Like most books edited by Martin Greenberg, you get a good mix of stories. But don't read this book if you have no idea about Greek mythology - you will be completely lost, since most don't bother to explain themselves (or tweak the myths entirely, and expect you to get the joke). Overall, it was a fun read that fills up your time in an enjoyable way.

Tales about the Greek gods that were very well written.

These stories are a refreshing difference from modern fiction. Many are very well researched, thought out, and take you back to the ancient land from whence the gods arose. Other stories are set in modern times, with ancient dieties reacting to changes and strange new attitudes. All mix knowledge of the classics with new fiction work. Wonderful reading!

While Clarke managed to keep a science ficton bond between all his stories, some were tripped up with their lack of length. The first impression you get is The Nine Billion Names of God. While it is a good first impression, Clarke can't expand as well as he is able to in an extended novel. The short story doesn't play to his abilities and the rich characterization he does so well. Other stories manage to be boundless in their explorations of science but the reader only gets a glimpse at the people who can enrich them. The fault in The Other Side of the Sky is not Clarke's writing, but his choice of medium.

I agree, Clarke is better suited to the novel, but he is also a brilliant short story writer. The Nine Billion Names of God, as everyone knows, is one of the best SF short stories ever written, and has actually led several people to carry out the exploits in the story in real life, so compelling is the idea behind it. Not to be overlooked in this collection, are such masterpieces as the chilling Wall of Darkness, The Star (which is also one of the best ever), and All The Time In The World, yet another great story. Also included, among others, is A Venture To The Moon, a fictional pre-Apollo account of the first manned mission to the moon that is told is such striking detail that it comes off nearly as a documentary (and a factual one at that). Regardless of what facet of Clarke's writing that you enjoy the most, there is bound to be something here that you'll like.

The Other Side of the Sky was a great Science Fiction book. The stories of the joint moon exploration were funny and were not carrying "heavy" issues.

Although it's a very good translation, I prefer to read the books of Plutarchos in the original Greek texts because the version of Dryden is now somewhat obsolete. And if you don't understand the ancient Greek language well, I recommend you to read several volumes of Plutarch in THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY.

After having read McCullogh's splendid series on Rome, I turned to this fat, dense book with great expectations. I was not disappointed: the stories are endlessly fascinating, from their basic details on ancient history to the bizarre asides that reveal the pre-Christianised mind-set of the author.

Like all great books, this one can be read on innumerable levels. First, there is the moralising philosophy that is perhaps the principal purpose of the author to advance - each life holds lessons on proper conduct of great and notorious leaders alike. You get Caesar, Perikles, and Alcibiades, and scores of others who are compared and contrasted. Second, there is the content. Plutarch is an invaluable source of data for historians and the curious. Third, there is the reflection of religious and other beliefs of the 1C AD: oracles and omens are respected as are the classical gods. For example, while in Greece, Sulla is reported as having found a satyr, which he attempted unsuccesfully to question for its auguring abilities during his miltary campaign in Greece! It is a wonderful window into the mystery of life and human belief systems. That being said, Plutarch is skeptical of these occurances and both questions their relevance and shows how some shrewd leaders, like Sertorious with his white fawn in Spain, used them to great advantage.

Finally, this is a document that was used for nearly 2000 years in schools as a vital part of classical education - the well-bred person knew all these personalities and stories, which intimately informed their vocabulary and literary references until the beginning of the 20C. That in itself is a wonderful view into what was on people's minds and how they conceived things over the ages. As is well known, Plutarch is the principal source of many of Shakespeare's plays, such as Coriolanus and Julius Caesar. But it was also the source of the now obscure fascination with the rivalry of Marius and Sulla, as depicted in paintings and poetry that we still easily encounter if we are at all interested in art. Thus, this is essential reading for aspiring pedants (like me).

Of course, there are plenty of flaws in the work. It assumes an understanding of much historical detail, and the cases in which I lacked it hugely lessened my enjoyment. At over 320 years old, the translation is also dated and the prose somewhat stilted, and so it took me 300 pages to get used to it. Moreover, strictly speaking, there are many inaccuracies, of which the reader must beware.

