Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
He no longer had his mother's loving arms nor his grandfather's strong hands, but the Christian Children's Home, with its routines, consistency and Christian ideals, gave little Jimmy Brown the security that one needs to become a successful and happy adult. For many children, the orphanage in Holdrege, Nebraska served as a refuge from abuse, no child should have to endure. Little Jimmy Brown, The Orphan Boy is an inside look into growing up in an orphanage. Jim Brown asks you to consider his memoirs in the important debate over which is better for children - orphanages or foster care? Little Jimmy was left in the orphanage's care at the age of three. For him, the hundred and one boys and girls became his brothers and sisters, the matrons and superintendents his only adult contact with the orphanage as his home. ... Read more

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The Craig Mound is a treasury of early Native American artistry and the richest source of pre-Columbian shell engravings in North America. These lavishly illustrated volumes showcase the variety of iconography and of the engravers.

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent Resource
It would be awesome if all iconography could be put into comprehensive books and presented to the public for study, such as this one. I think it is a fabulous example of how to share scholarship and get others interested in the similarities of iconography spanning the Americas. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

A very good primer
This is the book that launched the macroecological perspective and also reviewed all the information available at the time. I think the major contributions of this volume are the ideas and hypothesis provided by Brown. On the other hand, some of the chapters are overcrowded with examples from North American Birds and Mammals, which reflect the background and experience of the author. For those who are not used to work with these groups of animals this could be a little frustrating, specially because much of the patterns pointed out are explained using morphological traits of these groups. However, if you see these examples as just patterns coming to light, this book could work for you. It's noteworthly that some chapters of this book are very similar to ones found in the Brown and Lomolino's Biogeography book. The reader should also be aware that currently there are at least three journals that only publish articles related to macroecology, besides other regular ecological journals that also dedicate sections to the topic. I recommend the reading, but the reader must be aware that much of what is treated as an unexplained pattern, today it could be also a very straithforward one. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (10)

It's a bible it can't be less than 5 stars
Love the bible, a little thicker than I thought but reads very well. Pages turn easy and the cover is amazing detail.

The most beautiful bible ever
WOW, this is such an awesome bible. I bought one for my fiancee when I proposed two years ago, and my mother loved it so much I got her the same one for mothers day. This is a must have, the color breaks up the reasing nicely and you always know what you are reading about becuase of the colored coded index and bookmark.

Many of us find it difficult to see what the text actually relates to, this bible really helps. I definately give this 5 stars!

BIBLE PURCHASE
I was so impressed with the delivery on this item, and I am very well pleased with the purchase. I will recommend to all I know to use Amazon for all their needs.Thank youDebra Sasser

Very poorly constucted
I purchased this Bible for my wife. At First she loved it but in a short time it began to fall apart. It was replaced by Amazon. The replacement bible is about 8 months old and it also is falling apart. If you're looking for durability I would suggest you look elsewhere. This Bible although very beautiful is very poorly constructed.

Great Binding & Organization of Biblical Text
Very much enjoying the color-coded sections of this King James Bible.Print size is good and the feel of the leather binding/cover is also great.I suspect that this will last for a long time and can hopefully be passed down to one of my children.I bought this along with a copy of the Latin Vulgate and cross-referencing and translation have been an thought-provoking process. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

Loved this book
After spending the last hour writing 2- and 3-star reviews, it's a pleasure to review "This River."Others seem to read this collection of short stories as directly autobiographical, but I can't find a reference to that in the version I received.To me it was a collection of wonderful short-stories, where addiction is the constant underlying theme.However, "The Apprentice" deals with a son working with his father, digging up a sewer and learning some lessons about life in the process, and "Dirty Moves" the story of a father having to teach his son how to wrestle and sometimes break the rules to win.

A small, entertaining, well-written book of short stories.Really loved it.

What a memoir should be
This book is a primer for all of us whose hearts have been crushed by the weight of life.

Full disclosure:I'm not a fan of the current fad of memoirs which are mildly humorous and wildly embellished.I'm not interested in someone's mockery of his or her dysfunctional family--I'm still trying to recover from the dysfunction of my own family.I read memoirs to try to make sense out of the chaos of life, to glean hope from the ruins, to reinforce my belief that we are not always dominated by our tragic flaws.

Brown's previous memoir, The Los Angeles Diaries, was heart breaking and lyrical, a narrative prose song of despair and redemption.What struck me most about it was the honesty with which Brown rendered up his troubled life, and it set the bar for me as a memoirist; I wanted to have that kind of courage in writing about my own life, my own struggle with depression and suicidal tendencies.

