Product Description

Get the results your camera was meant to deliver

With the D700, you've stepped up to a high-performance camera. The possibilities offered by its 12.1-megapixel, FX-format CMOS sensor are exhilarating. This guide helps you take full advantage of every feature you paid for, offering clear and comprehensive directions for setting up the camera, choosing modes, selecting lenses, and much more. With detailed guidance for working with lighting, exposure, and depth of field plus advanced shooting techniques for many different situations, it's your camera's perfect partner.

• Customize the D700's settings and learn how to use them all

• Maximize Live View and use single-point and dynamic-area autofocus

• Explore original, optional, and custom picture controls

• Investigate wide-angle lenses, VR and DX lenses, filters, and lens accessories

• Learn secrets for getting great shots of sporting events, concerts, wildlife, products, and people

Customer Reviews (14)

A good guide
Because there is no interaction it is impossible to teach everything in a book. That said, this is a very good start in understanding the 700. All the basics are covered. It is not rich in opinion which is good, but does does suggest the correct amount of alternatives. It is easy to read, well laid out and illustrated. It's a good book to start with, then use the camera.Use it for an initial reference, study & it will make you conversant.

Better than the Nikon Manual
While, perhaps, not as extensive as the manual, this is MUCH easier to read, refer to, and SEE illustrations, and more "real speak" than the official Nikon manual. I bought this (cheaply on Amazon) to determine if I really want to upgrade to the D700. As of now I do, but am awaiting the ?successor to the D700, still not announced nearly 18 months+ from the introduction of the D700. Today is 10-18-09. I certainly recommend this series of books to supplement, if not replace, the official manual. I also bought the book for the Nikon D200 after buying the camera. I also recommend any books on photography by Scott Kelby.

Buy it!
I think that the book is great! I purchased the author's digital field guide for the D90 and found it very helpful. Purchasing this book was a no-brainer. I really like how the author basically makes the sense of a manual that is at times difficult and quite boring. There are pictures from cover to cover and lots of tips that go beyond the basic functions of the camera. Happy Reading!Nikon D700 Digital Field Guide

Not very informative
If you have (and have read the D700 manual), don't get this book. Three quarters of it is just a regurgitation of the manual with some pretty pictures. I bought this for the 'field guide' part, and it's very barebones (both length wise and density of information). I was particularly disappointed with the level of information about using off camera flashes - this book didn't even mention the fact that the on the body flash has to fire to trigger wireless CLS flashes. That's just an example of a reason why I wanted to buy a quick reference, rather than spend time mining the information off the internet.

I picked up a copy of the Magic Lantern D700 guide in my local BN, and it blows this book out of the water in terms of information usefulness. Get that one instead.

Digital Field Guide book
I have seen several of the Digital Field Guide books and they have all been VERY helpful. ... Read more

Product Description
This great little book is a concise all-purpose reference featuring hundreds of tables, maps, formulas, constants & conversions AND it still fits in your shirt pocket! Goes where you go! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (136)

Reference par Excellence...
If you need to know about Area & Bolt sizes & Clearance Drilling & Electricity & Fractions & Gases & Hydraulics & Interference fits & Jackscrews & Kelvin & Lead & Metallurgy & Negative Or Positive, & Quadratics & Resistance & S.I. Conversions & Thread formats & Units & Voltage & Wear & X-Rays & Yachts & Zengineering (not certain about that last one, but it could be an appropriate word after absorbing the contents of this miniature marvel), then you just have to have this little black book.
Keep it in your workshop, or toolbox, or pocket. Dip into it, as & when you need to know something specific - like the clearance hole diameter to drill for a particular thread size - then you'll eventually begin reading more from it's store of useful data.
Then you'll start reading it for its own sake - and by then, you'll be doomed to a life of engineering and enquiring and generally wanting to know all the answers to those questions that ownership of such a microtome poses.
Basically, if you use tools - and most humans with opposable thumbs do - then you need this book.

Next best to having someone else do the work
Had one for 10 years, lost it.Purchased 4, one for me, 3 for grandkids.It has most of the data/conversions/formulas that I have forgotten in the past 60 years.Definitely a must have for the toolbox and shop.

Nick

Inaccuracy!
I just browsed a few pages of this "supposedly" reference book and I quickly found a mistake in density of minerals (page 356). Thomas J. Glover tells us gold has a density of 17.64. It actually is 19.3. How many other inaccuracies (not typos!) may this book contain?

Terrific reference
This is a terrific compendium of facts for the technically minded. The breadth of topics covered is surprising. This can replace a number of larger books that are short-sided in the information department.

Great Book!
Great book for everyone! This book has is filled with useful information from math and science to first aid and electronics. The best book of it's kind, even the "Myth Busters" have been known to use it on their show! ... Read more

Product Description
Chief engineer Thomas J. Kelly gives a firsthand account of designing, building, testing, and flying the Apollo lunar module. It was, he writes, “an aerospace engineer’s dream job of the century.” Kelly’s account begins with the imaginative process of sketching solutions to a host of technical challenges with an emphasis on safety, reliability, and maintainability. He catalogs numerous test failures, including propulsion-system leaks, ascent-engine instability, stress corrosion of the aluminum alloy parts, and battery problems, as well as their fixes under the ever-present constraints of budget and schedule. He also recaptures the exhilaration of hearing Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong report that “The Eagle has landed,” and the pride of having inadvertently provided a vital “lifeboat” for the crew of the disabled Apollo 13. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (46)

frank mixture of tech and management
Thomas Kelly was refreshingly frank in his telling of the development and deployment of the Apollo Lunar Module. You have to wonder at times how NASA and the contractors pulled it off, given the immense complexity, the unknowns and the inability to test in real environments. Without the huge expense and serious commitment to the target date, Apollo could easily have slid to the right many times, if not abandoned.

Once the contract was won, the majority of the book actually concerns problem resolution and management, with technical information secondary. I had not realized how early-on the LM's basic design was in place, years before the first test flight. Of course, it went through relentless modifications, from tweaks to save some ounces to major items, such as eliminating a need for a second docking hatch and switching power sources.

There was less about how the LM worked, with the computer subsystem a key example, than I expected. Or take the life support and consumables subsystems, which didn't get much coverage until the shining moment for the LM team on Apollo 13. Kelly wisely kept the Apollo 13 story brief and focused on the LM's aspects, as it's well-tread ground elsewhere, and this book came out well after Lovell's and the movie.

