Mr. Larsen carefully details Bill Koch's diligently applied Total Quality Management philosophy, which always places attitude and teamwork first; it's an expert treatise on personnel management. Koch's no-nonsense approach to the pursuit of excellence in scientific research (boat design and building) is also very illuminating. Koch won the America's Cup because he earned it; money alone cannot buy victory in such a contest. A great book.

Set against the backdrop of the America's Cup, Bill Koch demonstrates his plan for success and beats Dennis Conner, the most famous sailor in the world, in his own backyard. Koch's approach to the America's Cup can be applied to yacht racing, business and life. As a testimony to the validity of his approach, while Koch spent eighteen winning the America's Cup his business recorded very respectable profits in his absence by following his plan for success. Anyone who wants to excell as an employee, employer or entrepreneur can benefit from this well written chronicle of achievement. A revealing look at a master of his environment. This book should be required reading for anyone who wants to achieve their goals

Jack Turner's Introduction to this volume of essays bemoans the lack of attention Paul Shepard's work has received. According to Turner, part of this obscurity is due to Shepard's radical views and his work being "formidably intellectual." Perhaps another part is Shepard's assault on humanity's domestication of various animals. Few admire a man who kicks the family dog. "On Animal Friends" is a deeply thought out treatise on the history and
full genetic and philosophical implications of what domestication has done to humans and other animals alike.

Shepard is a challenging read. Not for problems of clarity - his prose flows easily under the reader's eyes. His ideas, however, chain your attention. You are brought to a halt as what he argues forces reflection on many novel ideas. A major figure in ecological studies for many years, these wide-ranging essays address a variety of topics. The underlying theme is humanity's Pleistocene roots. How far, Shepard asks, have history and evolution actually brought us? What forces have we applied to separate ourselves from the rest of Nature? What traditions do we hold dear and how many of these should we consider modifying or abandoning as we efface our environment? These questions have been asked before, but Shepard poses them in fresh contexts and offers challenging answers.

Although among America's leading environmentalists, he kept himself apart from "mainstream" thinking typifying the movement. These essays demonstrate a far broader outlook than espoused by many of his colleagues. Here, he addresses esthetics, theoretical psychology and the virtues of hunting. His views are unexpected and his handling of the topics flawless. He criticizes his fellows without hesitation - in one case calling Paul Martin's idea that the extinction of large fauna was caused by Pleistocene humans "preposterous."

You will come away from this book unsettled. That is how it should be and precisely what Shepard intended. You will not, however, close this book unsatisfied. Shepard offers his messages [and there are many in this collection] with persuasive language. Your mind will be opened with every page. Take up this book in confidence of a wise choice. The rewards are plentiful.

Paul Shepard is perhaps as profound a thinker as any who have lived in his exploration of human nature and the role of mankind in the natural world. These essays offer a well-balanced introduction to his ideas. For 'introduction' do not read 'easy'; the writing can be very compact and even a Rhodes Scholar may be well-advised to keep a dictionary handy. But the reader's effort is more than rewarded; you will not find a more lucid, insightful and inspired exploration of human-environment relationships anywhere. Reading Paul Shepard will change the way you see the world. This is not new-age happy-clapper environmental-babble; Paul Shepard is a serious scholar, and his insights and criticisms will hit disconcertingly close to home even for self-described nature-lovers. Shepard's essays can alternately be categorized as Environmental Philosophy, Sociology, Human Ecology, Comparative Anthropology... But the diversity of subjects merely reflects the vast range of disciplines from which Shepard convincingly assembles evidence to support a single powerful premise: that humankind is a wild species adapted to a way of life requiring intimate contact with the natural world for healthy existence, and that the problems of modern society stem ultimately from the alienation between man and the world, an alienation created and enforced by the dominant world cultures. Humbling and inspiring... a must-read for anyone who cares about the human species or the world we inhabit. You will return to these essays again and again.

this is an excellent textbook. I am a student studying civil engineering and used this book as required for a class. the book was very inciteful and full of useful information. it was presented in a logical manner and was easy to read and understand. all in all a good textbook.

Dear sir:
please give this book to me. Thanks!
ZHOUHAIBIN
2002/18/01

Textual content: 5 stars out of 5. Textual content is remarkable. Buy this cd rom. Anyway, I will talk about something else. When you put the cd-rom in, you'll find it's size is over 450 MB. You'll say: "Wow, a lot of multimedia stuff must be inside!! Can't wait to see and hear it all!!" And this is where frustration comes out, once you start to dig out the content of this cd rom. Soon you will realize that the real size of this cd is not 'over 450 MB' as your computer (or advertisement in store) is saying. The real size is just 12 MB! This is the reason why i gave 4 stars to this cd. It lacks multimedia.

So what is the rest of the content of this cd rom? Well the rest are songs in uncompressed wav format! Yes dear reader, almost ten years after introduction of mp3 sound compression format someone is putting uncompressed wavs on the cd rom. But why are they doing it? So that advertise can say 'full of multimedia content'? Ok, dear producers, next time don't forget to convert all pictures to uncompressed BMP format. I can guarantee you the same cd rom content will jump to over 900MB, so that you can put in the following advertise: "Seti CD-ROM, over 900MB full of multimedia content! On two CD roms!".

