Book Description
An updated bestseller, this book of extraordinarily beautiful photographs of nature contains state-of-the-art instruction on how any photographer can aim for equally impressive results every time a camera is focused on the great outdoors. Even highly skilled photographers are often baffled by the problems facing them when they work outdoors. But with this exceptional field guide in hand, every photographer-beginner, serious amateur, semi-pro, and pro-can conquer the problems encountered in the field. Using his own exceptional work as examples, the author discusses each type of nature subject and how to approach photographing it. Specific advice and information cover selection of equipment and lenses; how to compose a shot; how to get close ups; and other tips covering a range of techniques to enrich various types of nature photographs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (74)

Great pictures, not-so-useful information
I love John Shaw's pictures (they're very inspiring!). However, I didn't find the book useful. Subscribe to a decent forum on the web, and you'll find more relevant, up to date and detailed information than what's found in this book. Check out wikipedia, or g**gle any question you may have. Don't spend your money on this one or on Shaw's Lanscape Photography.

If you want to learn nature composition check out this one: The Art of Photographing Nature by Martha Hill (Author), Art Wolfe (Photographer). That one is a timeless book for budding photographers.

Awesome book. My de facto reference now
I did understand the basic concepts, but this book really got me started on photography. I now shoot most of my images in manual mode!

Really great book. Highly recommended.

One of the best photography books!
This is one of the best books on photography. I have several books on photography, and this is one is probably my favorite. The information is abundant and very detailed. I learned so much. My favorite sections were on lenses, film, and my favorite part: John's simplified exposure system (based on the zone system). Also, I think the photos in this book are some of the best I've ever seen. Every photographer needs to own this book!

Very helpful guide but leans toward gear-related issues as opposed to nature-related issues
I've found this to be a very helpful guide to nature photography.Shaw is particularly good at getting you to think through what you're doing while on location setting up a shot.Though the author would probably disagree, the book emphasizes gear and technique - - it consists of lots of sections, each 2-6 pages long, discussing particular topics.The topics range from the big (the theory of exposure) to the minutiae (different types of ball heads on tripods).The book is illustrated with Shaw's photographs, which are a joy.

Though Shaw makes occasional references to digital cameras, the book is clearly written for the pre-digital era (or for those who continue to use non-digital cameras).If you want to learn how to get the most out of the specifically digital features of your camera, I'd look for another book.However, the basics of nature photography don't change, so for most of the book it doesn't matter that Shaw is shooting on slide film.

Shaw might not use digital film, but he does discuss all the other technology in your modern camera.Most important, he tells you how and why to ignore what the camera tells you when you leave it set on auto exposure, auto timing, and auto focus.

I would have liked him to spend more time on several topics.For example, I would have liked to see more shots that don't work.The section on orientation includes examples of the same scenes shot horizontally and vertically, and there are occasional examples of the same shot at different exposures.I would have liked to see a lot more of this - - why do some choices work better than others, and when do several choices all work for different purposes?

Similarly, I would have liked to see more attention to composition.Shaw discusses basic themes (breaking frame into thirds, limiting yourself to a single subject, and so forth).He also provides a number of good rules of thumb.However, these issues are listed more than discussed.Here especially a comparison of good and better shots would have been very helpful.

Finally, for a book on nature photography, there isn't all that much advice about nature.The final section consists of a calendar of good times to visit particular locations (Yellowstone in winter, New England in fall, and so forth).However, there's only a little advice on using blinds, and almost nothing about finding wildlife in a camera-friendly way.Shaw also doesn't discuss the challenges of photographing birds, and in fact, he has few pictures of birds in the book.

A fantastic reference book with wonderful images
I am trying to advance my photography skills (from novice) and I found this book to be very helpful. It covers everything I was looking for. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Perfect piano music.
Hard to find better music for the intermediate pianist.Field's Nocturnes are a predecessor to Chopin's (~20 yrs.)Unpretentious, beautiful music. ... Read more

Book Description
The term "social capital" is a way of conceptualizing the intangible resources of community, shared values and trust upon which we draw in daily life.It has achieved considerable currency in the social sciences and has been taken up within politics and sociology as a means of explaining the decline of social cohesion and community values in many western societies.This is an indispensable introduction to the topic which explains the theoretical underpinning of the subject, the empirical work that has been done to explore its operation and the effect that it has had on policy making. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A nice overview of the study of Social Capital
This book was a nice overview of the field of work done over the past century around Social Capital. At times the author was, perhaps, being a little critical of former theorists, but offered excellent references. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Best known for his 1976 book, The Face of Battle, which argued that conventional battle accounts oversimplified the dynamics of troop movements while attributing too much control to leaders, John Keegan has become a prolific author. Fields of Battle includes fascinating observations about how Americans do things differently, both on and off the battlefield, than the English and French. With detailed accounts from long-forgotten conflicts, such as the French and Indian War, and moving portraits of important figures in American military history, including the Wright brothers, who naively hoped their airplane would end warfare, Keegan, an Englishman, explains the past and reaffirms the present to an America struggling to find its national strength.Book Description
At once a grand tour of the battlefields of North America and an unabashedly personal tribute to the military prowess of an essentially unwarlike people, Fields of Battle spans more than two centuries and the expanse of a continent to show how the immense spaces of North America shaped the wars that were fought on its soil. of photos. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (27)

