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55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Evidence that Environment Affects Behaviour, July 28, 1996
By A Customer
In this book, Winifred Gallagher, discusses the various ways that environment can affect human behaviour. Written for the layman, the book does not dwell on the neuroscience data, preferring to interview both the researchers and the affected. The biggest drawback of this book may also be it's most interesting aspect - the sheer quantity of the material Gallagher must condensed into 228 pages of text. Thus, in less than 100 pages, she discusses seasonal affective disorder, light deprivation, effects of temperature and altitude and geomagnetic phenomena. With
this constraint, Gallagher's prose in necessarily tight, her interviews brief, and each chapter ends before you've had your fill of the effect she's discussing.
A good book for plane-hopping business sorts - not only can it be read on the flight, the effects of time zone changes, sleep deprivation, and fluorescent lights can be recorded as they are taking place.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A solid read, August 20, 2008
This review is from: The Power of Place: How Our Surroundings Shape Our Thoughts, Emotions, and Actions (P.S.) (Paperback)
This is the right kind of book when you are looking for something different. To a large degree this is 'info-tainment' but it's certainly fascinating. Gallagher is a solid writer, she organizes her thoughts, there is nothing cryptic or suggestive of her writing beyond the facts she documents. Her research is absorbing, she doesn't pretend to know more than she does and her focus is on finding a balance between the science she gleans and her understanding.
From Alaska's difficult emotional/spiritual/physical climate, to the science beyond radiomagnetic energy, to thoughts on the womb, the environments of birth, development, why we love nature, the threat of city life to personal psyche, she covers a great deal of topic ground. Each section, let alone each chapters could have been a book unto itself which makes the reading somewhat cursory. On the whole, the book never falls into a slum, the reading is continually informative and well-written. Gallagher's journalism is intriguing. The best part of this book is that it not only gives you food for thought but makes you want to go out and investigate more, to read more on the subjects she has touched upon. (That's the sign of a solid, good book.)
I feel a book is more than just what is contained between its covers. Books about social studies like this make me take notice of the world around me in ways I may not have seen before. An increase in awareness is what I discovered while reading The Power of Place. I'm going to think more about Feng Shui in my life and moreover, what I need to do change some aspects of my life - I do need to get out into nature more.
Books like Gallagher's are rewarding in that they are pleasant to read, informative, well-researched and entertaining. This is a light read but it will keep you sharp. Truly, this is the book you read at the beach.
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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Psychological Ramifications of Environment, June 25, 2008
This review is from: The Power of Place: How Our Surroundings Shape Our Thoughts, Emotions, and Actions (P.S.) (Paperback)
Environment is important, indoors and outdoors. Light exposure is crucial. Environment shapes character and behavior. Well-being is affected by settings.
Mood sickness may be traced back to normal expectations of the environment. Indoor life-styles result in light deprivation. Winter depression has been re-identified.
Cold is a stimulant and heat is a sedative. Moderatedly high altitudes-- mountains--seem peaceful. Some of the mountain magic is aesthetic. A sense-presence experience, (sensing that something or someone is present), is a normal response to a bizarre situation. More and more people are spending time in extreme environments.
Inner city children may suffer from chronic sense overload impeding their physical and academic progress. Urbanization is the most important environmental influence of the future. Most of America's poverty is urban. Pruitt-Igoe thwarted tenants' needs and opportunities for social networking and had to be blown-up.
Nature-loving varies with ethnicity and class. Nevertheless, even the Swiss weren't amazed by the Alps until the nineteenth century when nature's existence could be contrasted with industrialization.
This is a delightful book, causing much thought about issues we hardly ever notice and think about.
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