This historical fiction book was very good. I learned a lot- it supplemented the basic understanding I had of U.S. and world history. It was filled with golden nuggets of trivia, for example , statistics on WWI and WWII casualties. It revealed the thread of continuity from WWI to WWII, and gave a broad picture of how Nazism took over. All this plus the personal story of a Russian Jewish immigrant, Abe Stein, whose son Jacob becomes the main character in the latter half of the book. Jake,s teen-age years and experiences are honestly portrayed, including some brushes with the same Anti-Semitism his father and grandfather had encountered.

I read "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Book One of the Quartet, Pass in Review", because I liked the author's style in his medical mystery books. I hoped his historical fiction would bring me the same pleasure. I wasn't disappointed. I came away with several thoughts. Although this was a historical fiction, I had an incredible feeling of what Jewish families went through at that time in history. I was able to imagine the fear they experienced, and the excitement of starting a new life in America. I felt a need to know more. I can't wait to read more of the books in this series. This author has proved that no matter what the subject, he keeps you rivoted to the book till the end, and wanting to read his next book as soon as possible.

Like other readers I thoroughly enjoyed the foundation trilogy, but had the same feeling that I experienced when reading Sherlock Holmes for the first time i.e. that his deductive conclusions were questionable to say the least.. Examples of this are...... 1. why would the population of Anacreon treat nuclear technology with awe and subsequent religeos reverance whilst retaining space travel and advanced weapons..? 2. physchohistory is supposed to only deal with planetary masses but without the actions of mallow and hardin would the result have been the same , particulally as they appeared to have been the only ones to see the solution. ?. our own world's history is litterd with individuals who have altered the destiny of world history ,napoleon, hitler alexander etc. Despite these faults it still a ripping read! not so the sequels /prequels. Asimov should have left his masterpiece alone. thank god conan doyle cannot ruin sherlock holmes !!

....reminiscent of detective stories but in a futuristic age, the Foundation books occur during the breakup of the Galactic Empire and involve crisis after crisis, most of them planned for by the dead hand of Hari Seldon...positivistic and slanted toward Newtonian scientific values, but very entertaining.

If you like Asimov, you'll love Buy Jupiter and other stories. An eclectic mix of his short stories, they range from short-shorts (1-2 pages) to some longer pieces. Given Asimov's prolifity, the quality can be a bit uneven, but his introductory commentary for each story more than makes up for it. If you love puns, you'll especially like Shah Guido G.

This is the fifth book I ever read, at the age of ten-and-a-half. This introduced me to the world of science and research, of figuring things out for yourself and holding your own opinions. From the very first story the wonder and awe it inspired in a small unwordly Catholic school boy has never been forgotten. It is classic Asimov, and it's great to see it reprinted. While the stories range from the interesting to the fantastic, the autobiographical commentary either side each one is timeless. If in any way, shape or form you like sf or Asimov (in any of his guises) you'll love this book.

The universe is a very strange place and to me, the most bizarre objects are black holes. They are things where the gravitational attraction is so strong that not even light can move fast enough to get away. While the complete definition of black holes requires a great deal of sophisticated mathematics, the fundamental principles are easy to understand. No one is better at explaining science and in this thorough, non-mathematical explanation of how black holes can exist, Asimov is at his best.

He starts with the basics of escape velocity and then increases the size of the objects until they are large enough to be black. The steps follow in logical order and all are well explained. If you are interested in the physics of black holes, Asimov will teach you.

Asimov handily explains the workings of the Universe to his point in time (roughly 1986). He organizes the book logically, beginning with basic concepts such as mass and the simple structures of matter, and finishing with the complete cycle of stellar evolution. He explains the birth and death of stars and includes exciting descriptions of the many different forms that stars can take: yellow suns, blue giants, red giants, white dwarves, novas, supernovas, neutron stars, pulsars, and finally black holes. The Collapsing Universe inspired and helped with several of my college compositions and is truly a model of unbeatable descriptions of science writing. A must for anyone interested in studying astronomy for the first time.