A Memoir of Cherished North American Travels
The reviews seem pretty evenly divided between those who enjoyed Keegan's personal narrative style in this work and those who abhor it; put me in the former catagory with the caveat that the reader should know what he's picking up. First off, Keegan's reputation as a military historian is second to none; he is responsible for humanizing military history. This book, however, is more memoir than history. It is not a new interpretation so much as it is the author's recollections of his travels throughout the battlefields of North America and his personal impressions of the continent. I disagree with the opinion that his stylistic departure diminishes the content of Keegan's work here. It adds a dimension of color, personality to straightforward battlefield history. Telling this story (or more accurately retelling it) could easily have been stodgy in the hands of a lesser writer. Keegan has never been hidebound, hence his great success. I believe the Publisher's Weekly critique to be too cynical, "banalities" seems excessively harsh.

To be fair, this book is replete with personal observations and many generalizations. Here are a few examples: "George Custer was not a nice man" and "Peace is bad for bravados like Custer." From the perspective of an outsider looking in, he states,"The Americans are truly free and equal people," and "the British can feel quite at home in Canada." These simplifications may be detrimental to the quality of the work, but as another observed, it is more difficult to analyze your history when you are immersed in it. It may be more revealing for a foreigner to expound on it, to uncover new interpretation. If nothing else, he is honest. He proudly proclaims his love for America- no phony objectivity here.

This is not a great book, but I enjoyed its reminiscential style. Keegan has a gift for engaging the non-historian in the dramatic struggles through military history. His final synthesis about America and its way of war is particularly insightful.

America from an America-phile
Few Americans could have written such a work. It is our great fortune as Americans to have Mr. Keegan to tell the story with such style and readability.It is a fascinating story of the wars that shaped the North American continent and the United States in particular. It also opens our eyes to how historical trends we might not have noticed oterhwise - such as the importance of fortifications in US expansion across the continent.Despite our belief and espousal of maneuver or mobile warfare, fortification has been a halmark of US military doctrine. Mr. Keegan brings out this paradox and helps us see our history in a different light.Mr. Keegan does not disappoint in this volume from the great expectations we might have from his other books.

don't forget your machete.
While the book is a very informative one, Keegan is apparently talented in the art of digression.He spends the fist sixty-four pages of his literary labor extolling the virtues of America and its inhabitants, and describing (to what end, I cannot tell) his innumerable vacations, trips, and adventures in and about North America.He also (for reasons similarly ambiguous) chooses to include in this preface, a roundabout, labyrinthine discourse on his personal thoughts and experiences to do with England and France in addition to his lengthy (but vaguely on topic) treatise on America.These commentaries are, unlike the rest of the book, absolutely unreadable, forgettable, and just bad.One must plod through them, all the time conscious of mounting apathy and distaste.Their relevance is very near nihility and their pith very near brimful.

Keegan's Book is less a history than a commercial venture
John Keegan has a pretty good reputation as an historian, but in this venture he has put together a hurried and clearly commercial product that does not do him justice.His understanding of the American Indian and how they made war is pitiful.He quotes Lewis & Clark as authority for the fact that the Blackfoot are part of the Sioux tribe, a mistake unlikely to be made by an American expert.He further considers the Sioux to have been the most warlike of the plains tribes, and in that he is just wrong.The Comanche hold that honor for their continued battles with the Spanish and then the Texans over a period of more than a hundred years.

Excellent, but not standard Keegan
Readers who have never had the privilege and good fortune to read John Keegan's histories should probably start with other works by the author.

Fields of Battle covers notable conflicts on North American shores, beginning with the colonization of Canada by the French, and moving on to the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and conflicts with the Indians.

What makes Fields of Battle special, however, is that it is a profoundly personal journey by the author across battlegrounds and historic locations throughout the United States.Keegan employs his extensive traveling and historical erudition to explore his own spiritual and cultural identity -- that of British historian in love with America.In bringing his own complex perspective as a "foreigner" to our shores, Keegan shows us what we didn't know about ourselves.

Keegan's account of conflicts with Native Americans is relatively uncharitable to them.Readers who are accustomed to simplistic, typically Leftist whitewashings of the often stark brutality and recalcitrance of Indian tribes will find this history distinctly unpalatable.To his credit, Keegan does not shy away from describing American mistakes, but holds the perspective that there always was, is, and should be room in North America for both populations.

Finally, to readers insufficiently acquainted with the author's other writing to give him the respect he merits, Fields of Battle may come off as excessively sentimental and wistful.For those not in that group, Fields of Battle is yet another history by the preeminent John Keegan to savor and add to your book case. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (5)

Field Guide to John Deere Tractors well worth it
I bought this book for my son and he said it is the best book I could have ever got him.It has so much information in it that he has already used and even more for when he needs it. Anyone who is interested in John Deere tractors I would recommend this book to them.