Kelly tried to balance the technical and the project management sides of the story, with perhaps more about Grumman and NASA leadership than some readers want. However, given that this is a candidate for the definitive story of the LM, Kelly had to review those aspects or they could easily be lost. Many second- and third-tier names also get tips of the hat from Kelly.

Despite having read many Apollo books, I had forgotten or did not know about a few of the problems on the actual missions that Kelly mentions. They all dodged failures. For example, Apollo 16 might not have landed had the LM team back home not solved an issue with fuel tank pressure. This repeated ability to find quick answers under brutal time pressure reinforces the feeling that the teams were exceptionally talented and dedicated and knew their systems to the finest detail.

Read this and watch the LM episode (#5) of "From the Earth to the Moon". Kelly is a key figure in the show, presented well.

Moon Lander-Apollo Lunar Module
Hooray!!What a wonderful book. But of course it is-it is part of the Air & Space Museum of the Smithsonian. It is enjoyable and such an interesting read. I am so glad it is part of our spaceflight history and is part of the Smithsonian.
So many books about Apollo were not written by the actual engineers/employees who designed and built the hardware, the structures and the Saturn V.
Some think that Apollo was easy-not so. Many of us worried about the equipment and spacecraft. Would our astronauts be safe?
You won't regret buying this book.

Sara Howard, Author of "Something Funny Happened on the Way to the Moon" and "The Greatest Explosions in the Universe."

The right stuff for building the Lunar Module
Tom Kelly's testimony about the construction of the lunar module shows us the exact measure of the sacrifice he and his staff did, together with other vendors, enabling the accomplishment of Keneddy's challenge.
Do you want to learn something really good about management? He tells us about a more than gigantic task, a never before runproject.
Do you think you know enough about quality management? He teach us how they dealt with the balancebetween deadlines and quality.
Do you think your concern about security is enough on your projects?Learn why you're wrong.
Mr. Supplier, is it hard the negotiation between you and your client? Problems with budget? See some hints and tips you'd never thought about, mainly if the project is based on not detailed nor completely defined contract specifications and prices.

All of this permeated with change dynamics hard to be realized in it's full extent by both contractor and supplier.

Weekends totally dedicated to the work, and families also with his role to play, so that emotional stability could be ensured and the project would not be affected.

And everything openly followed and criticized around the world, with press wide eyes opened.

This history, told by the responsible for LM's building, is quite poignant. Even those who do not have technical basis are moved by Kelly's storytelling. We feel the pressure and anxiety as we were the project manager.

Often, even knowing the "end of history", we are in suspense, and suddenly memory is cleared temporarily, so we find ourselves hoping for things going all OK.

Technical knowledge is important but not fundamental to read the book. Some basic knowledge of the Apollo project and the LM, available in most basic sources of information, allow the reader to read this book with pleasure.

It is important for anyone who is interested or wants to specialize in project management. And for those who like the mannedspace exploration, of course.

The final product was more than 100% good and perfect. Are all your projects like this, so far?
Better than the book, only the job done by thousands of people leaded by Mr. Kelly, building the successfull LM.

Software developers need to read this book!
If you are a casual fan of the Apollo era and enjoy books covering the basic history of the program, this book is probably not for you. It is highly technical and largely covers the engineering and project management of Apollo. However, if you want to learn how complexity can be mastered and lead to undeniable success, how brilliant minds project managed their way tot he moon, then this book is for you. It's funny, but we think we are so advanced these days, especially with technology. However, I would argue that 90% of the software we build today wouldn't make the first pass of Apollo era quality and testing standards. From the web to healthcare, all of us can learn from people like Mr. Kelly. Read this book and you will see what I mean.

Tom Kelly comes across as a very patient man and very understated. This man played a key role in one of the most amazing engineering projects of all time - a vehicle that not only could land on the moon, but take off from it as well. The first true space craft (designed purely for space - never in Earth or in the atmosphere). There is a reason they call it rocket science and this is the ultimate.

Some people called the LEM ugly. I never understood that, I always thought it was amazing. This book only reinforced this opinion.

More technical info needed
Nearly half of this book is devoted to discussing the management systems that produced the LM.Which is fine; certainly it's well-known that the management systems developed for Apollo played a huge part in the success of the program, but I got this book hoping to learn about the nuts and bolts of the LM and its construction.There are only a handful of illustrations and little technical info about its operation.
Disappointing as a book about the design and creation of the LM, but a useful addition to Apollo history. ... Read more

Product Description
Believers have known for centuries that prayer to the saints is a powerful thing. But finding the perfect saint to pray to for whatever problem or challenge you face just got a whole lot easier with Saints for Every Occasion - a new guide to the saints focusing on heavenly patrons especially relevant for our times.

Among the 101 saints profiled are patrons for parents facing divorce, single parenthood, troublesome in-laws, and disappointing kids; saints to watch over children at play and at school, as they watch TV or surf the web; saints for students and sports lovers; and patrons for many contemporary social issues, from homelessness to racial discrimination to AIDS.

Author Thomas J. Craughwell profiles patrons from five continents and many time periods. His saints range from contemporaries of Christ to more modern patrons like Padre Pio ("For a Good Confession"), Pier Giorgio Frassati ("For All Lovers of Sport"), and Faustina Kowalska ("For Confidence in Divine Mercy").

Craughwell's exhaustive research makes Saints a fascinating read for history buffs, and entertaining for anyone interested in learning more about the saints and how their different areas of patronage evolved. And the inclusion of 10 original illustrations by celebrated artist Arden von Haeger help show that the saints are not mere plaster figurines but real men and women who struggled with - and overcame - the same problems and challenges we face today.

Beautifully illustrated and entertainingly told, Saints for Every Occasion features 101 patrons you and your family will seek out time and again. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A thoughtful, serious, expansive reference
Saints For Every Occasion: 101 Of Heaven's Most Powerful Patrons by Catholic commentator and author Thomas J. Craughwell tells the fascinating, compelling, and inspiring stories of Catholicism's patron saints, with special attention to their aspects and relevance today. Each canonized individual is presented with a brief but memorable summary of their lives, to aid those seeking the right words for prayer in the medley of problems faced in this complex world. Highly recommended for personal, seminary, and parish library reference collections, Saints For Every Occasion is a thoughtful, serious, expansive reference that makes for intent browsing in times of inner turmoil.

