This book originally caught my eye as an addition to another book I read called Edison: A Life of Invention by Paul Israel. I wanted a book that would cover a little more of Edison's personal life, and this book did just that. However, James Newton's close, dedicated friendships with all of these great men of the twentieth century is truly amazing, and I learned more than I would probably learn otherwise about some of these important historical figures.

The entire book is fascinating, and surely different parts will appeal to different readers. I was particularly enchanted with a poignant description of how Charles Lindbergh handled dying as he lay on his deathbed. I was also fascinated with how environmentally conscientious some of these men were, particularly Edison and Lindbergh, but also Ford. For example, Ford was very interested in making automobile parts out of soybeans in order to reduce the need for metal parts. It seems that all of these men had numerous ideas and ideas for inventions that were way ahead of their time - perhaps some of them still are.

Newton's writing is quite good, and I only have one very minor criticism: it seems that he preaches a little bit and dwells on the religious facet of his relationships with these people. Of course, I'm sure this was a very important part of his relationship with these men and their families, but it seems that there is a grand, overarching agenda he has in constantly illustrating their connection to God and religion.

If you are interested in any of these historical figures and their fascinating relationships with each other, this book is definitely the best book you will find on the subject.

This book originally caught my eye as an addition to another book I read called Edison: A Life of Invention by Paul Israel. I wanted a book that would cover a little more of Edison's personal life, and this book did just that. However, James Newton's close, dedicated friendships with all of these great men of the twentieth century is truly amazing, and I learned more than I would probably learn otherwise about some of these important historical figures.

The entire book is fascinating, and surely different parts will appeal to different readers. I was particularly enchanted with a poignant description of how Charles Lindbergh handled dying as he lay on his deathbed. I was also fascinated with how environmentally conscientious some of these men were, particularly Edison and Lindbergh, but also Ford. For example, Ford was very interested in making automobile parts out of soybeans in order to reduce the need for metal parts. It seems that all of these men had numerous ideas and ideas for inventions that were way ahead of their time - perhaps some of them still are.

Newton's writing is quite good, and I only have one very minor criticism: it seems that he preaches a little bit and dwells on the religious facet of his relationships with these people. Of course, I'm sure this was a very important part of his relationship with these men and their families, but it seems that there is a grand, overarching agenda he has in constantly illustrating their connection to God and religion.

If you are interested in any of these historical figures and their fascinating relationships with each other, this book is definitely the best book you will find on the subject.

Now in his 80s, real-estate developer Newton recalls with uncritical admiration five celebrated men with whom he enjoyed almost filial relationships. According to the author, they all shared the same philosophy of life, enouncing business principles in terms of moral precepts. Newton's bonds with Carrel and with the scientist's friend and partner in medical research, Lindbergh, were forged by their common interest in metaphysics. The narrative is studded with anecdotes about the nature of these men: Edison's assertion that his deafness was an asset; Ford's dictum that profit is essential to business vitality; Firestone's advocacy of Japanese-style ``consensus'' management; Carrel's expectation of encountering Aristotle after death; and Lindbergh's revulsion at the destruction wrought by aviation in WW II.

I though Galileo's Daughter was the best book I read last year, and this one is a close second. Only James Gleick has the self-confidence and skill to synthesize the life of Newton down to 191 succinct and fascinating pages. The average author, full of himself, would probably write about 1,191 pages and you wouldn't be able to lift the book. This is a masterpiece of time, space, light and color. A reader in motion will tend to remain in motion. It was just great, I read it in one sitting. I hope this starts a trend!

I'm not a mathematician; I'm not even much good at arithmetic. Once when trying to count backward from 100 by 7's I started with 97, went to 93, and gave up. Of course I was lying in a hospital bed, but even at my best I wouldn't have gotten far. I tell you this because I approached "Isaac Newton," by James Gleick expecting to read the introduction, pick up a few bits-and-bobs, and bail out. What a surprise to find myself reading even while walking to the bus stop. Thank you, Mr. Gleick for a fascinating biography that doesn't bog down in numbers, but still imparts the scientific information salient to Mr. Newton's life.

