We LOVE this book!
The world of quality science books for very young children is sadly lacking. Mudpies to Magnets definitely fills a huge void. The book is detailed, clear, accurate, and age appropriate. Don't think this book is strictly for young children, older ones enjoy it as well. It really helped reinforce concepts in a real, fun way. If your kids are struggling with science or think its 'boring' you definitely need this book.

I love this book! It is a great introduction to science for young kids, beginning with pre-school age. Sensible focus on asking questions, observing and measuring phenomena. Uses a child's natural curiosity about the world all around and harnesses it to encourage the systematic thought on which science is based. I will be teaching a science class for my daughter's Montessori class every two weeks and will take many (most?) of my lessons from this book!

This book and the original Mudpies to Magnets are my best choices for simple, one-page science activities. These science books and experiments were clearly written with the parent or teacher in mind. Although the books contain a wealth of knowledge and experiments, none of the material is overwhelming for the adult participant. The experiments themselves require only inexpensive, household materials. And each of the experiments that we have tried are fun. One caveat: Ignore the age rankings as a wide variety of children (up to age 10) can enjoy all the experiments in these books...from The Science Spiders(TM) Newsletter.

Why would anyone want to read a book about psychology that was first published 113 years
ago? One answer is the rationale for reading any psychology book: that it
provides insights into psychological issues not available elsewhere. Although
many psychologists of the late 19th and early 20th century probably started their career by
reading this book, it is not appropriate today as an introduction to psychology. Too
many of James's viewpoints are antiquated, and his facts, outdated or incorrect. Neither
is it the book to read if you are looking for contemporary psychological views
or a compilation of psychological knowledge. Recent textbooks are better for these purposes.
Yet, the word most frequently used to describe James's Principles of Psychology
is probably 'monumental' and rightly so because not only is this a lengthy work (~1400pgs),
but it also is the culmination of a long line of philosophical thinking about the Soul,
Self, Mind, Matter, and related topics that began with the pre-Socratic Greeks
and continued through the 19th century, when positivist philosophers and experimentalists
began to explore psychologically relevant philosophical questions in more concrete terms,
invoking a scientific method and rejecting metaphysics. At the end of the 19th century, a
seeming riot of discussion about the meaning of life, the nature of consciousness, mind,
ego, evolution, and related subjects dominated the scientific and popular culture.

At this point in history, William James, an American trained as a physician and employed
as a Harvard professor, examines the various philosophies of the previous two millenia, picking
out those aspects relevant to psychology, comparing and sorting them to reveal their value
as unambiguous theories that might be tested by research, and reflecting on how the evidence
stacks up in their favor. He also advances his own, original conceptions on various issues.
His work is not the first to collect speculation and evidence into a coherent
psychology, and there are many previous works with "Psychology" in their titles,
but James's efforts would galvanize an American discipline of psychological science that
would eventually become a dominant intellectual force.

James defines psychology as the "Science of Mental Life" and describes the
stream of consciousness as "the ultimate fact for psychology." Out of his viewpoint,
the school of functionalism in psychology developed, where the mind is conceived as a
useful organ that evolves according to natural selection and grows according
to discoverable rules. His orientation towards physiological and behavioral data
eventually diminished the then dominant psychological
method of introspection that James himself uses so frequently with great effect.
Subsequent viewpoints in psychology, such as behaviorism, though taking part of their
inspiration from functionalism, reject James's definition of psychology, so that
by the end of the 20th century, most psychologists with an empirical orientation may
call themselves "behavioral scientists," but certainly not "mental scientists."

Reading this book can be disconcerting, perhaps because of his period style or
Victorian sensibilities, or the frequent, unglossed short quotes and phrases in German, French,
and Latin because he assumes the reader has at least these minimal language skills.
Perhaps also, it is because James is not only conversant with the giants of philosophy
and experimental technique who preceeded him, but seemingly, with virtually every
published sentence to date bearing on the subjects of concern, and in veritable fractal detail,
producing a tour de force in erudition. His is not the style of current psychology
journals and textbooks, but fortunately he does translate into English many long passages
he quotes from their original sources. Yet possibly the most disconcerting aspects
are the subjects that James raises in this book.

