I enjoy the general concept of Systems Thinking, however I found this text to be an overly superfical coverage of the topic. Additionally the book seemed unecessarily tainted by the author's political/religious views and the subtle underpinnings of some quasi-new age culture that seeks to rebel for no particular reason.

In the end, I threw the book out after reading about 3/4 of the way through. (Maybe not the fairest treatment of the work, but I can't stand to have my time wasted.) I recommend those who are looking to learn more about System Thinking find something that treats the topic more seriously.

-Steven

Overall this is a good effort and a decent introduction to the subject, but it leaves something to be desired in terms of depth. Some of the answers to the excercises are incorrect, so instead of claryfing the concepts they leave the reader confused. I found the notation for the diagrams somewhat simplistic: ok to get an overall idea, confusing if carefully analyzed. For someone who doesn't know anything about systems theory I would recommend this book, but I would also recommend following up with other, less superficial ones.

This is the book that made me wriet a review after 5 months of not having anyting on Amazon. How so? Let we think in this way. What is the "news"? News is a story of "bad" or "good". In this case, this is a very good, a good book.
O'Connor and McDermott comprehensively compile the story of "Systems Thinking" in a story-teller format. I trust you realize the important of "system" or "thinking" since you are reading my review. For any other "system" book, you might be afraid of highly mathematics or several jagons. Many times you may see the books on "systems" are more too much on "technical aspect". For readers in "thinking" books, you might experience the chaotic writing or too much philosophy (than practice). For those who are interested in "Systems Thinking", you might already experience highly differential equation that you already returned to your teachers.
So what O'Connor and McDermott did on this small book? They tell us a story of "System" and "System Thinking". Several examples are presented in different fields, mostly on daily life; making this book more readable. While O'Connor and McDermott tell us a "Systems Thinking" story, the "content" of "Systems Thinking" is not lessen. All technical terms that you fear from "Systems Dynamics" are delineated in human-readable-words. For example, instead of the author tell us about the derivative of y with respect to x, the authors use the word "flow" and describe it facing the word "level".
Each main section are very enjoyable to read, with summary. I personally like Chapter 2 the most. Chapter 2 shows me the different way to think about diferential equation application to the world. The last part of this book is the history and reference in Systems Thinking, which I strongly recommend any one to read it.
Personally, I recommend this book for every one interested in "Systems", "Thinking" and "Systems Thinking". Although you are a serious mathematician, you may want to discover the new perspective to the world. This can be the first book for novice Systems Thinker as well as companion book for serious Systems Thinker.

This book (and I use that word VERY loosely) was the most confusing, disorienting pile of brain droppings I have ever had the displeasure to read. In much the same way that pop music icons such as Britney Spears lip-synch their way to the top at the expense of real musicians, genuine authors must vomit with dismay that such tripe could ever find its way to book form without spontaneously combusting in its own repugnance.

None of the poems seem to follow similar styles or form, and are really just the ramblings of what I assume was a coked-out-of-his-mind author leaving his tape recorder on while tripping and then writing it down as literature the following day. If this is not the case, then it is my opinion the writer of this festering pile of monkey renderings should seek professional assistance.

I found his a very evocative read. While reading it, you can feel the spiral of emotions the author was trying to drum up engulf you.

While overall the tone is dark, it is interpursed with moments of giddy nonsense-drunken glee! , one lighter thread in a much darker tapestry.

The poems seem to weave together into a general cycle of the author's 4 years in college. A mix of rugby, romance, and irregularity.

All in all, not for everyone's unthinking consumption -- but has elements that could be enjoyable to many.

This book contextually captures a moment in time. This snapshot is a 4 year period of the author's life, his experiences in college including all the heartaches and all the triumphs.

Parts of the book feel cyclic. You can almost see and feel and smeel the ups and downs of the author's universe. Some works are funny, some are very serious, some are romantic. Yet all are part of the snap shot the author has chosen.

I enjoyed the rich levels of honesty the author presented in many of the works. In some ways this reminds me of a compressed hyper-intense "Of Human Bondage" updated, spun around, and stuck to a wall for all to judge.