A good read.
Beautiful pictures of the Deere tractors. Detailed information, written by a tried-and-true Deere man. Small and light, great hardcover. GREAT RATING.

Review of the John Deere rebuild instruction manual.
An excellent resource for working on, repairing and rebuilding old 2-cylinder John Deere Tractors.

Thank you.

Grandson loves it!
My grandson is a John Deere addict and loves looking over the different J. Deere tractors in the book and letting me know all of the details of each one.The book is well illustrated and loaded with interesting information.

the field guild to John deere tractors
THE FIELD GUILD TO JOHN DEERE TRACTORS


I really like this book. The reason that I like this book is because I like this kind of tractors. This book has no plot because it is a field guild for John Deere tractors. What I liked about the book is it tolled me more about the tractors I like. What I don't like about the book is it had other company's tractors. In the book it skipped years. The effect it had on me was it made me want to tell other people about it. I would recommend it to some people because I don't think all people will like it. I would recommend it to people that live on a farm or that want to find out more about John Deere tractors.
... Read more

Book Description
This is an introduction to the basic tools of mathematics needed to understand the relation between knot theory and quantum gravity. The book begins with a rapid course on manifolds and differential forms, emphasizing how these provide a proper language for formulating Maxwell's equations on arbitrary spacetimes. The authors then introduce vector bundles, connections and curvature in order to generalize Maxwell theory to the Yang-Mills equations. The relation of gauge theory to the newly discovered knot invariants such as the Jones polynomial is sketched. Riemannian geometry is then introduced in order to describe Einstein's equations of general relativity and show how an attempt to quantize gravity leads to interesting applications of knot theory. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Fantastic Text
I really enjoyed reading this book!A must have if you are interested in mathematical physics.Every page is a pedagogical masterpiece.

My favourite text of all time (so far)
This book should be at the top of anyone's reading list who is planning to get into serious mathematical physics.It deals with a good deal of complex material, but the presentation is easy to follow, and shouldn't be beyond most advanced undergraduates.There are a lot of good exercises which fill in most of the gaps. (If you want a book heavy on detail, this book may not be for you.If you want a book that gives you all the tools you're going to need to get start understanding quantum gravity and other areas in a short time, get this book immediately!)It's a shame the paperback edition doesn't seem to be available anymore; it's half the price, and checking with the publisher reveals that the paperback edition is still in print.

An excellent book !
Covers many topics in Mathematical Physics with great clarity. Highly recommended for those who are interested in a modern approach to Mathematical Physics.

Perfect
A beautifully written book which should be entitled "quantum gravity primer for the practical man".Clear and self-contained, this book will serve aa a small survey of mathematical physics, giving the readertools in particle physics and gravity.Excellently motivated topics. Compact enough to bring with you anywhere.The only thing it fails at isdicing a proper tomato.

Worth its weight in gold!
I think the review above by J. Pullin puts it very well. This is a great book, and a good place to get started (it also provides suggestions for further reading). The authors have done a fantastic job, and I highlyrecommend the book! ... Read more

Product Description
Composed by John Field (1782-1837), edited by Franz Liszt (1811-1886). Collection for solo piano. 80 pages. Published by G. Schirmer, Inc. With fingerings, performance notes, thematic index and introductory text (does not include words to the songs). Classical Period. 9x12 inches.Edited and with introductory text by Franz Liszt.Contents:Nocturne #1 - Molto Moderato Eb MajorNocturne #2 - Moderato E Molto Espress. C MinorNocturne #3 - Un Poco Allegretto Ab MajorNocturne #4 - Poco Adagio A MajorNocturne #5 - Cantabile, Assai Lento Bb MajorNocturne #6 - Andante Tranquillo (Cradle Song) F MajorNocturne #7 - Andante A MajorNocturne #8 - Andante Spianato Eb MajorNocturne #9 - Adagio E MinorNocturne #10 - Andante Con Moto (Nocturne Pastorale) E MajorNocturne #11 - Moderato Eb MajorNocturne #12 - Allegro (Nocturne Characteristique - "Noontide") E MajorNocturne #13- Dreamily (Reverie) C MajorNocturne #14 - Lento G MajorNocturne #15 - Lento (Song Without Words) D MinorNocturne #16 - Molto Moderato C MajorNocturne #17 - Molto Moderato C MajorNocturne #18 - Molto Moderato F Major ... Read more

Book Description
Ideas from quantum field theory and string theory have hadconsiderable impact on mathematics over the past 20 years.Advances in many different areas have been inspired by insightsfrom physics.

In 1996--97 the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, NJ)organized a special year-long program designed to teachmathematicians the basic physical ideas which underlie themathematical applications. The purpose is eloquently stated in aletter written by Robert MacPherson: "The goal is to create andconvey an understanding, in terms congenial to mathematicians,of some fundamental notions of physics ... [and to] develop thesort of intuition common among physicists for those who are usedto thought processes stemming from geometry and algebra."

These volumes are a written record of the program. They containnotes from several long and many short courses covering variousaspects of quantum field theory and perturbative string theory.The courses were given by leading physicists and the notes werewritten either by the speakers or by mathematicians whoparticipated in the program. The book also includes problems andsolutions worked out by the editors and other leadingparticipants. Interspersed are mathematical texts withbackground material and commentary on some topics covered in thelectures.

