After you read this book you will think that Jackson's 'Classical Electrodynamic' is brief and easy. I was required to learn for my job the physics of waveguides.
I purchased this book because it was recommended by Jackson. In fact Jacksons chapter on waveguide is a summery of what you can find it here.
Although very difficullt to read you can find all information about guided waves you need. I was never required to go beyond this book.

Simply staten this is one of the finest books ever written in applied electromagnetics.There is a deligthful analytical treatment of everything related to wave-propagation in waveguides.But Mr Collin is not a dry-hearted teacher ,he is able to explain very complicated mathematical instruments with a very clear and fresh approach.Expecially good is the Green Function's treatment which is the best i ever saw in any book.Reading this book you will be able to progress from the intermediate to the very advanced level in Applied Electromagnetism.While it is true that nowadays there is a lot of software around that analyses almost every conceivable structure,it is also true that a analytical study gives you the possibility to sort the important from the accessory ,a thing no computer system is still able to do.I reccomend this book to anyone interested in advanced Electromagnetism.Only bad point is the price ,which is too much high expecially with the weak Euro we have now .On the whole a "top" book:5 stars!

Briefly, Professor Robert E. Collin's revised text (Field Theory of Guided Waves) is a goldmine for those who want to do serious work in applied electromagnetics. This book is not addressed with aspiring physicists in mind, but rather directed at electrical engineers who are engaged working in radio wave propagation, scattering and antennas. The author covers a whole slew of topics like TEM waves, Surface waveguides, function theoretic techniques, waveguide and cavity excitations, inhomogeneously filled waveguides and dielectric resonators etc. and etc. There is a good amount of analytical material relegated to the mathematical appendices.

What is different in the second edition (from its earlier 1960 edition) is the most profitable chapter on Green's functions (ch. 2 of the book). This chapter runs from page 55 to 172 - that is about 127 pages. Prof. Collin, like an articulate storyteller, covers most of the important aspects of Green's functions that an engineer may need to know. This chapter was missing from its 1st edition and hence its inclusion in the 2nd edition has increased the book's worth several fold.

To use the book profitably, I suggest that the reader work through carefully chapters 1 and 2. Also, because this book is intended to be a graduate (advanced) text, the reader muts have a good background in the undergraduate engineering mathematics that EE students are required to take at most universities in USA and abroad.

I've borrowed and read this book over and over again during my undergrad years which copy I think was a rare first edition of it. The book really was one of its kind in describing moon landing from the eyes of the people who live it. Read and be inspired.

i'VE JUST FINISHED READING THIS BOOK FOR THE 100TH TIME, SINCE PURCHASING IT 10 YEARS AGO! Ihave always wanted to meet these men [Apollo 11] and this book helps me to know more --especially about Neil Armstrong! When I wrote Neil Armstrong back in 1987, he suggested this as the main book to read from the three Apollo 11 astros. Tells about their lives, the training, how being an astronaut affected them and personal lives, all leading upto, and to splashdown! This book deserves a 10 plus star rating! I'll probably read it another 100 times!

This book is one of the most intriguing books on the Apollo 11 missions i have ever read, and i HIGHLY recommend it to anyone interested in the Apollo 11 mission

This book beautifully and simply expresses the philosophy of the Lincoln Center Institute for Arts in Education, where I received training (I'm an elementary teacher). Basically, it is that art is about WAYS OF LOOKING, noticing, and interacting fully with our environment........appreciating the different, the beautiful, and the meaningful, for each of us as individuals. Cultivating this aesthetic awareness helps us live more fully, and connect to humanity. This book, appropriate for about age 4 and up, gently demonstrates this, and provides a valuable reminder for us grownups. On each page of 1-2 sentences, the narrator describes how her careful noticings of simple beauty makes her an artist. Truly, we all have it in us. Also, if this type of thinking excites you, try the work of Lincoln Center Institute's philosopher-in residence, Maxine Greene. Her new book, Reflections on the Blue Guitar: The Lincoln Center Lectures, can inspire your own reflections and connections. Enjoy!

