Reviews for Semantic e-Science (Annals of Information Systems)

The average rating for Semantic e-Science (Annals of Information Systems) based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-01-11 00:00:00 Eugene Carlisle This is a really good concise book on goal programming. The book covers the basics of the math without getting into the implementation of algorithms. It is aimed at modelers not mathematicians. The important thing is that it also covers how NOT to use the techniques, that is, when it is inappropriate to use goal programming.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-10-17 00:00:00 Pat Kramersmeier This is a fascinating book about developments in genetics and evolution in the past twenty years. Sean Carroll is a leading researcher in the field; his lucid writing style and lively approach make this book a "must-read" for anybody interested in the subject. Plenty of illustrations and drawings help to bring the subject to life. There are several big mysteries in genetics; humans and primates share 99% of their genes, so why is their development so different? The answer lies in "genetic switches" that are encoded in DNA. But these switches have not yet been decoded; they are like the "dark matter" in galaxies--we know that it exists, but its nature is not yet been unraveled. The first half of the book focuses on how animals develop body parts. Every cell in one's body contains the identical DNA, so how does an embryo "know" which jcells are to develop into a heart, an arm, a finger, a brain, and on and on. Earlier books on evolution that I have read, simply left this as a mystery; hypotheses were described, but none articulated as a real answer. But, this book presents a very persuasive theory, and makes it quite understandable to the layman. In the second half of the book, Carroll conveys his sense of excitement, as molecular biologists began recently to talk with paleontologists. Remarkable progress in the past decade has shown fossils in a brand new light. Basically, evolution for the most part is not the development of new, mutated genes; evolution is the way in which old genes learn "new tricks". Embryology is shown to play a key role in understanding evolutionary development. For anyone interested in evolution or genetics, this is the book to read.