This book was pleasantly surprising: I had expected to see code presented with minimal motivation or discussion of the underlying ideas -- something of a "Computational Geometry for Dummies" sort of book. That's not the case at all. This is a bona fide textbook on the subject, suitable for an undergraduate course.
It covers all of the the "classical" topics: convex hulls, line segment intersection, polygon triangulation, Voronoi diagrams, motion planning.

The mode of presentation -- supporting a discussion of the theories with implementable code -- is actually a bit refreshing. For comparison: Other books, when discussing the line segment intersection problem (ie: Given a set of line segments, find all of their intersection points) simply assume that computing the intersection of a pair of segments can be done in constant time. This is not an especially difficult problem, but the discussion seems more complete with a brief description of how this might be done. The same can be said about other primitive tests and operations in other algorithms.

Overall, this book can stand alone as an excellent introduction to computational geometry, but a serious student in the subject will want more: perhaps Preparata and Shamos or de Berg et. al.

Anyone who is involved in areas such as computer graphics, computational radiology, robot vision, or visualization software should have a copy of this book. The author has done a fine job of introducing the most important algorithms in computational geometry, choosing the C language for their implementation. The choice of C might be somewhat dated now, since C++ is now beginning to dominate computational geometry, but readers who are actually programming these algorithms using C++ can easily extend the ones in the book to C++. Not all of the algorithms in the book are implemented into C, unfortunately, but the clarity of presentation is done well enough to make this implementation a fairly straightforward task. My interest in the book came from a need to design and implement algorithms for polyhedra in VRML and toric varieties in algebraic geometry. This book, along with others, was a great help in that regard. The running time of these algorithms was not really an issue with me, so the detail the author spends on discussing the complexity of the algorithms was not a concern. Readers who need to pay attention to running-time issues will appreciate his discussion of them for the algorithms that are presented.

The ability to visualize objects in an abstract subject like algebraic geometry boils down to, in the case of toric varieties, to a consideration of how to manipulate polytopes geometrically. A major portion of the book, if not all of it, is devoted to the computational geometry of polyhedra. Because it is an introductory book, some more advanced topics, such as Bayesian methods to find similarities between polyhedra, and neural network approaches to classifying polyhedral objects are not treated. Readers who need to do such things will be well-prepared for them after a study of this book. In addition, there are good exercises assigned at the end of each chapter, so the book could be used in the classroom. Some readers will however choose to use it as a reference source, and it would be a good one, for the author gives references to topics that he only touched upon in the book.

Some particular areas that were treated especially well were: 1. The discussion on data structures for surfaces of polyhedra. Although not very general, since he choose to deal with only triangulated polytopes, readers who need to be more general will have a good start in this discussion. 2. The discussion on volume overflow and how to deal with it using robust computation. 3. The discussion, albeit short, of the randomized incremental algorithm. 4. The treatment on the minimum spanning tree and Kruskal's algorithm. Communication network performance optimization is now a major application of this algorithm and others in graph theory, including the author's later discussion of Dijkstra's algorithm.

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I'm very pleased with this book. It's been an excellent reference material. My copy of the book is all marked up with underlining and high lights in area's I've needed to get up to speed on.
I work for a very large AeroSpace contractor in the Computer Security department. I needed a resource that I could get my hands on critical underlying OS information quickly. I found that in this book. It has already been a help in computer related investigations. I work both classified and unclassified networks. On the classified side of the house, this book has aided me in accrediting networks to insure data integrity and protection. I'm starting to see more and more upgrading of OS's. Per the NISPOM (National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual) when a classified system changes an OS or application that will "change" the security attributes of the system, it must be reaccredited. Again, I found great information in this book that talked about the changes between (for example) NT 4.0 and Win2K. As a result, I've required system owners to update their Security Plan and go through reaccredidation before actual implementation. Then, thanks to page 196, I was able to help them put together security audit tools.

Although I have not made it through cover to cover, I'm using the book a lot. It's definately a "Keeper".