The new mainstream psychology after James rejects many topics as unsuitable - even for
discussion - that figure prominently in the intellectual history of philosophy
and psychology. James's view that the concept of Soul should be eliminated in
scientific works is one point on which later psychologists heartily agree, but they
also, to a large extent, throw out other concepts of central concern to James, such as
mind, emotion, will, and feeling. Rare pleas by scholars
with varying backgrounds (e.g., Ornstein, Tomkins) urge students of psychology to
revisit issues discussed by James and address the larger questions contained therein, but
such exhorations echo mostly in halls of learning emptied by Vita enhancement pressures.
Renewal of interest reappears lately for some of the suppressed topics, cast into such areas as
cognitive psychology or emotion theory, but James's idea that the mind is a core
concept remains foreign to virtually all contemporary psychologists, and much of his
emphasis seems uncomfortable from today's viewpoint.

The reluctance among psychologists to embrace such philosophical and scientific issues
concerning the mind is remarkably not shared by some physicists, mathematicians,
biologists, computer scientists, and other scientists who in recent works have implied
that psychologists may be irrelevant to elucidating such issues, if not muddle-headed,
scientific dwarfs. This twist is ironic because psychologists restrict their
vocabulary and investigations partly to ape their conception of these "hard-core" sciences.
It is not clear whether psychology will survive the choices that psychologists have
made about their subject matter, or whether psychology departments will inevitably be
diced and parsed into their appropriate slots in departments of computer science, biology,
medicine, statistics, and physics, but certainly, the end of psychology is nearer if
tomorrow's students of psychology fail to study James's Principles of Psychology.

James's work is the jumping off point for much of what forms 20th century psychology:
habit, association, attention, memory, imagination, object and space perception, etc.
His thoughts about emotion, feelings, the self, consciousness, and other topics remain important
for today's theoretical views. On the other hand, this work predates psychoanalysis
and does not include an organized account of abnormal psychology, human communication,
and other topics raised in most elementary surveys of psychology. The context in which
James puts scientific psychology is probably the most important lesson of this book.
The Dover edition is unabridged, the only form of this work that should be
considered by the serious reader.

James has been rightly credited as the father of Psychology, and this was the work that launched psychology into a field of its own. When it came out some 100 years ago, The Principles was criticized as "un-systematic." James would have taken this as a compliment. It is exactly because this book is not an elaborately contrived system that it remains fresh as a morning flower. Full of details and insight, it is perhaps the most epic and insightful psychological work every produced. That said, The Principles doesn't quite stay within the bounds of psychology. As you will see from the citations (which are voluminous), James was also well read in the humanities, from abstruse philosophy to literary fiction. But then, James was living in a time when Philosophy and Psychology were not distinct disciplines. Not a problem if you enjoy philosophizing. For its breadth, scope and penetrating insights, this book might never grow stale.

This is probably the most wide ranging and best book ever written about human psychology. Even though it is more than 100 years old, it still gives the best description of the width and range of human thinking and activities.

Roughly speaking, there are two main areas in psychology:

1. The clinical psychology, psychoanalysis and treatment. That area was to a large part shaped by Freud.

2. The cognitive psychology which describes how we think and experience the world. That area was founded by William James, and this book is his main work

The book was written before the separation of psychological science, philosophy and discussions about ethics and human values. It was also written before much of the cognitive psychology degenerated into investigations of white mice running through mazes. It can therefore give a wide ranging and consistent wiev of our thinking and experience.

I stumbled across this book in a used book store and read it because I had nothing else on hand. It gripped me from the first page, where the author describes his four year old son, Max, staring down at the author on the floor as he suffers a heart attack. Before this book, I knew little about heart diseaseof any sort. I've learned a lot about heart disease, but also about courage and determination. This book will appeal to a broad range of readers. It is beautifully written, often amusing, and always gripping. I barely survived his heart transplant, and have a new awe for anybody who contemplates undergoing this procedure.

Being an HCM victim myself, I found this book highly informative, educational, moving, emotional, and inspiring. I could relate to his suffering, his motivation, and his tenacity. It's a miracle that he survived to share his experiences. This book gave me the determination to educate myself, and motivate myself to live with and survive this condition, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. A great read for everyone; highly recommend!

Having a 8 year old son with IHSS/HCM I found this book the most informative of the hundreds of articles I have read. This book gives the details patients,(or in this case parents of the patient)want to know. I have read it three times and will read it again. I like the in depth discussions about being a heart patient,both the physical and emotional affects.

