Reviews for Cell activation

The average rating for Cell activation based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-06-23 00:00:00 Gary West One May morning I knocked on the door of a house around the corner from where I live to ask permission to cut some of the lilacs that were in profuse full bloom along the driveway. I had no idea who lived there, but was struck by the beautiful Japanese garden in what was an ordinary small-town front yard. It was partly hidden by a board fence with spaces between the boards; I had never noticed it before, although I had passed it hundreds of times. The door was answered by an ancient, Japanese-appearing gentleman. With a wide and gracious smile, he said, "Of course!" as if he were honored by my request. I posted a note on Facebook about the encounter, and a local friend revealed his identity as the author of this book. It tells the story of his remarkable life and his medical work with the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Dr. Yamazaki is the American-born son of parents who immigrated from Japan early in the last century. His father was a Christian convert and the pastor of an Episcopal church in Los Angeles. James grew up feeling thoroughly American. He joined the Army before beginning medical school and was halfway through his medical education on December 7, 1941. The Army allowed him to complete his M.D. before commissioning him. When he graduated from medical school, all of his family except for one brother, a private in the Army, were imprisoned in a relocation camp in Arkansas, where he visited them before entering active duty. His father was then in the camp hospital after a beating by other Japanese inmates for urging them to send their sons into the American military. James served in Europe, and was taken prisoner during the Battle of the Bulge. He spent the rest of the war in a German POW camp. After the liberation, he returned home to finish his specialty in pediatrics and married his sweetheart. In 1948 he was asked to join the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, where he was assigned to study the effects on the children whose mothers had been pregnant when they were exposed to the bomb blast and radiation. Most of the children showed malformations and mental retardation. Dr. Yamazaki then continued his studies in an effort to discover what genetic effects could be attributed to the bomb. His scientific and humanitarian work is described in layman's language. This eventful story is remarkable for a lack of bitterness. It ends with a plea to young people to work to prevent the horrors of nuclear warfare from happening again. I feel honored to have met this distinguished gentleman and to recommend his inspiring book. There is also a video of Dr. Yamazaki describing his work at .

Review # 2 was written on 2013-10-29 00:00:00 Trent Imeson It is less about the children and more about the memoir. Slow/dry parts include lists of other doctors he worked with and what they were studying, lobbying to keep his program going, the very high level stuff. It is much more interesting when he delves into his own life, including serving in the war as a Japanese American while his family was in interment camps, and his treatment by allied forces in Japan after the war. I was expecting more on his experiences with the people that survived these bombs and their families, and there is some of that, but it feels like a small part considering the title.