Students were asked to purchase this textbook, and most students in the class agreed that it was more or less a waste. In six terms of lab, we did no more than three experiments out of the thirty or so in the book. The discussion is often at such
a high level that the 'trees in the forest' are hidden
by the surrounding fog. If you're taking the 300 or 400-series
lab courses at OSU, just stick with what's in the
handouts...that's what I did, and I got A's on about 90%
of the reports. Even if the profs tell you to read S-G-N,
don't waste too much time on it. As a research or reference book, S-G-N is fine and probably very useful (today I'm
an industry chemist, not a researcher). But if you're
an undergrad student taking labs at OSU or any school,
put S-G-N back on the shelf for a rainy day or
return it and get a refund.

(...)IN ORDER FOR MY CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERS TO MAKE USE OF THIS TEXT SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES NEED TO BE REVIEWED (OR IF THE STUDENT HASN'T HAD P-CHEM LECTURE THEY WILL ALSO NEED A GOOD LECTURE TEXT).

AS AN EXAMPLE LET'S TAKE SPECTROSCOPY AS A TOPIC...STUDENTS COME INTO MY COURSE LARGELY QUITE CONFUSED ABOUT HOW ALL THE PARTS IN THIS BROAD, BUT VITAL AREA FIT TOGETHER. OUR STUDENTS TAKE THIS COURSE AS JUNIORS AND LESS OFTEN AS SENIORS (ENGINEEERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE SENIORS) AND MOST WILL NOT HAVE HAD DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS.

WHAT S-G-N REALLY LACKS ARE SIMPLE CLEAR EXPLANATIONS OF BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SPECTROSCOPY (OR KINETICS ETC.)INCLUDED IN THE TEXT. NOT ALL THE DETAILS, BUT THE BIG PICTURE E.G. RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY... THIS IS THE FIRST MULTI-PHOTON EXPERIMENT MOST UNDERGRADS HAVE HAD AND, SADLY, THE LECTURE TEXTS OFTEN DO A POOR JOB (HERE I AM NOT COUNTING THE NUMEROUS CONCEPTUAL ERRORS THAT HAVE CREPT INTO SOME OF OUR LARGEST SELLING TEXTS) GIVING A SIMPLE EXPLANATION. TWO PHOTONS STRIKE A MOLECULE (SAY THEY ARE GREEN) AND A BLUE ONE AND A YELLOW ONE ARE EMITTED IN SUCH A WAY THAT ENERGY IS CONSERVED. IF POSSIBLE EACH EXPERIMENT NEED THIS.

P-CHEM LAB TEXTS GENERALLY DON'T GIVE A SIMPLE PICTURE OF THE CONCEPT (WHAT IT IS AND WHY ARE WE DOING THIS EXPERIMENT, HOW ARE WE GOING TO DO IT) IN SIMPLE BROAD TERMS FIRST BEFORE WE GET TO THE DETAILS. S-G-N, AS WELL AS OTHER P-CHEM LAB TEXTS NEED THAT.
YES, THERE ARE REFERENCES, BUT IT IS WISHFUL THINKING THAT STUDENTS WILL GO TO THEM WITH THE FOUR OTHER ADVANCED UNDERGRAD COURSES THAT THEY ARE TAKING. IT STILL IS THE BEST AROUND, BUT AS AN UNDERGRAD REVIEW NOTED HANDOUTS ARE OFTEN CRITICAL BECAUSE OF THESE KINDS OF PROBLEMS. I LECTURE FOR HALF THE SEMESTER TO OVERCOME THESE AND OTHE PROBLEMS; SHOULD THAT HAVE TO HAPPEN?

One of the most comprehensive physical chemistry lab text, SGN discusses about calculations and presentation of data, uncertainties in data and results, background and theory for each experiment. Experimentals are extremely clear and detailed, though individual instructors might develop modifications. The uncertainties section might be supplemented by John Taylor's "Introduction to Error Analysis" for more in-depth reference.

Experiments are groups into topics like Gases, Transport Properties of Gases, Solutions, Electrochemistry, Kinetics, and Spectroscopy, etc. The text also devotes incredible amount of pages on electronic devices, vacuum techniques, instruments and lab procedures for reference. Many lab texts are published, yet SGN might be the best for students.

It is obvious that Wambaugh can write. It is also obvious that Wambaugh is well qualified to write about cops. But even when the cops he writes about are supposed to be the heroes of the novel they still tend to be raunchy. And this is one of his more graphic novels. God help us all.