Some may say, another reason for putting wav files is the easy integration in internet browser environment. Wrong! There are dozens of sound compressors which integrate well in browser environment, including mp3. Even if mp3 doesn't work on some browser, the problem can be solved by putting mp3 player on the cd rom. Do i have to mention that this player is freeware?

But this sound compression would put our cd rom producers in a little trouble since the overall content would become 30MB or less. And they don't want that to happen. Right? You can't put an advertise saying 'Buy Seti CD rom! Over 30 MB of multimedia content'. Because one download from Friday night party on your digital camera is larger than that. And one will know there can't be much of multimedia on that cd-rom. And our producers know that too. So I guess they tried to fix the problem by putting uncompressed wav files on the cd rom.

Dear producers, if you are so into multimedia (over 400 megs!?) why didn't you provide some interesting sound files? Let people hear how a pulsar sound like. How does "wow" signal sound like. How it sounds when you point the radio telescope to the Sun on various wavelengths. How does it sound when you point on a distant active galaxy. And many other examples of space sounds and around them. I know there is no much of Seti stuff in there, but people are curious. And you talk about radio telescopes so these sound files count into. It is obvious that such exotic sounds are very interesting to us readers/beginners. Oh yes, i said one lie about radio files. You did put some radio telescope sound files on the cd rom. The whole 2 of them. What a multimedia...

As Executive Director of the nonprofit, membership-supported SETI League, I am privileged to head up a grass-roots, global search for our cosmic companions. Along the way, I've gotten to know some of the most creative and innovative inhabitants of Planet Earth. In "Tune In The Universe!", I write about them, and their shared quest.

Part tutorial, part memoir, and part history, "Tune In The Universe!" is your guide to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. It is a fully interactive hypertext-book on CD-ROM, which you read on your computer using its web-browser software (the book is Windows, Macintosh, and Linux compatible).

Written for the knowledgeable layman, "Tune In!" explains why we are most likely not alone, and where we are most likely to detect evidence of other intelligences in the universe. It teaches you how to build your own amateur radio telescope, in order to join in a scientifically credible search for beings Out There. Since the medium supports it, "Tune In The Universe!" also includes, as a bonus, sixteen of my SETI songs.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist, but if you're interested in SETI, you do have to read this book!

H. Paul Shuch, Ph.D. (Dr. SETI ®)

Paul Silverstone compiles one of the most complete descriptions of World War II US warships. His book includes ships built prior to and during World War II. Even the USS Montana is listed (although her keel was never laid). Even exceptions to class designs are noted. For capital ships, every theater each ship participated in is shown. The 1970 edition lacked armor thickness for cruisers and carriers. Armor thickness for battleships is shown for belt and turrets only. This book is a "must have" for most "officiondos".

I am a lifelong Navy buff, and "US Warships of World War II" has been one of my favorites for 30 years. Every American warship in service 1939-45 is included, from battleships to Army troop transports to sub chasers and PT boats. The fate of every ship disposed of prior to the early 1960's is included. It would be great if some buff such as myself (with more time than I have) would research the fate of the other ships and update the book in a new edition, since all but a handful of the ships have been scrapped by now. My only complaint about this book (and the other Ian Allen "Warships of World War II" books) is that the launching date and not the commissioning date is given for each ship. I really wish that the series were reprinted. The only comparable book that I am aware of is "Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II", which has the advantage of including the minor navies.

The handy book of Prof.Klein & Prof.Wender is readily comprehensible without lacking profundity and effectively assists a layperson with grasping the ominous and agonizing burden of depression darkening the lives of millions. The information it conveys is concise and relevant in any respect. In addition to the theoretical account of the depressive syndrome and its treatment the medical histories of several patients are vividly portrayed. Unfortunately there is one matter that affects my general contentment. The book should have a further subtitle: ...seen from a biologistic point of view! For the authors clearly go too far by claiming sole predominance of psychopharmacology over any kind of psychological psychotherapy (like cognitive or interpersonal therapy), whose practical value they are degrading to mere "comforting support" that "is not actually treating the underlying depression"(p.106). In a somewhat biased way they reduce the psycho-social impacts on the genesis of depression to secondary trigger-factors and deny them being genuine pathological causes. There can be no doubt that heredity plays an important role, but to treat the considerable moulding influence of nurture and socialisation on the individual person as marginal and minor remarks upon a purely neuro-physiological etiology of the insidious mood disease, focusing almost exclusively on genetic determination, is surely inadequate and exceeds the actual explanatory and therapeutic skills of bio-psychiatry at the end of the 20th-century. The book's sophistication notwithstanding, a bit more self-critical modesty and cooperative fairness against the so-called 'communicative therapies` and their verifiable usefulness would have redounded to the authors' scientific credit.