This book takes the honesty of that book and dials it up ten notches.This book is real and raw, like life itself, and does not try to insert a happy face icon or suggest that all we have to do is look on the bright side of life.Brown makes no excuses, no apologies, but every page is charged with an undercurrent of remorse and regret... and redemption.

While there is much darkness here, there is the light of hope as well, hope for survival, for finding a way out of the darkness and into a space that is at least a reasonable facsimile of what "normal" people consider normal life.I'm still striving for that, and this book offered me a bit more encouragement to that end.

Highly recommended.

Intensely Honest & Real; I Read This Memoir In One Sitting
This River, by James Brown, is a non-fictional account of a man trying to survive addiction.As a young boy, the author began using alcohol, and soon progressed to cocaine and heroine.While maintaining a successful career as a college professor and writer, Brown continued to fight his addictions and obsessive behaviors by day, while ghosts of deceased relatives denied him respite at night.From AA meetings to binge-drinking and nights spent on drug-dealers couches, this story will have you riveted from beginning to end; inviting you into the mind of a troubled addicts mind and psyche.

At 177 pages, This River is not a large book; I read it in one sitting.Browns style is to-the-point; straight-talk.I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the memoir, or to anyone who enjoys a good, hard look into the mind of an addict.
... Read more

Product Description
This is the first comprehensive biography of Willie Brown, one of California's most enduring and controversial politicians. Audacious, driven, talentedBrown has dominated California politics longer and more completely than any other public figure. James Richardson, a senior writer for The Sacramento Bee, takes us from Brown's childhood, through his years as Speaker of the State Assembly, to his election as San Francisco's mayor. Along the way we get a riveting, behind-the-scenes account of three decades of California politics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

A Critical Observer
This is probably the best biography I have ever read due to an extremely good writer.Richardson has a fascinating character to start with so that helps.In learning about Brown one learns a lot about California politics and politics in general.Nothing is hugely surprising but it is all riveting and I don't think I could say this about any other book I've read where politics is a main topic.However, what makes the book stand out is the excellent journalism.Richardson's writing is thorough without repetition or dry minutiae.He employs humor where appropriate and has objective insights.He also avoids the popular "new journalism" approach of making up conversations or other facts he couldn't possibly know about--a pet peeve of mine (think Bob Woodward).

It appears to me in reading the reviewers giving low ratings that they are miffed Richardson's account doesn't have a right-wing non-objective slant.To the extent you can discern any slant at all (and the book is quite objective) it's a middle of the road view, not liberal.

A Great Political Biography
Willie Brown is a politician regarded as both a political reformer and a modern political boss, a sometime political progressive and sometime defender of corporate interests, and a man of humble background who flaunts a flashy lifestyle.The book, "Willie Brown", presents a study of a man's contrasts and complexities.
This biography neither glorifies nor lambastes its subject.The reader is allowed to thoroughly understand the gray areas between the good and evil which is the human nature of most public figures.We learn about Willie Brown and the events shaping his life and histroy.
We learn that Willie Brown sought being the center of attention from childhoold and how this trait was internalized through lifelong quests for leadership.Willie Brown emerged from a life of gambling and nightlife into a life or politics and nightlife.
Controversy has followed Willie Brown's life.Branded as both a radical liberal and a conservative coalition builder, Willie Brown has learned that power and personal feelings can change and that these changes can be used for advantage.Readers learn how Willie Brown, upon becoming Speaker of the California House of Representatives, was adept at maintaining power.
The author demonstrates that Willie Brown enjoyed political power games more for the sake of power than for setting policy.Willie Brown played the legislative power game very well for a long time.When he finally lost the power game, he exited the legislature by becoming a big city Mayor.This book presents a remarkable study of one of America's most resilient politicians.

