History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Average customer rating:

Dangerous Book
BE SMART-DONT VACCINATE
Shame on Amazon.com!!!
Parents or parents to be must read this!!
Still Relevant in DTaP age

A Shot in the Dark
H. Coulter
Manufacturer: Avery
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Health & Nutrition | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books

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Accessories:

Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers

ASIN: 089529463X

Customer Reviews:

Dangerous Book.......2006-02-01

What is wrong with people? Why do you think there is some conspiracy to hurt children with immunizations?

The development of vaccines is the most important invention in the history of medicine. They have saved millions of lives - that is a fact.

There is always risk to any medical treatment - but parents who do not vaccinate their children are putting their children at risk for serious medical problems. Please do not put your trust in one or two people on the fringes of medicine who lack even a basic education in medicine. Why would you listen to such counsel? I truly do not understand...

When your car breaks down, do you take it to the grocery story? When your pipes get clogged, do you call your banker?
When your child is sick, do you take him to a political historian? I certainly hope not.

The author of this book has no medical education other than medical history. It was written with a political bent.
"Harris L. Coulter; Ph.D. - biography
# July 1969 - Awarded degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) by Columbia University, NY; dissertation title: Political and Social Aspects of Nineteenth-Century Medicine in the United States: The Formation of the American Medical Association and its Struggle with the Homeopathic and Eclectic Physicians.
# 1961 - Awarded M.A. by Columbia University, NY (Political Science).
# 1954 - Awarded B.A. by Yale University, CT (Russian Area Studies)."
from Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research

If you live near an old cemetery, just take a stroll sometime and look at the dates on the old headstones from the 1800's and you will get a first-hand look at the pre-vaccine era.

And if you decide not vaccinate your children, never let them leave the United States -- at least they benefit from herd immunity here.

BE SMART-DONT VACCINATE.......2005-10-26

I read this book after I had already planned on not vaccinating. It still was a blessing. It has some heart wrenching stories about real families who were damaged by something that doctors say(really lie about) will protect you. My son had an adverse reaction to a vaccination. The doctors are either mis-informed or LIARS!!! Greedy for gain and they could care less about you. But I as a human being, who knows nothing about you is giving you advise: READ THIS BOOK AND OTHERS, DONT BE A FOLLOWER, YOUR CHILDRENS LIVES DEPEND ON IT, YOU WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR YOUR ACTIONS ONE DAY, DONT EVER VACCINATE!!!!

A MUST READ BOOK-YOU WILL BE GLAD THAT YOU DID.
VERY WELL DOCUMENTED

Shame on Amazon.com!!!.......2005-08-23

Shame on Amazon.com for including a link to a sanofi-pasteur ADVERTISEMENT for DPT vaccine in this book's listing information!
I am appalled that Amazon is so hard up for cash they must resort to taking blood-money from the corporations responsible for our children's nightmare. While we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars attempting to reverse the damage done to our children by this and other pharmaceutical companies, Amazon helps them to blow smoke to other unsuspecting parents and lull them into ignorant complacency regarding "government-recommended vaccinations". There is only ONE thing driving the govt's vaccination schedule, and that is MONEY.
And now these same companies add insult to injury (literally) by getting congress to pass laws to prevent them from owning up to their complicity in the damage done to our children?
Enough! Enough being a nation of sheep, all jumping off a cliff one after the other.
READ THIS BOOK and take it to heart! Your legislators (with few notable exceptions) don't care about your children, only their own deep pockets.
*Educate before you vaccinate*
*Your child...Your choice*
The message in this book (and others like it) NEEDS to be made common knowledge; the sooner the better for the health of America's children.

