Rating: Summary: Devastatingly disappointing Review: This is a well-blurbed book, and I really looked forward to reading it. Nearly as soon as it arrived I set aside everything to read it. What I liked about it was his open-mindedness and curiosity and playfulness. What disappointed me were the factual innaccuracies and just general lack of precision thinking. I learned a good bit about Kary Mullis, but I didn't learn much else. A very disappointing, weak book. Can't recommend it, although mericfully it is not a long read.
Rating: Summary: funny book by poorly socialized scientist Review: an interesting book by a famous person who thinks alot and alot about himself. a sucess in biochemistry- a failure in interpersonal relationships. an iconoclast i'd like to have as a friend but not as a mate... too self absorbed.
Rating: Summary: fun reading Review: I did enjoy reading this book because it made me feel like I really knew something about the author when I was done. Mr Mulins wrote in a style that felt like you were sitting in your favorite chair chatting with him in your living room. It was very personable. He must be a strange fellow, the kind of friend that can pop out with anything in conversation. He clearly is fascinated with the world around him and transmits that fascination to the reader. A refreshing, easy reading book.
Rating: Summary: Extremely provocative but entirely undocumented. Review: Extremely provocative scientific claims unsupported by a single reference would normally be ignored but cannot be when, as here, the author is a Nobel Laureate. Does he know what he's talking about when he says HIV does not cause AIDS, freon is not dangerous, cholesterol has not been proven dangerous, etc.? Who knows? When he says that a law was passed by the German "Bundestadt" (presumably he means "Bundestag') and that middle A = 880 cps (it's 440), he clear doesn't. Very frustrating.
Rating: Summary: The Title Tells All Review: One usually associates a Nobel prize in Chemistry with a techie...but Mullis is a bit of a free spirit and uses all of his brain when he thinks. He is the classical "out of the box" thinker. If you like eccentrics (all my heros are eccentrics!), then read this book. It won't change your life or opinions, but will give you some entertainment.
Rating: Summary: Do not not read this book.... I'M WARNING YOU! Review: This book should be on everyone's reading list. Mullis (author) has an unbelievable sense of humor and an uncanny ability to explain "tough science" to anyone with a brain larger than a walnut. I literally found myself laughing at some of the antics and the realization that the author is not only an alien replaced during his exterterrestrial encounter (read the book) but is recognized as one of the top scientists in the world. For all of us lower forms of life it's really great to find a scientist who can connect us to the cryptic world of cutting edge science.
Rating: Summary: Oh my god, what a mind! Review: This book was a very pleasant surprise. Admittedly, I'd probably never have read it without prompting because I'd have wrongly assumed it was a dull, dry, humorless acount of that PCR stuff. Who'd have thought a nobel-prize winning biochemist could be such a fascinating creature? Much to the dismay of many, it's thinking like his that leads to great leaps forward. Kary Mullis gives me hope for the human race.
Rating: Summary: A wonderful sight to see a scientist say such things... Review: Seeing a Nobel Laureate say, and write about, things like Kary Mullis is indeed refreshing. Mullis is an avid thinker, and shows that in his acceptance of drug use, and his inability to dismiss anything. Indeed a gem in the rough of scientists who are so close minded that they dismiss things like astronomy and other metaphysical principles. I, for one, and not saying that these are truth, but saying that throughout the book Mullis refuses to believe anything unless it has proof to back it up, which is a scientific methodology, and this is why he refuses to dismiss astrology as "wishful thinking". For the man who created PCR--one of the greatest breakthroughs in biochemistry and genetics--to be talking about such things as astrology, astral travel, and drug use, openly is an amazing phenomenon. At some points, yes, he sounds like Timothy Leary, and at others, Feynman. Science is a close-minded profession, run by people who are close-minded. In many ways the science community of the world is no different from the church in its inability to consider the outlandish (i.e. Einstein): Kary Mullis is one of too few exceptions. Dancing Naked in the Mind Field is an excellent book. In tandem with what Carl Sagan said about the book I would like to say that it should permeate schools and colleges alike. It should be read by anyone who is going into the sciences and has the patience, and the freedom to read it without disgust or feeling personal attack. I can think of many teachers, professors, and even religious leaders that I would like to see read this book: it MIGHT do them some good. Bravo Dr. Mullis!
Rating: Summary: WOW!!!!!!!!!!! Review: Get inside one of the most excentric and intellegent men of our time. This book will blow your mind. Read it and then read it again when you are high.
Rating: Summary: Travels in a mind that is definitely out-of-the-ordinary Review: Kary is not your run of the mill Nobel Laureate. This could be a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on how much you want to let your mind stretch... An entertaining journey through sometime random thoughts of a witty, creative mind. Some dirty linen aired and some unconventional views proposed. Some may be offended, some may be delighted: hold on to your hats it's going to be a bumpy ride! And I, for one, am glad that some people still refuse to color inside the lines--and some even throw the coloring book away.
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