The other slick Willie
I found this book to be very interesting and informative. Without a doubt it gave me a look into the life and times of Willie Brown and the state of California.From growing up under the repressive laws of Jim Crow and segregation to becoming one of the most powerful men in California,Willie Brown is a courageous and complex figure in California's history.In the tradition of "showmen politicians" like Adam Clayton Powell, Huey P. Long, and Lyndon Johnson, Brown is a part of a by-gone era.With term limits well in place, we will never see the likes of such a powerful and personable politician. President Clinton could not have said it better when he arrived in Sacramento and met Willie Brown in person for the first time. He stated, " now i have finally met the real slick Willie".Whether demon or devil, Willie Brown changed the face of legistlative politics in Califonia and paved the way for the state to expand in many other areas. After reading this book, you wonder how California can survive without Willie Brown.

left-leaning love letter to a fascinating political figure
Parts of the book are overly detailed, yet some parts are quite sparse.The portrait of Brown's hometown of Mineola, Texas is riveting yet thereare few details of what Brown was like as a child -- readers wanting tofind out what books, philosophers or anything that inspired Brown will beleft wanting.We must settle for the unsupported statement that he was avoracious reader.Also, there seems to be a mismatch in focus -- over halfof the book is devoted to Brown's career before becoming speaker when hereally was a marginal figure.Perhaps a dozen pages are devoted to obscuredelegate credentialling details about the '72 convention that could havebeen covered in a fraction of the space.

On the objective side, the bookdoes call Brown to task for several ethical and race-baiting missteps, andhe largely accepts the common view of Brown as a fixer extraordinare whomade the trains run on time in the legislature at the expense of an agenda. The author also perceptively highlights why Brown succeeded tactically inholding his Speakership for so long, sometimes by pulling absolutepolitical miracles.This is when the book is at its best, showing howBrown has become one of the most powerful, savvy figures in Californiapolitical history.

On the minus side (for those who prefer their historyunfiltered by the author's personal politics) references abound throughoutthe book to "ultra right conservatives", "hard rightconservatives" and the like but there are no similiar references tofigures on the left; Jesse Unruh and Ronald Reagan have "cronies"while Brown has friends.

While clearly critical on occasions, at othertimes the author blatantly bends over backwards to make Brown look good. When Brown made some vicious personal public remarks about then GovernorDuekmajian (sp?) the author criticizes Brown yet excuses him by saying hewas just doing so to satisfy the Democrat Assembly members who disliked theDuke, yet its impossible (for me at least) to believe Brown's Assemblydelegation ever included people who demanded hateful comments from theSpeaker.Throughout the book, Brown is portrayed as a consummate,off-the-cuff showman who's unmatched with his rapier-like comments, yetwe're expected to believe this one was done calculatingly to satisfy peoplewho insisted that Brown engage in brutal personal insults.This doesn'thold water.

The author also uncritically accepts Brown's assertion thathe went to law school on a whim and says if he hadn't seized this seeminglyrandom impulse, he never would have gone into politics.This seems astretch to say the least, largely because the author paints a quite vividpicture of Brown the showman who lives for thie limelight -- it's virtuallyimpossible to imagine this truly unique personality not in politics.That,and the fact that he was running for office by the time he was 28 indicateto me that like Bill Clinton, Willie Brown was intent on being a politicianat an early age.

In the "give Willie the benefit of the doubt"category, outrageous remarks that can be fairly categorized as incitingviolence are excused because Brown, according to the author, was sopersonally devastated by RFK's assissination a few weeks before.Yet theauthor provides nothing to support this strange assertion.It seemsreasonable to conclude the author is going to extremes to excuse some ofBrown's most inexcusable conduct.

At the end, the author drops allpretense of objectivity and discloses that he was a McGovern delegate atthe '72 convention (which explains why, although doesn't justify, theexcessive focus on that convention's minutae) and highlights Brown'sgreatest achievement as stymying the agendas of numerous Republicangovernors during his Assembly career.

The book was enjoyable largelybecause the subject is so fascinating.Parts of it are extremely wellwritten, filled with strong analysis and the author undeniably did atremendous job researching the book, but even more, in landing firsthandinterviews with the major participants.Nonetheless, the book is unevenlyfocused, lavishing attention on Brown's flamboyance at the expense ofpersonal insights.There is also a sometimes subtle but unmistakable biasfrom beginning to end in favor of Brown's leftist politics and Brownhimself.

Plodding hagiography
Willie Brown may be an interesting figure, but you won't find much here about him that you didn't see in the newspapers over the years. Richardson goes over his impoverished youth in Texas, and his stunning rise inCalifornia, but doesn't go very far into how it occurred. For example,Brown was said to be an intellectual, a voracious reader in his youth.Richardson says virtually nothing about WHAT Brown read. We learn nothingof the thinkers or writers Brown admired. Nothing is said about his workhabits, his passions, his view of history, the kind of society he wouldlike to shape.

