A great overview of how to convey information through cartography. The author chooses to focus on mapping environmental hazards to demonstrate this; their may be other topics that would lend itself to the exercise but the chosen subject seems a perfect fit. Entertaining and accessible.

Monmonier, a professor of geography at Syracuse University, discusses the art and science of hazard-zone mapping, "a momentous adaptation of electronics and numerical analysis", in this clearly-written explanation of the possibilities and limitations of the new cartographic genre.
Assuming no special cartographic knowledge on the part of the reader, the author begins with the basics of scale in map-making, and proceeds to explore the ways in which tornadoes, earthquakes, environmental pollution hazards, crime, and other risks are analyzed and translated into usable graphical form.
Noting that "it is wise to question the map maker's motives", Monmonier also encourages the reader to view risk-maps with some healthy skepticism as "partly rhetorical,,,social constructions" which "can always be manipulated".
With numerous charts, graphs, and maps, Monmonier's work is highly recommended as a clear exposition of geographic hazards and a useful tool for evaluating one's own level of risk.

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

Ch1 The psychological reasons Q is taken for granted. Q literature is written in the language of "discovery" as if an archaeological find rather than a hypothesis. The literature goes from calling it a "source" to calling it a "gospel document." Many scholars either ignore or are unaware of rival hypotheses. Although Q is taken for granted, people can't agree on a reconstruction of it.

Ch2 Arguments for the priority of Mark. His strongest argument is the argument from fatigue. Where Matthew or Luke alter Mark, they sometimes fail to incorporate the change throughout the passage being redacted leaving it incoherent.

Ch3 Answers some arguments for Luke's independence from Matt. According to Burton Mack, Matt was written in the late 80's and Luke around 120, yet Luke had a copy of Q, but not Matt. Goodacre argues that if Luke was written that late, he would be more likely to have a copy of Matt than Q because Q was waning in popularity and Matt was gaining in popularity. Fitzmyer argued that Luke is ignorant of Matt's additions to Mark, but Goodacre shows that Luke agrees with Matt's additions to Mark.

Ch4 Explains why Luke follows Mark's order, but not Matt's. If Luke follows Mark's order but not Matt's, so the argument goes, because he's following Q, and not Matt. Goodacre thinks the claim is overstated because Luke somtimes DOES diverge from Mark's order. Since Matt was written later than Mark, Luke was likely more familiar with Mark. Mark became his primary source and Matt was suplementary. Goodacres shows that Luke breaks up long discourse in Mark 4 which makes it understandable that he would break up Matt's sermon on the mount. Sermon on the mount is very Mathean, so it's reasonable to think Luke would alter it.

Ch5 How narrative criticism could shed light on redaction criticism. Fitzmyer said, "Why would so literary an artist as Luke want to destroy the Matthean masterpiece of the Sermon on the Mount?" Goodacre replies, "It is the thesis of this chapter that it is precisely because Luke is 'so literary an artist' that he would have wanted creatively to rework the Sermon on the Mount." He points out that Luke's purpose was to write an orderly account, so Luke was able to take from Matt's long discourses and weave them into a more plausible historical biography.

Ch6 How Jesus films can shed light on the synoptic problem--analogy of film makers working with their sources. JESUS OF NAZARETH has no Sermon the Mount, but distibutes the material. Film makers abreviate, omit, relocate, and redistrubute to add dramatic effect and biographical plausibility, especially with the Sermon on the Mount, yet they know Matt and aren't cranks for changing it. On the other hand, some of these reworkings were probably inspired by Luke's reworking. But that shows Matt's sermon is not superior to Luke since film makers choose Luke over Matt. Goodacre refutes the argument that Luke wouldn't have altered Matt's masterpeice unless he was a crank because Matt's version is superior to Luke's.

Ch7 Discusses the beatitude, blessed are the poor (in spirit). Matt has "in spirit" but not Luke or Thomas, so it is argued that the version without "in spirit" is more primitive, and therefore reflects Q, explaining why Luke doesn't use Matt's "in spirit." Goodacre explains why Luke would change Matt's version by pointing out that 1) Luke is concerned with the poor, 2) reversals in Luke (blessings and woes) would not work with "in the spirit," for it would have to be contrasted with "woe to the rich in flesh" or "woe to the rich in spirit" which doesn't make sense, and 3) beatitude was addressed to disciples who had left worldly posessions to follow Jesus and were actually poor. Goodacre also says that Luke and Thomas probably agree because Thomas relied on Luke. To explain why, in the beatitudes, Thomas changed "kingdom of God" to "kingdom of heaven" while Luke has "kingdom of heaven" and Matt has "kingdom of God," Goodacre points out that nowhere in Thomas do you find "kingdom of heaven."