ONE OF MY TEACHERS READ THIS TO MY CLASS. IT MADE US ALL FEEL WE ARE ARTIST. IT REALLY INSPIRED ME TO CREATE. I LOVED IT SO MUCH I WANT TO BUY IT SO I MAY BE ABLE TO SHARE IT WITH MY FRIENDS. JUST IMAGE IF YOU SEE SHAPES IN THE CLOUDS YOU TOO CAN BE AN ARTIST LIKE ME!

I am using this book, I am an Artist, as part of a homeschool curriculum for my four year old son. We have enjoyed it very much. I think the best thing about it is it really teaches a child the importance of noticing and appreciating this beautiful world we live in; that is, it tells us to "take time to smell the roses". The illustrations of nature in the book are wonderful and thought provoking, too.

For anyone interested in getting to know more about Michael Collins and Ireland's finally successful struggle for freedom from Britain, this book is an excellent, easily read introduction. It depicts in words and photos a terrible and critically important period in Irish history and introduces the reader to one of the most fascinating and compelling figures in that history or any other. Highly recommended.

Everyone has heard the cliche "A picture's worth a thousand words" and Connolly proves it is true. History comes to life beautifully as the reader is enveloped in headlines, photos, drawings and letters of the time. As well as eye candy, The Illustrated Life of Michael Collins provides an accurate, easy-to-read biography and a palatable political analysis. Unlike some other historical profiles, Connolly stays away from melodrama and hero worship, telling the facts as they were and leaving the observer to make his own choices. A worthwhile purchase for anyone interested in Michael Collins and/or Irish history.

Being a fan of Irish history and in particular the life of Michael Collins I was very impressed with the content of the book.This book show's the man as he really was to the Irish people.A hero who died in the persute of freedom for his people.

This is one of the most pragmatic books written about marketing, specifically Industrial Marketing! Mike Collins provides a logical, step-by-step methodology for anyone to implement. This how-to manual lays out virtually everything a person would need to create a marketing system for any organization that functions in a business-to-business environment.

Mike Collins dispels the myth that you need an exhaustive education in marketing or massive database skills...knowledge of spreadsheet and word processing software is all one needs to implement this straightforward protocol. This is a must for a business manager or owners bookshelf.

Collins presents to the small-to-medium size manufacturer a down-to-earth logical approach for solving the problem of finding new customers that possess the best potential for improving the bottom line. He provides many examples of "how-to" and demonstrates that effective industrial marketing can be accomplished in an economical manner with in-house personnel. It's really a matter of applying common sense systematically to good business practices.

His concepts have allowed me to help clients focus on profitable niche markets, provide better sales coverage to existing and new territories, and move closer to attaining competitive advantage.

I read this book and took a class from Micheal Collins which covered this book. I am currently putting this book in practice (1998) and have found significant improvements in our marketing efforts as well as profitability of our company. I would call this book the best unknown marketing book around. You don't have to take a class with Collins to put it in practice either.

The author to that book is Collins, Vincent Paul; not Vincent Paul, Collins. This man was a priest in my town and I knew him personally. The book is still being asked for by many people around here and is still being touted as very insightful and helpful for people who have low self-esteem.

This wonderful self-help guide I stumbled upon years ago and have read numerous times. My copy is highlighted, with pages falling out, but never the less... one of my all time favorites. It's easy to read style, with short sections of only a page or two are wonderful for when you are feeling a little down, troubled, frustrated or angry. It is at those times when reading something uplifting is most beneficial, but your concentration for "heavy" reading is almost non-existant. That is when this book is so ideal.

The book is divided into three parts, Part 1, "Me Vs. Myself", deals with how to live with yourself... how to be happy, how to not let things bug you, etc. It is wonderful... and has helped me out of many bad mind-sets. The book states that there are only three major obstacles to happy living... injurious feelings, overreaction to others and your confusion as to your place in the scheme of things. This section then goes on to explain in simple terms, how to overcome those obstacles.