Over and over we are told of Brown's love of beautifulwomen, his "flamboyance", his expensive tastes. But who among usdoes not love beautiful women? And what, precisely, makes wearing anexpensive suit flamboyant? If an expensive suit is flamboyant, then GeorgeBush and Lloyd Bentsen must be flamboyant.

Is it not important to knowwhat a politician thinks, in addition to what he wears and drives? ... Read more

Product Description

Great things don’t happen in a vacuum. But creating an environment for creative thinking and innovation can be a daunting challenge. How can you make it happen at your company? The answer may surprise you: gamestorming.

This book includes more than 80 games to help you break down barriers, communicate better, and generate new ideas, insights, and strategies. The authors have identified tools and techniques from some of the world’s most innovative professionals, whose teams collaborate and make great things happen. This book is the result: a unique collection of games that encourage engagement and creativity while bringing more structure and clarity to the workplace. Find out why -- and how -- with Gamestorming.

• Overcome conflict and increase engagement with team-oriented games
• Improve collaboration and communication in cross-disciplinary teams with visual-thinking techniques
• Improve understanding by role-playing customer and user experiences
• Generate better ideas and more of them, faster than ever before
• Shorten meetings and make them more productive
• Simulate and explore complex systems, interactions, and dynamics
• Identify a problem’s root cause, and find the paths that point toward a solution

Play a Game from Gamestorming

We're hardwired to play games. We play them for fun. We play them in our social interactions. We play them at work. That last one is tricky. "Games" and "work" don't seem like a natural pairing. Their coupling in the workplace either implies goofing off (the fun variant) or office politics (the not-so-fun type).

The authors of Gamestorming, have a different perspective. They contend that an embrace and understanding of game mechanics can yield benefits in many work environments, particularly those where old hierarchical models are no longer applicable, like the creatively driven knowledge work of today’s cutting edge industries.

Here is one of the 83 games featured in Gamestorming:

The ELEVATOR PITCH Game

OBJECTIVE OF PLAY: What has been a time-proven exercise in product development applies equally well in developing any new idea: writing the elevator pitch. When developing and communicating a vision for something, whether it’s a new service, a company-wide initiative, or just a good idea that merits spreading, a group will benefit from going through the exercise of writing their elevator pitch.

Often this is the hardest thing to do in developing a new idea. An elevator pitch must be short enough to deliver in a fictional elevator ride but also contain a compelling description of the problem you’re solving, who you’ll solve it for, and one key benefit that distinguishes it from other ideas.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: Can be done individually, or with a small working group

DURATION OF PLAY: Save at least 90 minutes for the entire exercise, and consider a short break after the initial idea generation is complete before prioritizing and shaping the pitch itself. Small working groups will have an easier time coming to a final pitch; in some cases it may be necessary to assign one person with follow-up accountability for the final wording after the large decisions have been made in the exercise.

HOW TO PLAY: Going through the exercise involves both a generating and a formative phase. To set up the generating phase, write these headers in sequence on flip charts:

• Who is the target customer?
• What is the customer need?
• What is the product name?
• What is its market category?
• What is its key benefit?
• Who or what is the competition?
• What is the product’s unique differentiator?

These will become the elements of the elevator pitch. They are in a sequence that adheres to the following formula.

To finish the setup, explain the elements and their connection to each other:

• The target customer and customer need are deceptively simple: any relatively good idea or product will likely have many potential customers and address a greater number of needs. In the generative phase, all of these are welcome ideas.
• It is helpful to fix the product name in advance--this will help contain the scope of the conversation and focus the participants on “what” the pitch is about. It is not outside the realm of possibility, however, that useful ideas will be generated in the course of the exercise that relate to the product name, so it may be left open to interpretation.
• The market category should be an easily understood description of the type of idea or product. It may sound like “employee portal” or “training program” or “peer-to-peer community.” The category gives an important frame of reference for the target customer, from which they will base comparisons and perceive value.
• The key benefit will be one of the hardest areas for the group to shape in the final pitch. This is the single most compelling reason a target customer would buy into the idea. In an elevator pitch, there is no time to confuse the matter with multiple benefits--there can be only one memorable reason “why to buy.” However, in the generative phase, all ideas are welcome.
• The competition and unique differentiator put the final punctuation on the pitch. Who or what will the target customer compare this idea to, and what’s unique about this idea? In some cases, the competition may literally be another firm or product. In other cases, it may be “the existing training program” or “the last time we tried a big change initiative.” The unique differentiator should be just that: unique to this idea or approach, in a way that distinguishes it in comparison to the competition.