These two volumes present the first truly comprehensiveintroduction to this field aimed at a mathematics audience. Theyoffer a unique opportunity for mathematicians and mathematicalphysicists to learn about the beautiful and difficult subjectsof quantum field theory and string theory. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Amazingly different!
If you are a mathematician and want to know what QFT and string theory (ST) are about, or if you are a string theorist, but want to know more about the mathematics behind the theory, then this book is what you are looking for. This book is totally different than any other standard textbook on QFT or ST. Mathematicians will love the fact that it is written in a language that is (close to) theirs, and physicists will enjoy it (provided they have a more solid background in mathematics than the average practical physicists), because it shows QFT and ST from completely "new" angles.

The book is a collection of lectures given by the various contributors, which fit together perfectly . The first volume has a very good overview of concepts and definitions at the very beginning and serves as a more mathematically oriented introductory treatment of SUSY and QFT with many advanced topics near the end. The second volume starts with an axiomatic approach of CFT and its use in string theory and then quantises strings with the BRST method (on a more mathematical level than usual), which is done superbly.

It's a great reference, a wonderful textbook and a true delicacy in modern mathematical physics. A MUST HAVE for every mathematically inclined physicst or any mathematician with interests in physics! Great value for money...

Lots to learn...
These articles are great. They do well in delineating theconceptual and rigorous frameworksof the subjects.

Included are exercises (and solutions)culminating from the problem sessions held at Quantum Field Theory program at IAS.

Physicists interested in the mathematical aspects of quantum field/string theory would do well to read these volumes as well.

Deserving, in my opinion, more than 5 stars -- many more!!

Definitely for mathematicians only
This book is an excellent compliation of articles written formathematicians who want to understand quantum field theory. It is notsurprising then that the articles are very formal and there is no attemptto give any physical intuition to the subject of quantum field theory. Thisdoes not mean however that aspiring physicists who want to specialize inquantum field theory should ont take a look at the contents. The twovolumes are worth reading, even if every article cannot be read because oftime constraints. All of the articles are written by the some of the majorplayers in the mathematics of quantum field theory.Volume 1 starts offwith a glossary of the terms used by physicists in quantum field theory andis nicely written. The next few hundred pages are devoted to supersymmetryand supermanifolds. A very abstract approach is given to these areas, withthe emphasis not on computation but on the structure of supermanifolds asthey would be studied mathematically. There is an article on classicalfield theory put in these pages, which is written by Pierre Deligne andDaniel Freed, and discussed in the framework of fiber bundles. Thediscussion of topological terms in the classical Lagrangian is especiallywell written. There is an introduction to smooth Deligne cohomology in thisarticle, and this is nice because of the difficulty in findingunderstandable literature on this subject.Part Two of Volume 1 isdevoted to the formal mathematical aspects of quantum field theory. After ashort introduction to canonical quantization, the Wightman approach isdiscussed in an article by David Kazhdan. Most refreshing is that statementof Kazhdan that the Wightman approach does not work for gauge fieldtheories. This article is packed with interesting insights, especially thesection on scattering theory, wherein Kazdan explains how the constructionsin scattering theory have no finite dimensional analogs. The article byWitten on the Dirac operator in finite dimensions is fascinating and a goodintroduction to how powerful concepts from quantum field theory can be usedto prove important results in mathematics. A fairly large collection ofproblems (with solutions) ends Volume 1.The first part of Volume 2 isdevoted entirely to the mathematics of string theory and conformal fieldtheory. The article by D'Hoker stands out as one that is especiallyreadable and informative. D. Gaitsgory has a well written article on vertexalgebras and defines in a very rigorous manner the constructions that occurin the subject. The last part of Volume 2 discusses the dynamics ofquantum field theory and uses as much mathematical rigor as possible. Onegets the impression that it this is the area where it is most difficult toproceed in an entirely rigorous way. Path integrals, not yet definedmathematically and used throughout the discussion. The best article inVolume 2, indeed of the entire two volumes is the one on N = 2 Yang-Millstheory in four dimensions. It is here that the most fascinatingconstructions in all of mathematics find their place.These two volumesare definitely worth having on one's shelf, and the price is veryreasonable considering the expertise of the authors and considering whatone will take away after reading them. ... Read more

Book Description
Although he has largely receded from the public consciousness, John Mitchell Jr., the editor and publisher of the Richmond Planet, was well known to many black, and not a few white, Americans in his day. A contemporary of Booker T. Washington, Mitchell contrasted sharply with Washington in temperament. In his career as an editor, politician, and businessman, Mitchell followed the trajectory of optimism, bitter disappointment, and retrenchment that characterized African American life in the Reconstruction and Jim Crow South.

Best known for his crusade against lynching in the 1880s, Mitchell was also involved in a number of civil rights crusades that seem more contemporary to the 1950s and 1960s than the turn of that century. He led a boycott against segregated streetcars in 1904 and fought residential segregation in Richmond in 1911. His political career included eight years on the Richmond city council, which ended with disenfranchisement in 1896.