Saints are for Grown-Ups too
Most of us were introduced to the saints while we were children.As we grew up, our idea of saints has remained on immature level.Thomas Craughwell's book re-introduces us to the saints from an adult person's point of view.The result is refreshing.It is such a relief to know that these 101 saints were not statues in real life.I now feel that Thomas Aquinas is someone I would like to know in real life -- and that Aloysius Gonzaga would be a little scary for his intensity!I left the book by my bed and read two or three capsule biographies each night for over a month.Interestingly, the most moving lives were those of the young saints -- but seen from the adult vantage point of wanting to reach out and protect these youths from harm's way.At the end, I was sorry the book was over.Then on the last page I saw that there is the possibility of a sequel.Let it be!

Saints alive
I am definitely not religious, but I found this book to be so entertaining and enriching that I have to recommend it.It's full of history and culture, and the author's sly style (which sometimes made me laugh out loud) doesn't interfere with the nourishment he gently makes available through the stories of the saints he's selected.It's the kind of book you love to dip into from time to time, to learn something and be amused and maybe feel a bit better about the world.

A Guide to Saints for our Times
I have a few saints guides already, but nothing to match the thoroughness, timeliness, and charm of this one. The book has a lot of fun surprises (such as a saint for rock climbers), and a great deal of truly useful information. Craughwell makes saints more "relevant" by including saints for AIDS sufferers and the environment, but he never trivializes or cheapens his subject. And the entries are wonderful to read, a definite cut above the often dry, over-earnest style of other books. Highly recommended!

Saints of Yesterday for Today
101 Saints for Every Occasion is more than a patron saints book. Choc full of fascinating historical and biographical bits, it makes enjoyable reading for anyone.Those who have read patron saints books will find the contemporary adaptations interesting and first-time patron saints readers will undoubtedly wish to continue reading on this subject.We've recommended 101 Saints to friends and given several copies as gifts. ... Read more

Product Description
Part of the highly successful Shelly Cashman series, this text offers a step-by-step, screen-by-screen approach and extensive hands-on projects for meaningful learning of JavaScript. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

This is a dreadful book!
I had the misfortune of purchasing this textbook to refresh my JavaScript skills.Well, it's all here... the deprecated tags, the outdated syntax, and the errors... OH MY GOD!!!You will also find that the end of chapter exercises incorporate knowledge and features that were NOT EVEN COVERED in the preceding chapters!!Because I already knew JavaScript, I was able to ferret my way through this atrocious text.So it wasn't a total loss.This textbook is used at our local technical college, so I thought I was safe in purchasing it.Do NOT buy this book unless you know enough of JavaScript and HTML to make the corrections yourself.This is the second Shelly Cashman Series textbook that I've had the misfortune to purchase.From what I've seen, the Shelly Cashman Series is probably one of the worst I've ever encountered in the computer field.

Used book for a class
This book has some coding errors in it, but nothing I wasn't able to work around.If it wasn't the required book for the course I was taking I would not of bought this book.It is dated and uses HTML coding that has been deprecated and compares operating systems that are no longer suported. (Windows95/98).Find a book that is more current.

Worst Book EVER
If there was a 0 stars rating, this book would get it. How bad is it? When I sold it back to my college bookstore, I got a whopping $3! Even my crappy dreamweaver book netted me $5, but $3 isn't even enough to buy lunch. I guess it's all good, as I'd rather have my cheetos and Faygo than this book anyways. The numerous errors caused me to lose points on homework assignments, even though I did the project step by step as they are in the book. What a disgusting excuse for a text. And I've used lots of great books too, so I can tell the difference between one that has effort put into it, and one that's out of date and, for lack of a better term, a disgrace. I'm just happy I was able to buy it on the amazon marketplace instead of paying the $46 the college would have sold it to me for.

If you get a class that ever uses this book, petition your board of cirriculum directors and have it changed, this book will help you learn javascript almost as much as a lobotomy will.

This book is a mess
The first chapter sems to be ok, but once you get to chapter 3 you'll start to get confuse. I won't recomande this book if you are new to javascript.

horrible
This book is absolutely horrible, I am also using this book as part of a college class, there are errors in both projects 1 and 2, I am SO frustrated.There errata does not address the 2nd edition.Very poorly written, I pray I can get something done before I fail this class. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK! ... Read more

Product Description

Owning and Managing Forests is both an accessible overview of the privileges, rights, and obligations that accompany forest ownership and a guidebook to help active forest owners and managers use laws to their advantage and avoid the pitfalls of expensive and exhausting litigation. The book is a revised, expanded, and updated edition of Legal Aspects of Owning and Managing Woodlands, published in 1998 by Island Press and named Best Forestry Book of the Year by the National Woodland Owners Association.

This edition provides current information on recent changes in property, environmental, and tax laws, while also discussing new directions in forest management. It offers expanded treatment of topics including private property, searching property records, easements, estate planning, timber sale contracts, working with forestry professionals, and how to pass woodlands intact to future generations. The book also describes the many different facets of trusts, changes in forestland taxation methods, and new licensing and certification options. Included, too, is a section on avoiding disputes and how to use alternative dispute resolution methods to avoid costly, troubling, and time-consuming court battles.

Owning and Managing Forests provides clear and concise descriptions of often confusing concepts and difficult subjects, and addresses issues in a competent yet conversational tone. Anyone involved with owning or managing forestland will find the book an essential guide and reference.

Customer Reviews (1)

Owning and Managing Forests
This book addresses the contractural matters of the timber business very well.I was very interested in the tax and trust portions and was very pleased with the fairly recent subject matter. Real world information with guidance of what to avoid and how to enter into the timber markets. ... Read more

Product Description
Urban Legend (ur/ben lej/end) n. a fictional story, circulated by word-of-mouth, that is perpetuated by the continual assertion of truth.

All the rumors that have passed through office e-mail networks, the fantastic stories that have "happened to a friend" and the horrifying tales told around campfires are gathered here for the first time in one fascinating, unbelievable collection.

Organized by subject, chapters include: Naked at His Own Surprise Party and Other Sexual Escapades, The Stolen Kidney and Other Medical Disasters, The Gulf War Computer Virus and Other High Tech Scares, Roswells's Area 51 and Other Extraterrestrial Encounters, Elvis's Motorcycle and Other Celebrity Rumors, and many more. Each story runs one-to-two-pages long.