The Generating Phase
Once the elements are understood, participants brainstorm ideas on sticky notes that fit under each header. At first, they should generate freely, without discussion or analysis, any ideas that fit into any of the categories. Using the Post-Up technique, participants put their notes onto the flip charts and share their ideas.

Next, the group may discuss areas where they have the most trouble on their current pitch. Do we know enough about the competition to claim a unique differentiator? Do we agree on a target customer? Is our market category defined, or are we trying to define something new? Where do we need to focus?

Before stepping into the formative phase, the group may use dot voting, affinity mapping, or another method to prioritize and cull their ideas in each category.

The Formative Phase
Following a discussion and reflection on the possible elements of a pitch, the group then has the task of “trying out” some possibilities. This may be done by breaking into small groups, as pairs, or as individuals, depending on the size of the larger group. Each group is given the task of writing an elevator pitch, based on the ideas on the flip charts.

After a set amount of time (15 minutes may be sufficient), the groups reconvene and present their draft versions of the pitch. The group may choose to role-play as a target customer while listening to the pitch, and comment or ask questions of the presenters.

The exercise is complete when there is a strong direction among the group on what the pitch should and should not contain. One potential outcome is the crafting of distinct pitches for different target customers; you may direct the group to focus on this during the formative stage.

STRATEGY
Don’t aim for final wording with a large group. It’s an achievement if you can get to that level of completion, but it’s not critical and can be shaped after the exercise. What is important is that the group decides what is and is not a part of the pitch.

Role play is the fastest way to test a pitch. Assuming the role of a customer (or getting some real customers to participate in the exercise) will help filter out the jargon and empty terms that may interfere with a clear pitch. If the pitch is truly believable and compelling, participants should have no problem making it real with customers.

The elevator pitch, or elevator speech, is a traditional staple of the venture capital community, based on the idea that if you are pitching a business idea it should be simple enough to convey on a short elevator ride.

Customer Reviews (27)

Celebrating the Sophistication of Play
Dave Gray is a real leader in this exploding field of business visualization. As the founder and creator of XPlane, he has lived the value of playful engagement as a part of serious design. Framing these activities as "games" points right at the central power of interactive work with groups, which is to create environments where everyone can contribute, create prototypes, and evolve their ideas. It brings the kinds of ideas Michael Schrage considers in "Serious Play", and Steven Johnson in "Where Do Innovative Ideas Come From" and makes them accessible for any group. Sunni Brown got her start at The Grove and knows this business as a very talented practitioner, and consummately playful person herself. James Macanufo is also a seasoned practitioner. The exercises suggested here have been well tested!!! Buy this book and keep your innovation toolkit brimming with great ideas.

Wow, was I positively surprised!
For me, the word "gamestorming" sounds a lot like "brainstorming". So when I came across Gamestorming, I thought it was a book describing yet another technique to generate ideas. As such, Gamestorming didn't seem that interesting to me.

Some months later I discovered that (co-author) Dave was teaching "Gamestorming" at a conferences I was planning to attend. I thought a workshop would be a much better way to teach me how to use this new technique (rather than reading a whole book about the topic), so I signed up. And then, thinking it could be a little advantageous to actually read the book beforehand, ended up buying the book as well.

Wow, was I positively surprised when I got the book and quickly browsed the pages. I realized that Gamestorming was a reference guide of various workshop techniques, many of which I've known and used for years. Affinity map, card sorting, dot voting, post-up, storybord, brainstorming and poster session are all "games" I have taught or "played" with various clients and colleagues. I just thought of them as techniques or tools, although it makes sense to call them games. After all, using gamestorming in workshops and meetings is fun. And the exiting part: Now I have a whole book full of new games to try out! (Hopefully, there will be even more games added in future editions.)

Btw, I quite liked the first three chapters of the book, the ones that summarizes the game world evolution, the essentials for using gamestorming and the core gamestorming skills. It made me realize there are several ways to improve the outcome and usefulness of playing the games, even the ones I've known for years.

P.S. Gamestorming was so enjoyable that I ended up reading most of it before attending the workshop. Still, the hands-on workshop was of great value, especially the part covering the visual language and the bodystorming session. And I did get Dave to sign my copy, a nice little workshop memory.

Gives a different perspective to every step of the creative process
Having found myself in meetings full of people who call themselves creatives, myself included, fighting shareholders' decisions, wondering where everyone else is coming from, or just throwing our hands up and following directions, this book has already promised to turn things around.

