An intruiging book that shows you what the Vikings did for a life, what they built in their time, what they made and also who they fought and taught other siblings how to fight. I reccomend the book for an enjoyable reading time.

This recent entry from the Scientific American Library is a fair introduction to its topic. Its format meets the high standards of the series with well organized layouts and eye-catching pictures, illustrative drawings, reprints of paintings and computer graphics. The text is written for people with no computing or mathematical background; there is not one line of code or equation to be found. A history of visualization - the visual arts prior to computers - is provided as it relates to the means used by computer scientists to mimic perceived reality. Techniques are discussed in general terms, demonstrated with graphic results. The differences in conscious, serial processing and preconscious, parallel (i.e., visual) processing that most people engage in are outlined. In many ways it seems to be a well rounded volume.

Yet there are signs that much more could have been included. From a layout standpoint, when compared with other volumes in the Scientific American Library, this book is very "lite". The space between the lines of text is large. For a book with only 132 pages of single column text (including illustrations, some of which take two full pages; other volumes have 200 or more pages, some volumes compacting two columns per page) the authors must not have had much to say about their topic. Unlike the majority of other volumes in the series, there is no list of books to suggest for further reading in the topic following the end of the text - a surprising omission.

From a content standpoint there are three issues. First, there are issues touched on in this book which are dealt with in greater detail in other volumes in the Scientific American Library. The issues of human perception and conscious and preconscious processing are well described in "Perception" by Irvin Rock. The issues of color perception and how it is accomplished are reviewed in depth in "Eye, Brain, and Vision" by David H. Hubel. The illustration on page 122 is similar to one on page 14 in "Supercomputing and the Transformation of Science" by William J. Kaufmann III and Larry L. Smarr, where they take time to describe how this visualization helps atmospheric scientists understand the phenomena of thunderstorms and how to model them. "Visual Computing" does not analyze how recent achievements in visuals and computing aid science and the arts.

Second, for a book that includes the word 'computing' in its title, there is no discussion of the science of computing. Though the word 'algorithm' is used, it is not sufficiently described. The algorithms and techniques mentioned in the text are not denoted in computing terms. True, there are plenty of books which cover this, especially with page after page of mind-numbing math equations and arcane code examples. But there is a need for a general, non-specialist text for describing what computing is, especially in relation to making visuals via a computer. This book does not meet this need.

Third, it would be instructive to have a history of computer-generated visuals over the past 40 years. Examples from computer games (from Pong to Final Fantasy maybe) or movies (from "Tron" to "Final Fantasy" and "Gladiator", uses of digitalization and digital editing) or other easily recognizable mass media could be used, to demonstrate the science of visual computation behind them. The complexity of computation, greater capabilities of computing hardware, better algorithms with explanations of why they are better now than earlier, centralized versus networked visual computing, digitalization: these and other aspects would make a facinating history for showing the progress that has been made. "Visual Computing" does not provide this.

This book is a massive tome, but its informative contentis much lower than its weight suggests. Part of this isbecause the book pays too little attention to teaching the Perl it uses in its examples; it also comes from the use of other Unix tools like lex and sgmls that most beginners will not recognise. As a beginner's book, it's an exercise in frustration, but those who already know its subject matter should find the examples interesting starting points for their own CGI projects. For a good beginning text, try Thomas Boutell's CGI book (also available from amazon.com).

This book has an answer to most questions you could have regarding web site maintenance, although it is heavily biased towards configuring UNIX servers. Windows NT, for example, doesn't get much of a mention. Also, many of the examples are written in Perl which was a shame as I was more interested in CGI written with shell scripts.

Some topics do not go into enough detail. For example, the section on how to install two servers on a single machine, each responding to different domain names, tells you "what" to do but not "how" to do it.

Where the book does excel, however, is in describing the concepts of how the internet works.

This is a warm, funny, and sometimes all-too-true book on the fine art of being pregnant. Great fun to tuck in with a shower gift.

I think this book will be interesting to kids who like science, mysteries, and CSI-type shows (though the book is definitely for a younger audience than CSI!). I like the way it takes the kids step by step through an investigation and gives them an idea of just how many pieces of evidence are left behind at the scene of a crime and how police are able to glean information from them. The major drawback I found as I read through the book was that it would really have helped to have had pictures of the various instruments described. For instance, it mentions several types of microscopes. For those of us who are used to seeing only the basic microscope used in a school science lab, it would have made things clearer to see how those are different from a stereoscopic microscope, an electron microscope, a comparison microscope, and a polarizing microscope. Similarly, when pictures are shown of an image from one of those microscopes, it would be helpful to have labels showing what (for example) is the hair and what is the shampoo, or what is the bark and what is the pollen.

This is a very good book for EMT's and emergency workers. It can be used as a baseline for training protocol, polices and procedures. It is especially good for the new orientee, beginner or trainers.

I would have much preferred another title to Mark Lowery's book, because it suggests that black men - good, decent, hard-working black men, do not have proper place in today's society. And while mainstream America might not hold African-American men dear, they are certainly held in esteem in black families. That said, I certainly understand Mr. Lowery's premise for the book. Some of the essays are poignant, particularly the ones told from the perspective of Avery Brown. Mr. Lowery's conclusion, it seems, is that black men are everywhere and are everything - good fathers, loving husbands and sons. Some of them, however, succumb to drugs and depression - as are lots of other men of varying ethnicities and race. Fortunately for them, there's no book questioning their presence or disappearance.

This book is good help for memorize.In audting,many terms appear, but you study and learn much more. This focus note is very concise,and movile.In the bed,the rest room...you have a time and intention,you can do that! Mnemonics are helpful like Becker course,ie,percv,etc. You can save time and energy to pass the exam!!!

The materials are clearly out-of-date. It was published in 1997. It is already three years ago. Lots of changes have been made for AICPA rules and materials.