Parents or parents to be must read this!!.......2004-11-23

This book as well as the Sanctity Of Human Blood by Tim O'Shea were huge eye openers for my husband and I, in the area of vaccinations. We feel every parent needs to be informed on this subject. A Shot In The Dark goes into debth on the DTP vaccine and mainly focuses on the pertussis vaccine. The book will make you cry to hear the hundreds of stories of Pertussis vaccine damaged children and their families. There are thousands of children that are damaged by the pertussis vaccine each year and must of those cases are not even reported or noted. This book talks about reactions to the vaccine, the doctors who are must of the time unwilling to admit when a child has suffered a vaccine reaction and has permanent damage. It talks about the different forms of damage and how to recognize them. It talks about the vaccine manufacturers and the lack of testing done for safety on the pertussis vaccine. This book covers the tests and information that individules and some doctors have done that is for the must part covered up by manufacturers, laboratories, and doctors that don't want the truth out. Even though this book is over 10 years old the information is still true for today as nothing much has changed in administering the pertussis vaccine. Parents are still not told that a child can suffer convulations, seizures, collapse, SIDS, and learning disabilities to name a few. My children are not vaccinated. All three are in excellent health and have never had ear infections or any other health problems in which I had to give them any drug or antibotic. Please read this book, your childs future as well as yours may depend on it.

Still Relevant in DTaP age.......2004-10-19

I heard about this book soon after my daughter had a vaccine reaction in 2002. I figured the contents might not apply to me since my child got the DTaP vaccine (with acellular pertussis) instead of the no-longer-in-use DTP with whole cell pertussis. I finally decided to read it in late 2004.

I couldn't believe how very relevant and applicable the book is to my situation in 2004. Yes, this book IS STILL VERY RELEVANT in a world where DTP has been replaced by DTaP.

How is it still relevant?

In my case, my child had inconsolable high pitched screaming for 6 hours straight after her 4 mo. shots. As explained in the book, high pitched screaming is a known and well-documented adverse effect of the whole-cell pertussis component of DTP. My child did not get DTP but instead got "the safer" DTaP, and yet this reaction still occurred. There were also longer term side effects that this book would categorize as neurological. My infant stopped making eye contact for over a week, and my previously vocal and communicative infant stopped cooing for nearly 4 weeks!! How I prayed every day God would give me my baby back!

When I reported the longer term side effects to my doctor, she dismissed it as "anecdotal" suggesting there is nothing in the data to support that a lack of eye contact or loss of cooing could be caused by any vaccine. I couldn't believe the disrespect and disregard for my report of the facts of what had occurred. This book offered some relief and support in this regard because I know now that I am not alone. And this is unfortunate. Other parents of children who have vaccine reactions are treated similarly by their pediatricians.

I concur with asking the question posed by the author, exactly when did the medical community switch from listening carefully to reports of symptoms from parents and patients and begin to listen only to published reports from controlled studies - most of which are funded by organizations with a conflict of interest? Something is very wrong with a system that denies and dismisses the valid reports of concerned parents who have witnessed changes in their child post-vaccination.

In my case, prior to reading all I could get my hands on about vaccines, I was ready to agree with the doctor that my daughter should continue with all other vaccines eliminating only the pertussis vaccine. Then, just before the next round of shots were given, a last minute record review indicated that the leg that had swollen up like a goose egg was not even the leg where the DTaP was administered!! Polio and Hib went into that leg!!

So what a quandry for this parent, indeed! Which toxin caused the swollen leg? Which toxin/vaccine/component caused the loss of eye contact? Which caused the cessation of verbal cooing and the ongoing restlessness and the changes in sleep patterns? Was it acellular pertussis? Or was it diptheria, tetanus, hib, or polio? Or could it have been some ingredient in the vaccines, a preservative or adjuvant material? Could it have been carryover materials from the human fetal cells or animal cells used in manufacturing? No one will ever know. Nor will answers ever come as long as the medical community continues to deny that vaccine reactions occur.

The last sentence of the book reads, "The time has come to become educated about vaccines."

I completely agree with the author on this point and think others will too after reading this book and others on the topic of vaccine safety.