Warmly recommended as a great and frequently entertaining historical document.

Plutarch's history isn't always the most accurate -- he clashes with Arrian and Quintus Curtius on Alexander, for example -- but it sure is a lot of fun...Plutarch weaves in lots of interesting little anecdotes and his narrative arcs are always complete without being too long. It's also great for leisurely reading; there are so many Lives, you can pick one up on any rainy afternoon, long car drive, or what have you, and don't even need to know a whole lot of context to get the gist of what's going on. For fans of history and biography, or just stories in general, this is as good as it gets.

I recommend the Modern Library edition because it's complete (with the two volumes, that is) and because the Dryden translation is very colorful even though it's old-school -- you're bound to pick up a lot of cool vocabulary. Also, don't quite know how to put it, but his translation just seems more...classic. It fits, get it.

10-Point Rating: (8.75)
One of the claims of the analytical school of western philosophy is that math is reducible to logic, specifically the logic of groups, classes, or sets. In this vein, I can think of no better introduction than Russell's Principles of Mathematics. Although many of the ideas he proposes are intellectually outdated, Russell's method is rigorous and his presentation is lucid. While this book is not for everyone, no serious student of mathematical foundations should be without it. The chapters on zero and the concept of continuity are especially insightful.

He doesn't do much theorem proving, but he tackles
head on all the basic problem of mathematics that were known
a hundred years ago. It was how well he did everything
that makes this still a must read if you love mathematics.
There is actually only one equation in his book that I can think of:
and it is of a Clifford geometry measure! This man was a mathematician's
mathematician and a metamathematics master in the language of
philosophy as well! The pages are falling out and I still
go to this and Sommerville when I want inspiration or understanding of really hard issues.

An essential reading for every student of Philosophy of Mathematics.

The Ride Down Mt. Morgan is an engaging play, one that provides the reader (or viewer) with as much food for thought, as amusement. Is it a masterpiece? No. Not by any stretch. Death of a Salesman is a masterpiece.

Lyman Felt is certainly a colorful character from whom we can learn much, not just about bigamists, but also about ourselves. He is not, however, a Willy Loman, a character so strongly defined that he's entrenched in the American (if not the world's) psyche. Felt effectively represents and helps us to understand (if not forgive) a specific type of man; Loman effectively represents the sometimes overwhelming frustrations any of us endures in pursuit of the elusive American dream.

Miller does succeed in The Ride Down Mt. Morgan by prompting us to consider what might motivate a man who constructs an elaborate network of lies in an attempt to keep two wives. In his own mind, Felt is justifiably keeping both women happy and (again, in his own mind) he loves them both so much, he couldn't stand to let either one go. For some time, he is quite successful in living these two lives.

After surviving an accident (or was it an accident?), however, both women arrive at the hospital to take care of him. Now that the deception is uncovered, the real damage unfurls; both wives know they can't trust him; both feel they were never truly loved; both are forced to make swift decisions, none of which are surprising or irrational given the circumstances. Although Felt is charming enough to win our affection, we still come away believing he pretty much gets what he deserves. I might be wrong. Maybe Felt does represent us all. Sure, few of us are bigamists; but maybe Felt really represents the very damaging, but human desire we all have to have your cake and eat it, too.

This is essentially the material of Kazan's The Arrangement arranged to formulate a conception of theater derived from After The Fall, and it shows the fruits of having written that monumental play. It takes two thirds of the play's length to get its mechanism functioning, and when it does it's a poetic surrealism of great flexibility and subtlety, capable of shifting planes of thought instantaneously, and provided with a set of cinematic flashbacks and evocations which happen in full view of the mind's eye of characters onstage, in a story of Christ between two thieves.

In Arthur Miller's splendid play, the main character Lyman Felt concludes that if you try to live according to your real desires, you have to end up looking like a s---. That's his explanation for never divorcing his first wife before marrying another. It's when his car crashes traveling down a snow covered Mt. Morgan that his double life is exposed. His two wives meet and the issues of fidelity, true love, deception and honesty are explored. Can a person remain true to himself and still always true to another? Arthur Miller poses wonderful food for thought in this witty, poignant masterpiece.

he leido 6 capítulos. Es un tema interesante para abordar el estudio de la historia. Para Nietzcshe la historia es indispensable pero hay que saber tener el punto de equilibrio para que sea util para la vida: demasiada historia anquilosa. La tradición tiener un limite de utilidad; el exceso mata la vida y la dinamica de la vida; pero la absoluta carencia imposibilita entender el mundo en el que se vive.