Isaac Newton was a piece of work. A scientist, but also a student of biblical prophecy; a chemist, but also an alchemist; a public figure as well as something of a recluse; a fountain of learning who refused to publish. Isaac Newton was a man of his times, and Mr. Gleick points out the very interesting paradox that Newton lived in a pre-Newtonian world. Of course he would be filled with contradictions. Even so, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Newton's contemporary and a philosopher/mathematician in his own right who found himself at odds with Newton by independently inventing differential and integral calculus, told the Queen of Prussia that "in mathematics there was all previous history, from the beginning of the world, and then there was Newton; and that Newton's was the better half."

If you would like a better understanding of the laws of nature we take for granted, and an understanding of the life and times of the complicated man who formulated them for us, then I recommend this highly readable (and mathematically understandable) biography.

A fascinating snapshot portrait of the great and beguiling Newton who stands in a paradoxical relationship to his progenies, successors, epigones. There are several much longer and more detailed bios, but this one is to the point with quick takes on the major episodes, from Newton's youth in the Shire, his entry to the Cambridge world, the great years of his discovery of the calculus, his professorship years and the publication of Principia, all ending in the escapade of the Royal Mint.
Still a creature in some medieval world, Newton seems to spawn his great science as an afterthought to his obcure alchemical investigations, and the stubborn quirkiness of his mind is endearing and seems to monkey's uncle his straight and true succession in the coming era of reductionist flatfooters.
The author muses that Newton liberated physics from philosophy, and worries this physics was _too_ succesful,with an aside on the arch opponent Blake. I think too many modern physicists suffer amnesia on the history here, and the dialectical convulsion that was more than resistance to the inevitable. The attempted course correction of Kant is forgotten, the Romantic movement excoriated, the attempted distinctions of geistewissenshaft and naturwissenschaft rereduced to the 'Two Cultures' diatribe....The list goes on in the history of reactions to the philosophic quagmire into which Newtonianism led general culture, even as the method itself goes on to many triumphs, in the realm of physics.

In a word the legacy of Newton is a false view of man, Blake's nightmare come true, and it seems that his work produced a race of the smart idiots who can't see the limits of his method, a triumph of cultural stupidity, not the least was the bungled job of Darwinian theory which fails as it tries to ape the universal natural law, Newton's realm. The final legacy is the positivistic obsessions of the sociobiologists. Good read, and one can backtrack to the next episode, in the author's book on Chaos theory.

James Ramsey has written the ideal introductory statistics text for those with inquisitive minds. Ramsey's The Elements of Statistics with Applications to Economics and the Social Sciences presents an insightful, but accessible approach to the processes of statistical reasoning and problem solving. There are plenty of well-developed and realistic case studies that offer the reader straightforward explanations of the statistical reasoning used in setting up the problem solution. Ramsey does not just present statistics as facts and numbers; the why's and how's behind the use of specific statistical tools required in case studies and other examples are addressed in a straight forward and simple to understand manner. This contrasts most contemporary introductory statistics texts where it seems there is always an attempt to be the biggest encyclopedia of statistical examples. Ramsey's style of exposition offers the reader the depth and perspective required to facilitate both the current and future statistical requirements of the reader. In short, this is one of the few introductory texts that allow the reader to attain a stable grounding in the field of statistics on one hand, and on the other, will still be a useful reference throughout one's professional career. I highly recommend Ramsey's text as both a starter text and as a reference for those looking to clarify their fundamental statistical queries.

This book is a wonderful introductory statistics text. In contrast to the usual extensive approach in which students are exposed to a large cookbook of statistical procedures that end up being memorized 'for the exam,' this text operates on the intensive margin in a successful effort to provide the conscientious student a far deeper introduction to statistical reasoning and practice.