The book was shipped more faster than I expected. Thanks for your effort.

"What does the future hold for the HR function and for HR practitioners? Many studies have been undertaken to answer this question. However, three of them stand out as being the must comprehensive: (1) the 1995-1996 Hman Resource Planning Society State-of-the-Art Study (R.Eichinger & D.Ulrich); (2) the Penn State Executive Programs Management Skills Assessment-Human Resources, which was conducted between 1985 and 1997 (A.Vicere & R.Prescott); (3) A 21st-Century Vision of Strategic Human Resource Management (W.Rothwell, S.Schechter & S.McLane). A review of tese studies shows that the HR field is on the verge of moving beyond its recently acquired responsibilities for performance consulting and business partnering to assume strategic leadership" (p.26).

In this context, W.J.Rothwell, P.K.Prescott, and M.W.Taylor review these studies as following:

I- 1995-1996 HR Planning Society State-of-the-Art Study.

1. Seven most essential skills for HR executives today:

* Business savvy and acumen

* Leading organizational change initiatives using personal power and indirect influence skills

* Deep and working knowledge of the basic HR technologies

* Global strategic thinking and planning skills

* Change management technology

* Analytical, conceptual, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills

* Financial analysis and costing skills

2. Seven most essential skills for HR executives in the future:

* Master global operating skills

* Business and financial savvy

* Strategic, visioning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills

* Using information technology

* Deep HR technology savvy

* Change management skills

* Organizational effectiveness

II- Penn State Executive Program Mnagement Skills Assesment-Human Resources (1997)

1. Six general roles of the new HR leaders: Partner, problem solver, model manager, oracle, conduit, and change agent.

2. Most important competencies of the HR leader:

* Is committed to the success of the organization

* Acts consistently in a manner that instills trust

* Is an effective listner

* Exhibits high standards of performance

* Can manage conflict effectively

* Works effectively with other managers outside the HR function

* Recruits and selects high-quality professionals

* Communicates effectively both orally and in writing

* Understands the overall corporate mission

* Develops HR plans that are clearly linked to the mission and strategy of business units

III- A 21st-Century Vision of Strategic Human Resource Management (1995-1996): The results of the study indicate differences between the most important present and future competencies required for success by HR leaders (see pp.29-30, and Appendix 1).

Within this general framework, they write that "taken together, these three studies provide compelling evidence that HR practitioners of the future must demonstrate exemplary leadership skills if they are to be successful. For HR practitioners, it is no longer enough to be a compliance-oriented practitioner, a supportive, or even a performance consultant. Exemplary HR practitioners of the future will be leaders who are capable of demonstrating a new value-added component to their organizations by managing and developing knowledge capital. By comparing the studies (just summarized above), we can see that six key roles for HR leaders have emerged: change agent, HR strategist, business strategist, HR functional aligner, partner to general managers, and problem solver and consultant."

Highly recommended.

Following an initial, probing discussion of the history and present problems plaguing human resource management, the authors present a vision of a new HR function. They carry these ideas forward in terms of six trends: the advance of technology; globalization; cost containment; increasing speed in market change; the increasing importance of knowledge capital; and the overall pace and scope of change. They discuss how to apply insights about these trends to shaping and leading the HR function, specifically in terms of action plans and the requisite leadership competencies to implement these plans. The book contains work sheets for guiding professionals in action planning. Importantly, the results of research underlying the book are included. A worthy contribution to the human resource management field and something of a career heads-up for HR practitioners.

Having studied, taught and practiced Federal Indian law for nearly twenty years, I believe that this is the finest examination of the historical roots of legal colonialism in the Americas yet written. Williams is masterful in his research and examination of the Christian, European foundations for the invasion of the Western Hemisphere. Although I disagree with Williams' conclusions about the writings of Franciscus de Victoria, his discussion of the Elizabethan colonization of Ireland and, through extension of the same legal doctrines, native North America, is excellent.

This book is a methodically brings the legal thought of the western world into context of how it relates to the American Indian, a necessary background to the subject. This is done by reviewing medival and reform period of history, the seperation of church and state and land laws, and followed up by the occupation of North America. How this subjecation came to be and how laws not used equally facilitated the holocast in North America. I am glad i read it and have considered doing a second MA at the institution Robert A Williams teaches and have bought his second book and look forward to reading it AFTER i reread the american indian in western legal thought (ps keep a dictionary handy).