An excellent survey of the current state of network security, ideal for both the novice and professional. All important aspects of security are covered, from the common vulnerabilities of protocols such as UDP and TCP, to advanced topics like firewall configuration and DNS. Written in plain language, even the neophyte network engineer will grasp key concepts quickly, while more experienced administrators and power-users will find practical solutions for prevention of even the most high-level attacks. All operating systems are covered, from Windows 2000 to various flavors of Unix/Linux. A must-own title for anyone concerned about security in today's global information economy.

Enterprise Internetworking And Security is an extremely well written and surprisingly easy to follow guide that will prove to be a benefit to both professional networking engineers and those just curious about "how such stuff works". Of course, as a casual cover to cover read only Star Trek's Mr. Spock would give it a fully blown two thumbs up. Having read some of Cassidy's other Internet books, I was somewhat disappointed not to find a few more occasional jokes or colorful analogies (though he does manage to sneak in few - like when he compares the writing of the book to "holding down a 30 foot squid with barbecue tongs"). In my opinion, the drier the subject matter, the more such devices make the difference between a good technical guide and a truly great one. However, Enterprise Internetworking And Security is informative, up to date and very well structured so that it can read non-sequentially (which makes it an excellent reference guide). Chapters 7, 8 and 10 are particularly informative, and cover most of what a network engineer concerned with security issues should consider from design to implementation. The beginning chapters are a bit more fundamental than one might expect from a book intended for advanced to expert users, and in all likelihood such users will find these chapters remedial. Other than this minor disparity, it contains a great deal of useful information and altogether, I would recommend the book as a smart addition to any network engineer's reference library.

This is a fascinatingly outsanding book...if you are a History teacher or a philosopher. I am a parent of a 9th grader in the High School, and my son was required to read this book by the end of the summer. He disliked it very much, because it was basically a textbook - with the different chapters that were all quite monotonous. I know this because I read the book myself, and I found it more interesting than my son found it, most certainly, but it wasn't a good book in the least bit. The only way I would find it interesting would be if I were researching the Medieval times. Enjoy!

This is a compilation of several of the Gies' books: "Life in a Medieval Castle", "Life in a Medieval Village", and "Life in a Medieval City". But it's so much more, making it a must-have even for people who own the other books. I own all of them, and I still was absolutely delighted with this book.

Why? Because of the pictures! The softcover books don't have many pictures, if any at all, but this is LOADED with them, and quite a few are in color. It's absolutely outstanding, the way it is illustrated. Every single page just about is loaded with color photos of paintings, books, castles, portraits, you name it. They are all of excellent quality, though I'd have liked bigger ones, being the greedy person I am.

Extras seem to include a genealogy of the Counts of Champagne and a geographic guide to castles, listing extant ones country-by-country through Europe. There are explanatory notes at the end, a large bibliography, and photography credits. There is also a glossary and an index that looks adequate. This is a huge book, heavy and hard-covered, almost a coffee table book except for its vast wealth of information.

I'd say if you are interested in the Middle Ages, this would make a grand addition to your library -- and if you know someone who likes medieval history, this would make them a fantastic Christmas present.

I highly recommend this book. It is really good and full of historical information on the Medeival times. The subjects are divided by chapters. It is well written.

