I got this book, along with 3 other Sloane & MacHale lateral thinking puzzle books for Christmas one year. At first it seemed like a sorry excuse for a gift, but as I read this one first, I found that it was a challenging endeavor of the mind. Lateral thinking, it seems, is taking a situation and finding a solution that is not the most obvious, but usually the most logical. That said, this is challenging to say the least. A good book for people who enjoy mind games.

I love this type of puzzle and this book has some great ones. They are great for making a long road trip more interesting. I am in college and I love them but so does my mom and younger sister. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes lateral thinking games.

Reading the book does not require prior knowledge and training in linguistics or social theory because the book was written at the really introductory level. The author has intentionally stayed away from using too many technical jargons and dumping too many names on his readers. Thus, it is actually a very good introduction for students who haven't had prior experiences of reading linguistic stuffs. While the book does not deal with discourse analysis deeply, it certainly can provide an entry point for people who would like to know more about discourse analysis.

Professor Gee is easily one of the most exciting literacy/language/education/discourse thinkers of our time. This book is perfect for those thinking of researching the ways that language/talk/discourse reflect cultural/political/societal models. Gee is always on the cutting edge of this kind of research, and if you want to know how he does it, buy this book!

This book is excellent. The author has the unique ability to cover the subject in great detail including all the theory, but yet make the reading very easy and enjoyable. I was amazed that I could read 750 pages of advanced and new material in a few weeks. The book unfortunately has many errors and typos which prevents me from giving it 5 stars.

Starting first with the negatives, of which they are four. First, do not be fooled by the title word "introduction." This is NOT a book for beginners, but rather senior engineers. If you are new to EMC this is not the book for you. Second, information relative to FCC/CE requirements is dated. Also, some tests relative to CE compliance are not covered. Third, though there are many diagrams, there are almost no pictures. In many cases I found a picture, as opposed to a diagram would have been far more explanatory. Lastly (though it does not bother me in the least, but I thought you would like to know), the book has numerous typos through out its 752 pages.

Ahhhhhh, but what the book is, IS ABSOLUTLY WONDERFUL! As an experienced design consultant, I found information in this book that I have not, and could not find anywhere else. The author has A COMMAND of the subject and it shows. Compared to my peers, I consider myself fairly well versed in the subject of EMC as it pertains to design and debug, but I took a back seat when reading. It was useful even re-reading the things I already knew. The author always offered a new insight. Funny, but after I finished (and it took a while to read) my first thought was "I would really like to meet this guy - to personally request a sequel." For what it is, THIS BOOK IS EXCELLENT, well worth the asking price.

To prepare for my first semester teaching statistics, I asked several colleagues for advice and references. Texts by Brunk and DeGroot were very useful and helped me organize and clarify for my students the material in our "statistics for engineers" text. Recently I discovered the three wonderful volumes by Hoel, Port, and Stone. In particular I found nice pictures to illustrate and explain the central limit theorem. There are also many exercises and worked examples. The next statistics course I teach will be greatly improved thanks to these books and the work that went into writing them.

When I was a graduate student at Stanford in the mid 1970s I took my first course in stochastic processes out of the companion book on stochastic processes by these authors. The three volumes "Introduction to Probability", "Introduction to Statistics" and "Introduction to Stochastic Processes" were produced at about the same time with the intention of covering the first three graduate courses on these subjects in a statistics porgram. I had different texts for my probabilty and statistics courses but these three texts were excellent and very similar in style. They are all clear and concise and could be best studied in the order given above.

This book is really easy to understand. Its language is so simple. Anyone can read and understand it so well, even if your first language is not English. It gives nice examples with details to explain the solutions of the problems. It's about 19 chapters and they are: 0. Algebra Refresher. 1. Equations. 2. Applications of Equations and Inequalities. 3. Functions and Graphs. 4. Line, Parbolas, and Systems. 5. Exponential and Logarthimic Functions. 6. Matrix Algebra. 7. Linear Programming. 8. Mathematics of Finance. 9. Introduction of Probability and Statistics. 10. Additional Topics in Probablity. 11. Limits and Continuity. 12. Differentiation. 13. Additional Differentiation Topics 14. Curve Sketching. 15. Applications of Differentiation 16. Integration. 17. Methods of Applications of Integration. 18. Continuous Random Variables. 19. Multivariable Calculus. I recommend this book for students or readers for business because it teaches the basics of the topics (above)

The authors of this book seems to be a mathematician if you take a good look at all his other books. Great for intermediate mathematicians!

The Invisible Man is a classic science fiction novel, having an incredibly strong plot and being written in a way that utilizes it to the utmost. Through suspense and conclusion it keeps you thinking and, of course, wanting to complete it. It was hard to put down to go to bed.

This Penguin Classics audiobook is actually a three-hour, two cassette UNabridged presentation of Wells' novel, despite Amazon's listing of it as "abridged".

Paul Shelly gives an excellent reading. His narration is eloquent and melodious, and his remarkable voice talent captures the individual essence and quirks of each character. This rendition preserves every bit of the suspense and drama of Wells' classic moral tale of science without scruples, and it bears up well under repeated listening. I keep my copy in the car, and at times it has left me reluctant to arrive at my destination. Very highly recommended.