Average customer rating:

Buy it for the photos,but skip the text
Was Expecting More
Endlessly Entertaining
Interesting but not what I expected
Stunning and Fascinating Photos, NOT for the Squeamish!

Shots in the Dark: True Crime Pictures
Gail Buckland , and Harold Evans
Manufacturer: Bulfinch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Photojournalism | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0821227750

Book Description

When shots ring out, photographers shoot back. Their images can startle, inform, and serve as witness. Mundane and profound, gruesome and compelling, crime photos are, for better or worse, part of our world. Featuring many rarely and never-before-seen images, this heavily illustrated book sheds new light on the role of crime photography in our history and culture.

Customer Reviews:

Buy it for the photos,but skip the text.......2007-06-26

"Shots in the Dark"is a book of crime-related photographs...Many of them are quite explicit and full of gore..I cannot for the life of me understand why the two people responsible for this volume,so-called"photo historian"Gail Buckland,and"authority"on photography Harold Evans seem to think that we require thier windy ramblings in order to "understand"the"meanings"behind these pictures..I mean,really !Is it that hard to understand,for example,that the woman pictured on page 50 is dead,and was the victim of a murderer?Not that the captions are unwelcome...no...it is the essay work,especially the stuff written by Evans,that grates..Buckland likes to publish books which feature photographs of the dead,the more grotesque and mutiliated the better...In her earlier volume,entitled"Looking at Death" she features a picture of the mutiliated corpse of Benito Mussolini and his galpal Clara Pettachi after they had been lowered from the beam in the town square where they had been hung by thier feet after execution...Il Duce's face is horrible to behold,and yet Buckland rhapsodises about the"meaning"of this picture,as if it has any apart from shock value and/or historical content...I cannot help but think that most who buy that book,or "shots in the dark"will mainly do so to be shocked or titilliated...a few will do so for the historical aspect...a very very few will do so in order to be helpled by either Buckland or Evans to grasp the alledged"meanings"associated with these pictures..
As mentioned earlier,the text by Evans is especially annoying...Evans apparently sees some cosmic meaning in these pictures..A picture of cops arresting someone...a pair of 1920s men who fell,or were pushed down an elevator shaft..By golly,if we look hard enough we can discern the secrets of the universe in these pictures,or so Evans seems to imply...BALDERDASH !
There has recently been a spate of such books,which would suggest that the public is perhaps tired of the fake gore,blood and guts to be had on both the big and the little screens,and wants to look at something real...Maybe ,like the long ago romans,we yearn for admission to the arena,where some real gladiators can kill one another,or some real christians can be eaten alive for our pleasure,and ,for most of us,these pictures take the place of the afore-mentioned entertainments?...
If you want some explicit real-life photographs,many involving murder and torture,then this book will fill the bill...but if you want the answer to the meaning of life,or even what these pictures are supposed to"mean",go somewhere else,because Buckland and Evans haven't got a clue.

Was Expecting More.......2007-05-30

Better photos, better writing. If a photo was interesting, the author didn't give much information. In fact she might go on and on about a crime for which there wasn't a photo. If a picture was really interesting, she gave extremely limited info. And I couldn't figure out who or what the 4th picture of the Lizzie Borden axe murder was (author didn't bother to specify - if it was the father's, someone took off his clothes and moved his body onto a different piece of furniture for some reason). All I could gather throughout was that she believes crime is society's fault - not the perpetrator's.

Endlessly Entertaining.......2006-12-04

Although light on detail, this book, based on a Court TV documentary, provides a good general overview of the history of true crime photography. Some of the images are compelling - though they can almost all be acquired elsewhere. For example, the images of early 20th century New York homicides are culled from Luc Sante's Evidence. However, if you're looking for an introduction to the Morbid Side of Photography, this is a great place to start. The book is divided into six general sections: Crime Scenes, Killers, Sensational Cases (such as infamous thrill killers Leopold and Loeb and John List who murdered his entire family in 1971), Retribution (such as the lynching of three rape suspects in San Francisco), Gangsters (such as Bugsy Siegel), and Presidential Assassins (such as Lee Harvey Oswald). An endlessly entertaining, if lightweight, morbid concoction.

