This is an elementary textbook on an advanced topic. This book is primarily for those who are eager to learn about broadband telecommunication networks and for students.

It focuses on the fundamentals of operation, architectures, protocols, and development of different kind of integrated broadband networks.

The different chapters about the LANs and MANs give the readers a very god knowledge about those networks. Different kinds of packet switching networks and their architectures are also covered extensively.

Fastly devoloping ATM and ISDN technologies are also being explained in this book.

In overall it is a very good book for aspiring learners.

This is a short introduction to the Iliad and the Odyssey. It is not very exciting but covers the standard academic territory pretty well. It has some nice sections in translation. Parts of it depend on having some knowledge of Greek. The author writes with the assured grace and precision of traditional British scholarship, which is always a pleasure to read. However the main thing this introduction has to recommend it is its brevity.

I found the first four days to the 30 day program some of the best and worthwhile tapes of the 30 day Personal POWER program. Right from the opening bell, Robbins comes out swinging, stressing that to change your life and to use your Personal Power, you must learn to take CONSISTENT action. How? By using The Ultimate Success FOrmula. Which is basically Four key elements to ask yourself when taking action. Other early benefits is learning The Controlling Force That Directs Your life. Day 3, Taking control: The First Step looks at our NEUROASSOCIATIONS and how we determine our behavior by determining how much (PAIN/PLEASURE)we link to a situation. Day 4 you will find yourself rubbing your ear while gargling water so that you interrupt an undesirable emotion or pattern of association. Robbins comes across as genuine and witty and not the "obnoxious infomercial sellsmen you see at four in the morning on Sunday."

This book gave me a quick and readable introduction to the STEM. Good work on the writers' part.

However, this is a short book, and doesn't go into much detail. It would be a good book for someone just starting out in STEM, but anyone with STEM experience might find only a few bits and pieces of the book enlightening.

NOTE: I haven't read this book cover-to-cover (I have a loaner copy from Blackwell), so keep that in mind when reading.

Another dinosaur textbook? This book competes directly with older dinosaur textbooks by Spencer Lucas and Fastovsky & Weishampel, as well as quasi-textbooks like the one by Dingus & Rowe. Martin's book covers much of the same ground, but has a different overall focus. Whereas F & W's text is largely focused on dinosaurs themselves, Martin's new book focuses largely on using dinosaurs to teach broader, more all-encompassing concepts. In fact, it does this to such a degree that the title might better be "Introduction to Science via Dinosaurs." Of the 16 chapters in the book, only 11-15 deal directly with the different groups of dinosaurs. (A better organization for the book might be to put these chapters much earlier in the book, since the terms detailed in them are used in most of the earlier chapters!) Other chapters discuss topics of great importance to paleontologists, and therefore certainly deserve coverage in a book such as this! They include discussions of how science works (in the context of defining things and scientific methodology, Chapters 1-2), how/why paleo and geology are sciences (Chap. 3), history of dinosaur studies (Chap. 4), anatomy, histology & classification (Chap. 5), taphonomy (Chap. 6), ichnology (Chap. 7), eggs & nests (Chap. 8), feeding habits (Chap. 9), evolution (Chap. 10), and extinctions plus birds as dinosaurs (Chap. 16). Some concepts are covered elsewhere in the book, too (e.g., histology in the theropod chapter, genetics in the evolution chapter, paleobiogeography covered throughout the text, etc.)

Aside from the above criticism, the organization of the book is pretty good. Each chapter opens with a hypothetical scenario designed to illustrate the importance of understanding the material presented in each chapter; the chapters end with summaries, suggested review/discussion questions and, in many cases, URLs for further information. The book contains numerous pictures and schematics, mostly in color (though most photos are, sadly, shrunken, darkened, and restricted to the page margins such that things described in the captions are invisible in the actual photo) - color photos are largely absent in other dinosaur textbooks (but their inclusion in Martin's book is probably the culprit for the high price for a cloth-back book!) Key terms (and names) are presented in bold throughout the book, though a few of the terms emphasized are rarely, if ever, used in day-to-day paleontology (e.g., "panaramittee"). There is a fairly extensive glossary and a nicely complete index.

The text is quite explanatory, and mostly straightforward. In many instances, it's downright lighthearted (particularly in figure captions, which often use things like "English professors" for scale!)

One thing that Martin's book presents that may scare some readers away is a quantity of math (algebra). Math is virtually absent in other dinosaur texts, but is used well here to demonstrate how paleontologists can quantify and analyze various aspects of their research (e.g., calculating the discharge and momentum of moving water to explain taphonomic sorting, speed as determined from footprints, the volume of an ellipsoid egg, Archimedes' displacement principle, and how radiometric ages are determined). Martin thoughtfully breaks using each equation into basic, numbered steps (something even most math books never do), making the appearance of the math much less daunting. Of course, for everything Martin covers in the book, one could easily complain that any one subject is not detailed enough, or that some things were not covered at all, but as with all dinosaur textbooks, one must keep in mind that typical undergraduate courses, for which this book is clearly designed, are meant to do precisely what this book does: use dinosaurs as a locus for introducing many other sciences...that's "introducing," not "covering exhaustively." Even the 16 chapters in this book may be too many for a standard 12-week semester!