Ch8 Argues that Luke used Matt, which is evident in the minor agreements between Luke and Matt against Mark in triple tradition. Against the argument that the minor agreements are too minor to prove anything, Goodacre points out that there's a sliding scale from minor agreements to major agreements (called Mark-Q overlap by Q theorists) to double traditions, and these categories are artificial.

Ch9 Discusses the relevence of Thomas on the synoptic problem, since Thomas seems to give precedence to the genre of "sayings gospel." He argues that they really aren't the same genre since Q has a narrative sequence containing chronology and biography not found in Thomas, especially in the first 1/3 of Q. He explains the other 2/3 and how it is explicable on the assumption that Luke used Matt.

Goodacre is an outstanding teacher. He took a tedius subject and explained it in a way that was easy to follow. His arguments are sharp and well-articulated. He uses footnotes instead of endnotes so you don't have to flip back and forth to read them. The only bad things I have to say about the book is that the vast majority of it answers objections to Luke's use of Matthew, and only a small percentage of the book makes the case that Luke used Matt. He does a great job of tearing down one point of view, but doesn't do much in the way of building up his own case. Ch8 seemed to be the only chapter that really argued positively for his case, and I think more should've been said about the major and minor agreements between Matt and Luke against Mark. The book is way over-priced. There are 17 pages of bibliography, but there are only 189 pages of text.

The Case Against Q: Studies In Markan Priority And Synoptic Problem By Mark Goodacre (Lecturer in New Testament, Department of Theology, University of Birmingham, England) is a crucial and scholarly study of the relationship between the Biblical figures of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The "Q" hypothesis claims that Matthew and Luke referred to another source as well as Mark. That source, now lost, is called "Q." The Case Against Q is a meticulously researched, well-reasoned, carefully documented, cautious analysis and criticism of the Q hypothesis. A fascinating in-depth look at Synoptic relationships, The Case Against Q is a seminal and highly recommended addition to Biblical studies reading lists and reference collections.

This book was very helpful! Don't think I could have passed the Cisco Secure VPN exam without it. The exam is difficult however this book helped me pass. Definitely worth the money!

This book was very helpful and allowed me to pass the new Cisco Secure VPN exam. The exam is difficult however the book has a lot of good information in it and is definitely worth the money.

Yes - they can. At Heights Elementary in Pittsburg California back 35 years ago or so we would have a jumping frog contest every year in the circles used for kick ball. All the kids would bring giant frogs and let them go from the center of the ring. OH MY! It was so much fun - all because of this book (I am still scared of frogs to this day) but I love the book and every kid should read it.

"Jumping Frog" is a wonderful, hilarious story (among a group of several other great ones) that my father read to me as a kid. If you love Twain, get it.

I used this book only for my study for the CCDA, and found it to be quite exceptional. It covered all of the areas that are on the test. The ideas, protocols and terminology are well explained and the scenario Case Studies at the end are simply AWESOME! The practice tests on CD are great too with a lot of what I found on the exam itself. I spent about two weeks reading it and another two on the CD. It really wasn't that difficult. This is my first Cisco certification and I hope the others are as easy as this one was! Get this book and get certified, it's that simple.

This was a real cool book about networks and their design. Lot's of great info about protocols, devices, WAN's and how to plan and diagram a first class network. I bought it because I wanted the Beachfront Quizzer CD but found the book to be equally as good. I was also relieved when I found the exam scenarios weren't far off from the case studies in the book. I passed with time to spare. This book is all I used. If you want a Cisco cert, this books all you'll need.

*Chance in Biology* is one of the best science books I have ever read (and I have read quite a few of them). This book applies probability theory (along with other topics in math and physics) to biological phenomena. A big PLUS for this book is that the authors intentionally wrote the book to be accessible to an educated but nonspecialized audience.

I really enjoyed the authors' discussion of random walks applied to 'genetic drift' (the likelihood that offsprings' genomes will be different than their parents') and a surprising application of probability theory to elastic materials found in nature.

I also enjoyed their chapter on the probability of extreme phenomena -- which is an obviously useful topic that gets short shrift in many probability and statistics books I have seen. They even use baseball statistics in that chapter!

Another interesting part of this book was the discussion and the practice problems dealing with Bayes' Theorem. The concepts discussed in this book is something that all health care officials and lawyers should familiarize themselves with.

Some caveats about the book:

(a) The reader should be familiar with the 1st year of college calculus. While it is is possible that someone with only an understanding of algebra can get a lot out of the book, the calculus would help. I should note that you do not need to know a lot of calculus and someone who is 'mathophobic' could still get a lot out of the book.

(b) This book does not deal too much with inferential statistics. This book focuses in on probability, which is the cornerstone of statistics. However, when it does touch upon inferential statistics, it does a superb job.

(c) I wish the authors spent a little bit of time going over Markov Chains (random walks is a type of Markov Chain and the book does deal with that but without talking about MC explicitly). But that is a minor complaint.