It's easy to tell in reading this book that Joseph Wambaugh and that's what makes this book so enjoyable. Underlying in this book is a mystery story, but primarily this is a book about the lives of different cops within a precinct. There is a lot of wit in the way Wambaugh tells it all, but the reality of the characters themselves and their surroundings is uncanny. This is not one of those police stories where all the cops are either studs with big guns and can shoot at will, or where every cop is a seedy individual. You can imagine these cops being at a downtown precinct in any city. The mystery itself unfolds as seemingly unrelated events that happen to different cops come together. The way these stories come together into one is amusing and realistic as well. Don't pass on this book. I had it for a long time before I read it, and I wish I hadn't taken so long in doing so.

Just because I work for LAPD doesn't make me bias. I hate reading and this book compelled me to finish

Instead of giving helpful advice, this book lectures. I'd rather read a book that helps my husband and I address our problems, than one that sets itself up on a pedestal. I'm sure the Garcia-Prats are a remarkable couple, but I'm not sure how they qualify as experts.

I read the Garcia-Prats' first book, which was okay, but this one is simply a lot of recycled information. Some of the advice is amazingly impractical, i.e. when they talk about forgiveness. Mrs. Garcia-Prats cites a saint who forgave her daughter's rapist. In the framework of a marriage, this seems like a reach. Much of the rest of the book appears to consist of quotes and ideas taken from other "experts." This isn't the place to look for fresh, practical ideas. That said, they look like a nice family with cute kids.

I'd recommend this book for any of my married friends. The Garcia-Prats have done an excellent job of writing a really engaging book. It makes you think about the importance of marriage, to not just the couple but the entire family and our society as a whole. So many families today are searching for answers. This is a place to get some. I can't say I agree with everything in the book, but it certainly made me think about my own marriage in a new light.

'The Hollow Years' was an unsatisfying, yet compelling read. Eugen Weber offers his readers a truly kaleidoscopical view of what France (partly) was in the 1930's. Each chapter centers a baffling amount of facts around themes as society, religion, morality, agriculture, demographics, the highs and lows of the French economy, and last but not least French politics. After having finished reading, the reader has digested such an amount of data that one wonders how Eugen Weber could have possibly called this book 'The hollow years'.

Weber's book contains excellent passages. The first chapter, in which Weber describes the widespread sentiment against war is very well written. The issues of religious life, emerging leisure and vacation, and the emancipation of French women are well worked out. Yet, over the whole, Weber has not been able to free himself from the weight of the primary (and secondary) sources stacked (in amazing quantity) in the footnotes. We read facts, hardly interpretations. We get information, but little overview. The book develops no grand, overarching themes. The image of France stays very diffuse. Fittingly, the book does not end on a conclusion.

The author's choice to solely focus on facts, not trends, results in the incomprehensible omission of cardinal elements of what France (also) was in the 1930's:

- Despite the eye-popping blue on the 1930 world-maps, Weber entirely ignores the French domination of Viet-Nam, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Syria, Madagascar and enormous parts of Africa. The Colonial Exposition (1930), which marks the apogee of French empire and attracted millions of visitors is left virtually untreated.

- During the 1930's, the French Communist Party became the most important West-European Communist Party and a leading force in French politics. We do not read anything about the roots of this emergence, nor the importance of communists within French political life.

- After 15 years of division, 1936 saw the merger of the two most important French trade unions: the CGT of the socialist Leon Jouhaux (Nobel Peace prize 1951) and the communist-oriented CGTU, led by Benoit Frachon. Together, they fought for the 40-hour work week and controlled an enormous block of voters, but are absent in the Hollow Years.

Moreover, the book is drenched with a sustained and often irritating antipathy towards virtually all leading French politicians, diplomats and armymen. Weber does not treat France kindly at all. The author allows himself to make patronizing comments towards the behavior of leading politicians on numerous occasions. The extreme negativity of the tone makes the reader constantly want to question the arguments which are put forward. As such, reading Hollow Years was a rather sharpening intellectual experience.

On first glance Weber does not appear to be an ideological historian. He is lighter, more charming, and more tolerant than, say, Richard Pipes. Peasants into Frenchman, his most famous book, is noticeably more profound than Pipes' own relfections on the Russian peasantry where the gap in class, religion and nation produces a noticeably gap in sympathy. But this is ultimately misleading. Weber is an ideologue of consumerism. The problem with this account of the thirties is the subtle but insinuating sense of superiority that Weber feels against France for being insufficiently wealthy, insufficiently successful, insufficiently innovative. It is too worried about dreary politics of the left and right, not like the hip charming sexy centrists of the New Republic. His anecdotes look less at complex debates about French diplomacy, its economic performance, class struggle and about the "real" issue of living in our joyful yet principled anti-Communist consumer utopia, and how France fails on this score. The result is a stimulating book full of lively detail which is subtly misleading. Historians recognize that they have the advantage of hindsight, and that the people they study do not. Weber seems to forget this crucial point.

