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I was quite surprised to come across this work, and found that it changed my view of biology on the spot. Since the mere mention of teleology in biological company tends to produce 'bizarre behavior' this work is a positive indication that times are changing and the many philosophical issues need to be reconsidered in light of the resurfacing of developmental questions of evolution. The current monistic emphasis on adaptation and function is heuristically critiqued and the results, while still perhaps murky, powerfully address a huge void in current thinking. The author adopts what he calls a modified Kantianism, which is all well and good, but in so far as he lands in the realm of 'dialectical biology' (very briefly at the end), one wonders if the formulation is not in need of further 'debugging'. Kant's powerful formulation of a stance toward teleology,whose considerations are generally fruitless speculations Darwinists rightly find suspect, with its embrace and reserve both is at once a green light and a warning. But that is the price of doing business in such a radically different form of biological thinking. Splendid effort, whatever the results.

What's up Dr. Asma. ((fellow pupil)) If you are reading this, I was wondering if this book had a lot of pictures and illustrations. My mind wanders easily, and some how the pictures help me concentrate. ((Buddha 4 Beginners)) Last time I colored in the pictures with markers, it was fun.

Stephen T. Asma's book, Following Form and Function: A Philosophical Archaeology of Life Science, could also have been titled, Everything you wanted to know about the Cuvier-Geoffroy debate but were afraid to ask. Either title might, unfortunately, suggest a difficult book, addressing either a subject too arcane to be of interest to the general reader, or an unnecessary exercise: in regard to this latter concern, one could put forth that in our "sophisticated" time the inextricable linkage of form and function is taken for granted;onsequently the debate between Cuvier (arguing for the primacy of form/function) and Geoffroy (arguing for the priority of morphology/structure) is both deeply antiquated, and long resolved.

Early in his text, Asma sets the conceptual priorities straight: the central subject of his text (p 7), the form and function debate, speaks directly to the most profound questions of epistemology and metaphysics. Citing Stephen Gould (p 170n9,188n1) Asma proposes that this central subject is of greater immediacy and goes deeper than the conceptual struggle between evolution and creationism (Huxley).

By seating this debate in its proper historical, and philosphical context, the whole Western philsophical canon (from Aristotle to Darwin and back again is the title of one of his references) falls into the ambit of Asma's deftly written book. And his explanations, although perforce not infrequently a bit detailed, are with just a little effort encouragingly apprehensible.

Asma book is particularly successful in its attempt to shed light on one of the least tractable areas (most difficult to learn about/teach) in biology and philosophy: the vexatious arena of telology. A New York Times Book Review of Edelman's Bright Air, Brillant Fire was entitled, The Chicken and the Egg Together at Last; I could also have entitled this review, The Acorn and the Oak Together at Last, because Asma's explanation of non intentional (organistic, organismic) teleology is both compelling, and the best I come across.

Notably the Cuvier/Geoffroy debate has recently sufaced in the popular scientific literature (e.g., Gould (11/85) Geoffroy and the Homeobox, NH; Gould (10/86) Archetype and Adaptation, NH, Gould (2/97) As the Worm Turns NH; Desmond (82) Archetypes and Ancestor UOC; Zimmerman (98) At The Waters Edge, fP, also texts by Kauffman, Goodwin). Gould's essays (Gould apparently mentored some of Asma's early effort)in particular provide a rather excellent acompaniment to Asma's more puristic philosphical project.

In closing, I suggest you open this book: from Asma to Aristotle to Cuvier/Geoffroy, it is a very good work indeed.

A book that is just as funny for adults as it is for teens. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and could see where teens would cringe when well-meaning adults acted in what they thought were "cool" and "hip" ways. I've done it myself many times! A great, breezy read.

To Teenagers: these are all realistic things that embarrass you or annoy you. You'll be able to help your parents out a lot. To Parents: you can't deny that you do these things, so pick up a copy and help yourself and your kid. They'll thank you for it.

Everyone should read "How Not to Embarrass Your Kids". Parents with teens will love it. Teen agers themselves will howl. A must-read by two Huck Finn type of sixteen year olds. Simply sensational one-liners!

This book helped me tremendously. It is an excellent resource, especially if you and your spouse can come to agreement on everything - you don't need an attorney if you can agree. I read the book, copied the forms out of the book and filed them with the court, typed up an agreement that both of us signed and everything went smoothly. You really can have a "do it yourself" divorce for the cost of the court filing fee. Highly recommended book.

I found this book at the library, it was soooo helpful! i would recommend it to any one with a divorce issue!i just copied the stuff at a copy machine and filled it in! I only had to pay $65.00 to have it filed and everything!,very good book!enjoy!

Excellent book...There is no telling how much money that it saved me, well into the thousands, because when my now ex-wife and i could not agree on one or two small things and I had to get an attorny, after all. All i did was give my lawyer the Papers that the book helped me write and he basically copied them for the Divorce. He asked me if I had had any leagel training. (NO) Then I showed him the book, and he made the commit under his breath "We hate those things" He then asked to review it and asked for the number were he could get it. The next week, I was in his office to sign some papers and he had a brand new copy of it laying on the corner of his desk. Thanks alot for the help Amazon.com

This book is one of those books that only comes along once in a while. Why doesn't anyone write parodies any more? Who doesn't like a good parody? This book is great. Windows for dumbells, Having our lay, Mars and Venus in the bathroom... and all around the house, The farm, Iron Tom, Jurrasic Pork, "S" is for supercalifragilisticexpealodoious and The "you're Hot, baby" zone are just some of the gut busting parodies in this book. and who can forget the parody that is the title of the book: 7 habits of highly defective people, which is the 18 page classic right in the middle of the book. I recommend this book to everyone. I bought it for 7 bucks when it came out. Buy it for one dollar now. What's a buck to you? 117 pages of pure parody, what more could you ask for?