Rounding out my praise for this book is the fact that most of the chapters have practice problems and ALL of the problems have solutions to them at the back of the book. I can't even begin to tell you how great having all of the solutions for all of the problems is for self-study/comprehension. The problems provided are no 'toy problems' either ... they are actually extremely helpful in not only testing one's grasps of the materials but also in illuminating and extending the points made in the particular chapter.

Other miscellanous positive things about *Chance in Biology*:

- a sample MATLAB program to simulate random phenomenon (in the solution to one of the practice problems)

- a chapter that deals with 'noise' .... interesting for those interested in Chaos

- authors make an excellent distinction between non-deterministic random/stochastic phenomena vs. deterministic Chaos

- many more good things!!!

Bottom-line: If you are at all interested in probability, applied math, physics, chemistry, or biology, you should buy this book.

Biology progressed from natural history to its great depth and breadth in part from the inclusion of truly quantitative ideas from math, physics, and chemistry. The mantle of greatest expositor of these ideas in recent times may have passed from Stephen Vogel (his excellent books are well worth reading) to Mark Denny. Here, with Steven Gaines, he takes us into extreme events, the limits of our ability to hear and to see, the elasticity of spider silk, and more. The math is demanding, but it should be; Denny and Gaines make no bones about it, but reward the reader. Denny's book, Air and Water, is equally a pleasure to read.

The book's description of how to do nonlinear optical experiments is outstanding. I have never seen a book that explains how measurements are done and how one can relate measurements to susceptibilities. These kinds of details are never described in journal articles and can usually be found only in hard-to-find Ph.D. dissertations. Many of the chapters are written by the experts that invented the measurement techniques being discussed, so this book gives you an inside track. The first three chapters very nicely present the theory that is used in the rest of the book. Given that each chapter is written by a different group of people, the book fits together nicely. This is the one book I would choose to take to a desert island because it has all the basics. A must buy for anyone interested in the cutting edge of materials nonlinear optics.

This book is one of the best resources I've seen. Nonlinear optical properties are tabulated and experimental techniques are described. Chapter 3 is an extremely useful treatment of the relationship between molecular and bulk properties and includes lots of stuff that's never been published anywhere else. I use it as a reference all the time. The book is pricey but worth every penny.

I already have the Chicken Soup for Little Souls Gift Collection. I bought several gift collections and gave them as Christmas Gifts last year and plan to do the same this year! The entire Chicken Soup for the Soul series is so uplifting and heartwarming. Each story touches your heart like no other. Whenever I'm feeling down, I pick up a Chicken Soup for the Soul book and start reading. I recommend it for all ages, young and for the young-at-heart!

All of the books that I have read are very good. I am just a mother and a student, but every book has gave me the courage and strenght to deal with everyday situations differently. When you stop to realize that someone out there has life problems just the same as you do, your day seem not as lonley. I have only read CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOULS, and CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE WOMANS SOUL. But they have really inspired me a greatly.

I liked this book because it is a good story of a girl who visits her neighbor who is old and lonely. This lady (Miss Maggie) tells a story to the little girl who visits her (Ellie) about a doll that she had when she was a girl. For her Eighth Birthday she got a doll with big blue eyes. She laid her doll on the hallway table. Then when they heard a crash. It was the doll. Her Birthday was coming up and they bought a present for her. What happened to the doll? To find out what happens next read this book.

Call me sentimental, but there's something to this story that tugs at your heart strings every time you read it. And I've read this at least a dozen times.

The story tells of the relationship between Ellie and her sitter Miss Maggie and of the very special birthday gift that Ellie gets for Maggie out of "pure love."

The illustrations are quite beautiful and complement the story very well. A tender story creates a tender heart. This is the best book in the Chicken Soup for Little Souls' series.

I am a mother of a 6 and 7 year old. This is an excellent book for their age and also older children(a 9 year old neighbor borrowed the book until she read it all). The stories touch your soul so deeply and some will make you laugh, some will make you cry. EXCELLENT!!!

Fewer things can be more precious to a parent, than spending meaningful, quality time with their children. I got a copy of this book for just that purpose - to use for those special times we have together as a family & I have not been disappointed. At the end of the day, I enjoy taking some time before they go to bed to read, talk & enjoy each others' company. I have reserved "Chicken Soup for the Kids Soul" for those special times. I have to hide the book so my kids won't read ahead of where we have left off. And when I am done reading, they don't want to stop. It has been more than just a book. It has been a springboard for meaningful family discussions, to talk about situations & how we feel about them, what we would do, & how we would react. To laugh, cry, feel & be touched by the lives of those around us. It helps us to see the bigger picture, & how much more there is to this world & the people & children world-wide than what we could ever see, hear, or experience ourselves. I believe I am learning just as much - if not more from it than my children are, & would highly recommend it for other families, parents & children. It's something which can be experienced in so many ways.