Frank Joseph's book is a fascinating well researched 'take' on Edgar Cayce's vision of Atlantis and Lemuria but it is also a personal and therefore ideosyncratic one.l have read a smattering of books about Edgar Cayce, though far from all there is dealing with him. l've seen him mentioned in many other books and articles.My particular obscession is Atlantis, mainly from the Platonic perspective, yet Lemuria and ancient cycles of catastrophe are all interelated to the subject.ln my research l've read several of Mr. Joseph's books and articles as well as the magazine he edits [ANCIENT AMERICAN]. So l'm familiar with both the author and his subject and Atlantis in general.From his past work l know that Joseph respects Cayces vision and personal integrity and that he is sympathetic to subjects of a mystical nature.But he is not a devotee of psychics and occultists where Atlantis is concerned, squarely choosing archaeology and geology over 'NEW AGE' mysticism. This approach may well not be acceptible to those already committed to Cayce because Joseph's chronology and scale differ markedly from those of the 'sleeping prophet'.Whereas Cayce put the final destruction of Atlantis slightly but indefinitely after 10,000 B.C., similar to Plato, Joseph sets it ca. 1200 B.C., 8800 years later.While Joseph sees the origins of Atlantis between 5000 and 3000 B.C. [ the Neolithc] Cayce places it beyond 50,000 years ago, maybe as long as 10,500,000 years ago! Cayce's vision involves the descent of spirit into matter, an 'event' largely beyond the methodology of science to prove or disprove.And yet if Atlantis existed it aught to be susceptible to physical investigation by geology,archaeology and other disciplines.Joseph believes it is. But the results of that quest do not often mesh with what Cayce said about the lost civilizations, as Joseph reads the evidence. This is bound to enfuriate those who take Cayce literaly.Right or wrong many of the late psychic's supporters treat his words like biblical creationists do with a face value interpretatation of the Bible.Science can be drawn on for support but only when it is in agreement or can be made to sound like it.Admittedly the subject of Atlantis is so taboo amongst conventional scholars that no historical interpretation of the story Plato told is acceptible Joseph's included. For them it is pure allegory.'Cayceites' would like to overturn much of orthodox science in favor of his worldview, at least a few being actively anti-intellectual.Thankfully, Cayce himself, while believing what he said never asked for this 'cultish' attitude. Niether have his direct eirs. They seem to have honestly tried to interpret and verify what he said without demanding a single 'party line'. Understandably they prefer to see him vindicated by science but have never pretended that this has been achieved or may ever be, entirely. l presume that it was with this open attitude that the A.R.E. commissioned Mr. Joseph to write this book as he has made no secret of his theories. They must've realized many of his ideas clashed with those of Cayces' vision of the lost continents yet were sympathetic to the latter.No conventional Academic or 'science journalist' would've touched the subject.They might have been intrigued by Josephs 20 years of research on the subject, often including on site investigations [ at Bimini for example].Perhaps they hoped for a fresh angle rather than a slavish paen to Cayces' infalliblity.What do l think myself? After 33 years of research into Atlantis l believe it existed and l agree with the author that it met it's final end 3200-3100 years ago. l'm less sure of where that last bastion of Atlantean civilization was.l also think, however, that one or more presently unknown acmes of civilization existed before the ' dawn of history', 5000-6000 years ago.Yet how old they ultimately were l've still to decide. As the Caribbean is one strong candidate for the location of such a 'culture-x' maybe Cayce was in part right, though l don't see it as Plato's Atlantis any more than Joseph seems to.I admit my own bias agaisnst accepting everything Cayce said literally. Some evidence appears to support him yet much does not.Far too many blindly believe because the Akashic records reported by Cayce 'could not be wrong'.But any close look at psychic depictions of Atlantis reveals as many devergences as agreements. Allegorical interpretations are only marginally less varied and historcal ones that eschew occult methods may be worse. But they have one great advantage. they admit to being theories, subject to change as new evidence becomes available. They do not claim to be the equivalent of divine revelation. Most psychic sources do. As noted before Cayce himself made no claims to be infallible. So why do so many of his followers ? lf you are interested in Cayce or lost continents but not already committed in your oppinions, buy this book. Those already cmplete beleivers in Cayces' vision doubtless will not appreciate what the author tried to accomplish unless they can agree to dissagree.Even for them it may be worthwhile to give Joseph a fair hearing before deciding for or against his ideas.

I feel this is a great book, especially for followers of Edgar Cayce. I don't understand why some other reviewers said that this book somehow corrects what Edgar Cayce said. To me it is in complete agreement with what Cayce said, even to the point of devoting an entire chapter to people who were identified in the Cayce readings as having lived in Atlantis. They had names like 'Aa-rr-ll-uu' and 'Sululon'.

