Reviews for Inventing Personality: Gordon Allport and the Science of Selfhood

The average rating for Inventing Personality: Gordon Allport and the Science of Selfhood based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-05-19 00:00:00 Kenneth Chun A chilling read. The book tells you more about the doctor himself than what was going on around him, but it's a fascinating character study in itself. This man was such a cool cucumber that he was keeping an eye on his watch and making mathematical calculations to determine the direction and epicenter of the blast while everyone around him was running for their lives. He was able to tell us a great deal of what was going on scientifically and gives the reader some penetrating inights into the cultural and social demands on a medical intern and Navy officer in a time of indescribable crisis. Well worth the read.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-12-23 00:00:00 Vinny Barbarino Ross is a medical student from California who decides to go to Africa, to learn about the deadly Lassa Fever in a ward in Sierre Leone and write a paper about his experiences. Nothing there is as he expected. This book is more about his experience of the chasm between cultures and the completely different mind set of the people there. Of the polarity of medical care where there are no supplies for things he takes for granted. Such as the fact there is not even a breathing bag/mask and there is no way to even test for what they are treating. How even though health care is supposed to be free, health care workers refuse to treat those who cannot pay. How care workers do not understand the differences between viruses and bacteria or that different antibiotics treat different infections. He is unsure and frightened of making a mistake that costs someone their life. The book is less about Lassa Fever and more about his own personal education of a system doing its best with no resources or support amidst political chaos. After reading this book and against the aftermath of the recent Ebola epidemic, I have to wonder how little things have changed in over ten years.