Part 2, "Me Vs. You", is basically about not letting the actions of others bother you. Here we are reminded that it is not the person who has to put up with unreasonable behavior who has the problem, it's the person who is behaving unreasonably who actually has the problem.

Part 3, "Me, Myself and God", is about our relationship with God or a higher power, and reminds us that help is available instantly, at all hours of the day and night through him.

This book embodies the "Live and Let Live" philosophy of life. The author, Vincent P. Collins, has done a wonderful job of cutting right to the heart of injurious emotional issues and presents them in a way that even the most depressed individual cannot help but relate to and embrace. In today's stressful society, almost everyone suffers from some form of depression, frustration, anger, guilt or worry. With that in mind...this book should be required reading!

This book provides the best outline I have ever read, short of the Sermon on the Mount and the book Aloholics Anonymous, to put life in perspective, first to Self, then to Others, and finally with God. I read this book at least once a year and have attended group sessions wherein we go through the book, topic by topic, sharing our experience, hope and strength, one by one. I think that this book should be published by someone. (bluejean2@juno.com or jeanballow@yahoo.com)

For anyone wishing to know more about the bombastic, bullish side of Michael Collins, look no further. James MacKay captures Collins' thoughts-- even the most flamboyant-- with style and verbal panache. It is clear that his work has been very heavily influenced by the biographies from Frank O'Connor and Tim Pat Coogan, but MacKay distinguishes himself by emphasizing Collins' personality and his military accomplishments. He describes Michael's physical stature (5'11" with a bulky build), Michael's nature (quick to laugh, quick to cry, quick to anger, and quick to make an apology), Michael's health (his bouts with pleurisy, Spanish flu, stomach and kidney problems), Michael's orderly manner (he hated pencil writing and signatures from rubber stamps), and Michael's many other contradictions. MacKay includes several b/w photos along with explorations of Michael's military brilliance, e.g. his ability to run an entire guerrilla war from the back of a bicycle. MacKay begins with Collins' boyhood and concludes with an epilogue regarding the aftermath of Collins' assassination. If you are curious about Michael Collins the man, I can strongly recommend MacKay's biography.

This biography was my introduction to the life and times of Michael Collins and it was a good one, though not as detailed and extensively annotated as Tim Pat Coogan's. The author is clearly an admirer of Collins but the portrayal appears to be objective and covers all the biographical bases in Collins' life--the Irish childhood and indoctrination with nationalist ideals from family and teachers; the years between 15-25 working in London; the participation in the Easter Rebellion and imprisonment in Wales; the return to Ireland and rise to leadership in the War of Independence; and the transformation to statesman in the Treaty negotiations. What Mackay particularly brings to the portrait of Collins is a warmth that allows the reader to see the real man behind the legend--the interactions with the men and women who shared his struggle or who opposed him, and the reaction of his countrymen to his leadership and to his untimely death during the bitter Civil War at the hands of former comrades who in many cases still revered him. Overall, an engrossing read.

This was the first biography of Collins I read and it is a good one, though not as exhaustively detailed and annotated as Tim Pat Coogan's. The author is clearly an admirer of Collins but it does not seem to slant his portrayal of the man and he covers all the biographical bases in Collins' life--the quintessentially Irish childhood and indoctrinization with nationalist ideals from family and teachers; the years between 15 and 25 working in London; the participation in the Easter Rebellion and imprisonment in Wales; the return to Ireland and his destiny as leader of the Anglo-Irish War of Independence; and the transformation into statesman in the Treaty negotiations. What Mackay particularly brings to the portrait of Collins is a warmth that allows the reader to see the real man beneath the legend--the interactions with the men and women who shared his struggle or who opposed it, and the reaction of his countrymen to his leadership. Overall, an engrossing read.