Scientific evidence does not exist to prove things like the Atlanteans' crystal technology, their ability to travel through time and space, etc.. Since the author is a researcher he doesn't claim that scientific evidence exists where none does exist. But I don't see where he tries to disprove these fantastic but possibly true theories either.

This book discusses the Atlantis that Plato spoke of but by then Atlantis was much like the other races that existed around 1200 BC. This was a much different Atlantis than the one Cayce spoke of with its crystal technology, death rays, genetically engineered 'things', etc.. The islands of Atlantis sank over a period of thousands of years, not all at once if I understand the legends correctly.

I believe that proof of Atlantean technology does exist. It's been sitting on the Giza plateau for thousands of years. It's called 'the great pyramid'. In his book The Giza Power Plant Christopher Dunn proves that the great pyramid was a form of nuclear reactor. Dunn's book proves that the great pyramid was built by people who had god like powers and knowledge of time and space. It was Edgar Cayce in another incarnation as the high priest Ra Ta who built the great pyramid. The sacred geometry for building the great pyramid was given to Ra Ta by another god like being named Horus.

This idea is consistent with 'Edgar Cayce's Atlantis And Lemuria'. This book indicates that these god like beings from Atlantis and Lemuria became the mythical gods of later races such as the Incas and Myans. Those later races talk of 'gods' who came from the sea and taught them about new technologies, astronomy, etc.. Eventually most of this knowledge was lost as these civilizations de-volved to the point of like the Incas began the practice of human sacrifice.

There's a big part of the Atlantis story that's still enshrouded in mystery. All we have is a few statements from Cayce's psychic readings and a few archeological sites under water. You get glimpses of these mysterious topics when in the Cayce readings it refers to things like 'visitations of those from the outer spheres'. This would seem to imply that Atlantis was being visited by beings from other planets, other dimensions, etc..

This book offers a comparison between what happened to Atlantis and our modern world. Atlantis was destroyed by the greed of individuals. For them this was catastrophic because their greed could be transformed into energy by the terrible crystals.

The final paragraph of this book is:

"Everyone senses a crossroads just ahead. When we reach it, which example will we follow - Lemuria or Atlantis."

I would answer with a quote from a book called 'UFO Contact From Planet Iarga' which was supposedly communicated to someone by people from another planet called Iarga. The Iargans stated:

"The human race lives for the present since it really has no future."

The Iargans may mean that our human race doesn't have a long term future. Even if we last for another thousand years that's a relatively short time in relation to the universe.

I think most people would agree that many industries have a relatively short term view of using the earth's resources. Maybe somehow everyone knows that what the Iargans said is true.

The Iargans also said that sometimes when people see flying saucers those are our ancestors from Atlantis travelling through time to see us.

Although Joseph's book is unique and controversial, it offers the most persuasive, up-to-date evidence for the former existence of both sunken civilizations. In so doing, he helps to verify Edgar Cayce's vision of these two lost cultures, while showing that the "Sleeping Prophet", for all his exceptional psychic gifts, was a mortal human being prone to error like the rest of us.
Joseph convincingly demonstrates that Cayce's perceptions of Atlantis and Lemuria were filled with abundant, credible images, although chronolgically inaccurate. They were like lucid dreams, in which the visual elements are clear, but the dreamer's sense of time is confused. None of this detracts in the least from Cayce's "life-readings". On the contrary, Joseph supplies abundant, newly discovered evidence confirming their astounding accuracy in almost everything, save a realistic time-scale. Joseph's book is the only one I've read that describes in detail the Lemurian-like ruins found underwater near Japan, including their photographs. His discussions of crystal-use in Atlantis and the Crystal Skull as an Atlantean artifact are the most thorough I've encountered.
As he points out, modern research shows that a continent did not sink below the Atlantic Ocean 12,000 years ago, as the old theorists insisted. That conclusion has been thoroughly out-dated and debunked by contemporary science. But a large ISLAND did indeed exist were Plato and Cayce said it did until the Bronze Age was brought to an abrupt end by a worldwide cataclysm. It is in that time-period, Joseph writes, that we must seek for Atlantis and Lemuria. The former civilization was characterized unmistakeably by Plato as a Bronze Age culture, dating back 3,200 years ago. Atlantis has thus been established in a proper and far more credidible historical context. Otherwise, to conceive of Atlantis as an Ice Age civilization is ludicrous.
Readers preferring to cling to obsolete notions of the past should not read Joseph's book. But anyone interested in learning the truth about Atlantis and Lemuria, and the stunning discoveries presently being made to establish their former existence, will find his presentation particularly exciting and revealing.