With quick, simple activities like "Five-Fingered Consensus," which basically turns bullet points into a five-star rating system, and more involved activities like "Pre-Mortem," where team members preemptively determine the factors that could possibly stop a project in its tracks, the games in Gamestorming will, if nothing else, prove that there are better ways to tackle a problem than sitting around an oak table and fussing over shades of blue.

The book is separated into eight chapters: three explaining the concept and skills that will help understand and implement them better, one for each of the four categories of games, and a short conclusive chapter with a couple testimonials and tips for bringing the games into the real world.

I'm still on the fence about the term "game," especially when it comes to introducing such a change of pace to a room full of suits, but that's just another step in the creative process. It's been suggested that covering the cover of the book to hide the title might help.

Concise and effective
I have seen and used many of the exercises in Gamestorming before, but having a complete collection of these exercises at my fingertips is proving to be invaluable.If you have tough questions to get answered or a difficult decision to reach with a group, this book will help. Above all, the book benefits from the years of experience that obviously went into honing the techniques.

Buy this book.

Exceptional Game-like Activities For Team-Building Planning & Innovation
The three authors describe scores of game-like activities to be used in small groups and large business and government organizations for team-building, communication, strategic planning and brainstorming.Sufficient detail of group size, constituencies, props, and workflow is given for a novice facilitator to carry out these innovative games in their own organization without additional training. Excellent and entertaining illustrations are provided for each exercise that capitalize on the Visual Communication skills of the authors.Game-like activities offer an exciting and engaging alternative to boring corporate meetings and are suitable for many (if not all) of the purposes and contingencies for which a meeting would ordinarily be called.

I have no question that these engaging activities and the props that accompany them will entertain corporate, government and community-based organizations while providing the tools for Strategic Planning, Team Building, Innovation and Ideation, and in developing Communication Skills.My only slight concern with this exciting and valuable Group Game Planner lies with the author's exceptional skills in visual communication and a slight bias toward games that can be visually illustrated.I wonder whether the skills and interests of members of the organization that are auditory or kinesthetic mode thinkers will be slightly less engaged than the visually-skilled members of the participating group.

--Ira Laefsky MSE/MBA
former Principal of the Consulting Groups at Arthur D. Little, Inc. and Digital Equipment Corporation
... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (7)

My daughter will read this on her own
My daughter, now age 8, loves animals and will pick this book up to read.Beautiful stories with lovely pictures.

Herriott's always a good choice
Purchased for an 11 year old, but possibly enjoyed even more by a younger group.All children that love animals will enjoy this book.It was especially touching for my granddaughter since she has recently lost a family dog that was in her home even before she was born.Can't go wrong with this wonderfully illustrated and written book.

Re-release of James Herriott treasury for children
This book has beautiful pictures and is one of my favorites.All the kids I know love it.I highly recommend the book itself.However, it is a re-release of the book James Herriot's Treasury for Children.The Amazon website recommends buying the two books together, so I assumed they were different books.However, the copyright information for the Inspirational Stories book says clearly "Previously published as James Herriot's Treasury for Children ..."

There is an audio version narrated by Jim Dale!
In case you wonder what the characters sound like in this wonderful book writted by James Herriot for children, there is an audiobook narrated by talented Jim Dale.Published by Macmillan Young Listners in July 2008, the audio CD was not linked to the book by Amazon.Also, while the stories are identical, if you wonder what the differences are between this book (St. Martin's Griffin 9/22/2005) and the original version (St. Martin's Press: 1st edition 9/1/1992) before making your purchase, here is what I found-- 1) The original version comes with dust jacket and this one doesn't, 2) The paper used for the original version is thinner, glossier which makes the artwork stands out better. The paper used for this version is thicker which can handle little hands' wear and tear better.I own one of each edition.This version is for me and my 3-year-old daughter to read now and the other is part of our favorite book collections which oneday will be hers.