Many of the stories have been told with a different twist--variations are included at the end of each tale. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Can't Put It Down
this has to be my ABSOLUTE favorite book of urban legends ever
it got me into the genre
i love this book and can read it over and over again
i reccomend it!!!!!!

A Nice Collection
Alligators in the Sewer is a collection of 223 urban legends.The book was published back in 1999 and a lot of the legends within have been republished many times on both the Internet and in other later published urban legend books.Also TV programs such as Myth Busters have debunked some of these such as the scuba diver in the forest fire.Still this book is a good collection, a great read and most of the big well known legends are in here.

In comparison to Craughwell's latest book Old Wives Tales Fact or Fiction, Alligators in the Sewer is not as well laid out and lacks the paragraphs after each myth where the myth is either proven to be true or proven to be false.But we have to remember this book was written back in 1999 and if you see a copy on a library or book shelf, definitely pick it up.

Enjoyable read
This book is highly entertaining with a fair bit of whimsy. Not as exhausting as many(most?) of the other urban legend books. A very good first foray into ULs.

I love this book =)
This book was a good read, It has a lot of urban legends, some I have heard before, and some I have not. It is easy to read and the stories are short, about a page each. The thing that I think was the "neatest" was in the back of the book, there are some blank pages to write your own urban legends, which I thought was good, because I have heard some that are not in this book, and some I have heard differently than what this book tells, like the Jersey Devil. Anywhoo!! Easy to read, short, cute stories that leave you wondering if they're based on true stories or not!! =)

Very Neat!
This is a very good collection of Urban Legends. It doesn't waste time going through lengthly explainations on where these stories originated from, nor does it take the time to debunk them as being untrue--the preface takes care of that. The only thing that struck me as being a little off the subject was the section on paranormal phenomena which I feel is a completely different field altogether that should have not been included in this book. ... Read more

Product Description
In this eloquent first-person account of a family drama that changed the face of American business, the man who transformed IBM into the world's largest computer company reflects on his lifelong partnership with his father--and how their management style and shared dedication to excellence united to create a unique corporate culture that became the blueprint for the entire technology boom.

In the course of sixty years Thomas J. Watson Sr. and his son, Thomas J. Watson Jr., together built the international colossus that is IBM. This is their story: a riveting and revealing account of two men who loved each other--and fought each other--with a terrible fierceness.

But along with the story of a father and son, this is IBM's story too. It chronicles the management insights that shaped its course and its unique corporate culture, the style that made Thomas Watson Sr. one of America's most charismatic bosses, and the daring decisions by Thomas Watson Jr. that transformed IBM into the world's largest computing company. One of the greatest business-success stories of all time, Father, Son & Co. is a moving lesson for fathers who dream for their children, as well as a testament to American ingenuity and values, told in a disarmingly frank and eloquent voice.


Promising to remain an important business reference as we move into the next century, FATHER, SON & CO. takes a look at the management insight that helped to shape IBM's course and unique corporate culture.It looks at Watson, Sr., one of America's most charismatic bosses, and Watson, Jr., who spurred IBM into the computer age.

Ten years after its original publication, FATHER, SON & CO. remains a uniquely honest book. Watson's willingness to write about the loving but ferociously combative relationship he had with his father and the turbulent battles behind some of IBM's most far-reaching decisions gives readers rare insights into the realities of leadership. --> ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

The best biography that I have read up to now
This is a brilliant autobiography from one of the most talented business figures in last century.This book is unique for two reasons: (1) seldom had an author who had had experienced so much and accomplished so much; (2) his keen observation of human natures - expressed in a self-deprecating and humorous manner.

In the end, you could tell Watson Jr. afterall was very self-assured of himself - at least toward the last phase of his life.Otherwise, it would be hard to explain how he would be willing to be vulnerable and reveal so much - about his own psyche, his family feud and IBM in general.

This is a highly readable autobiography - highly recommended.

A warm tale behind a cold company
Indeed a truly heart-warming, rivetting story. One of the best - possibly the best - bios that I have ever read. This is a story about IBM, the big blue corporate monolith. Yet in its core, this is really the story of a Son, a father and the relationship between them. Once into the pages of the book, you will soon realise that IBM is just a necessary but incidental backdrop to a father-son relationship..It's a book that talks of a strict yet loving father, and a son working his way up to gain his father's approval and affection. A very humane tale, devoid of any overt management jargon or mantra that seems to be the norm in most bios by business leaders, it is a surprise that nobody has thought of making a movie out of this story.

Touching. Warmly recommend to everyone.

Where Destiny Takes You
This is not a story that I had really expected to enjoy; I found this book in a hostel in Europe, and with nothing in English to read I gladly snapped it up. Father, Son & Co wound up being a very interesting and enjoyable book, and even though it is more than 15 years old now, it still gives tremendous insights into the rise of IBM and the evolution of the computer. Within two generations of the Watson family, business advanced from the Robber Barons of the 19th century to the big corporations of the 20th, and during this same period the computer advanced from punch-card machines into the electronic machines we use today. It is hard to look at a PC and see a direct connection to horse-and-buggy days, but that is the story Thomas Watson and Peter Petre tell.

A huge swath of American history is encompassed within this book; major events are witnessed and lived out by Watson and his family. But Watson also shows how family relationships have changed over the last hundred years by comparing his relationship with his father and siblings to those of his own children. Those older among us empathize with Watson completely-we took for granted, even thrived, within familial relationships that probably would not be tolerated today. But Watson also shows how primogeniture aids the affluent whether the offspring are gifted or not. To his credit, Watson admits this and does not set himself up as any more special than anyone else. He (and curiously his father as well) is rare in American business: he is a liberal and believes he owes something to his country. Would that this sentiment was felt more widely in the higher levels of business, government, and society.

Readable portrait of an IT empire
It is always interesting to read what sons have to write about their fathers. Thomas J. Watson Jr.'s book is no exception to this rule. Although in many ways the book is a business biography, the relationship between the two men creeps in between the lines (almost more than you could imagine that the author had intended it to). Watson Jr. was clearly influenced by his iconic father, both for better and for worse. The book is a lot about how that influence (and the escape from that influence) shaped the company that is IBM today.

Obviously the company has gone through many changes since this book has written-- Gerstner, downsizing, eBusiness, Business Consulting Services, etc. But still, it is remarkable how much of the culture is recognizable back to the very earliest days.