This scholarly and thoroughly impressive history of the Nile River provides a fine blend of geography and history as it surveys the river's importance to local lives and world events. From its various ecological niches and environments to the special history of its evolution and importance to mankind, The Nile is filled from cover to cover with a wealth of lively and articulate description.

By Robert I. Rotberg

The life-giving Nile of lower Egypt trickles first from two springs in Burundi and Rwanda and then meanders 4,238 miles as the White Nile through great equatorial lakes; loses itself in tangled and difficult swamps; tortuously emerges to run freely toward its confluence with the much more powerful, if shorter, Blue Nile from Ethiopia; and then flows over cataracts and dams through the great desert to the Mediterranean Sea.

Over five millenniums, the nutrient- and silt-laden Nile floodwaters enabled agriculture and civilization to flourish all along its lower reaches. When the annual summer flood failed, however, the northern Sudan and all of classical and modern Egypt suffered hideously.

Collins links the dark ages of dynastic Egypt and the successes of invading outsiders to those sometimes prolonged periods when the Nile withheld its renewing gift. In turn, those dry spells reflected shifts in the rainfall patterns of equatorial Africa and highland Ethiopia, not - as the Egyptians always feared - to the manipulative scheming of Ethiopian monarchs or African chieftains.

There were many efforts to measure the flows of the Nile, and then to harness it effectively. Taming the Nile, the quixotic goal of administrators from early times, led to the first small dams, and in the early 20th century to dams in the Sudan. President Gamal Abdel Nasser's Aswan High Dam of 1970, with its 300-mile lake and its ancillary dam at Roseires in the Sudan, were together intended to regulate the river forever, smoothing out the years of high and low water. But the mighty Nile refused to capitulate, and the impoundment of its waters has led to great silting and weakening of the dams, the impoverishment of Egyptian agriculture, unexpected disease, and unanticipated economic and social consternation.

Collins's seamless biography captures the soul of a river that is both a result of and a continuing influence upon Africa's geology, climate, history, peoples, economy, and politics. Collins roams over the 2 million-square-mile basin of the Nile - the smaller rivers, the large and tiny lakes, and the glacier-capped mountain ranges - and writes movingly of the glory and challenges faced by the immense cascade of water as it makes its way over myriad waterfalls and past pumping stations, villages, towns, and cities to its ultimate destination. He also captures the trials and triumphs of the Nile's sometimes human- assisted passage through the Sudd - a vast eddying swamp-like mass of lagoons and channels that long defied explorers and entrepreneurs as they attempted to follow the White Nile south into equatorial regions.

Counterintuitively, more of the merged waters of the Nile come from the Blue branch, not the much longer and more tortuous White system. The Blue starts higher than the White, at 9,000 feet, and then rushes into shallow Lake Tana. From shores ringed by Coptic Christian monasteries, the Blue carves a great arc through the lava dikes and sandstone plateaus of western Ethiopia, strengthened by three significant and many minor tributaries until it leaves the highlands and crosses into the Sudan as a source of regular refreshment.

As in any great biography, there are diversions off the main channel. Collins swoops readers into the Baro Salient, that riverine mapmaking mistake that thrusts Ethiopia into the southern Sudan, where commerce coursed clandestinely across borders. He takes us on a fascinating search for 15-foot canaries - not in John Williams' standard "Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa" - high up in the Mountains of the Moon (the Ruwenzori Range). And he supplies unexpected facts. For instance, as mighty as the Nile may be, its volume of fresh water delivered to the Mediterranean is only 2 percent of the total of the Amazon River and 15 percent of that of the Mississippi River. For much of its 160 million-year history, the Nile emptied into the Indian Ocean; only in comparatively recent geological times has it flowed north.

This is an easy book to read and to like. Yet there are occasional anachronisms, where sketches of people or places forsake the findings of modern linguistic and ethnological scholarship, and repetition of pet phrases or factoids. But the book's big flaw is the fault of the publisher: The quality and clarity of the maps and photographs are inadequate for a study as important as this panoramic biography of a pulsing river.

