxins known to man, and did indeed induce serious human symptoms in the local fishermen, only heightens the severity and tension in our tale. The story of her fight to bring regulatory sanity to the Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources in an atmosphere of professional jealously, parochial self-interest, bureaucratic inertia, and outright fraud makes this a real thriller for all. Can JoAnn Burkholder hold up her end against the system, can she succeed where countless vested interests with vast financial and influential resources have forged a system subservient to their own interest or at best simply torpid to the public need? This is a read which is hard to put down, informative, thrilling, angering, and inciteful to action.
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