I have a special interest in the subject matter, so it is hard for me to say how fascinating someone without an IBM attachment would find the book. If you do have that special interest in IBM history, however, it is an interesting book and well executed.

A somewhat interesting and fairly candid account of IBM
Although not exactly riveting, this book does provide an interesting and readable history of IBM from the view of Thomas Watson Jr. who took over control of IBM after his father, Thomas Watson Sr..Although much has happened to IBM since then (the job cuts, the internet boom, etc.), this is a fascinating glimpse at the evolution of big blue and the culture it once had.

The Watsons did not start IBM but they did oversee its growth into "Big Blue". Some of the anecdotes are quite memorable, the strict sales "uniform" (including sock suspenders), the refining and gentrifiying of the sales staff & executives, Thomas Sr. teaching his son to clean-up the bathroom on the train, the high-flyer told to forgo his tenant problems by Watson Sr.. It seems all tycoons and corporations have some skeletons in their cupboards and IBM is no exception.According to the book, Thomas Sr. and other senior executives at IBM started a business buying up old IBM equipment so prevent a second-hand market developing that would eat into IBM's market.It almost landed the Thomas Sr. and his colleagues in prison.Watson Sr. spent a great deal of time developing himself and his people to become refined, gentlemen with values and priorities. In these sad days of scum CEOs & executives, duplicitous companies, corrupt accountants & lawyers and valueless company "books" (Enron, WorldComm, Tyco, Merrill-Lynch, Arthur-Anderson, Martha Stewart,...) the incident may seem like grist to the mill but at that time it must have been a huge blow to the man and the company.A decent book if you have an interest in IBM or the history of the computer business. ... Read more

Product Description
This innovative collection examines the transnational movements, effects, and transformations of religion in the contemporary world, offering a fresh perspective on the interrelation between globalization and religion. Transnational Transcendence challenges some widely accepted ideas about this relationship--in particular, that globalization can be understood solely as an economic phenomenon and that its religious manifestations are secondary. The book points out that religion's role remains understudied and undertheorized as an element in debates about globalization, and it raises questions about how and why certain forms of religious practice and intersubjectivity succeed as they cross national and cultural boundaries. Framed by Thomas J. Csordas's introduction, this timely volume both urges further development of a theory of religion and globalization and constitutes an important step toward that theory. ... Read more

Product Description

How attractive are you? No, not your looks, but rather your ability to attract abundance into your life -- whether in the form of success at work, solid and rewarding friendships, blue-chip clients, higher income, richer life satisfaction, deeper relationships, or more opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Isn't it time you stopped grasping for success and started attracting it?

Thomas J. Leonard is the father of personal coaching, an explosively growing movement highlighted by recent features in Newsweek,The Wall Street Journal,The New York Times,The London Times,New Age Journal, and featured on NBC, CBS, and CNN. He is also the founder of Coach University, a virtual university that has trained thousands of personal coaches in thirty countries.

Here is Leonard's 28-step Principles of Attraction program -- an exciting, profoundly transformational system that will reorient your approach to life and help you attract success, happiness, and fulfillment as surely as a magnet draws steel.

Originally developed for the professional coaches at Coach University for use with their tens of thousands of clients worldwide, Leonard's set of strategies draws on wisdom from psychology, career counseling, management consulting, personal growth programs, motivational training, and good old common sense. These principles have been proven to work, consistently, with virtually every type of personality, situation, or problem. Now, for the first time, they are available in book form as The Portable Coach.

Complete with Coach University's patented and challenging self-testing materials, these 28 steps open a path to achievement that won't leave you feeling hollow, soulless, or exhausted from striving. They aren't about giving yourself constant pep talks or working longer and harder than everyone around you or being the meanest shark in the corporate sea. The Portable Coach is a vigorous, highly encouraging blueprint for success, a lively new way of honoring yourself and remaking the world on your own terms! Filled with hundreds of practical guidelines, it's a fully integrated personal and professional growth system that you can pursue at your own rate of speed in a sequence determined by your most important needs and priorities. Through it, you'll fully access and maximize the brilliance and energy you already have and create a thoroughly satisfying life based on what's best about you.

The Portable Coach is the closest possible thing to having the inventor of the personal coaching movement in your corner, helping you isolate and remove all energy-wasting distractions, while becoming the creator of an environment designed to let your natural entrepreneurialism, charm, talent, and personality flourish.

You are invited to attend a Coach University teleclass, Attraction in Action. Conducted by a Certified Coach, this one-hour coaching class will teach you more about how to apply the Principles of Attraction to your own life! To register, simply call (206) 378-1000, E-mail class @theportablecoach.

This is no superficial,feel-good-now, get-rich-tomorrow book. It's like having a year ofsessions with this celebrated coach without paying his $400 per hourfee. Flip through the book until you land on just the right tip forwhat you need to learn right now, or take a progressive journeythrough the book, putting the tips into action as you go. ThePortable Coach bursts with more immediately useful, personallyrelevant suggestions than you can possibly use. It should expand yourmind, improve your performance, enhance your relationships (businessand personal), help you enjoy life more, and give you many swift kickstoward becoming your best. Highly recommended. --Joan Price ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

Disappointing - Where's the beef?
This book was in the library of the Life Coaching professional club of which I was a member.That in itself led me to expect that there was substance and golden nuggets to be found within these pages.I continued to read, page after page, hoping the hoopla I'd expected was just about to manifest.Drat!Nothing there.I had hoped to gain a more in-depth insight into how to be a great coach to those with dramatic difficulties to overcome.Best use of this book is as a doorstop.

Great Read
This book helps to change the way you view life and life's circumstances. Instead of seeing how things happen to you your eyes will see how you happen to life. It is about bringing clarity to how you see the things you experience in life. I often put the book down to give further thought to what I read. I actually bought this book for my husband so he could enjoy the new mindset I was basking in. You will not be disappointed.

Still Great After All These Years
I started re-reading this lately. It was my first coaching book and like many others, Thomas Leonard was the first to introduce me to coaching. These strategies are good across the board for business and life coaching. It's a great reference tool to this day. A good addition to any coaching library.

Road map to Living
I have been presenting business & personal development workshops since 1987 focusing primarily on small business women and families. I only found Thomas Leonard because my girlfriend Nancy spoke so highly of him. Looked him up, purchased the book and realized I have used the many strategies he suggested for the workshops I conduct. I believe this book is the ONE that should be on every person list to purchase and apply. He offers step by step proven, simple practices to move your life forward and manage your living. This is the road map to peace, happiness, abundance and more!

