Prof Bennett was a professor of mine in college and his course in computational physics was were I learned to think -- even though our studies focuse d only partially on physics. His book, for which I still search in print, leads the reader to a full understanding of how computers can help us with even the oldest of problems -- and does so while being open enough for a non-scientist to understand. Outstanding and inspirational.

In this essay by Valery, sea shells serve as a catalyst to introspection and investigation. Valery, through the inspection of sea shells, poses some of the most basic metaphysical questions, but in an original way. By asking these questions regarding a concrete object, Valery achieves an immediate profundity rarely reached in most philosophical treatises. And, of course, the writing is translucid and precise, furthering the case for Valery as the French Walter Pater.

The book is a quick read about the life of South Florida pioneer Ralph Munroe and his family. For me it is interesting because I live near Ralph Munroe's homestead, now a Florida state park called The Barnacle. But to others, the story of Ralph Munroe and his family appeals on a different level. The timeless values of the man and the way they have endured in his family are something of universal appeal. This book may also appeal to sailing afficionados interested in learning about Munroe, who was an early proponent and proliferator of the Sharpie style of sailboats, as well as being the Commodore of the Biscayne Yacht Club.

In his study of the secession of states which led to the formation of the Confederate States of America, Ralph Wooster examines the 1,859 men who participated in the special Southern conventions and legislatures which convened to, at least, consider the question of secession. Wooster felt that much of the attention was being focused on the popular figures, "participants whose roles in the political, military, or economic history of the state or nation were extensive, such as Robert Toombs, Alexander H. Stephens, R. Barnwell Rhett, Jubal Early, and L.Q.C. Lamar." (4) Biographies of these individuals are important and warrant the focus that historical scholarship has placed on them. Wooster concludes, however, that by focusing extensively and exclusively on these individuals, "the vast majority [of delegates] has been ignored, largely because historical materials concerning them were either lacking or widely scattered." (4) Wooster has discovered one approach, however, which sheds considerable light on these otherwise obscure figures. He has done extensive research into the Eighth Census of the United States, 1860, which Wooster states, "constitutes the major source for the present study." (4)

Wooster claims to have researched approximately 200,000 pages of manuscript returns. He estimates approximately forty-two names on each page, equaling a staggering eight million names for the population of the fifteen states. This type of historical research may seem very painstaking and monotonous. While other historians are engaged in glorious battles and eccentric biographies, Wooster drudged his way through volumes of cold, dry facts to present this study. His work was not in vain. What Wooster managed to produce may be used to cut across theories and speculations. He allowed the facts to speak for themselves as he put together trends for the reasons why many of these delegates favored secession and why others did not. His purpose for use of the census return was to examine characteristics such as place of birth, occupation, age, slave holdings, and status of wealth. After determining these characteristics of the individual delegates, he examined the trends in the counties and parishes which the delegates represented. From this data, Wooster was able to address many important questions.

Wooster's study is divided into three parts. Part one presents the Lower South, those seven states which led the Confederate cause. Part two presents the Upper South, and Part three presents the Great Border states. Each chapter represents an individual state. They are in chronological order in which they considered secession, with the exception of Alabama and Florida. Alabama was the fourth state to secede while Florida was the third. Florida's actions depended heavily on the course which Alabama would take. When Floridians became convinced of the direction which Alabama was heading, they seceded. Florida's secession occurred only one day earlier than Alabama's. Wooster chose to present Alabama before Florida since Alabama's decisions so greatly affected Florida.

An example of how Wooster's methods of research cuts through theories and speculation can be found in his presentation of South Carolina, the first state to secede from the Union. By analyzing the birthdates, places of birth, occupation and property holdings of the South Carolina delegates, Wooster was able to ascertain "that the one hundred and sixty-nine man body which assembled in Columbia in December of 1860 was primarily a wealthy, middle aged, slave holding, native born group of planters and lawyers." (20) Using raw data such as this, Wooster is able to disprove, with respect to South Carolina, theories which consider that secession was opposed by wealthy planters because they had so much at stake.

Wooster included in his study tables which organizes much of the raw data taken from the census. Such tables may be organized by occupation, showing the majority's occupation at the top. In the case of South Carolina, out of one hundred sixty-nine delegates, forty-eight were farmers, thirty-three were lawyers, and thirty-three were planters. Out of the twenty-five occupations listed, these top three represented sixty-eight percent of the delegates. (18) Maps are included for states which were divided on secession by county support, showing the various counties for and against secession.

The Eighth Census of the United States, 1860, was not the only source which Wooster was able to analyze in this study, In the case of Mississippi, Wooster uncovered an Appendix to the Official Convention Journal where members of the convention listed personal facts about themselves, such as religious and political affiliations. Examples of political affiliations given by the delegates were Democrats, States Rights Democrats, Southern Rights Democrats, Secession Democrats, Secession Whigs, Old Line Whigs and States Rights Whigs. More general terms given were Disunionist, Secessionist, Southern, Extremely and Intensely Southern, and Opposed to Universal Suffrage. (30) Employing his analysis method of the 1860 Census, Wooster determined,

the Mississippi convention of 1861 was composed primarily of a young, small planter-lawyer group whose birthplace was in one of the states of the deep South. The typical delegate was a slaveholder, but not of the 20-slave class . . . and the owner of considerable land in 1860. The typical delegate was certainly well-to-do, having over $47,000 in property, but he was not as rich as his Carolina counterpart." (35)