Interesting but not what I expected.......2005-08-26

The photos are great and the text is interesting, but I wasn't expecting so much history. This is definitely a historical look at crime photos with an occasional contemporary pic.

Stunning and Fascinating Photos, NOT for the Squeamish!.......2005-07-27

First the positive. The photos in this book are amazing and intense, dating from the beginning of the age of photography to the late 1990s. The terribly violent photos from the first half of the 20th century are a good reminder that the present day didn't invent violent crime. The skill of some of the photographers and the quality of many of the photos is also amazing.

In addition to actual crime scene photos, there are photos of criminals, suspects, inmates, victims ranging from the extremely small time to the infamous (Berkowitz, Manson, Bundy).

My main complaint with this book is that it is all over the place. It's hard to find a unifying theme other than all the photos have something to do with crime, and many are extremely gory and sensational. There's a lot of text but it rarely matches up well with the photos and basically seems like a long winded justification for publishing a bunch of really gross photos.

NOt that I have anything against gross photos, but it seems hypocritical to dress them up in psedo-scholarly meditations on crime and punishment when you know that's not REALLY what people are reading the book for.

The book's cover does note that it is based on a Court TV documentary, which may explain the scattershot mix of themes and narration; if it is intended as a tie-in or supplement to other material it is more understandable, but it would be preferable if the book could stand on its own.

Nevertheless, if you are interested in crime scene photography or the history of crime depiction, this is worth a look.

A Shot in the Dark: Making Records in Nashville, 1945-1955

Average customer rating:

a good read with a lot of information.
Nashville's Musical History
A big hit!!!!

A Shot in the Dark: Making Records in Nashville, 1945-1955
Martin Hawkins
Manufacturer: Country Music Foundation Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Company Profiles | Biography & History | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Business | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Recording & Sound | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0826515320

Book Description

Book Plus CD. Martin Hawkins, co-author of the landmark Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock & Roll, describes the formation and the activities of local, independent recording companies in Nashville in the decade following World War II--the heyday of regional companies, before rock & roll and the eventual internationalization of the music business. These labels and their owners evolved from the local jukebox and amusements business and often featured truly local performers. They sometimes aspired to national status--and occasionally they achieved it. The book also describes the infrastructure they worked within and the personal stories of the main label owners and their performers. Finally, it examines the part the labels played in the emergence of Nashville as “Music City USA.” The accompanying 20-song CD is the soundtrack to this fascinating story.

Customer Reviews:

a good read with a lot of information........2007-06-13

This book contains a lot of information and history, however, is not a dry and boring history lesson. It is easy to tell that the author spent a lot of time in research and checking the facts. It brings out how an industry is built and the people behind it. I learn much about my father that I did not know. It is the best peice of non-fiction that I have ready in many year.

Nashville's Musical History.......2007-02-15

I have the found the book a very accurate portrayal of the musical indusrty in Nashiville during the 1950's. The pictures, names, and narratives brought back many warm memories of growing up in Nashville and
my family's part of Nashville's musical heritage.

SuzanneTureman Zahn

A big hit!!!!.......2007-01-19

I bought the book as a Christmas gift for my husband. He loves Nashville and all the early singers that got started there. The book was a big hit!

Average customer rating:

A Shot in the Dark
Richard Powell
Manufacturer: Award Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000DEM0B0

Average customer rating:

Information you won't get elsewhere
All parents should read this before immunizing their child!