As Jim Crow strengthened its hold on the South, Mitchell, like many African American leaders, turned to creating strong financial institutions within the black community. He became a bank president and urged Planet readers to comport themselves as gentlemen, but a year after he ran for governor in 1921, Mitchell's fortunes suffered a drastic reversal. His bank failed, and he was convicted of fraud and sentenced to three years in the state penitentiary. The conviction was overturned on technicalities, but the so-called reforms that allowed state regulation of black businesses had done their worst, and Mitchell died in poverty and some disgrace.

Basing her portrait on thorough primary research conducted over several decades, Ann Field Alexander brings Mitchell to life in all his complexity and contradiction, a combative, resilient figure of protest and accommodation who epitomizes the African American experience in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. ... Read more

Book Description
"I awakened early on Friday morning, November 22, 1963. The day was gray and somber. Rain was falling....I asked John if I could ride with him to Dallas, and his reply was 'certainly.' We got in the jump seats right behind the driver and secret service man in the front. I was on the driver's side. Mrs. Kennedy was behind me. The President sat directly behind John. We were a happy foursome. I had my yellow roses; Jackie had red ones. I turned to the President as the formation of cars turned onto Elm Street and said, ' Mr. President, you certainly cannot say that Dallas does not love you.'"Nellie Connally, wife of the late governor of Texas John Connally, shares her personal diary of the JFK assassination. While a seminal document in our nation's history-the original document is to be archived at the University of Texas-From Love Field is, at heart, one woman's account of a personal tragedy. Written for her children and grandchildren forty years ago in November 1963, the diary details what it took as a wife, mother, and friend to cope with an unimaginable personal and public ordeal. With the twenty-six-page original document expertly reproduced in its entirely and an additional narrative detailing the days before and after the fatal shots, From Love Field also includes many major newsbreaking revelations that further delineate Mrs. Connally's longstanding dispute of the Warren Commission's findings. Along with Mickey Herskowitz, a longtime family friend and coauthor of John Connally's autobiography In History's Shadow, Nellie Connally has, at last, broken her silence and given the country a personal point of view of the most controversial and disturbing chapter in its history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Compelling insight into that horrible day
I find this book wonderfully written by Mrs Connolly and a never before seen insight into what happened that day. As the (then) only surviving member of that car, it was something that is much appreciated to hear what her opinion was.

Meeting the gracious and beautiful Nellie Connally
My husband and I had the opportunity yesterday to get our copy of "From Love Field" signed by Mrs. Nellie Connally. What a treat!She is so elegant and eloquent, and gracious to all of her fans.She spoke personably with every single person in line and made everyone feel like they were of interest to her.I started reading her book as soon as I got in the car, and read straight through til I finished it.It is a wonderful book, exactly what you would expect from someone who lived through that horrible day.I got exactly what I expected to get from reading it, and even more.I especially appreciated the speeches that President Kennedy wasn't able to give being reproduced in the book.This is a book I will always cherish, along with meeting this great Texan, Mrs. Nellie Connally.

Refreshing and Honest
Of the many volumes on the subject, I find this book to be the best.Told with charm and grace, Nellie Connally relates the events of November 22, 1963 as only an occupant of that ill-fated Presidential Lincoln could.Devoid of conjecture or theories, we are simply presented with the facts.The Connally's viewpoint from the jumpseats is sobering. Pivotal moments, from Mrs. Connally's last words to President Kennedy to Governor Connally' near fatal wounds to Oswald's emergency room visit after the Jack Ruby shooting are covered in a comfortable format; making one feel that Mrs. Connally is relating the events to you personally.Thank-You, Mrs. Connally.

Thank you, Mrs. Connally
The former First Lady of Texas takes an infamous blot on our history, an event that quite literally changed the world for generations to come, and put it in completely human terms. This is what happened to her and her family. This is how she remembers it. What's more, it's how she experienced it -- from both the front seat of the Lincoln Continental and the corridors of Parkland Hospital. This makes it an invaluable historical record, and a moving account written by a woman who had been fired upon in an open car and held her bleeding husband in her arms. Perhaps it is "slight." I would not have wanted her to embellish or alter her memories of those tragic days just to accommodate readers who measure a book's worth by the number of pages. I did not consider the photographs, the reproduction of her notes nor President Kennedy's undelivered speeches "filler." They lent texture and veracity to her story. And I do not see how anyone can say there is nothing "new" here. She is the only one of those three surviving passengers who discussed what happened at this length with the public. That in and of itself is "new." I appreciate this lady's gallantry and her generosity in contributing her family's history to our country's history. And I was also moved by her son John's recollections of the funeral. It was poignant to read a man nearing 60 recalling the awe, pagentry and pain he experienced while still a teen.