Weber's gift for anecdote can be seen in his discussion of the diffusion of such things as refrigerators, telephones, electricity. French roads were so bad in the thirties that one would not bet to get from Paris to Lyons in less than nine hours. When Jacques Le Roy Ladurie, a leading French historian went for his driver's liscence, he hit a wall and a chicken and nearly missed a pedestrian, but still got his liscence. Carmelite nuns never washed themselves and used paper strips when menstruating. He describes the often hostile attitude towards feminism and towards immigrants.

Yet Weber's wide range of source reflects an indulgence in anecdotes rather than a sharp sense of analysis. The result is a scattershot impressionism which exaggerates French weakness and decline. He quotes Lindberg's contemptuous comments on the army, but other contemporary comments said French soliders were more determined and resolute. Weber quotes an unflattering song by Maurice Chevalier on the army, but not Paif's more patriotic Mon Legionnaire. Labor struggles are simply blamed at one point on communist agitation, much is made of pacifist fearmongering and naivete. Yet the sinister and authoritarian Croix de Feu is absolved of being fascist. Ultimately the arguments are strings of anecdotes which do not fully take into account of opposing arguments.

A montage of glimpses into France between the World Wars. A book of this short length, on such a subject, simply cannot cover it to any detail, no matter how skilfully written. Though the latter it certainly is, given the author's expertise as a writer and a historian.

The chapters are disconnected. There is little flow between one and the next. Which means that you can read them in any order, with little narrative loss.

Within a chapter, we see sharp anecdotes, that highlight the subject, be it the culture/s, migrants, religion or whatever. Some of these are bloody hilarious. Like, did you know that in some French cities, people were emptying slop buckets into the streets till the 1950s? Yuk! :-( Wow! That regular bathing was rare, and widely considered unhealthy?

Some attitudes, like the suspicion of the emanations of power lines, echo today's views in France and elsewhere in Europe, about genetically modified foods.

Quite a nice read.

Was so unhappy with this book I resold it the next day. Nothing here that cannot be found for free at a zillion web sites.

Okay, so the title is completely misleading. After reading the title, I picked up this book expecting to learn about how past winners made it that far, from how they selected the best contests for their screenplay to their techniques in entering. I expected a book full of success stories and testimonials I could look to when feeling a little discouraged. But it's not what I got.

I would describe this as a market listing more than a how-to book. It provides information on more than 150 screenplay competitions, with the usual market directory information: entry fees, categories, sponsors, contact information, deadlines, rules, etc. But when it comes to making that leap from an overwhelming list of contests to THE contest that is best for a screenplay (if such a thing exists), the pickings are fairly slim here. The book contains a smattering of short interviews and features on specific contests, but the focus here is on where to go and not how to get there.

The fact is that contest information is available (and often more current) in the trade magazines and on numerous websites. This book might provide a good place to start searching for the right contests, but ultimately it hasn't filled any need that I wasn't able to fill elsewhere.

When the first edition of this book was released, there were only 40 screenplay contests to enter. Today there are over 150 legitimate screenwriting competitions across the U.S. Entering screenplay contests is the best and most affordable way to get a screenplay noticed, optioned, sold, and ultimately produced. Guaranteed prizes, beatable odds-minimal investment for maximum return! Learn the odds of winning. This book contains comprehensive listings of screenplay contests to enter as well as provides insider information, testimonials and seasoned advice for writers ready to make their first pitch.

"Entering screenplay competitions can open the door to a lucrative career in writing for television or movies The fact is, Hollywood looks to screenwriting competitions for new talent. --Scr(i)pt magazine

I was surprised not to like this book, because the author's reference on C++ is one of my favorite C++ books. However, this book just does not cut the mustard. The class overviews that make up the bulk of the book never seem to have quite enough information or quite the right information, and the overview material in the early chapters isn't that great, either. Again, it's an issue of just not presenting useful information. Case in point: the discussion of "static" gets a total of three short paragraphs which bring up almost none of the important points about this keyword. Yet, almost two pages are devoted to recursion, which is certainly an important topic in computer science but isn't exactly the sort of thing that you're likely to be looking for when you go to a reference book on Java. If you're looking for a good general reference on Java, try David Flanagan's "Java In A Nutshell," instead.