Each chapter contains a large set of exercises and the text comes with a simplified student version of S-Plus. Most of the computational work required for these exercises can be carried out through a menu-driven GUI interface. To help facilitate learning, many worked examples are also provided.

The mathematical requirements include a little beyond what a student should have upon entry into a first calculus course in an American university, i.e., little beyond basic algebra. An appendix explains all the mathematics used in the text.

I enthusiastically recommend this text!

The Elements of Statistics: with Applications to Economics and the Social Sciences by James B. Ramsey is an innovative and excellent undergraduate level text on the foundations and reasoning of statistics estimation and inference. This book is written for the curious student who is interested in understanding the basics of statistical analysis, the intuition behind statistical and information processing, and the process of decision making based on some data. Most importantly, in this book Ramsey takes the student through a fascinating voyage of discovery. In this voyage, Ramsey devotes significant effort to explaining what are the fundamental rules underlying most data analyses within the social and natural sciences. This is done without requiring much prior knowledge of calculus and with almost no formal mathematics. Ramsey accomplishes this task by building on a large number of real world examples, some of which he re-evaluates at the end of each chapter. By doing so, he allows the reader (student or researcher) to see the real value of the knowledge just acquired in the most recent chapter. That is, "what can I understand now about that specific problem that I could not understand before." In that way the student is going through an on-going learning process. A process that allows one to understand the data by recognizing what is observed and what is not observed, what is random and what is not random, what process may have generated the data, and what one can infer from the data.
To summarize, once Ramsey expresses his philosophy of approaching statistical analyses, he proceeds to teach statistics in a completely new and innovative way. First, unlike existing undergraduate textbooks, Ramsey teaches the students via a "discovery" approach where each step starts with a new set of questions and the students are guided toward discovering the relevant answer, given the information they have. Second, the text is easy to read and is full with real world examples taken from a large number of disciplines. Finally, the book is equipped with complete software (S-Plus) that provides the necessary tool for the students to practice and understand how to work with real data. This is an ideal undergraduate level textbook. It is a very useful statistical text for the open minded and advanced undergraduate student and provides the teacher with a perfect teaching tool. It is highly recommended.

Amos Golan
Research Professor

This book took me at about page 2 and I never looked back. A retired criminal justice employee with pen in hand. For those of you who love John Grisham, it's parallel plus...and if you love Mary Higgins Clark, its more than a couple of steps better. Mr. Newton scripts quite a story. Makes you REALLY wonder, IS this fiction...are you SURE this is fiction? Are you up to it?? Colorful characters, surreal settings, the inhumane crumbs of humanity. A wonderful look inside, criminal and non-criminal minds...where few people dare or bother to look. Put this book on top of your list...go ahead, do it now!

A most personal and revealing thriller, an electrifying masterpiece of fiction. A startling game of memory, desire and danger that makes you believe the author is facing his own past.

The Principles of Diversity is a practical handbook. Although it is not easy to label, its value can be placed in its capacity to get to the point in a cogent way. The author has placed fundamental American values in a capsule. Fairness, Goodness, Education, Tolerance represent a few of the principles of diversity. Appropriate quotes are used with the A-Z approach and creates some interesting views.

The volume could be a sleeper and over time may catch on. It is witty and informative, packed with knowledge with some interesting insights into our diverse nation. Although the book is short in length it makes up for the size in it important message-we should all be more humane to one another. The handbook is a timely contribution on an important issue.

All counselors and teachers should have a copy on their shelf.

The author of The Principles of Diversity has made a worthy contribution to the book world. It is an easy to read book which starts out with the idea that America should be moving toward being Diversity-Friendly- "The effective interaction or comfort level between individuals or groups that may differ from each other in a broad range of areas including-but not limited to race, color, creed, age, gender, or ability. "

The Book is a practical handbook for daily usage in a variety of settings-home, workpce, school, church. Using an A-Z approach each letter constitutes a principle of diversy. The letter N is for "Neighbor" which is accompanied by Robert Frosts' famous quote that "Good Fences make good neighbors." The diversity principle for "neighbor," is "Practice Being a Good Neighbor." Following the principle the author offers a short narrative with commentary and insight into what it means to be a good neighbor. The principles include among others: A-Attitude; B-Bias; C-Character; L-Love.