FROM LOVE FIELD-FINAL HOURS W/JFK
THIS IS A VERY DISAPPOINTING BOOK - IT COULD HAVE SERVED ITSELF BETTER AS A MAGAZINE ARTICLE - THERE IS TOO MUCH REHASHING OF OLD INFORMATION AND WHAT'S KNEW IS SLIGHT.
SAVE YOUR MONEY AND GET IT OUT OF YOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY. ... Read more

Book Description
Psycholinguistics: The Key Concepts is an authoritative, wide-ranging and up-to-date A to Z guide to this important field.Cross-referenced, with suggestions for further reading and a full index, the book is a highly accessible introduction to the main terms and concepts in psycholinguistics. Psycholinguistics: The Key Conceptsoffers over 170 entries covering the key areas:
*psychological processes
*First Language Acquisition
*the nature of language
*brain and language
*language disorders
This comprehensive guide is an essential resource for all students of English language, linguistics and psychology. ... Read more

Book Description
Discussion of the precise nature of the Information System discipline has raged for more than twenty years and continues fiercely today. The most interesting aspect of recent debate is not only the sharpness and depth of the arguments, but the diverse conclusions arrived at by participants. Whilst very different, these have all been reached with the genuine aim of strengthening IS scholarship, and they all add to our specific understanding of the discipline in the last two decades. Edited by two of the most prominent academics in the field, this book brings together such perspectives along with wider contextual discussion to provide a fertile ground for reflection, learning and further debate. ... Read more

Book Description
How do I get out of here? So begins John Dillenberger's account of his journey from a small Illinois farm overlooking the Mississippi to Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, Drew, San Francisco Theological Seminary, and ultimately the presidencies of the Graduate Theological Union and Hartford Seminary. Along the way, he served as a colleague of such notable scholars as Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich. From Fallow Fields to Hallowed Halls is at once an account of the unfolding of a life and a picture of academic and cultural religious currents of the twentieth century. John Dillenberger was shaped by the times that he also shaped at critical junctures. ... Read more

Book Description
From the reviews: "This book is concerned with the application of methods from dynamical systems and bifurcation theories to the study of nonlinear oscillations. Chapter 1 provides a review of basic results in the theory of dynamical systems, covering both ordinary differential equations and discrete mappings. Chapter 2 presents 4 examples from nonlinear oscillations. Chapter 3 contains a discussion of the methods of local bifurcation theory for flows and maps, including center manifolds and normal forms. Chapter 4 develops analytical methods of averaging and perturbation theory. Close analysis of geometrically defined two-dimensional maps with complicated invariant sets is discussed in chapter 5. Chapter 6 covers global homoclinic and heteroclinic bifurcations. The final chapter shows how the global bifurcations reappear in degenerate local bifurcations and ends with several more models of physical problems which display these behaviors." #Book Review - Engineering Societies Library, New York#1 "An attempt to make research tools concerning `strange attractors' developed in the last 20 years available to applied scientists and to make clear to research mathematicians the needs in applied works. Emphasis on geometric and topological solutions of differential equations. Applications mainly drawn from nonlinear oscillations." #American Mathematical Monthly#2 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Will never collect dust....
This book has been a continuing source of information and guidance for 18 years now. Students and researchers in many different fields have used this book due to its breadth and detail of coverage. The book does require a fairly advanced mathematical background, but the authors do include a glossary for the reader lacking this.

Chapter one is an overview of differential equations and dynamical systems. All the concepts needed for a study of such systems are discussed in great detail and also very informally, stressing instead the understanding of the concepts, and not merely their definition. Some of the proofs of the main results, such as the Hartman-Grobman and the stable manifold theorems, are omitted however.

This is followed in Chapter 2 by a very intuitive discussion of the van der Pols equation, Duffings equation, the Lorenz equations, and the bouncing ball. Numerical calculations are effectively employed to illustrate some of the main properties of the systems modeled by these equations.

A taste of bifurcation theory follows in Chapter 3. Center manifolds are defined and many examples are given, but the proof of the center manifold theorem is omitted unfortunately. Normal forms and Hopf bifurcations are treated in detail.

Averaging methods are discussed in Chapter 4, with part of the averaging theorem proved using a version of Gronwall's lemma. Several interesting examples of averaging are given, along with a discussion of to what extent the bifurcation properties of the averaged equations carry over to the original equations. Most importantly, this chapter discusses the Melnikov function, so very important in the study of small perturbations of dynamical systems with a hyperbolic fixed point. A full proof that simple zeros of the Melnikov function imply the transversal intersection of the stable and unstable manifolds is given.

Chapter 5 moves on to results of a more purely mathematical nature, where symbolic dynamics and the Smale horseshoe map are discussed. The proofs of the stable manifold theorem and the Palis lambda lemma are, however, omitted. Markov partitions and the shadowing lemma are discussed also but the latter is not proven. The authors do however give a proof of the Smale-Birkhoff homoclinic theorem. A purely mathematical overview of attractors is given along with measure-theoretic (ergodic) properties of dynamical systems.

The (local) bifurcation theory of Chapter 3 is extended to global bifurcations in the next chapter. A very detailed discussion of rotation numbers is given but the KAM theory is only briefly mentioned. The main emphasis is on 1-dimensional maps, the Lorentz system, and Silnikov theory. The authors give a very detailed treatment of wild hyperbolic sets.