The book is enough up-to-date to include important new finds as the feathered Caudipteryx, new Jurassic ankylosaurs, etc.) It is also quite even-handed in covering "hot-button" topics (e.g. presenting both the "pro-" and "anti-theropod" points of view on bird origins, as well as scientific ethics, including private collecting).

Martin's book is a serious contender in the small but growing realm of texts aimed at using dinosaurs to introduce students to science as a whole. It is less "dinocentric" than others, but perhaps that is for the better, because it thus more adequately covers other scientific disciplines, thus providing a better overall tour through science as a whole. Martin notes in his preface that he considers himself an educator above all else, and this book clearly is intended to educate. Only the shrunken photos and rather prohibitive price (for a non-hardback) hold it back.

This is a path-breaking book, the first of its genre in Malaysian 'post-modern' historiography. It is both about the invention of Malay politics as well as Malay identity articulated eloquently through the dialogues between three nationalist positions, name, 'bangsa', 'kerajaan' and 'ummah'. A good read on Malay intellectual history,too.

This book lacks poetry but is filled with important information.

Iron Maiden is a very pleasant read. It manages to cover the time span of the entire series to this point, but with a fresh perspective. While the writing is not as strong as the other Space Tyrant books, it did a nice job of filling in the holes where Spirit's life was concerned. Finally, we get inside her head... though to a limited degree. Hope was the author of his own biography, whereas Spirit provided Hopie with materials and let her expand upon them as appropriate. Once you accept that the approach fits with Spirit as we know her from the other books, the different tone works. Overall, a pleasant finish to a series that is one of Piers Anthony's best.

Gar Anthony Haywood's It's Not a Pretty Sight is a gritty story that takes place on the streets of South Central Los Angeles. They are, indeed, not a pretty sight. In addition to the mystery, Haywood portrays the tragedy of life, sometimes the hopelessness and certainly the pain. But he also reveals the good that can survive amidst evil and death and pain, the roses that grow among the most robust of weeds. Aaron Gunner, p.i., seeker after the truth, learns that Nina Hillman has been killed and the police are looking for her estranged husband, Michael Pearson. Gunner's reaction is dictated by the past. He has never been able to forget an abused woman he chose not to help who was found dead the next day, killed by her abuser. Gunner blamed himself for her death. Also ten years ago, Gunner had been planning to marry Nina, but broke it off just three months before the wedding. Again he blames himself a little for her death. So he determines that he will avenge her death and, when Michael Pearson attacks him, he fires back and gravely wounds him. But Pearson insists that he did not kill Nina and gives Gunner his alibi. Gunner, alone of everyone who knew Nina, began to doubt Pearson's guilt. So he initiated a one-man crusade to discover who was guilty. On his quest he learns about abuse, why men hit on women and why women often do not leave these men. He also discovers relationships which sometimes fester and turn sour. One by one all the people who had reason to hate Nina are exposed and then cleared. The loner continues to search for justice and truth until he finds them. Gunner is a complex and somewhat enigmatic man who does seem to be first cousin to Shane and all the other cowboys who rode into town at high noon. The bit players are well developed and memorable as well. The setting is authentic, from the barber shop where Gunner has his "office" to the bar where he drinks when he is depressed. The only quarrel I had with this book was the solution to the murder; I felt Haywood reached a bit to select the murderer. However, I did not catch the clues that he had dropped so lightly and so delicately. I went back and looked; they were all there. If you enjoy tough p.i.'s and mean streets and straight-forward stories, this is a book you will savor. I found the character of Gunner redeeming and ethical, a man who supersedes his environment and typifies all the virtues and vices by which the human animal survives

Here are two of Ian Fleming's lesser known stories, both quite different, but each has the classic elements of Fleming's Bond. (Not to be confused with the movie version of Bond) The Living Daylights is a taunt, compact version of a Fleming thriller. Bond is sent to protect a defector going to the west via Berlin. He falls for a girl that he can only watch from his perch. He dreams of her, only to have the rug pulled from him at the end of the Story. Quantum of solance is a quite different story, in which Bond is not involved. He is a guest of a high ranking official, who, to make conversation, tells him a story of an associate of his. Again, in this story there is a delicious twist at the end.

The reading of these stories give life to them. Quite the change from watching Roger Moore trot around the world shooting out quips rather then lead.