Dpt: A Shot in the Dark
Harris L. Coulter , and Barbara Fisher
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Preventive Medicine | Specialties | Medicine | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0151264813

Customer Reviews:

Information you won't get elsewhere.......1999-12-14

In a world filled with drug ads, it's hard to find the truth about medicine. Newspapers and magazines aren't going to risk losing all that ad revenue by telling the truth about drugs, including vaccines. That's why every parent should read this book. At least you'll be able to make an informed decision about which drugs to have pumped into your children's bodies. The material in this book is all documented and factual and it provides a fascinating, though at times frightening, look at the vaccine industry today.

All parents should read this before immunizing their child!.......1998-10-14

I acquired several copies of this book after seeing a segment of ABC's "20/20" in the mid 80's. I have a beautiful daughter who was born in 1975 who is today profoundly mentally disabled and has intractable seizures. I am saddened that, still today, untold numbers of children are still having their lives taken from them due to this "poison". This book is an excellent source for those seeking information, and a source of comfort for those of us in this situation. It was the first time I realized that I am not alone...

Customer Reviews:

American Tragedy.......2006-09-08

Its all there, all the proof that the vaccine is nothing short of a disaster. Government denials, which are shallow arguments , outright made up "facts, and misleading statements. The usual system of, attack the victim's credibilty, smear campaigns are shown here. This is no way to treat the patriots who defend the country. The whole thing has the same government disinformation scheme as with the Agent Orange debacle. A must read for anyone who has had the anthrax vaccine.

Integrity: The shot our military truly needs.......2002-09-02

Thomas S. Heemstra (LTC,INANG,retired), did what he was trained to do...used his integrity to take care of those under his command. His intensive research on the military's Anthrax Vaccine Immuniztion Program (AVIP) results in termination of his military career, not in his concern for the truth.

One would ask, how can this happen to an Air Force Academy "ring-knocker"? The answer is as complicated, yet as simple as the information on the anthrax vaccine. Follow the paper trail to find out WHY there was high-level support for AVIP. Pay close attention to the civilian medical research. Imagine a family member affected by the anthrax vaccine. One should reach an identical conclusion to mine. The AVIP is BAD medicine. Today's high tech military needs a shot of the same old fashioned integrity Heemstra displays. An informative book for the truly concerned.

Average customer rating:

It wasn't supposed to be this hard.

Impressive

Now for the bad news

An excellent, readable overview of vaccine research

They themselves are the experiment

Shots in the Dark: The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine
Jon Cohen
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books
AIDS & HIV | Diseases | Medicine | Subjects | Books
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Viral Sex: The Nature of AIDS

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Black Death: AIDS in Africa

ASIN: 0393322254

Book Description

As HIV continues its death march around the globe, now infecting 40 million people, an AIDS vaccine still remains an elusive goal. When scientists first proved in 1984 that HIV causes AIDS, a vaccine race quickly spun into action with high hopes that the world would soon have a means to stop this modern plague. But today the race to develop an AIDS vaccine more closely resembles a crawl. Jon Cohen, a leading AIDS reporter, tells how the forces inside and outside the world of science have hindered the AIDS vaccine search. He reveals the complicated obstacles that stymie researchers, the uncertain marketplace that confronts pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, the haphazard political response, and the ethical dilemmas that give pause to everyone involved. He goes behind the scenes at academic labs, companies, government agencies, scientific meetings, and investment houses to document how promising leads go nowhere as scientists jump from one fashionable idea to the next. Beyond a critique of the current methods and strategies, this book also offers specific recommendations for accelerating AIDS vaccine research.

Customer Reviews:

It wasn't supposed to be this hard........2006-08-04

Jon Cohen tells the microbiological detective story in which some of the best brains in science have been pitted against the most extraordinary bug the world has ever seen. In 1984 it was discovered that HIV was the cause of AIDS. Straight away, there were confident predictions that there would be a vaccine ready for testing in just two years. Back then, just 1,292 deaths from AIDS had been reported. Now the figure is 25 million dead. By 2010 it is predicted there will be 85 million infections and 70 million deaths. And after 20 years there is still no sign of a vaccine. Despite work of dazzling complexity, the ambition of so many brilliant scientists has been constantly thwarted. Just as a vaccine seems to be working, the AIDS virus alters itself, and ten to fifteen years of work, and millions of dollars, go down the drain. These bitter disappointments are only compounded by the desperate human urgency of the work. The virus is impervious to almost everything you throw at it, says Cohen. Shots in the Dark: The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine, is a story where the clock doesn't stop ticking.