The book ends with a discussion of bifurcations from equilibrium points that have multiple degeneracies. The discussion is more motivated from a physical standpont than the last few chapters. But some interesting mathematical constructions are employed, namely the role of k-jets, which havefascinating connections with algebraic goemetry, via the "blowing-up" techniques.

The concepts in the book have proven to have enduring value in the study of dynamical systems, and this book will no doubt continue to serve students and researchers in the years to come.

Background
Guckenheimer is one of my favourite book in nonlinear science. Another absolute reference. This books deserved to be milestone in nonlinear dynamics.

Changed the Nature of Science As We Know It.
This book has clearly withstood the test of time in over 15 years of continuous publication.On my bookcase, it stands among my most treasured and well-worn classics of fluid mechanics and differentialequations--Hirsch and Smale, Birkhoff and Rota, Chandrasekhar, Bachelor,Lamb, Landau and Lifschitz...It changed many of the unquestionedassumptions of many fields besides my own.It redefined the terms of manyscientific debates.And, it changed my life.

I obtained Guckenheimerand Holmes' classic when it first came out in 1983. It was so clear,concise and intellectually engaging that it inspired me to wonder whetherthe system of equations I was studying for my Ph.D. research at thetime--the governing equations of thermal convection at infinite Prandtlnumber (which govern plate tectonics in the earth's mantle)--might have achaotic solution.Guckenheimer and Holmes outlined a clear methodology tofind out the answer.

My advisor at the University of Chicago thoughtnot.Only steady solutions could be admitted in the absence of externalforcing due to the lack of momentum transfer--this belief was widely heldat the time, despite certain oscillatory solutions found by Fritz Busse(then at UCLA) and chaotic solutions found in certain limiting cases byAndrew Fowler at Oxford.

In despair, I left my studies at Chicago towork as a Unix sysadmin at my undergraduate alma mater --Cornell, where(unbeknownst to me when I took the job) John Guckenheimer had justrelocated from UCSC.Delighted to find him there, I sat in on his courses. Later, with his help, I wrote a proposal to NASA to support the completionof my thesis--with him and Donald Turcotte serving as my advisors.

The3-year fellowship was approved, and during this time I demonstrated andpublished that thermal convection at infinite Prandtl number--a conditionthat pervades many planetary interiors including our own--is indeed chaoticin the absence of external forcing.

Prior to this, planetary convectioncodes primarily looked for steady state solutions.Since, numericalanalysts in the field have upgraded to time-dependent models. The source ofchaos at infinite Prandtle number I identified--the heat advection term--isnow widely accepted as the source of what is now called "ThermalTurbulence" in planetary interiors.

The defense at Chicago wasquite an event. Since my new advisors were flown in from Ithaca, you mightsay my thesis--The Nonlinear Dynamics of Thermal Convection at InfinitePrandtl Number--passed with flying colors.Someone at Chicago mightdisagree, but his opinion is irrelevant.

Demonstrating the many possiblesolutions to a single set of equations and showing how the choice ofsolution depends very sensitively on the rather poorly-constrained initialconditions of the earth--does render mantle modeling itself rathersuperfluous and indeed, scientifically suspect.However, many importantprofessors who stayed in the field nonetheless continue to run theirtime-dependent mantle convection codes, and never cease to wonder at thefact that they all get different results.It's rather amusing,really.

When all that too has passed away, the truths so beautifully putforth in Guckenheimer and Holmes will remain.Like I said, it's a classic.Furthermore, being number 42 in its series, it's got to be the answer tothe ultimate question of life, the universe and everything. Was for me,anyway.

Basic and clasic
For the moment it is "the" book on Dynamical Systems, through the world. Its first chapter is a good introduction on the mathematics needed to aboard the subject. The second introduces chaos, and the rest isfor a good understanding of the newest and prolific science. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Power of the Kingdom
The Author, John B Keane, was a Kerryman through and through, and all his books wallow in the heritage of that county of Ireland.(Kerry is known in Ireland as "The Kingdom")Well known for his novels such as the Bodhran Makers and Durango, it is for his plays that Keane will be best remembered.

Celebrated on the stage of the National theatre of Ireland in the 1980's these three plays went on to tour widely round the world, and the Field was made into a powerful film starring Richard Harris, Tom Berenger, John Hurt and Brenda Fricker.

Each is a mixture of innocence and cynicism, earthy humour and godlike aspiration.

Sive, the tale of a beautiful girl sold under the table to an old man.A tale of corrupted innocence and how greed can shatter families.

The Field, a deep rooted story of the importance of land to rural people, how it transcends even family loyalties, but how it finally breaks the hardest of hard men.

Big Maggie, Keane at his best, giving voice to the repressed sexuality of the Irish woman.

Three wonderful plays with themes that transcend the parochial nature of their setting.They have a simplicity and universality that is almost the equivalent of Greek plays such as Antigone or Lysistrata.

POWER-LAND-LOVE-So John B!
This Book is such good value. Not only do you get three plays but i tell you you get Some entertainment. A most enjoyable read!