Thomas Leonard is not for everyone, but...
If you can get through the first chapter on "selfishness," this book really does have a lot to offer.Using charged words like "become incredibly selfish" and absolutes like "tolerate nothing" was an integral part of Leonard's in-your-face, we-don't-have-time-for-you-not-to-get-this style.So many of us in the professional coaching industry have been touched by Leonard.We owe him a big debt of gratitude for making the profession of "coaching" the big opportunity it is for us today.This book is a good legacy to the man, as well as to what he thought was important for us to understand in our lives and in the lives of our clients. ... Read more

Product Description
Chester, the complete human environment simulation fortactical emergency response, is the most ambitious project in thehistory of computer science. Scientists throughout the solar systemlabor to insure that he is programmed with all relevantinformation. Is it possible that the super computer could learnsomething from a lowly love doll? And even if he does learn theultimate secret of humanity, is it too late to stop the destructiveforces of God's Fire? And what will be the consequences when twocomputer geniuses fall in love and take the next step in humanevolution? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Sander's New One: More Great Science Fiction
The name Thomas J. Sanders must be included in any list of the best Science Fiction writers of our day.

His newest offering is God's Fire, following closely on the heels of The God Chip Conspiracy, his brilliant debut novel of last year. God's Fire's cast of zany but brilliant characters are actually the ancestors of the heroes of The God Chip Conspiracy, and this story is set in the same universe, but 120 years earlier. No matter though, since time in a Sanders novel sometimes turns around and meets itself coming, and both books can be read as complete stories, and in the order you choose.

In God's Fire, we learn more about the development of the God Chip and its first recipients: Joy, a high-tech love doll and CHESTER, the Complete Human Environment Simulation for Tacticel Emergency Response. Our hero, Galileo Newton Goddard, destined from the moment his name was typed on a birth certificate to become the world's greatest scientist, is the creator of the God Chip. Caught in a squeeze play between the forces or irrationality and love, he confronts the ultimate technological dilemna: Can a man find true love and happiness with a machine?

Sander's penchant for mixing complex scientific thought, philosophical allusions and illusions, with a folksy way of storytelling and an almost bizarre but impressive imagination, make every page of God's Fire a work of science fiction art. You'll be guessing all the way through where it will go next.

If you could merge, or clone perhaps, Asimov and Vonnegut, and sprinkle in some cellular matter from Heinlein, you could aptly name the offspring of that mix Thomas J. Sanders.

I enthusiastically recommend God's Fire to all readers, and especially to science fiction lovers. ... Read more

Product Description

The Heartland Institute hosted its 23rd Anniversary Benefit Dinner on October 25, 2007. Nearly 500 people gathered at the Hilton Chicago Hotel to hear outstanding presentations delivered by two remarkable individuals.

Many of us grew up and grew older regarding Abraham Lincoln as one of our greatest presidents. He preserved the Union against the rebels, he freed the slaves, he urged reconciliation during Reconstruction, he was humble and a leader of enormous charisma, and persistent.

In recent years, however, others have challenged those assumptions. Yes, he preserved the Union but where in the Constitution does it prohibit states from seceding? And by what legal right did Lincoln prosecute the Civil War or, as one of our debaters tonight calls it, the war between the states, or, when he gets really personal, Lincoln s war?

Yes, the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves, but only the slaves in the secessionist South, where the proclamation had absolutely no force of law. Where the proclamation could have had some force of law, in the border states that didn t secede, such as Maryland and Kentucky and Pennsylvania, it specifically permitted slavery to continue.

Humble? Yes, Lincoln in his speeches and his personal life dramatized an innate humility. But politically, when he won the presidential nomination in 1860 here in Chicago, he had demonstrated the political savvy and cruelty that exploited the moment of the instance that he was nominated.

Reasonable people can discuss and disagree about Lincoln and his legacy. But we don t have to be disagreeable. We all share a common respect for individual liberty, small government, the rule of law, and firm property rights.

This book presents the remarks of two articulate and informed scholars about whether and how those values played out in the life of Abraham Lincoln.

Customer Reviews (2)

Short and Sweet
Get it, learn from Dilorenzo, and see how the other side makes excuses for everything Lincoln.

A side of Lincoln I never knew...
Most Americans consider Abraham Lincoln to be the greatest president in history. But what if most everything you knew about Lincoln were false? In this book, author Thomas J. DiLorenzo uncovers a side of Lincoln not told in many history books and overshadowed by the immense Lincoln legend. Through extensive research and meticulous documentation, DiLorenzo portrays the sixteenth president as a man who devoted his political career to revolutionizing the American form of government from one that was very limited in scope and highly decentralized - as the Founding Fathers intended - to a highly centralized, activist state. Standing in his way, however, was the South, with its independent states, its resistance to the national government, and its reliance on unfettered free trade. To accomplish his goals, Lincoln subverted the Constitution, trampled states' rights, and launched a devastating Civil War, whose wounds haunt us still. According to this provocative book, 600,000 American soldiers did not die for the honorable cause of ending slavery but for the dubious agenda of sacrificing the independence of the states to the supremacy of the federal government. ... Read more

Product Description
Closed-end funds continue to gain prominence as one of today's most popular vehicles for buying stocks and bonds. Now, for the first time, individual investors and savvy professionals alike have access to the most complete directory and guide to these funds ever published... from the man whose name is synonymous with profitable closed-end fund investing. Thomas J. Herzfeld, the world's foremost expert in closed-end funds, covers virtually everything the reader needs to know to invest wisely, including: a listing of more than 300 closed-end funds--the most comprehensive directory of its kind; statistical analyses, comparisons and rankings of each fund; easy-to-read graphs that chart net asset value against price for every fund; profiles of each fund's portfolio--including major holdings. For less experienced investors, there are also introductory sections that clearly outline what closed-end funds are, how they are brought to market, and how investors should evaluate and trade them. ... Read more

Product Description
Thomas J.J. Altizer's The New Gospel of Christian Atheism is a largely rewritten version of his earlier classic and controversial book on this subject, which was a major contribution to twentieth century American theology. This revised and updated version is set forth in prose that is at once lucid and bold, and gives us nothing less than a new vision for the postmodern era in original and unforgettable terms. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Somebody somewhere is smart enough to know what to make of this book
This may be a postmodern tour de force. Or it may be nonsense. It may have made me think but I don't know what it has made me think.