Wonderful Book!
When my children were young a friend bought the stories in this book as single books for them. I was excited to see these in one book.The illustrations are terrific. Definitely a book to keep for generations! ... Read more

Product Description
Published by McGraw-Hill since its first edition in 1941, this classic text is an introduction to Fourier series and their applications to boundary value problems in partial differential equations of engineering and physics.It will primarily be used by students with a background in ordinary differential equations and advanced calculus.There are two main objectives of this text.The first is to introduce the concept of orthogonal sets of functions and representations of arbitrary functions in series of functions from such sets.The second is a clear presentation of the classical method of separation of variables used in solving boundary value problems with the aid of those representations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

One of the best math texts I have ever used
This book is phenomenal. At times, some of the examples can get quite hairy, so it is nice to have an instructor who can help you, but this book is still great. The problems have answers that accompany them so that you know if you are getting it right or wrong. Additionally, there are hints and suggestions on tough problems. Some of these hints include using a problem from earlier in the book so that you don't have to go through it again, which is a real time saver and quite user friendly.

I would recommend this book to anybody interested in PDE's

needs a good instructor to accompany book
i guess i'm not as smart as the other reviewers. i couldn't get into the text until i'd struggled with a good set of lecture notes. the problem sets are good and the book is broken up into very small sections, which i also think is good. the exposition is clear but it's easy to miss the forest for the trees since you're so busy dealing with the details of solving PDEs which are an order of magnitude more difficult than ODEs. if you want a more accessible read i'd recommend Farlow. but if you struggle with Churchill, you will go deeper and it will stay with you longer.

Too much page flipping!
This book provides an excellent background in Fourier Series. I was a junior level physics major when I used this book. I had already studied Fourier Series in several of my physics classes but this book was the first place I found a detailed explanation of it which actually made since. This book however had one major flaw. The book perpetually referenced itself over and over so you had to keep flipping around to actually try and understand. The problems were especially annoying. It was not at all uncommon for one problem to reference you to another which referenced you to another which would then reference you to an example all to give you one little piece of information that they could have just rewrote in the problem itself. If it weren't for that I think I might have found this an acceptable book.

Complex
One of the better Fourier Series and Boundary Value Problem texts available. A must for those interested in upper level mathematics.

WOW!
So you're familiar with my background, I received a B.S. in Astrophysics and now I am a first year graduate student in an Applied Math program. I used this book as a supplementary resource when studying Partial Differential Equations - we got to Separation of Variables and then to Fourier Series. Every Physics student who graduates today has at least seen a Fourier Series (I hope). I didn't feel confident in my abilities so I bought this book to review.

Let me tell you, if this is your first time hearing about Fourier Series then this book is simply the BEST book to learn Fourier Series and much of the beautiful underlying theory behind Fourier Analysis! It's so well written and clear that I had absolutely no trouble following the text. I cannot express how clear and beautifully it is written, it is extremely rare for a math book at this level to be so vivid and eloquent! The proofs are easy to follow and the problems ease you into the subject presented in each section; which, in turn, are "bite-sized" and manageable. I studied the material by myself and walked away knowing Fourier Series.

There are plenty of good examples, the problems are great! If you're self-studying (or not) do as many of the problems as you can; if you read the previous two or three sections you should have absolutely no trouble going through the problems. Applications galore!

NOTE: This book isn't written at the graduate level, don't shy away from it because I mentioned being a grad student, I just wanted a review of Fourier Series. If I had to rate the level of the book I would say it's at a beginning upper-division level of a typical american university. If you've had a decent multi-variable calculus class, and are comfortable with partial derivatives, this book should be very comprehensible. It's clearer still to physics majors (or the like) who are more familiar with what and where specific equations apply to.

This book is beautiful, and I think it should be required reading of every physics and applied math student everywhere (maybe I'm just a little biased).

The ONLY caveat is that the Fourier Complex Series is left to problems, we don't get to use them to learn theory and get more comfortable with. This is okay since the cosine and sine series are equivalent to the complex series, it's just that the complex series is more elegant when doing problems or proving things. ... Read more

Product Description
Smudge is an adventurous Swaledale lamb who thinks the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Escaping under the wire, he then has a series of encounters - with a dog, a bull, a coach and finally a spring blizzard. The author also wrote "All Creatures Great and Small". ... Read more

Product Description
This book systematically explains the characteristics and purposes of various types of research, including terminology, and the typical steps of each type of research design. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Doing Second Language Research
This book was in great shape and extremely useful for my grad class.I'm so glad that I didn't have to pay the full price that the bookstore would have charged me. ... Read more

Product Description
"I'm right sorry to see her go," said Farmed Dakin to James Herriot, his vet. "She's stood in that stall for twelve years and given me thousands of gallons of milk."But Blossom the cow was too old now for milking, and the farmer needed to make room for a younger animal. So, sadly, he was sending blossom to market. At least, that's what he and the vet thought. But as James Herriot continued on his rounds to Mrs. Pickering and her Basset hounds, he was about to find that Blossom has a surprise in store...
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Customer Reviews (2)

We love James Herriot
My husband and kids love reading about James Herriot's adventures as a vet.This is a great book for younger kids who love animals.