This book is different than Nietzsche's well-known major works. It does not explicitly examine the nature of morality, the master/slave relationship, or related questions. Instead, it questions the relationship of historical knowledge to life in the present. By "present", Nietzsche does not mean some specific century or decade, but rather the present we perpetually find ourselves in as human beings.

Nietzsche asks: given that we always live in such a present, why do we want or need historical knowledge? Animals live without a historical sense: they do not reflect on the past or contemplate their future -- they simply live from moment to moment in the eternal present that humans perpetually avoid. And generally, Nietzsche notes, animals seem happier than human beings: more spontaneous, more cheerful, less given to morbid and resentful states of mind.

Given these differences, should humans abandon the study of history and try to live in the present like animals? No, says Nietzsche, this relation to history is the true source of human uniqueness and achievement. The question is not "Should we study history?" but rather, "What history should we study, and in what amount?" The answer, says Nietzsche, is history that gives us a proper appreciation of life's difficulties and the struggles that have preceded us, but which nonetheless spurs us to creative action in the present. We should never study history for history's sake; rather, we should study it with a view to understanding and surpassing our present.

This is a short, powerful volume, dense with ideas but astoundingly clear.

A great primer on the problems of history and a great introduction to a brilliant mind.

Very useful book. It provides *many* useful algorithms. The book is tiny, 3x5x1 so pound for pound it is a great (and portable!) book.

Some issues however detract from a 5 star rating:

a) The code examples are lame (lots of single letter variables) and poor C idioms, and some silly extra calculations, like counting pixels one at time in a loop when a single multiply would yield the same result.

b)The book feels old even though it was written in 1993. It has a codec for MacPaint files. If this doesn't ring a bell to you, MacPaint was written circa 1985 and it supports two bit images only. Most algorithms are tweaked for the B/W and/or grayscale versions so the reader will have to interpolate/derive her own color versions

C) The descriptions of the algorithms are suboptimal, but heck it is still orders of magnitude more useful than one of the fat texts on the subject. Coupled with the code examples you can easily figure out any non-clear descriptions without having to wade through a giant tome full of pseudo code.

Would I get it again - absolutely. I even made a special place for it (the top of my monitor so it won't get lost).

It intruduced broad terms of image processing tech. It's practical and easy to understand. It might only take you a couple of days to finish reading it.

This book presents many algorithms and their C implementations in alphabetical order. Many of the entries show the result of the algorithm's application on an image. A table of contents groups the algorithms into classes, such as image fundamentals (convolution, correlation), morphological filters, and nonlinear filters. The basic stuff is all there. Also included in the appendix are programs to read and write image data, which can be used in conjunction with the C code listed for each algorithm for a working solution.

The theory is not emphasized, so readers should look elsewhere for that information. However, considering its small size, this book offers a lot of very useful information.

I decided to revisit my childhood recently, and ordered a stack of coloring books. The Rackham is by far the prettiest of the lot. You can attempt to emulate Rackham's earthy palette, or you can go wild and use every bright color in the box. Either way, you'll have a wonderful time coloring these complex, sinuous, lovely illustrations. And the fairytales are a bonus. Something for when you're sick in bed, or just feeling down and looking for a bit of comfort.

One of the most respected artists of the last century, Arthur Rackham brought some of the best loved children's stories to life with his beautiful illustrations. Here, some of Rackham's illustrations for 17 of the Grimm's stories are presented in a colouring book format, and while it would make a wonderful gift for a child, it also makes for a great collector's item for the art connoisseur and fan of Rackham's work. I bought two copies - one to colour, and one to keep as a collector's item! Ed Sibbett, Jr. rendered the 30 colourable illustrations based on Rackham's originals, and each one compliments James Spero's adapted text of 17 of the Grimm's tales. Included in the 64 pages are the classics "Hansel and Gretel", "Little Red Riding Hood", "Snow White", "Sleeping Beauty", "Rapunzel", and more. At Amazon's price, there's definitely value for money in this book.