From the beginning of chapter 1 to the end of the index, this book is 408 pages. The authors do not begin to discuss agents until chapter six (page 201). So ~half of this book is merely introductory material. It's impossible to give more than a token survey to search, KR, back/forward chaining, fuzzy systems and neural networks in the allocated 200 pages. I feel this was a wasted effort best left to other books (like Russell and Norvig).

In contrast to the 200 page intro to AI, there is no primer on Java contained within this book. I feel this is OK since there are also many excellent books on Java. I only mention this to be complete in my review.

The real meat of this book is only ~165 pages (chapter 6 through 10). The agent examples are light, but adequate and I feel the concepts come across. Overall, I'm not sure I got my money's worth. I would have liked more discussion of various frameworks and maybe some examples of these. Implementations are lumped together in a hurried review in the last chapter.

If you already have some exposure to AI, you might consider a more advanced book. If you have never thought about AI, this book might serve as an introduction, but it is certainly not a comprehensive review.

Este libro es una excelente referencia práctica, que redefine la Inteligencia Artificial desde el punto de vista de los agentes, existen referencias complementarias a este libro "Inteligencia Artificial un Enfoque Moderno: Libro del Agente Inteligente". El libro explica de forma práctica la implantación de diversas técnicas usadas en la inteligencia artifical, búsquedas en amplitud, búsquedas en profundidad, heurísticas, etc. Es un muy buen libro para la enseñanza de la Inteligencia Artificial con un enfoque práctico.

Having reviewed tons of articles, I found this book a good introduction to Intelligent Agents. The authors give introduction to different AI techniques within Rule Based systems and Learning systems. Furthermore, they introduce how to write autonomous intelligent agents. If you are considering to use IBM ABLE, this is a very good start.

This book provides very little practical information. I purchased this book hoping it would contain more info on the parks than the standard Costa Rica guidebooks. I was sadly disappointed. The other guide books such as The New Key to Costa Rica and Moon's Handbook provide as much and in some cases more info on the parks than this guide. Plus they provide all the other information such as hotels, restaurants and transportation.
Save your money. I wish I had.

Contrary to the last review, we found this book to be extremely useful, and it contained background information and useful maps (such as the area around Sirena ranger station in Corcovado) not contained in other more general guidebooks. Also, there is a considerable amount of natural history information that was not contained in the other books that we had with us, such as the Lonely Planet guide.

(From Planeta Journal) - One of the first guidebooks to focus on the parks and preserves, this book is now in its second edition. It's an invaluable resource for visitors who'd like to get to know Costa Rica's lesser known parks and includes trail directions, dozens of hikes and descriptions of local flora and fauna. The new, second edition of this book includes five new national parks and preserves, plus updated and expanded descriptions of all 40 of Costa Rica's protected areas.

Warning - This book has very little to do with dust! Actually, with his book Dust - A History Of The Small & The Invisible Joseph Amato demonstrates an inability to focus on any one topic for more than a paragraph at a time and obfuscates what otherwise should have been a rich and interesting topic below a morass of historical anecdotes. I was thoroughly disappointed. Effective historians have a natural ability to absorb volumes of information, select those facts and events which are important, and weave them into a coherent, interesting narrative. While Mr. Amato's 41 pages of supporting notes and 15 page bibliography suggest that comprehensive research was performed on the topic, no amount of references or notes can make up for his failure to focus on important aspects of "Dust's" history and inability to create from them an interesting story. If you are looking for a rewarding, enlightening read, look elsewhere.