Impressive.......2005-09-10

The book is nothing short of a fantastic account of the events which have shaped policy and prejudice of the AIDS anatomy and policy. At first the chapter all about Saul was wierd. Wondering where is the author leading me, and the chapter on the companies in it for PURE profit, and not creating ANYTHING worth publising. And of course you can't leave out the workings of a beaurocratic government (HA)! I had to drop the book after about 3/4 through it just because it started to write/read like a history book - which is why it gets four stars instead of five. As far as content and points of view (unbiased) it was GREAT and would recommend to anyone interested in POLICY of governments, companies, public view, and history of expirments shaping the AIDS vaccine (or should I say cure since there will never be a true "vaccine").

Now for the bad news.......2005-07-09

Reviewers of Jon Cohen's Shots in the Dark have uniformly praised his insight and investigation into the world of HIV/AIDS research. His careful accounting has exposed weaknesses of the American national biomedical research endeavor led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Few if any reviewers have commented on the veracity of his conclusion. HIV/AIDS research is a political hot potato.

But one thing that should be obvious to most readers is that two decades of trying to model HIV with a different disease in a species not normally infected with the experimental disease, has been an abject, costly, and misleading failure. Cohen's response is a strident call for more, much much more, of the same.

Human immunodeficiency virus is a retrovirus that causes disease only in humans. It is a species-specific disease. Chimpanzees infected with HIV display very mild transient symptoms. Nothing regarding HIV infection in humans or in the treatment of AIDS has been a result of the use of chimpanzees. This has been acknowledged by leading primate researchers such as Dr. Thomas Insel, past director of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University and now director of the National Institute of Mental Health.

Sooty mangabeys, an African monkey, are natural carriers of a disease called simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). In spite of the similar name, HIV and SIV are caused by different viruses. When macaques, an Asian genus of monkey, are infected with a serially-passaged SIV, they become terminally ill. They develop chronic nosebleeds, diarrhea, and anorexia as they progress to morbidity.

This fact was discovered when the poor husbandry methods of the nation's NIH monkey labs inadvertently allowed the wide-spread infection of macaques with SIV. The disease was identified when primate researchers read about the symptoms of HIV. Always on the lookout for a new moneymaking animal model, the primate research community quickly claimed that the newly discovered disease would be a productive model of HIV.

Many hundreds of millions of dollars later, they are still asking the American taxpayer to be patient and to give them more money to kill many more monkeys.

In light of the fact that everything known about AIDS and how to treat the disease has been a direct result of human cell studies, clinical studies, and epidemiological research, it is difficult to understand why Cohen still stands with the monkey researchers and urges more money be shoveled into this black hole of proven failure. The only answer I can imagine is that he is just enamored with anything that looks like science.

Readers unfamiliar with the history of the failure of the monkey and chimpanzee models are likely to come away from Shots in the Dark with a very wrong-headed idea of how we ought to be spending our finite resources to stop this pandemic. To this extent, the book is dangerous and likely to have negative consequences if decision makers take Cohen's recommendations to heart.

In spite of this, as a historical accounting, I found the book to worthwhile.

An excellent, readable overview of vaccine research.......2002-12-19

Jon Cohen is probably the most knowledgable journalist on the topic of HIV vaccines and has been following developments in this area for over a decade. He's had unparalleled access to people working in the field and it shows in this well organized history of the search for an HIV vaccine. I used to work in this area of research and, although there are issues where I have quibbled with the author, I can think of no better introduction to the field and the key issues that have shaped it. Cohen has been uniquely able to maintain the trust and respect of key people working in the field, while also raising important social and scientific issues. The result is a thoughtful, relatively thorough chronology that is also readable and concise. At a more personal level, the book brought back many forgotten controversies and issues that formed the background for almost a decade of my own work. The writing is that vivid, while also maintaining a high standard of scientific journalism.

