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It should be noted that the only prerequisite is a prior course in basic probability - conditional probability, Tchebychev's theorem, simple and basic stuff every 2nd-3rd year undergraduate should be familiar with.
If you're looking for the perfect introduction to information theory, look no further, this is it!
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In addition to well known poems such as "Those Winter Sundays" and "The Whipping," this anthology contains other equally stirring poems including "Aunt Jemima Of The Ocean Waves" which depicts a conversation with the fat woman from a Coney Island side-show and "Belsen, Day Of Liberation" dedicated to Rosey Pool, the Dutch teacher of Anne Frank and first translator of her famous diary.
While Hayden writes much about African-American history and culture, his poems do not tell the reader what to think or feel. Instead, his carefully crafted verse weaves images that allow the careful reader to move around in some very unusual territory, some beautiful, some uncomfortable. Hayden puts us in the mind of the oppressor in poems like "Middle Passage" about the famous Amistad incident, and "Night, Death, Mississippi" where we eavesdrop on an old Klan member too frail to attend a lynching with his son, of whom he is proud. "Be there with Boy and the rest / if I was well again. / Time was. Time was. / White robes like moonlight / In the sweetgum dark."
Hayden can also be wickedly funny. In "American Journal" written a few years before his death, his narrator is a spy from a distant planet in the galaxy who reports back to his fellow superiors about "this baffling multi people extremes and variegations their noise restlessness their almost frightening energy."
In addition to poems about childhood, society, and race, Hayden also writes about the history and central figures of his religion, the Bahá'í Faith. In "Baha' u'llah In The Garden Of Ridwan" he compares the founder of Bahá'í at an important juncture to Christ the night before being crucified w ho prayed to be relieved of his great destiny. In "Dawnbreaker" Hayden describes the torture of one early Bahá'í put to death by having candles of oil and wick lit within his skin. "Ablaze / with candles sconced / in weeping eyes / of wounds."
Despite his numerous awards, Hayden was not well known to many poetry readers until the end of his life. Fortunately, his reputation has increased since Collected Poems was published posthumously. If you are interested in rich, well crafted poetry which explores what it means to be human, try Hayden. As Aunt Jemima says in the above mentioned poem, "And that's the beauty part, I mean, ain't that the beauty part."
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Frederick anticipated Napoleon by re-introducing the strategy of the attack to military theory. He laid much of the groundwork for the diplomacy of Bismarck which a hundred years later sould see Frederick's great grand-nephew, William I (reigned 1861-1888) crowned German Emperor in 1871.
Frederick was certainly an genius in some areas of his life. However, as this book points out, he inherited a lot of the tools that he would need for success during his reign from his father, King Frederick William I (reigned 1713-1740). For instance, the army that Frederck the Great used so devastatingly in the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748) and the Seven Years War (1756-1763), had been painstakingly built by his father.
Additionally, he inherited a close diplomatic reationship with the British crown from his mother, Sophie Dorothea of Hanover. Sophia Dorothea was the daughter of George I and brother of George II of England. Assured of English neutrality Frederick could have a free hand to deal with Austria during the Seven Years War of 1756-1763.
Asprey writes in a way that is entertaining and still relates a good deal on information to the reader. Because of this, his work on Frederick the Great is a welcome addition to anyone's library.
Asprey also provides a clear view of Europe in Frederick's times. The constant conflicts between its nations is difficult to understand from the perspective of the modern reader. In our times Europe has been at peace for more than 50 years (despite the conflagration in the Balkans) yet in Frederick's time the great nations could not stop warring with each other.
Most fascinating in this book, however, is the suspense filled descriptions of Frederick's major battles and the masterful way the king manuevered through the 7 year war. This was very exciting reading. It also provided insights as to how an inferior force can prevail against what appeared to be overwhelming odds.