It was with initial fear that I read the book. However, as reading progressed I was able to identify with so many cases and situations.

You see, no one would every imagen, not even I, that I was depressed. During work, and at home my responsibilities would require me to have a smile on my face, be positive, give great advice to others, be there for everyone.

And yet, during those moments, my moments alone, I realized and would tell myself how unhappy I was, how much I did NOT LOVE ANYONE, not my husband, not my children, not even my ailing mother, who had a terminal illness. I couldn't be intimate and intense, everything was superficial, I felt all alone.

Upon reading the book I realized that I was not an evil, cold person without feelings, I was in fact in some sort of depression. The book gave excellent advice on how to identify what stage I might be in.

I read the book as many times as I need to review and remind myself that I can somehow overcome these feelings.

I am not "cured", but the book has wonderful advise and guidance enabling me to identify where my feelings are coming from and how I can help myself.

It was quite an enjoyable read for us Brittain and Holtby fans. It interesting how she is still relevent in this day and age, how she really doesn't seem "dead" from a forgotten era. In this book you can find the little tidbits about Vera that speak to your own emotions even now, that make the person whole.

A collaboratively written biography by the late Paul Berry (who was Vera Brittain's close friend for 28 years and her literary executor) and London-based biographer Mark Bostridge, Vera Brittain: A Life is a lengthy and informative survey of the life and times of the writer, pacifist, and feminist Vera Brittain (1893-1970), who is perhaps best known as the author of "Testament of Youth," the memoir of her traumatic World War I experiences. The crushing loss of her fiance, younger brother, and two friends in World War I, her uphill battle to earn recognition as a writer, her controversial stance against the Allies' saturation bombing of Germany in World War II, and a great deal more are engagingly examined in thorough, candid detail. Vera Brittain is very highly recommended as a solidly written, deeply engaging, and totally involving study of a unique and outspoken woman's life.

I am big fan of Sigurros and Björk and it was intersting to read about the roots of their music in Iceland. It was a easy and enjoyable reading

"Paul Sullivan's WAKING UP IN ICELAND is The Best, and Most Important, book on Iceland ever written ever published. As a student and appreciator of Iceland's majestic nature and magical culture, past and present, I tip my hat in gratitude to Paul Sullivan and Sanctuary Publishing. I hope the people, and government, of Iceland will do everything possible to let the world know about WAKING UP IN ICELAND. I will do all I can to spread the word about this brilliant book."
Ron Whitehead, may 21, 2003, Kentucky

First of all, don't let the cover art fool you. This is not some sort of surrealist or postmodern collection. Paul Lake is a poet very much grounded in narrative and form. The book is divided into three sections. The first section is the weakest of the book. Lake has several good narrative poems throughout the collection ('Thorn' 'Inspectors'). Included in the first section is the narrative "Walking Backward" which is a great story told by a draft dodger or his draft dodging and of life's treatment of people. Section 2 only contains the long narrative poem "Seeing the Elephant" which is a great poem about a survivor of the Donner party. Section three, the strongest in the collection ends with one of the best poems, "Two Hitchhikers" which is not only a great ancedote, but has a hilarious ending. The collection has some very well done dramatic monologues, but where it weakens is in the lyric poems. "Pieces" and "Revised Standard Version" are pretty much the only lyric poems worthwhile. The rest bring down the collection as a whole. I wish that Lake had just included the narratives, a few of the dramatic monologues and those two lyrics. Perhaps to round the collection out more he could have included another narrative poem, which seems to be his strong suit.

The intense lyrics and harrowing narratives of Walking Backward explore the web of values and obligations that bind people into neighborhoods and nations. Paul Lake's poetry reflects a blending of artful language with imaginative expression to present a lucid, articulate imagery that is as impressive as it is memorable. Pieces: The queen moves with unbounded liberty./Slant-eyed, a bishop offers up a prayer./A horse-faced gallant full of chivalry/Enters the family trade, an officer./A rook, high as a silo, lets fire fall,/Then ends its run behind a remnant pawn./The king strolls past his garden's rose-grown wall/To issue statements from the castle lawn./Only the pawns, bald-domed as army ants,/Urged to the common good by stripes and prayers,/regard the board, cursed with their consciousness/Of all the horror of those empty squares.

Paul Elliott's book is very well-researched and entertaining to read. It doesn't go into a great deal of detail but the author manages to fit quite a bit of information into the seven chapters. The cults covered are the Greek and Roman Mystery cults (one chapter each), the Knights Templar, the Assassins of the Middle East, the Thugs of India, the Ninja clans and the Chinese Boxers. Each chapter stands by itself but there is a fair amount of cross-referencing which helps tie the whole work together. Stylistically, there are a couple of very minor problems such as strange grammar (which may just be a difference between American and British conventions) and the odd use of exclamation points here and there. These shortcomings are easily overlooked, however. If you are interested in history, martial arts or the truth behind certain myths and legends, this book is for you.

This is a one of a kind book about cults I hope they make #2. It was very informative.