What a great idea - fairy tales with really detailed, gorgeous illustrations to be colored in. This is sure to give hours and hours of fun quiet time!

This was a very strange book to read. Here is an writer, an eyewitness to some of the most interesting and dangerous moments in recent history. Yet he seems to have had little time to reflect on what he has experienced, so pressured has he been to get the film in and on air, to say someting quick and marketable. There is no doubt about this man's courage, his credentials as a journalist, or NBC's incompetent attempts to destroy him.(It makes one never to want to watch anything on NBC or buy anything from its owner GE) But for a man who has been through so much I fear that much of what he has to say has not been digested. He appears still very much wounded by his own sucessful lawsuit and the betrayal of an organization that he risked his life for. Yet as much as I want to admire the man, there is something dishonest about this book. I do not dispute the facts, but the book presentation sounds more like a public relations effort to recusitate his career- or a recapitulation of the notes he gathered for the trial. In every chapter there is the constant effort to prove to the reader how brave he and his friends are, how stupid and deceitful are his enemies. Everything is black and white, almost nothing new or interesting or thoughtful in between. I think in the years to come we may read something far better from Kent. Kent an interesting new kind of man-a product of the news business. I would say that anyone in the news media or even thinking about it -or anyone who draws his primary information about the world from the networks -should definitely read this book for its strengths as well as its weaknesses.(One will never watch TV news again with the same trust.) But as an insightful discussion of current events or autobiography, be forwarned.

I read this book expecting Arthur Kent to be arrogant but what I found was a dedicated journalist. Kent never wavered from his ethical standards. He took the giants at NBC to task for their disregard for him and others who believe that news should be reported with honesty and integrity--not for the corporate bottom line. His story is highly readable with the people he met in Afghanistan, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, and Tiananmen Square coming to life (and death) through Kent's compelling stories. When he files a lawsuit against the corporate giants, you too will be on his side. Kent deserved every cent he got. We should all put pressure on the media to give us worldwide news coverage presented by men and women who serve to provide us with the facts--not the sensation-packed news we see today. Marie Wilson (mwilson@kapla.com), Fountain Hills, Arizon

Arthur Kent takes you on his compelling journey as a foreign news correspondent. His story is told with candor and self-effacing humor. Going from the treetops of Afghanistan to that infamous rooftop in Dhahran, you will be consumed by the bloody chaos of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Just when you think you can't be shocked anymore by scenes of war and destruction, political repression, natural disaster and apathy, the equally shocking truth of what goes on behind the scenes of broadcasting is exposed. This book makes you think, not just about what is happening in the world around us, but what or who determines how much we learn of it. Kent shows us the risks some journalists take everyday, in order to bring real news to us. We owe them more than just passively sitting in front of our T.V. sets accepting whatever the networks choose to feed us. It's nice to know that old cowboy movies aren't the only place where the guy wearing the white hat can still win the battle

This is a great book ,it used as a standard text book by generations of dermatologists in INDIA , the text flows like a story , the pictures are very good (especially the CD ROM version)and the information is exaustive.
There is just one problem the information is too exaustive --- 4 volumes and 3700 pages--at this rate it will soon overtake encyclopedia britannica-- a dermatology residents nightmare when it comes to exams--the sole advantage of the size it awes many non dermatologists . My only request to the authors is they come out with a more concise edition , sparing us all the past theories of etio-pathogenesis which have been disproved now anyway, syndromes from single/two case reports of rare presentations giving us clear cut guidelines with regards to treatment on the basis of their personal clinical experience .

The CD ROM VERSION is great , with very clear pictures which zoom on double clicking , a very good search engine , a navigator and the text in different colours and backgrounds .Easy to print ,is worth having, only the cost is a bit high.I would certainly recommend the CD ROM version to those who are planning to buy the book .

My father spent hours and hours working on this new edition, which includes the definitive guide to ectoparasites in dermatology. It is the Brit bible of dermatology.