This bright and sprightly stroll through the human relationship with the minute comes to a surprisingly dark conclusion.

Joseph Amato, Professor of Intellectual and Cultural History at a small college in southwestern Minnesota, tells an interesting, if familiar, tale. Dust was long defined by its occupation of the lowest position on the scale of the visible ('pollen' is the Latin word for 'dust'), and it symbolized insignificance and near-nothingness. Then came Western - now global - science. Dust became a multiform heap of material objects within a certain range of sizes ("With so much known about the invisible, dust can never again be ordinary," he writes), while at the same time ever more powerful instruments pushed ever further toward zero the notion of the infinitesimal. Meanwhile, civil authorities find themselves in a constant scramble to adapt to science's new insights into the implications for human well-being.

Prof. Amato is at his best in his survey of these societal responses to the news from the microcosm, and has interesting and upbeat things to say about the history of health, housekeeping, and hygiene. (He is much weaker on the scientific and intellectual side of things. I found particularly regrettable his neglect of Lovejoy's classic *The Great Chain of Being* - a work he cites in the notes but shows no sign of having assimilated.)

But the reader who arrives at the end of this brief volume is likely to be surprised at the author's take on the prospects of our increasing mastery of what is minute affecting our imaginative lives. In an essay written in the early twenties entitled "Subject-Matter of Poetry," Aldous Huxley expressed amazement that "The subject-matter of the new poetry remains the same as that of the old. The boundaries have not been extended. There would be real novelty in the new poetry if it had, for example, taken to itself any of the new ideas and astonishing facts with which the new science has endowed the modern world. There would be real novelty in it if it had worked out a satisfactory artistic method for dealing with abstractions. It has not." The concluding chapter of *Dust*, entitled "Who Will Tremble at These Marvels?" attempts to explain why not, and in doing so takes into a minor key what had till then seemed to be a work written in a major mode. This chapter, together with the touching ten-page memoir of his mother's relation to dust presented in an appendix, are the best things in the book.

So much of our world's business energy and investment capital go into information technology and biotechnology, which are fields where most of the important technology is so small as to be invisible to normal human vision. Author Amato explores how the human drive to improve our lives and our world led us (from the 16th century on) to see, measure, manipulate and control ever smaller particles and entities. The mysteries of dust, and then germs, then atoms, and now subatomic particles, viruses and prions, one by one "bit the dust" as they were revealed by this compelling quest. Bearing an amazing array of facts and stories (like the best musty and dusty library stacks I remember from college) as well as an approach both philisophic and humane, Amamto is an entertaining guide on this journey from bulbonic plague to Hoover vacuums to semiconductor plant clean rooms. I think his book helps explain the deep hopes and fears (and the high market valuations) our age invests in our interaction with unseen.

I like the style in which this book is written. Each chapter is self contained, i.e., you don't have to read earlier chapters for any other chapter to be useful. Thus, the book need not be read cover to cover if certain topics are not of interest to you. Each chapter deals with a specific topic such as drinking and driving, motivation, taking responsibility, date rape, eating disorders, etc. Each chapter starts of with a realistic scenario in which a problem dealt with by the chapter is set forth. Then, the authors discuss the general subject matter of the chapter in analytical terms. Finally, the discussion returns to the scenario and how the problems can best be dealt with and resolved.

The scenarios include dialogues between a teen and friends, teachers, parents or others who would play a role in the situation set forth. The authors later analyze how well the subjects of the dialogues handled the situations in the scenario. The book is very readible and the advice is genarally good, albeit not always in the greatest depth. As a parent and a school board of education member, I find the book useful and recommend it.

Many books of this genre fall into the trap of either being too clinical or too cynical. Thankfully, Drs. DiPrisco and Riera provide us with a wonderfully accessible and beautifully crafted inquiry into the American teenager. Having been a teenager once, (if I still trust my memory) I find their insight trenchant. While I cannot claim complete objectivity--I defy anyone who has read either DiPrisco's poetry or Riera's earlier books on teens to remain impartial--I am thankful for their effort and think it a national prize.