This book differs from most of Eiseley's other writing in that it seems to be more pessimistic and resigned. The dominant image presented in the book's essays - and not one most people would sympathize with - is that human society is like a slime mold colony. That is, from an original spore the colony grows and grows in complexity until it spews out new spores to be carried by the wind and start other colonies far away - as the parent colony dies, having put all its life into sending out the fresh spore.

Eiseley took this veiw of man as the U.S. was moving into the early days of the exploration of space. It is an interesting analogy, suggesting that as life expands outward from our world the life that sustained the outward thrust will perish. Maybe so, but these essays simply don't convince or please in the way that his previous books of natural writing did. The gloom is too overriding and there is no sense of nature triumphant.

While Eiseley was always a man of bleak vision, that vision was always before filtered through a kind of verbal and mental artistry that is not shown here. Even someone as pessimistic as myself prefers to be offered some hope of redemption for the human race. At this point in his life, Eiseley didn't seem to see any.

Although a little dated - but necessarily so, I found The Invisible Pyramid to be a powerful reminder of our (man's) egocentrism and of the unpopular probability that our brief parenthesis in time will soon end - in terms of geological time, which Eisley so forcefully describes. Perhaps the critics who find this work "too pessimistic" or "too bleak", simply do not admit the presuppositions upon which they are based. This may reflect the critic's inability to accept the inevitable. In "The Invisible Pyramid", Eisley provides a powerful defense of the position that humanity will probably pass from the scene and that it is doubtful that other similar species have occurred elsewhere in the universe. Such a conclusion is often mistakenly seen as nihilistic, reflecting a naivete' on the part of the reader. Some find solace in this view and others find dispair. Existentialists find solace by first passing through - and beyond - the gates of Eisley's dispair.

Les Blough

Paul Kearney's third book in this series begins to finally tie together some of the plot lines that have built up during the previous two books. Needless to say, his high quality of writing is again on show. Likewise, the gritty nature of warfare in this series makes this book one for more adult readers.

The author manages to combine absorbing plot threads and action with quality characters, and a sense of depth that other authors such as George R Martin have become (rightly) famous for. I highly recommend this book, along with its two precursors as well-worthwhile reading material. As always, never judge a book by it's cover. My first impressions of the dustjacket design and story synopsis were lukewarm at best. Having finally picked it up and read it I was far more impressed than I thought I would be. Of course, if you don't read them in order you're shorting yourself.

In "The Iron Wars," Paul Kearney outdoes what he has done in the first two books of "The Monarchies of God" series. This book is much more political than the first two novels and this has much more military action than them as well. This book opens up with a riveting prologue that will be sure to lure you in to this creative tale. From there you are taken back to the lands of Normannia and its doings.

Even though this book doesn't deal with what is going on on the Western Continent, this book is still great. Most of the novel involves Albrec and Avila and their quest to bring the biography of Saint Ramusio to Macrobius and the war that is being taken place with the Merduks. Therefore, most of this book takes place in Torunna, while some of it takes place in Hebrion's capital, Abrusio.

Kearney's writing skills are superb. Not many author's are capable of doing what Kearney does. He gives you many plots and lots of characters and manages to keep you hooked like a skilled writer should. You won't be bored while reading this book as important events take place one after the other.

This isn't the best fantasy novel that I've ever read but it will certainly leave an impression on me in years to come. If you have read the first two novels of "The Monarchies of God" series then this is the book for you to read. This book will not disappoint and I guarantee that you will enjoy this novel immensely. This is what fantasy is all about it.

Happy Reading!

Paul Smith lovingly and accurately shows that yes we can call God "Mother". This is not instead of Father, or the Good Shepherd, or the Rock, or any of the many words we use to describe God. Smith shows how the words used in the Bible are male based because of the culture of the times. Allowing ourselves to call God Mother opens up a whole new view and image of God, without destroying the Male image. If we here on earth believe that a child grows up best with a father and a mother - doesn't it also make sense that as a child of God we have a heavenly Father AND a heavenly Mother? Smith doesn't destroy the image of God he adds to it, and challenges us to use inclusive language in church messages and music. With single parent families ever increasing and mothers mostly doing the raising of the children, it is getting increasingly harder for people to conjur up the image of a loving heavenly Father. This book will help you see a bigger, clearer, and beautiful image of God. A strong recommend.

This book helped me to see the value of women in the eyes of God. Not just as a delicate flower but as a strong spiritual force in the body of Christ. This book is theologically sound and easy to understand. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in expaning their perception of God!

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot. The author does have a bias, but supports his arguments well. The idea that the New Testament is reliable without having to rely on the 'every word is true' approach is refreshing.

This book is thoughtful, straightforward and well written. I'd recommend it.

This books is an incredible resource for anyone interested in taking a serious, objective look at the background information behind the NT. It does not simply assert it's truth, as many opposing views of the Bible do, but calmly weaves many seemless arguments which, to this author's knowledge, have gone unchallenged thus far in Christianity.