' Robert I. Rotberg directs Harvard's Program on Intrastate Conflict and is president of the World Peace Foundation.

from the January 09, 2003 edition - ...

There are a lot of great books on the Nile; Emil Ludwig's classic and Alan Whitehead's come to mind. This is another, updated version, that fills in a lot of the blanks left by the earlier books. It is well written and up-to-date. The emphasis is on politics and history but the author also appreciates the physical wonder that is the Nile. The author spends a lot of time talking about this place and that place, but the book is full of excellent maps to guide the geographically perplexed. It is a good read for the adventurous as well as those interested in the challenges facing modern Africa.

"A considered and nuanced account of [the] early twentieth century American Medici. . . . Collins' accomplished biographical study profiles from the cinematic deftness with which she crosscuts facets of Kahn's life, an altogether appropriate technique in limning an existence so enamored of and beholden to modernity. Her use of the language of theater and film in interpretive contexts seamlessly brings his many worlds into a unified vision."--Aufbau

"Collins shows how [Kahn] gave away money nearly as quickly as he earned it, his contributions to music, literature, theater, dance, painting and design establishing New York City as an international cultural mecca. . . . Essential details are expertly negotiated, and thornier questions on the reality of latent anti-Semitism among the heirs of the Gilded Age are explored in depth. . . . As Collins aptly demonstrates, this 'self-made aristocrat' mastered the East without losing his soul, and in the process, he ennobled the arts he loved."--Opera News

In the early decades of the twentieth century, almost everyone in modern theater, literature, or film knew of Otto Kahn (1867-1934), and those who read the financial press or followed the news from Wall Street could scarcely have missed his name. A partner at one of America's premier private banks, he played a leading role in reorganizing the U.S. railroad system and supporting the Allied war effort in World War I. The German-Jewish Kahn was also perhaps the most influential patron of the arts the nation has ever seen: he helped finance the Metropolitan Opera, brought the Ballets Russes to America, and bankrolled such promising young talent as poet Hart Crane, the Provincetown Players, and the editors of the Little Review.

This book is the full-scale biography Kahn has long deserved. Theresa Collins chronicles Kahn's life and times and reveals his singular place at the intersection of capitalism and modernity. Drawing on research in private correspondence, congressional testimony, and other sources, she paints a fascinating portrait of the figure whose seemingly incongruous identities as benefactor and banker inspired the New York Times to dub him the "Man of Steel and Velvet."

"This rich and fascinating biography tells the remarkable story of a remarkable man who, combining the power of an international financier with the finesse of a patron of the arts, helped make New York City a world cultural capital."--Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

"Theresa Collins's Otto Kahn is a superb piece of biography and a major work of historical reclamation. This is history written in the grand manner--sweeping in scope, majestic in style. And it restores to us in all his grandeur and cultural consequence a remarkable figure from our past."--Martin Duberman, City University of New York

"This first full-length biography of Otto Kahn offers a compelling portrait of a major figure in the history of American finance and culture. The keen eye and vivid prose of Theresa Collins illuminate the many facets of this fascinating character and his world."--Maury Klein, University of Rhode Island

Is Paris Burning? is one of my favorite books. It's a little like a comfort book... I love history but sometimes find reading about it a bit dull. Is Paris Burning? was very appealing from the first page. I found myself making a movie in my mind everytime I read it.

Having lost my original copy of the book, I am anxious to get a replacement for it. Though I was in hospital at the time of the events, I checked with many comrades from my unit (3rd company, 501 Regt French tanks, 2nd French Armored Division)who were interviewed by the authors in the early 60's, and they vouch for the accuracy of the account. I still see a few survivors at our yearly get-together. A must for my (or anyone's) grand children. Pres. French War Veterans, NY

This book gives a truly fascinating story of the last days of the Nazi occupation of Paris. It is an especially good read if you happen to be in Paris. I never realized until I read this book, how close Paris was to being totally destroyed by the Nazis. A very exciting, interesting book.