As the subtitle indicates, FIELD GUIDE TO THE AMERICAN TEENAGER is all about Appreciating the Teenager You Live With. That's a big concept: Appreciating the kid (not always an easy thing to do when you feel like you're at your wits end). Not dictating behavior or choosing career paths or keeping your kid from harm's way -- as if any of that were even possible by the time s/he's a teenager.

Riera and DiPrisco make it clear that there is no way to 'follow-the-dots' and come up with pat answers to the difficult subjects they tackle. Instead, this beautifully written book presents teens in their natural habitats. Real situations are depicted -- ones that anyone can identify with -- but rather than attempting to proscribe behavior, Riera and DiPrisco discuss each topic and scenario in an insightful section called Notes Home that will surely help parents bring a new slant to their thinking. It definitely opened my mind to new approaches.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with a teen -- or a soon-to-be teen. You won't be disappointed.

Many events that were essential in the shaping of mormonism and Smith's life are left out of this history.

For some reason the editor didn't mention what was the content of the Nauvoo Expositor, or why it was so dangerous for Smith. Polygamy was also not addressed in any detail.

Smith comes off as an unreal man who always had the misfortune of being victimized by "bad" people.

Has history ever been this simple? Strange.

Reviewing books on Morman History, particularly Joseph Smith biographies is a daunting task. Mormons insist on "faith promoting" books, and proclaim that anything else is "anti-Mormon." The problem is made more difficult by the refusal of the Mormon church to make available their historical documents to independant scholars. This book falls clearly into the "faith promoting" category. It is pretty and well written. It tells an interesting story, but forgoes any in-depth historical analysis. It is a book designed for Mormons to give their non-Mormon friends.

If you want an in depth study of the life of Joseph Smith, buy No Man Knows My History, 2nd Edition, by Brodie or for a fascinating psychological study, Inside the Mind of Joseph Smith by Robert D. Anderson. If you want a neutral evaluation of the Mormon church as a whole, I recommend Mormon America bye Richard and Joan Ostling. It you want a propaganda coffee table book, buy this one.

By the way, who is the guy who is pictured on the dustjacket? The cover pictures a handsome, all-American man, but open the book and look at actual period pictures and Smith is a round, odd-looking guy, not at all like the artwork pictured throughout the book.

The print companion to the PBS feature, the book presents a broadly positive biography of the charismatic Mormon leader. Obviously not meant to be a detailed critique, neither is it the work of an apologist. Non-Mormon readers or students needing more information will definitely want to order the PBS companion film, and then review other Smith biographies, or some of the works by Hugh Nebley. Mormon readers will find this a refreshingly positive work with public recognition, making it easy to share with friends.

After picking this book up at the library, I am now purchasing it for our home. I found this book to be very helpful. It is very well organized and is easy to find answers to specific questions. The recipes contained were delicious and easy to prepare. The author uses encouragement instead of guilt to motivate his readers. I think this book is an excellent place to start when searching for a healthier eating style.

This is a well organized book with lots of useful advice and good dietary recommendations. I just have two complaints: 1) There is an assumption that heavy kids are heavy because they eat junk food and don't exercise. I'm living with a heavy kid who rarely eats junk food and has always exercised a lot. This message is frustrating, to say the least. 2) The title is a problem. My daughter is already hyper-sensitive about her weight, were I to buy this book (I read it at the library), the title itself would confirm to her that I find her "fat." In fact, I would purchase this book, were it not for the title because it is among the best of the books covering the subject, and I've read a number of them. I appreciate the books emphasis on physical fitness. I think a person who is physically fit has a better life and feels better in every way. Parents have an obligation to promote such well being as far as I'm concerned.

A life with 50-150 extra pounds is not a very good option. I hope to pass this on to my kids. I've also read don't eat your heart out, which is also a good reference (although I believe heart problems are mostly genetic, up to a point). I was carrying 30 extra pounds which were lost through excercise. I would like to try to teach my kids to not 'eat with the masses'.