This work covers the history of the Byzantine Empire, from the foundation of Byzantium, in the Fifth Century AD, until its fall to the Ottoman Empire, in the Fifteenth Century. The relevance of the book is this: at school, we are taught history from a Eurocentric perspective. That's fine, since that is our main heritage. But there is a millenium-wide gap. They teach us the history of Greece and Rome, and then, after Rome's conquest by the Barbarians, we skim through the Middle Ages, briefly and superficially. Then we arrive at the Renaissance and proceed to modernity. The problem with this sequence is that we are never explained how the legacy of Greece and Rome resurfaces after a thousand years of Medieval times. And what we miss is precisely what Asimov fills in with his book. It happens that, for a thousand years, the Classical culture remained alive and kicking, even nurtured, in the Eastern Mediterranean. The axis of this world was Constantinople -or Byzantium-. There, the Classical culture met the Oriental luxury and liveliness, and the history of this empire is just fascinating. Jews, Moslems, Orthodox Christianity and Greeks, preserved and developed philosophy, theology, art and literature, amidst constant political turbulence. The stories show the most brutal and ruthless, as well as the most enlightened and wise rulers, courtiers and intellectuals. It was a world full of color, sensuality, passion and dynamism, half familiar and half exotic for our Western mind. Asimov's storytelling is fast and entertaining, but accurate. If you read it, chances are you won't remember most of the names and places, but you will get a general sense of what went on in this crucial corner of the world for a thousand years, and, best of all, you'll remain with a pleasant aftertaste. Strongly recommended both for entertaining and enlightening reasons, it is a real pity that this book is out of print and, more generally, that we are not taught the deeds of this great world.

I have owned this book since it first came out about 30 years ago. Reading it started my interest in the Byzantine Empire; an interest that continues to this day. I have read and enjoyed many scholarly books on Byzantium since I first read this book, but even today I will reread Asimov if I am in the mood for a quick, exciting narrative of Byzantine history. If for some reason I no longer had the book in my library, I would be willing to spend the asking prices for the used copies to obtain it.

When one opens the cover to The Early Asimov - Book One there will be found a half a page story on how Asimov's writing career began. When on June 21, 1938 a very young and scared Isaac Asimov took a manuscript to the editor of Astounding Science Fiction. This is where the legendary career began. And this book contains 13 of the stories from the grand master's earliest days as a writer. Some of the stories are good, some are average, but they are all worth reading. It's interesting to read these early stories and follow the growing talent of Asimov. Even in these early stories one can see the promise of what is to come. Following each story is a literary history containing the dates and details. These histories may be the best part of the book. While the stories are enjoyable, the stories behind the story are intriguing. Reading about what was going on in Asimov's life, what was going on in the world, and how and why the story was written and published is incredibly interesting. This is a good book to read if you want to see the early works of one of the best science fiction writers of all time.

For you Asimov fans, it is very interesting to learn about his beginnings in writing science fiction. In fact, one learns that for years he did not consider writing a possible means of sole income! He writes introductions to each of the short stories in this collection (which were originally published in various SciFi magazines) & gives one insight into the man behind the pen. A must for anyone who has any curiosity about just how he got started.

Let me begin by saying that I have never read anything by I. B. Singer that I thought was a waste of time. This man is incredible with the stories he writes and the style he writes it in. What is even more amazing is that Singer always maintained that his stories lost about 40% of their literary value in translation. As great as I think he is, I apparently will never appreciate how great he really is because I can't read Yiddish. That said, I don't recommend this book for an introduction to the author. It is very good but it is not one of his better collections of short stories. I'd actually rate it a 3.5 on this scale but, with Singer, you always round up. For a good introduction to the author I would recomend "Passions".

The stories I did enjoy the most were certainly worth the price of admission. Those stories would include the title story. The last line is terrific but not if you hadn't read the story first. I enjoyed "The Key" in which a lonely widow discovers that she is surrounded by friends that she never before realized. "The Cafeteria" is the type of love story that Singer writes when he is one of the lovers. True romance seems to only happen to others in his stories. "The Chimney Sweep" is a nice little story about what a knock on the head can do for a fellow. "Schlomele" is a story about the sort of zany characters the author seemed to find so easily in this country. "The Colony" is a sort of haunting story about a visit to Argentina. It seems like all of his short story collections have a story about a visit to Argentina. They seem to always be very good stories, too. "The Wager" is the story of the tragic outcome of a practical joke gone bad. "The Son" is a short but touching tale of a father and son reunion in a case where they were separated near birth and rejoined as grown and near-grown men.

There were many other stories but, as I looked back over them, they didn't seem as memorable as most of Singer's stories I've read in the past. I started out by writing that you can't go wrong reading Isaac B. Singer. I'll close by saying the same thing but I suggest you introduce yourself to him with a different book. I wouldn't want you to get the wrong impression.

It is a mystery to me why these books are all going out of print. Singer is one of the great 20c masters of the short story. I would characterise them as genius: they evoke lives in the deepest sense, offering a glimpse of an utterly alien existence.