They themselves are the experiment.......2001-07-10

Buy this book, read it, and pass it on to a friend. In short, make it infections, as it is one of the best hopes for `enlightened' men to capture the future.

This is a massive journalistic endeavor for a single man to mount, set against the hurdles of the decidedly clubby world of big-money medicine and ten-plus years of the Byzantine complexities of many different scientific disciplines, not one. Its factual, story-to-tell approach, is a breath of fresh air in a miasma of empty government panel reports, obtuse scientific ramblings, sensationalist hardcopy, and necessarily overstated activist rancor. For those who take time with it, it works its way, not "into your face", but slowly into your heart.

For the less passionate, however, it is not clear, that this book, stoutly rendered by Cohen and W.W.Norton, carries its burden of proof, in all cases. Where are the numbers? We read that vaccine research persistently remained at 10% of the overall NAIAD budget, but, W.W., a data table would have been nice. The same with the grant evaluation-success rates and total project funding(s), and other small things here and there. But these points hardly sacrifice the whole. The broader picture and point to be made is overwhelmingly clear: Physician, help thyself! Alternatively, one might call it, "When bad things happen to really, really smart people."

This realization builds from page to page with almost every conflict and with almost every story of pursuit recounted. **The "endless frontier" of medicine-man-directed-science has not been expansive enough to include the basic, fundamental lessons of process science, risk bearing and decision making under uncertainty, strategic planning, and public relations.** It is no accident that Jonas Salk's last recounted wish is for "better ways", and the attentive reader will find similar hints or cries for help from other scientists as well.

Since 1981, it is a time for *war*, man against microbe. These scientists seem to miss the lessons of the *harsh*, *daily* reality that THEY AND THEIR ETHOS *ARE* THE EXPERIMENT!

This is true, notwithstanding, of course, of the great "Nobel prize experiment", that perniciously hangs like a collaboration-distracting "mirror, mirror" amid the lab-rats. At other times, the profession also seems oddly self-aware, as the paucity of those interested in putting themselves in harm's way of such a dashing "experiment" is laid bare, for example, while the directorship for the new NIH Vaccine Center goes unwanted.

Now, in 2001, the field seems blood red and who will say which fault belongs to whom? Who could fault the NIH, who, after all, have only the power to subsidize? Who could fault the politicians, who thought the scientists had it "under control (at least contained, ahem!) and adequately funded"? Who could continue to fault the system, when incremental changes have been made? Finally, what Prince will come at the end to say, "And I, for winking at your discords too, have lost a brace of kinsman?"

Yet the notion that Cohen suggests, that, after twenty years, "the world is watching", does nothing but turn up the heat on a pot with the same ingredients. One cannot look into Dr. Fauci's or Dr. Baltimore's eyes, for instance, and think that these researchers, these captains, are utterly bankrupt, immoral egoists or that they have deaf ears, deaf ears to the 60 million that may die one of the most miserable deaths possible, surrender (insofar as the human mind could even comprehend the magnitude of such a loss).

To be fair - and hopeful -, the medical profession, has let itself open to study and critique, far, far more than others. Yet, more chanticleer cries will repeat the past, for what may be needed now are truly better ways, diversity of thought, competence in management, and sufficiency in funding - the hard work, not the low-hanging fruit; settling in for the long-run; in short, the next 20 years.

The Buddhists believe that a single man can change the world. This reviewer hopes that others who read this book also have vigor enough to take a trumpet to Washington, not to wake anyone up, but like Joseph on the way to Jericho, truly a March of D-times.

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