Paul, John, Augustine, Luther, Blake, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Hegel, Joyce, and so on. Incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, apocalypse, all given a new spin. But where?

What do you do with a book like this? Has it raised too many questions and perhaps answered none? Can you recognize Christianity in its pages? Has Altizer somehow found a bewildering wayto bring the revolutionary Jesus to life?

Did you think you might be comforted? Did you think you might find the way to Rome?

What have they done to Jesus, the orthodox, the Gnostics, the logical philosphers and the pleasant storytellers? Can you consider the crucifixion afresh, can you look back again on the history of the West, without being shocked?

This is not a simple book but neither is it postmodern play. There's are real challenges in these pages. Working within theologizing, Altizer is out to shove you to take up some cross and go some where for someones' sake. And several millenia will be on your back. And you will feel it.

In the "Politics of Experience", the great psychiatrist R.D. Laing wrote: "If I could turn you on, if I could drive you out of your wretched mind, if I could tell you, I would let you know." Altizer may have done just this for those of us who have become at all settled in their beliefs.

If you don't want to be challenged, hurry back to your church and Bible study group, before you begin to feel Altizer's pull. This is not a book Ican follow in one reading. I haven't understood what all this would mean for my daily life, but Western intellectual history may never be the same.

06/16/07: I just read Altizer's Living the Death of God: A Theological Memoir. I don't doubt that his writing is provocative and would make for a healthy challenge for orthodox Christians, but I'm more concerned now that he may enjoy the kind of wordplay "postmodern" writers seem to fall victim to. I'm also not clear from this book that he understands Gnostic Christianity (or Buddhism, although I am sure he must and has written elsewhere about these) although he does seem to acknowledge some power of Gnostic Christianity. But, as most often, it seems impossible to be clear just what he is saying. ... Read more

Product Description
The classic source for the technical analysis discipline now brings readers up to date in techniques and technology
Now, in this second edition of the classic text, expert Thomas Dorsey shows, step-by-step, how to create, maintain, and interpret your own point and figure charts. He explains how you can use your findings to track and forecast market prices and develop an overall investment strategy. Perhaps most importantly, he helps you develop confidence in the market and take decisive action at the appropriate time, rather than reacting after the fact. Dorsey also highlights new developments in the field and incorporates the use of recently developed software to track any market using point and figure methods. Written for both new and experienced P & F chartists, this updated edition of a technical analysis classic brings point and figure charting into the Internet age.
Thomas J. Dorsey (Richmond, VA) is President of Dorsey, Wright & Associates, a registered investment advisory firm that uses point and figure charting as its main source of technical analysis. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (33)

Finally a concept to work with!!!
I normally done write reviews, but in this case I felt compelled to share my thoughts on this book.First I couldn't wait to get this book once I purchased it.I had been following the Point & Figure techniques through various websites so I had some knowledge of the methodology.Once the book arrived, I couldn't put it down!!So much information in one place.Used in conjunction with this website: [...], you can't miss!!I purchased the 1999 version, so Mr. Dorsey's references to creating your own charts is certainly dated.

As far as the content is concerned, he's "spot on" with his teaching methods.I don't mind the redundant explanations.It helps drive his points home.Approach the information slowly.You'll find that continually going back to refresh your understanding is quite okay.Another suggestion would be to find a website that will allow you to virtual trade without using "real money".This helps in testing your understanding of the X's and O's without risking our portfolio.As Mr. Dorsey often says in his writings, there are many, many opportunities presenting themselves, so don't rush into positions foolishly.

I hope buyers find this book as helpful as I do!

Point & Figure Charting for STOCK TRADERS ONLY
Thomas Dorsey does a great job at explaining (in the first 50 pages) how the Point & Figure Chart is created, as well as some basic 'forms' that the charts can take.I read some of the reviews of this book thinking that as a Futures/Commodities trader (early stage/beginner) I would learn alot about Point & Figure Charting for Futures/Commodities. I was wrong.There are no more than 3 pages in this book regarding Commodities, and only insofar as they are underlying indicators for stocks that rely on commodity prices.So, if you want to learn about Point and Figure Charting, this is an ok book.There may be others out there that are better, as that aspect of this book served its purpose for me....which is P&F Charting APPEARS to be an excellent methodology for Trend analysis (big picture) for Futures/Commodities.However, if you are a Stock Trader then this book may have much more relevance to you.Not a bad book, just not appropriate for Commodities/Futures Traders.

In Defense of the Presentation
I find it hard to accept the reviews I have read about this book having poor explanations of the P&F concept, or that they are available elsewhere.Mr. Dorsey's book is first rate. I read this book when it was first released, and I find myself using it as a reference tool quite often.Mr. Dorsey's explanation of the NYSE Bullish Percent chart and how to use it and the Relative Strength charts in conjuntion with your stock selection is as plainly presented as if you were having a conversation with the man.

When you consider that he also has weekly podcasts that help explain how the P&F charts are used, I consider Mr. Dorsey to be THE authority on the subject of Point&Figure charting and this book is an excellent source for learning how to start P&F analysis.

Technical Analysis De-Mystified - Not
The other review on this date (wentraub) is not a book review but some random thoughts on investing. The Dynamic Asset Level Investing model is not even in the book but a paid service from Dorsey's website!!!!

How can Dorsy be one of Wall Street's saviest minds when his is in Virginia?

PnF charting is only one of many tool available to a Technician.

Technical Analysis De-Mystified
Technical analysts are becoming an endangered species on Wall Street. Major firms have long favored a fundamental approach emphasizing a nuts and bolts approach to company revenues, use of capital, and innovation. Scores of fundamental analysts closely follow individual sectors of the economy, scour SEC filings, and comment on daily developments pertaining to individual companies. Meanwhile a smaller cadre of 'technicians' churn out charts, graphs, and statistics that follow the ebb and flow of investor capital. Recently two well known full service brokerage firms decimated their already small contingent of technical analysts and another firm let go their star technician.

Academic studies on the efficiency of the markets to digest news and quickly reset the market value of securities have long questioned the value of Wall Street analysts to forecast future prices. If news is unpredictable, by definition, and the prices of securities adjust immediately, what is the point of a forecast. These studies have been particularly harsh on technical analysis. Technical analysis may not have helped its cause with a coded language of triple tops, head and shoulders patterns, Fibonnaci retracements, etc. It all begins to sound more like the Occult than analysis. This book blows away a lot of the smoke.