I was attracted by the title, and delightfully surpirsed at the power of the writing, including stories of neglected sholars, demons and harmless goblins, and the way of life of pre-WWII Poland. Every story is superbly crafted.

Warmly recommended. This writer deserves to be read.

Este libro es indispensable para aquellos que son fanticos de Asimov y obligatrio para aquellos que les gusta la serie de Fundacion. Paero si no se es ni una ni otra este libro pierde mucha fuerza. Quiza si se tiene un par de dias libres y se quiere leer CF ligera pueda servir, no es nesesario conocer los libros anteriores o posteriores para disfrutarlo auqneu esta escrito para ser un eslabón mas.

Este libro nos llena el espacio que hay antes de la Fundación. Isaac Asimov nos muestra como empieza la muerte el Imperio Galáctico, y también nos enseña como fue creada la segunda fundación. Utiliza una técnica muy fácil de asimilar. Una vez que lo empiezas a leer no puedes parar. Excelente libro.

The editors of this book have done a terrific job. Even though the price is quite high, with 900 pages of state-of-the art and well-illustrated timely and high quality text this volume is a bargain! It is important to focus on the title: this book deals with computer processing and computer analysis of images encountered in medicine and biology. It contains about 50 papers distributed over six sections. The book does not deal with imaging physics nor with reconstruction algorithms. The level is suitable for biomedical engineers, computer scientists, and biomedical researchers. Both the organization and the selection of topics are excellent. Though there are idiosyncrasies in the coverage, the relevance and quality of the papers is very high. This is an ideal book for imaging researchers wishing to learn the state of the art outside their immediate discipline and for students wishing to enter the field. I look forward to seeing other volumes in this series!

This book is an almost complete collection of algorithms in computer processing of medical images. As an addition to computer processing litterature, this book fills a gap much in need of being closed. The text contains three levels of informating, a scholarly review of each topic, a professional review of methods and their application, and, finally, several chapters for each subject of thorough mathematical descriptions of individual methods and approaches, with useful examples from "real life". The book is divided into six sections: I Enhancement, describing the methods available for enhancing, e.g., noise reduction, window/level processing and grayscale manipulations. II Segmentation, dividing images into usefull subsets for further processing, III Quantification, measuring on images. IV Registration, making different images, both from between different subjects and between different modalities as well as between individuals having imaging studies done on separate occasions. V Visualization, rendering images for views in several different formats, including virtual endoscopies and volume rendering techniques. VI Compression, Storage and Communication, describing methods related to DICOM storage facilities and files, compressing, normalizing grayscale for optimal storage and removing nuisances from images. This book is contains a wealth of information in a handy format, making it an invaluable companion for anyone working in the field of medical image processing. It is also a source of vast information for the interested radiologist, although some may find the extend of mathematical understanding required somewhat overwhelming. Even if the DICOM part of this book does not comprise a large part, the book may be worth its price for this section alone.

I am a big fan of I. B. Singer's. To me, he is the greatest short story writer of the 20th Century. His stories often tell the tale of the Jewish communities in Poland in the 100 years prior to WWII. As a result of Hitler's demonic policies, it is a society, a culture, that no longer exists. Singer's short stories are a master study of individuals; their eccentricities and struggles in that society. He has written of the present and he has written some excellent novels and novellas but his best work is in the Jewish communities in Poland. In this autobiographical work, Singer gives us some more insights into that world through the eyes of a young boy observing his Rabbi father. We start out with a number of recollections of individuals and their problems that were brought before his father. These would easily fit within the short story motif that Singer excels in. As the book get a bit past the midway point, the autobiographical nature comes to the fore-front and we eventually follow Isaac B in his early development into a young man. This is interesting and very helpful to the student of Singer. Its' shortcoming results from Singer's practice of keeping his own character, whenever present, in the background or as the story-teller. When, in the final chapters, he is the main character, the quality of writing seems to drop a notch and suddenly, the book comes to an end. First time readers of Singer might do better to start with one of his collections of short stories or, ironicaly, the sequel to this book, "More from My Father's Court". Singer is always great but he is usually greater that he was in this book.

Observing through the eyes of a young child we are led through life in the jewish community of Warshaw. Many different figures appear in the house of the boy's father, the rabbi, to ask for his advice and judgement, decisions in religious or worldly matters. Behind all that we feel the deep love of the author, not only for the chracters depicted in the many stories, but for all human beings. It is one of the books that, despite telling stories of times past, makes us aware of ourselves and our own existence, our desires and weaknesses alike.