SIVE- I love Sive it is an extremely sad story about a young girls who is being sold intomarriage by her uncle and aunt. Her grandmothewr is againstit especiallybecause the man is about 70 and also bercause Sive is already in love withLiam Scuab. On the eve of her wedding sive makes a decision that willchande everything-Forever!

THE FIELD-Everyone knows the bull but thebull will go to whatever lenghts he must to get the most important thing inthe world(to him) and that is land. But will he succeed and willMrs.Butler-the widow who is selling theland get a fair price. Maincharacters include the bull,the birtd and Tadgh. Is tadgh like hisfather-Is he his fathers son?

BIG MAGGIE-Now widowed ansd free Maggiedecides that she will wear the trousers but she finds that the harder shegets the childrenb just fly thenest and all move away. even her son(thehomebird) has to choose between his mother or the love of his life. Hisdecision will also change what is to come. Will Maggie continue to fightalone?Does Maggie even know. ... Read more

Book Description
Designed to be carried in the field, this pocket-sized how-to book is a practical guide to basic techniques in mapping geological structures. In addition to including the latest computerised developments, the author provides succinct information on drawing cross-sections and preparing and presenting 'fair copy' maps and geological diagrams. Contains a brief chapter on the essentials of report writing and discusses how to keep adequate field notebooks. A checklist of equipment needed in the field can be found in the appendices.

Quote from 3rd edition

"provides a wealth of good advice on how to measure, record and write reports of geological field observations" The NaturalistDownload Description
Designed to be carried in the field, this pocket-sized how-to book is a practical guide to basic techniques in mapping geological structures. In addition to including the latest computerised developments, the author provides succinct information on drawing cross-sections and preparing and presenting 'fair copy' maps and geological diagrams. Contains a brief chapter on the essentials of report writing and discusses how to keep adequate field notebooks. A checklist of equipment needed in the field can be found in the appendices.

Quote from 3rd edition

"provides a wealth of good advice on how to measure, record and write reports of geological field observations" The Naturalist ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

The Colorful Life of a Forgotten General
Richard Holmes' well-written and often fascinating biography, "The Little Field Marshal", is the life of Sir John French, once one of Britain's foremost soldiers but now largely forgotten.French had the misfortune to be the first commander of the British Expeditionary Force in the difficult opening year of the First World War, a role that Holmes makes clear he was poorly suited for.

French entered the British Army in 1852.His service in uniform would span the half century that marked the apogee of the British Empire and the beginning of its decline, and Holmes's biography is to some degree a portrait of the times as well as of his subject.French was a hardworking young officer who earned a battlefield reputation as a courageous and dashing cavalry commander in Sudan and South Africa.The honors he earned in the Boer War, and the favor of various patrons, would propell French to the very top of the British military establishment.He would be the obvious first choice to command Britain's Army on the continent in 1914.

As Holmes makes clear, French, a superb leader of men and a loyal officer of the crown, was poorly suited to the challenges of high command.He never mastered staff work, was often politically naive, undisciplined in his personal life, and too emotional for his own good.He made many friends and many enemies, and adapted indifferently to the demands of coalition generalship under the stalemated conditions of 1914-1915.Holmes successfully redeems him from the "General Blimp" stereotype of history but reveals him as a good officer of the Empire who outlived his times.

"The Little Field Marshal" provides some fascinating insights into the politics of the British Army in the first years of the 20th Century, and into the handling of the "Irish problem" and the struggle over home rule.

This book is highly recommended to students of the First World War and of the history of the British Army

reevaluation of reputation of high British officer
Field Marshall John French got a poor reputation in his own day when British troops he commanded were slaughtered in the first two hours of the World WAr I battle of Loos. His controversial term as Viceroy in Ireland during the time of the "Troubles" there did nothing to improve his reputation. Scandals in his personal life involving a series of mistresses, including the wife of a fellow officer, only further tarnished his name. Holmes does not find any grounds for elevating French's reputation. What he does is add a new dimension to this historical character by relating French's torments over the large number of deaths resulting from his leadership in the First World War along with the general carnage of the War. These concerns that dogged French are found mostly in his private papers, creating discordance between his public image as an unfeeling military leader and his private reflections. Holmes concludes that "in many respects, [French] never transcended the nineteenth century." By temperament, training, class, and expectations of himself and his peers, French was unable to effectively come to grips with either military or political problems of the early 20th century.

Fair portrayal of a much maligned General
This book is plainly baised toward its subject, Sir John French, and is very much like an official biography. However, it does has its merits in showing that French was not the bloodthirsty, uncaring, blundering stereotype as exemplified by his more infamous contemprorary, Douglas Haig. In the book French was seen to be much depressed by the casaulties of war, and unfairly intrigued against by a whole bunch of unsavoury characters behind his back, like Kitchener, Ian Hamilton,. Haig, Robertson and other assorted incompetents who tried, only too successfully, to blame French for all that was wrong with the BEF.

We are also told of the semi mutiny of the British Army in Ireland as a result of Home Rule,though French's scamdalous private life and his many flirtings outside of marriage are not touched on.

Definitely a much better and balanced biography than the ridiculous one on Haig by John Terraine. ... Read more