In addition to the 1860 Census return and the Appendix of the Official Convention Journal, Wooster analyzed the votes on three ordinances proposed at the Mississippi convention, which "afford an insight into the three major groups in that body." (38) L.Q.C. Lamar's ordinance called for immediate secession "with a view to the establishment of a new Confederacy, to be composed of seceding states." (36) J. Shall Yerger's ordinance called for one last effort to compromise with the Union through constitutional amendments and guarantees. James L. Alcorn's proposal called for secession only in the event that other southern states seceded, and only if cooperation could be secured between these states. Wooster identifies the supporters of these ordinances, thereby recognizing three groups present at the Mississippi convention. Lamar's supporters represented immediate secessionists, many of which were the radicals of the 1850s. Yerger's group reflected Conditional Unionists, and Alcorn's supporters were Cooperationalists.

One more example from the Lower South shows how Wooster's logical method of deduction in analyzing facts overrides traditional reputation. Alabamians wanted to adopt a national platform securing the protection of slavery in the territories. "When the national convention at Charleston refused to adopt this platform, the Alabama delegation led a bolt of the southern delegates." (49) This event, along with the reputation of Alabamian William L. Yancy as the great fire-eater who favored immediate secession, leads many to assume that Alabama was a hotbed of secessionists. Wooster's research has revealed, to the contrary, a distinct division in Alabama between secessionists and cooperationalists. Analysis of the census, in this case, was inadequate. The typical delegate "was a middle-aged, experienced politician, born in either Georgia, Alabama, or the Carolinas. His total property amounted to $35,000 and he was a small slaveholder." (55) Despite these traits which Wooster was able to use to draw distinctions in other states, the Alabama delegates seemed to have traits in common with one another despite the fact they were divided over the secession crisis. In this case, Wooster looked to geographic information for further evidence. By further analyzing physical conditions of the delegates' county and places of birth, Wooster was able to come to specific conclusions over Alabama's 1861 division.

The wealthy counties of south and central Alabama, with heavy slave population and cotton production, were the secessionist counties. These counties, populated by Carolinians and Georgians, consisted of the old Whig counties of central Alabama and the state-rights Democratic counties of extreme southwest and southeast Alabama. Here immediate secession was universally popular with all segments of the population and delegates from this area reflected this sentiment in the state convention. In opposition were the delegates from the less wealthy northern counties. Lying outside the slave "Black Belt," the cooperationalist counties were populated by Tennesseans and Georgians who had been political followers of Andrew Jackson in the 1830s. Traditionally Democratic, the cooperationalist counties had a more nationalistic outlook than their southern opponents." (65-66)

Wooster's methods of analysis become more even more valuable when we consider the states of the Upper South and the Great Border.

I picked this book up by accident and was pleasently surprised to find not only that I could understand it (as if written for the lay person) but that it could represent issues facing other churches, or faiths. Mr. Kelly begins the Introduction by exploring what it means to be a Roman Catholic by listing what Catholics must believe. He sets the stage. Most people feel that in these times they do not have to believe anything they do not like. Mr. Kelly, still in the Introduction, says that John Paul II, will "punish" those who dissent. "This action provides hope for a second spring of a vibrant Catholicity at some time in the twenty-first century." These are dark words. The struggle is the Roman Catholic Church vs Modernism (secularism). It is as if Mr. Kelly puts on one side: "free choice, autonomy, human rights, good works, brotherhood, fun, tolerance and self-fulfillment." and "the religious demands of a universal order of creation to which they are subject." It seems a hopeless argument. Personally I find it hard to understand how the Roman Catholic Church can be against abortions and also against contraceptives, in a world where hiv and aids are rampant because restraint preserves the dignity of Man. It seems a hopeless argument. This book seems to give the views of the conservative faction of the RCC. Thank you.

Instead of all the usuall junk and rehash that is in most, if not all books Ralph Martin takes a different view. He studys how the father and his ways affected the sons and how this made for a strangely dynamic family group. He ( Martin) probes into the mindset of each generation and how each tragedy or world event changed each member. Fascinating to see each of the sons grow and how they were raised differently and influenced by different members of the family.

Along with Joel Porte's *Emerson in His Journals*, the Whicher anthology offers a broad spectrum of Emerson's work, introduced intelligently and arranged in biographical and intellectual context. A must for the classroom or the interested casual reader.

Honest and direct, this book is a great tool for anybody trying to sell their own home or anybody selling homes for a living! Reading "Sell It Yourself" is an eye-opener and will serve in the future as an excellent form of reference!

If you where wondering how to do Component Based Development, stop now and read this book. The book gives some real good insights, based on the real live experiences of the authors.

When compared to other development processes like the Unified Process, this methodology is fully Service and Component Based. From the early start in the Select Perspective process, all activities are aimed at Reusing services and components before Buying them, and only as a last choice build them yourselves.

The book has some great modeling examples. This was the first time I have seen a straight foreward way of using UML for modeling against a Service based Architecture.

A must for people that are serious in adopting a Service and Component Based development process.

I used this book as a source for my term paper which was on shakespeare. I wanted to get essays written by people during the time the plays were performed. This was a great book with lots of essays written by people from all different centuries since the plays have been published. It was an easy book to use...just like a dictionary. All you basically need to find out if the volume number which you can find out quite easily. It was a great book to use and from now on it's the first one I think about using.