This is simply a hilarious audio casette. You will laugh so loud that you will disturb the neighbors. I have listened to it five times. And each time, it becomes funnier and funnier. If you are hypersensitive, I wouldn't buy this cassette. The authors really lampoon so many of our favorite icons. Order this audio casette and have the time of your life!

This book is hysterical! Real life is better than fiction, and in this case, a lot funnier! A compilation of funny stories and anecdotes from people across the country, dotted with a few true adventures from Liz's life. Help! is sure to tickle your funny bone, and reading it is a great way to spend an afternoon.

This was a good, clean fun book. I was reading it and the phone rang and I was laughing so hard I couldn't answer the phone. I enjoyd it! It is great for all ages!

Was given If The South Rises Again It'll Be Over My Dead Body as a gift. Didn't know what to expect. It's hysterically funny and a must read for every Yankee and Southerner with a funny bone. This send up of the South, its people and habits will keep any reader laughing.

Loved it and have sent it as a present to all my friends.

THIS BOOK IS HYSTERICAL. BIG LAUGHS. IT TELLS THE TRUTH ABOUT THE SOUTH, AND SOUTHERNERS, FROM A YANKEE POINT OF VIEW. IT'S DONE TONGUE IN CHEEK BUT ALL OF THE INCIDENTS AND EXAMPLES OF SOUTHERN BEHAVIOR ARE TRUE.

THIS SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING FOR EVERY HUMAN BEING ABOVE THE MASON DIXON LINE. DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT VISITING OR DRIVING THROUGH THE SOUTH WITHOUT READING THE BOOK.

MAKES A GREAT GIFT.

I sure do miss Lewis Grizzard. The best Southern humorist of his generation, Grizzard never failed to make me laugh and often cry. I think that many people mistakenly pigeonhole his humor and writing style as "redneck" but Grizzard was no Jeff Foxworthy or Jerry Clower. He could make you laugh, make you mad and make you think with just one finely honed sentence. He was a master at his craft and this collection shows him at his best. Grizzard died a few years of heart failure and the world is a poorer place without him.

This book, makes you truely proud to be a southerner. And it makes you proud to be a man. Lewis says what's on his mind. You may not always agree. Some may find in funny, and some will find it obnoxious. I agreed with every one of his views and all I have to say is, that it's about time someone said some of this!!! A truley touching and humorous book.

This book, and its companion volume, are great additions to anyone's library. Children are drawn to comic books, and it never hurts to encourage kids to read on their own. The stories are a bit simplified, but that's actually a plus. The stories stick to the main point, and anyone interested in the stories after reading this can go to a standard bible for further information. For those who do not "support" the bible, the stories are still captivating, filled with drama, heroes and villains, adventure and challenges. Parents may want to scan the books before letting their children read them so they can see what's inside, but these stories are harmless entertainment and the children may end up better people for reading them.

I bought this for my son for his 9th birthday and he was absolutely drawn into it. Above and beyond other attempts of depicting Biblical stories in comic book form, this one does it right. I don't know why, but even as an adult, I had a hard time putting it down.

One of the funniest books I've read in a while, "Please Don't Call Me Human" goes way beyond being a satire of Chinese nationalism--it's an hysterical condemnation of how far people will go for fame. So original, each outrageous event is a huge surprise.

Don't Call Me Human is a shockingly fun read filled with off-color humor and disgusting detail. The plot revolves around a shady Beijing organization called MobCom, which is desperate to vindicate China's humiliating loss at the hands of an oafish American wrestler. MobCom's search for a modern-day Chinese hero who knows the secrets of the Boxers (who, among other things, mistakenly thought they were immune to the power of firearms) finds its unfortunate object in a Beijing pedicab driver named Tang Yuanbao. Written by China's most famous liumang (low-life slacker is an acceptable translation), Wang Shuo,the novel follows the miseducation and shameless promotion of Tang by MobCom, an endeavor which requires multiple press conferences ridiculously devoid of content, ballet lessons given by an octogenarian in an abandoned art gallery, an unbelievable mock-military excercise in which Tang single-handedly defeats more than one battalion, and even an eventual sex change. The rise and fall of Tang and his backers (who manage to consume 7,000 packages of instant noodles, 100 kilos of tea, and 14000 cigarettes in their first week of hardly working) is the best-told tale of slacking off and deep national/personal humiliation you're ever likely to read.

An hilarious collection of essays by Jean Kerr , playwright, wife and mother. Very funny and unsentimental accounts of family life, full of wonderfully quotable lines. For instance, when she speaks of looking for a larger house "I wanted a house that would have four bedrooms for the boys, all of them located some distance from the living-room - say in the next country somewhere". Her comments on theatrical life are as funny as her comments on family life, as when she observes that the failure of a play, according to the producer, is always to be blamed on "that first-night audience". She understands children better than any child psychologist, as when she observes that you should never say to children "Are you trying to drive your poor moomy smack out of her mind?" Of course they are, but do you think they'll admit it?" A funny, funny book.

well, maybe my title is going a bit too far, but this book has long been one of my favorites. it is not a well known book, despite having had a tv show and movie based on it. i think it is sad, since this collection of stories deserves to be known by all. it is not deep reading, by any means, as the title most assuredly reveals, but it is fun reading, reading that will take your mind off things. the stories in this book are a collection of jean kerr's various magazine articles reflecting on her life, her family, and the always amusing events that surround her. this book may have been written in the fifties, but most of the things she discusses still occur today in everyday life. i recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a lighthearted laugh and a good read. you won't be sorry you took a trip into the garden. (gosh that was a bad pun!)