An easy to read book it is only 71 pages long. It has an oblong shape with an attractive red, white and blue front cover.

The author also includes a The American Diversity-Friendly Workplace Pledge, a model or guide on how American workers should treat each other with respect and dignity to enhance effective teamwork. There is also a glossary with terms related to diversity. A suggested readings section is also included.

As it stands The Principles of Diversity is quite unique. In some ways it appeals to an important issue in American society today. It is a challenge to each of us to stop and take a look at how we treat our fellow human beings. Pick up a copy of this inexpensive volume and be enlightened.

The Principles of Diversity, once digested is the kind of book that will be hanging around your bookshelf as a handy reference for years to come.

I find this book very interesting about accounting theory and principles. He base his structure about a revenus-expenses method, instead of the usual assets-liabilieties approach. Furthermore, the Author develops his structure starting from some declared principles, instead of implicit or misunderstood assumptions or preconceptions. He derives some operational concepts starting from these principles. His assumption about satisfying principle is most insteresting. The Author considers this satisfying principle as opposed to the maximisation principle as firm's objective. See also an article in Harvard Business Review, 1960. A book to buy, to study hard and to remember.

Balm for Gilead is a must read for any pastor that serves in an African American church or community. The book took a systematic approach to pastoral care for African American families. The cultural and historical background of African Americans was clearly kept in mind. There are some family issues that are peculiar to people of color. The authors skillfully incorporated many other sources into this valuable resource. Moreover, information for organizations that can provide more assistance was included as well. Dealing with family violence is not an easy task. The book addresses ministry to victims of abuse and also perpetrators of abuse. Usually, perpetrators are protected by society and the church. The authors clearly demonstrated the the absolute necessity of protecting the victim first. This book provides guidelines for what should be done and what should not be done. Additionally, very valid reasons are given for the guidance they provide. Overall, a great book.

Charlie Jones shows he is a master of cutting to the chase and teaching us the lessons of History that are found in the individuals that make it. Read it and see why Charlie is one of my heroes. Now, do yourself a favor and order it. While you are at it, buy a copy of "Life is Tremendous." It Is and the book is too.

If you like coon hunting, dogs and trouble, you'll love this book about a boy that has a hunting dog and a racoon. Set in the Ozarks in a town called Judy during the second world war, it a great book about life trials and growing up. I recommend this reasd to everyone.

I read this book when it first was published, so I am obviously not in the best position to critique it at least a couple years later. However, when it comes to James Dean I am an admitted addict and have read almost everything that has been published about him over the past 30 years. What makes this book a standout is that it concentrates on Dean's death as opposed to his life. It provides very detailed information re: his last ride and how his death and the subsequent hoopla surrounding it was handled. It also provides quite a lot of previously unpublished material in regard to the period immediately before and after his death. The author has saved us all a lot of pain and irritation by researching this material in a factual and precise manner.
What makes this book a positive departure from the other Dean book is that there is no psychological stuff about Dean's tortured youth or attempts to affix a death wish to him, just a lot of good hard facts. Joe Friday couldn't do a better job in that area.
The best part of this book? It sticks to the truth and makes for an interesting read.

Beath makes the death of James Dean a very personal experience for the reader. This is not a book one reads and forgets - the reader has participated in the author's passionate search for the substance behind the tragedy and the reader is changed. I'm ready for more from this author.

The most amazing aspect of Beath's book is the original and innovative research. Basically, Beath was the first Hollywood biographer to dig into public records--traffic reports, lawsuit testimony--and uncover facts about Dean's death that had been previously overlooked. If Pulitzer Prizes were not the preserve of Manhattan writers and their pals, Warren Newton Beath of Bakersfield, California would have won one for this book.