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But if you want to add a respected classic to your collection of Nelson works, you'll need Southey. The book narrates Nelson's life in a relaxing fashion without much analysis. After all, its not a scholarly book. But the story it tells is still considered generally solid and reliable. When read alongside Oman, Mahan, and the new books by Dr Colin White and Hayward, you'll have Nelson's life down-pat.
My only gripe is that Soutyhey's work glosses over the bad times in Nelson's life; times when the seaman did foolish or wantonly violent acts. These ere so out of keeping with the great deeds done by Britain's true hero that Southey should have tried to make some sense of them.
Still, with Southey you know what you are getting: a timeless classic which did wonders, in its own time, to tell Englishmen what a debt they owed to Nelson and his fleet.
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He does a good job of tying the history together, which helps enormously in making it interesting. It's long enough to not have to gloss over many important developments without being (too) imposing. And the style is intelligently readable, neither too scholarly nor too chatty. If you're interested in how the world came to be what it is today, and want to give yourself a comprehensive overview of history, this is a great book to read. Chances are you'll become fascinated with some era or event and want to learn even more about it.
The first and worst of its minor problems is that this book won't help you learn more. There are no references, citations, recommended readings, or bibliography. Roberts didn't research all of history himself; I'm certain he knows of many, many great resources, and it would have been helpful for him share them with us. The 2000 multivolume edition supposedly fixes this, but it's quite expensive.
Roberts' stated overall theme is the shaping of the modern world through history, and the book is paced accordingly. About half of it is dedicated to the years 1700 onward, which may or may not suit your interests. If you're inclined towards classical and medieval history as I am, you'll probably want to find good surveys of those periods. The modern section is detailed enough as to make one redundant.
I especially would have like more descriptions of social and cultural life; those included are relatively minimal. The grand trends, major transformations, and sweeping changes of history are well-covered. The details of everyday life, though, are often glossed over; there is often relatively little sense given of what a culture at a particular time was actually like.
Roberts makes no bones about his focus on the West. He is not Eurocentric in any moral or judgmental sense, but he does give relatively little space to societies (early African, Native American to name a few) which had little impact on shaping the modern world. If you're mainly interested in them, this book is probably not for you.
For an general introduction to world history, though, this book is excellent. It gives a good overview of, well, what humankind has done in the last 6000 years. It ties together all those tidbits you learned -- about Egypt, Rome, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution -- into a coherent fabric of world history. And it does so readably, without being dry or assuming an attention span of 15 minutes.
Roberts may be accused of Eurocentrism, and perhaps with some justification; but he's European, and by definition sees the world as a European in the same way that an American writer sees the world only from an American viewpoint.
His scholarship is sterling, though, and his judgments sound. I read the book from cover to cover (and those covers are pretty far apart); it's well-written, engaging, and accurate. However, if you're looking for a history that encompasses the globe, this isn't it.
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I agree with the author that psychoanalysis is a pseudoscience - statements cannot be tested and the research results cannot be verified uniformly. Although it is not totally without meaning (Karl Popper), it is not a science.
(2) the revenge of the repressed
A frontal attack on the caste of the psychoanalysts, depicted as 'religious zealots, self-help evangelists, sociopolitical ideologues, and outright charlatans who trade in the ever seductive currency of guilt and blame, while keeping the doctor's fees mounting.'
The author is particularly severe with their latest 'school' : the 'recovered memory movement', based on the rape of children by their parents (really!). This lead to false accusations and condemnations of innocent people. No wonder the author predicts an accelerating collapse of psychoanalysis as a respected institution.
A much needed and courageous book to halt a profession riding at full speed on a misty highway. And a much needed angle on Freud as a person, written in a style to slaughter the not so innocent father of psychoanalysis.
After reading this book, I agree with Peter Madawar, who called doctrinaire psychoanalytic theory "the most stupendous intellectual confidence trick of the twentieth century".