Tom Dorsey has given us a straight forward (if somewhat breathless) introduction to his method of technical analysis. His X and O charts record trends of buying (demand) and selling (supply) in the market. It is this dynamic imbalance, he contends, that is the primary determinant of value in the marketplace. The tendency for these trends to repeat over time represents the psychology of investors to buy or sell at critical junctures. For Dorsey fundamental analysis is useful in determining what company stocks should be owned. Then it is the role of the technician to determine when to buy and sell. Fundamental analysis identifies good companies. Technical analysis identifies good stocks. Good companies do things well. Good stocks make investors money.

The value of Dorsey's work is to help investors find sectors of the economy and securities that may be due for a reversal of fortune after extended periods of under or out performance. The bottom line is that he has developed a useful toolkit for the investor. A look at his Dynamic Asset Level Investing model [12/2004 - not in this 2001 book] that recommends areas to allocate assets (small capitalization stocks, Latin America, natural resources, energy, etc.) seems prescient just about a year later. Using ETFs (exchange traded funds) to develop a portfolio based on Dorsey's model would have inevitably led investors to a chunk of the best returns available for the period. This book should certainly be read by all investors who want an introduction to technical analysis and a better understanding of one of Wall Street's savviest minds. You may not want to be on the other side of too many of Tom Dorsey's trades!

... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
This Hornbook provides an overview of the history and traditions underlying today’s admiralty and maritime law. Topics covered include the law of the sea, jurisdiction, maritime torts, seamen’s remedies, and workers’ compensation as it applies to the maritime setting. Addresses the carriage of goods, towage, charter parties, marine pollution, and marine insurance, including general average. Also explores the aspects of shipping law, including the distinctive admiralty rules. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

I have spent my life at sea.So did my son.
Deaths, accidents and collisions and sinkings at sea are not viewed by U.S. Courts with laws that confine the everyday civil, criminal, commercial, or real estate business of this country.Like the sea itself, U.S. Maritime Law is a collection of interconnected forces that one must navigate to pass.

Thomas J. Schonenbaum helped my family understand and navigate the legal proceedings after my son's death at sea.

Pocket Part not included
Customers should be aware that the Pocket Part used to bring this volume current is not included in the sale. You would be better off ordering this book directly from the publisher, West Group, if you want a law book that is current, at no additional cost, at the time of sale.

The definitive Hornbook on maritime law
Schoenbaum's Hornbook on Admiralty is indispensable from the point of view of this maritime practitioner.It is much better than the other Hornbook available - and so far beyond other guides that it's not even worth lookingat anything else. If you need a sound reference on such an esotericsubject, this is the one to get.

The must have maritime law source!
Have a maritime matter come across your desk?Where to begin research into a pesky and ancient area of rather arcane law?Schoenbaum is IT.Cites cases, statutes, and explains basic admiralty law very well, so thatthe admiralty virgin will have no problem figuring out why there is nojury, how a ship can be arrested, and what the heck general average is allabout. ... Read more

Product Description
A powerful, encyclopedic tool that clarifies the complex language of this rapidly expanding field.

The Third Edition of McCarthy’s Desk Encyclopedia of Intellectual Property is a multifaceted practitioner’s guide of first reference. It defines patent, trademark, and copyright terms of art and uses them in context to better explain each one and the various legal scenarios in which they may be found. The Encyclopedia also analyzes relevant cases and statutes and provides citations to more cases and IP treatises for additional research.

The authors’ unique, three-level treatment of each term allows the reader to delve into as much detail as is required for the immediate need at hand. This approach allows experienced practitioners and newcomers alike to immediately find the most relevant material. The first level for each term is a concise and simple definition. The second level of coverage is a more complete and detailed explanation, which for more complicated subjects, includes use of the term in context by courts, Congress, and others. The third level of information includes citations for further research in leading IP treatises, cases, and other legal resources and, where appropriate, URL references to relevant web sites.

The Encyclopedia also includes a table of cases, appendices that list the treatises used by the authors, plus historical lists of all patent and trademark directors, commissioners, and registers of copyrights. Key historical data on patent grants and trademark registrations are also included. This multilevel approach makes McCarthy’s Desk Encyclopedia of Intellectual Property your first stop for research.

The Third Edition details nearly 800 words, phrases, statutes, and conventions on patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, entertainment, and computer law. The Third Edition also adds several new entries in order to keep pace with emerging areas of IP law, including:

-The Digital Millennium Copyright Act -Digital Performance Rights -The Anti-Cybersquatting Act -The Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy -Business Method -Anti-Circumvention -Markman Hearing -First Inventor Defense, and more As a resource to quickly find answers to your questions in a simple and easy-to-understand format, or as the springboard to more extensive research, this convenient desktop reference should be kept close at hand so you can provide fast and reliable counsel to your clients. ... Read more

Product Description
Behavioral Neurobiology provides a novel treatment of the neural basis of behavior. The pedagogical premise of the book is that general insights into the neuronal organization of behavior can be gained by examining neural solutions that have evolved in animals to solve problems encountered in their particular environmental niches. The author presents in-depth "case studies" of individual animals from which themes clearly emerge, taking on additional meaning by being considered in a real-world behavioral context. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent bridge from biology to behavior
With few exceptions the fields of neurobiology, ethology, and animal learning proceed in parallel in the academy, practitioners toiling productively in their respective fields but too rarely taking the time to exchange findings with people who share their questions if not their methods.This book builds wonderful, enlightening bridges between these disciplines, and in the process provides explanations for fascinating phenomena that cannot be fully understood at just one level of analysis.How, for example, does an owl know where in space the sound of a mouse scrabbling through leaves originates?How do bats manage to extract auditory images of the world precise enough to catch mosquitos on the fly?How do songbirds learn to sing just the right song in a world full of other birds singing other songs?These and many other specific questions are answered in ways that illuminate more general principles about how brains work so that by the end of the book one has a very strong sense of the possibility that the complexity of behavior in all its forms really can be brought into focus and explained in ways that are very satisfying.Given the technical nature of much of the basic research this is a very manageable read, although some prior background in one or more of the relevant disciplines makes the experience that much more rewarding.It's technically a text book, but it's a great read. ... Read more