Blossom makes an impression
This is a wonderful book. In James Herriot's usual heart-warming fashion, he tells the tale of a farmer's loyalty and fondness for his oldest cow. I began reading it to my son when he was two.I often cannot make it through the book without crying, and I have to explain that my tears are tears of joy.Very useful in discussing compassion concerning human relationships with non-human animals. ... Read more

Product Description

A century after the appearance of his famous works on religion, William James's philosophy of religion is still the subject of lively debate. James's numerous opponents have repeatedly charged him with abdication of intellectual responsibility, arguing that he advocated the adoption of religious belief without conclusive evidence on its behalf. In this book Hunter Brown shows that critics have consistently distorted James's view in the process of arriving at such charges.

The central argument presented here is that critics have failed to look at James's philosophical vision as a whole. This failure is addressed by Brown as he locates James's thought on religion within the wider scope of Radical Empiricism's analyses of experience in general, and subject-object relations in particular. Brown presents the main interpretations and critiques of James's work, and shows that James's views of religious experience, evil and power, human responsibility, and ethical concerns do not in fact lapse into subjectivism and fideism.

This penetrating study not only builds upon a long tradition of James scholarship but pushes through to new levels of inquiry and insight. It is a major work that will generate renewed discussion of James's thought along with the approaches and concerns emerging from it. ... Read more

Product Description
England 1866, London and indeed humanity is under threat from a lunar aggressor. An innocent exploration of the moon has enraged its prevously unknown inhabitants and sparked an interplanetary conflict. In these uncertain times, Captain Sydeian, a disgraced army veteran/inventor with a shadowy past forms an unlikely alliance with William Percival, a young wayward son of a noble but now impoverished family.Together they battle not only the alien onslaught but also those of their own kind who seek to destroy them. Read their accounts of a tale of conflict, invention, smuggling and adventure in: The Sydeian Coalition - A Steampunk Adventure. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

the worst thing I have ever encountered between covers
In 50-some years of reading thousands of books, I have never encountered anything less worthy of being committed to paper.The authors should be ashamed of themselves.Either total ignorance or lazy disregard of the conventions of punctuation, sentence structure, word meanings and the importance of proofreading hold sway from the first page. Confusedly constructed and run-on sentences obscure meaning at every turn.Poorly drawn characters are not believable in the slightest.Glaring inconsistencies in the story line, and in fact a confused plot in general, make this a DO NOT BUY selection.

Couldn't get through this drivel
I'll start this review by telling you that I did not finish the book. It was so poorly written that I could not get past the first 5 "chapters".

My husband purchased this for me for Christmas, so when I opened it I was truly looking forward to reading the book, as I do love the Steampunk genre. However, when I went to read the book, I was sorely disappointed.

I understand that it's supposed to be written as "journal entries" and not formal. However, there should still be some style to this. There was none. I think the "journal entries" was just an excuse for poor grammar, terrible punctuation, and not having any sort of continuity.

Personally, I'm not even sure if this book has been edited by anyone with all the mistakes in it. For example, February 30th? February 30th has not existed since Julius Caesar in 45 BC. So making a February 30th in 1866 makes not sense. There are several other examples of poor dating in this book and like I said, I only got through the first 5 chapters. There were already several discrepancies in the "storytelling" and I hadn't truly gotten to the "meat" of the story.

I understand it's written in two perspectives, but it's as if the "writer" was playing at being a 20's reporter (not 1866) and has no idea how a captain would be logging entries into their journal. Whether it be personal, or professional. The writing is just horrid.

This is only the 2nd book I have ever not finished and I'm an avid reader. It's terrible. The only way I would recommend this book would be as an example of what NOT to do as a writer.

A great read!
The book is written in the form of journal entries that switch between the two main characters, Captain Sydeian and William Percival, along with a few other media entries like newspaper clippings. Grammar and spelling errors are peppered throughout to give it a "realistic" feel, that these are actual journals quickly penned on the spot and not too concerned about writing quality. It was interesting to see how various events were interpreted differently as the story unfolds.

The story itself contains all the essentials of steampunk: infernal devices, airships, action, adventure, and intrigue. Overall, a very satisfying steampunk tale.



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