These two essays and the letters in response to them have been put into the book The Memory Wars. As someone trained in experimental psychology you can guess my own personal bias in this matter. Crews discusses Freud's botched cases; his frequent vacillation in theory formation; some of his sillier theories; and his serious interjection of personal bias into the formation of his beliefs. The main problem with the whole Freudian system is the total lack of scientific evidence supporting it. Freudian psychoanalysis is founded on anecdote and supported by anecdotes. To be fair, much current non-Freudian therapy is also based on anecdote. Indignant Freud followers write back, and their letters are indeed interesting (and often pompous).
The second half of the book takes on the recovered memory movement. It would be great to poke fun at this movement if it weren't for the fact that it has caused so much damage to all parties involved. Symptoms checklists are published with the statement if you suffer from these symptoms you may be a victim of sexual abuse. Read the list and you will find that the majority of Americans will find that they have been abused. It's all a patient seduction game with the intent to make big money. Hospitals have even set up units to treat such patients (Having worked in the psychiatric hospital industry I am well aware of the "product lines" that such facilities set up in order to fill beds). Crews does an excellent job of dissecting the memory movement, and once again we get to read the indignant responses.
Those who believe that psychological therapy should be based on sound scientific evidence will love this book. Those who have accepted Freudianism with a religious like faith will, of course, hate it. To me this whole subject is analogous to the evolution vs. creationist debate. It's science versus pseudoscience.
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Stevenson's 'Treasure Island' is reckoned to be his best book but, for sheer descriptive weight, superb characterization and sharp, sharp dialog, 'Kidnapped' is the one for me. In brief, 16-year-old orphan, David Balfour visits his uncle in order to claim the inheritance, left by his father. The uncle, having failed to kill him, arranges for David to be kidnapped by a ship of thugs and villains and taken to the Carolinas to be sold into slavery. While navigating the Scottish coast, the ship collides with another boat and the crew capture the lone survivor, a swashbuckling Highlander called Alan Breck Stewart. David and Alan become friends and escape their captors. On land again, Stewart is accused of murdering a rival clan member and he and David must now cross the Scottish mountains to reach safe haven and for David to reclaim his inheritance.
The descriptions of the Scottish countryside are truly marvelous and the sense of pace and adventure keeps the reader hooked right to the end. I notice that one reviewer likened this section to 'a tiresome episode of The Odd Couple'. Perhaps it's worth bearing in mind that The Odd Couple was written a few years AFTER Kidnapped ! (In any case, I doubt that a written version of the television series would stir anyone's emotions like Kidnapped can). To most readers the historic aspects, along with the fact that the couple are being hunted by British redcoats is enough to maintain interest, suspense and pace.
Read and enjoy !
Even graduate students would find this book daunting, because after all, it probably is one of the best books written on information theory.
If your a beginner seeking a good book, this is not it at all.
Aside from being too rigorous, it covers many topics which are of completely no use to a beginner or even somebody with a fair amount of information theory knowledge. Also, the book is not very motivating from a practical aspect. That is, much like the Reza and Kitchkin book, it's written more from a dry mathematical perspective and not an "engineers" perspective.
It doesn't examine information theory from the perspective of electrical engineering and communications theory... which might make it hard for some people to relate to if they can't be told what the practical applications are (see Pierce's books and Cover and Thomas for very good "practical" books).
For beginners, I recommend the Pierce book, subtitled "Symbols, Signals and Noise" which is bar-none the best beginners book ever written (or some of Pierce's other books). Pierce is one of the finest authors of his era and he published several books on information theory; most of which are more "engineer friendly" and are more relavent to the study of electronic communications.
Summary, this book is NOT for beginners. It will be almost completely useless unless you have a decent degree of information theory knowledge to begin with. Sadly, this was the first book I ever purchased on that topic.. and boy was that a mistake!! I spent 2 years trying to figure heads or tails of half the chapters.. Then I went ahead and got some more appropriate books (Pierce, Reza, Cover and Thomas) and when I had sufficient knowledge... only then did this book make any sense.