I bought this book because my current java reference book was getting old. I chose this specific book because I have a C/C++ reference book by Herb Schildt which is excellent. In fact, I would highly recommend this book. However, I found this java reference to be too vague with not enough programming samples. I think I was expecting more from the book.

This book provides quick and fast reference to almost all the java api and implemented classes. In addition, it provides brief but clear explanation to important concepts such as inheritance, interface and exceptions that's meant to be more of a refresher.

I feel that this book is good for those who have fairly good concept of programming in other languages and just need the nitty stuff in the java language. Although most of the stuff you can probably read off the free Java SDK reference, I find it more handy to just search for what I need in the index of this book. Besides, I find the section on programming tips really useful and they save one the chore of having to go through all the details in thicker java programming reference books.

For beginners, Java 2: The Complete Reference, by the same author, might be a better choice, since it goes into details with all the important concepts and provides more examples.

I'm an ASP Developer. This book has let me down many times, I'm at the point now where if I have a question about SQL Server, I use online resources rather than wasting my time with this book.

I suppose if I were a DBA I would enjoy the book more? Not Sure. With ASP and SQL Server both being Microsoft Products, coupled with the fact that the 2 often go hand in hand in complex projects, I wonder why they barely touched on how ASP relates to SQL Server.

This book is certainly not aimed towards developers. Things like Views and Stored Procedures are not written very well at all which leaves me to look towards other resources and to leave this book collection on the shelf.

I supposed I got this becasue the Mastering ASP 3 book is such a gem, a true art work of knowededge. Don't be fooled with this one!!

Mastering SQL Server 2000 is one of the books that I see carried the most often onto a client site when doing SQL technical support. The text covers just about every aspect of SQL from a setup and administrative point of view as well as the basics of database theory. If you want a single general reference then this book works very well. On the other hand, if you want a detailed reference on programming SQL then there are better texts.

The book covers the administration of an SQL Server in great detail including explaining why you would use a particular feature and why you may not want to use it in a different scenario. For setting up a system and managing it this book it hard to beat.

Whether you are a new user, experienced user or an administrator, this book is hard to beat for theory, detailed information and administration of a Windows SQL Server 2000 system. Highly recommended read and required on any administrator's bookshelf.

This is solely for the first review to balance things out a bit - the book is not Mastering ASP - you need Professional ASP 3.0 by Wrox Press for that. Review the book for how it handles the product for which it was written. I just bought the book today and will post a review when I'm done - but I wanted to clarify #1's problem.

Practice questions were too easy and too few in number. Sybex has a lot of good study guides out there but this is not one of them. A better subject review can be found in the back of the excellent full sized study guide "SQL Server 7 Administration," by Christopher Wille et al., New Riders, 1999, ISBN 0735700036.

While I'm at it I'd also recommend the following texts for the 70-028 exam:

"Teach Yourself SQL Server 7.0 in 21 Days," by Richard Waymire and Rick Sawtell, Sam Publishing, 1999, ISBN 0672312905; and,

"Transact-SQL Programming," by Kevin Kline et al., O'Reilly & Assoc., 1999, ISBN 1565924010.

Both of these texts will also help with the 70-029 exam should you volunteer for the punishment.

I was both disappointed and pleasantly suprised when I finished reading this book.

As a study guide for exam 70-028, it doesn't go into enough detail all the time. In some parts it's very general, giving a high-level overview and in other parts it goes into great detail, telling you the exact menu selection (Tools - Replication - Configure ....) You need to have some experience with SQL Server to get the most out of this book. As I said, it will certainly supplement another more detailed study guide.

However, I believe this books strength is that it WILL be used as a reference guide to working with SQL Server. The chapters are well laid out and topics are easy to locate. I use this book in the "real world" quite a bit.

All in all, a very good book to have, but not the best source when you're studying for the exam

I've read this book twice in addition to Microsoft Books and Online help, with good SQL hands-on experience, and passed the exam with a good score. As usual, Sybex publications still one of the best material for certification from any company or organization (e.g. A+, Network+, MCSE, etc.).

Enjoy!