Keinzle's, "Assault with Intent," is a great read. His understanding of the inner workings of seminary life make this novel all the more realistic. The characters portrayed--especially the priest faculty--were reminiscent of my own experiences as both student and faculty member at a seminary. The real life foibles were treated not just with humor, but also with the respect that these characters deserved.

"Assault with Intent" was the hook for me. Since then, I've read every one of the Fr. Koesler stories. Fr. Koesler and William Kienzle have become like old friends. I look forward to the next installment.

This is my all time favorite Fr. Koesler mystery, followed by "Deathbed" in which many of the same characters return. Not only is it fun to read with its bungling murderers and richly drawn characters, the scholastic setting is especially realistic. In fact, I've been to some of the places described in the book and that makes it all the more realistic to me. Well Done!

George S. Schuyler was one of the premier black journalists of his, or any other, day. Between his own acerbic style and being published in The American Mercury, he was referred to as the Black Mencken. In addition, he wrote one great satirical novel, Black No More, and a fair amount of pulp fiction. Two of those pulp titles, The Black Internationale : Story of Black Genius Against the World and the sequel, Black Empire : An Imaginative Story of a Great New Civilization in Modern Africa, are reproduced here in one volume. Written under the pseudonym, Samuel I . Brooks, for a black weekly newspaper, The Pittsburgh Courier, these sixty two serial installments in an ongoing adventure story originally appeared between 1936 and 1938.

Reminiscent of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu, Schuyler tells the story of Carl Slater, writer for the Harlem Blade, who accidentally witnesses the murder of a white woman. The black assailant forces Slater into a waiting car at gunpoint, whereupon he is drugged. When he wakens, the murderer reveals himself to be Dr. Henry Belsidus, leader of the Black Internationale, an elite organization of black professionals whom the Doctor plans to lead in his mission to liberate Africa and restore blacks to their rightful position of dominance on the world stage. He explains that the woman had been one of his agents and her murder was punishment for failure. It turns out that Slater was on a list of blacks whom Belsidus planned to eventually recruit to his cause, and now circumstances force him to choose between joining up or being killed. He joins.

Dr. Belsidus is clearly maniacal, but he is also possessed of a compelling vision :

My son, all great schemes appear mad in the beginning. Christians, Communists, Fascists and Nazis were at first called scary. Success made them sane. With brains, courage and wealth even the most fantastic scheme can become a reality. I have dedicated my life, Slater, to destroying white world supremacy. My ideal and objective is very frankly to cast down Caucasians and elevate the colored people in their places. I plan to do this by every means within my power. I intend to stop at nothing, Slater, whether right or wrong. Right is success. Wrong is failure. I will not fail because I am ruthless. Those who fail are them men who get sentimental, who weaken, who balk at a little bloodshed. Such vermin deserve to fail. Every great movement the world has ever seen has collapsed because it grew weak. I shall never become weak, nor shall I ever tolerate weakness around me. Weakness means failure, Slater, and I do not intend to fail.

In the ensuing chapters he realizes this vision, along the way utilizing such visionary technological wizardry as solar power, hydroponics and death rays, and such social measures as as his own new religion, the Church of Love. Carl Slater witnesses it all and--at the behest of Schuyler's editors and readers--falls in love with Patricia Givens, the beautiful aviatrix who commands the Black Internationale's Air Force. The serial ends with Belsidus and his followers triumphant and white Europe expelled from Africa.

Stylistically this is pretty standard fare, following the over-the-top, melodramatic, cliff-hanging, conventions of the pulp fiction formula. It's well written and exciting, though overwrought. What really makes it interesting though is it's politics. Schuyler, particularly late in life, was a conservative. He moved farther Right as he became more vehemently anti-Communist and finished his career writing for publications put out by the John Birch Society (see hyperlinked Essays below). Part of this evolution entailed becoming generally hostile to the Civil Rights movement and to African Nationalism, but apparently in the 1930's he was himself a Pan-Africanist, especially concerned with the fate of Ethiopia after the Italians invaded and with liberating Liberia. There's a tendency to dismiss black conservatives as somehow self-loathing, as if conservative values are necessarily at odds with the advancement of the black race. And you can see something of a dichotomy in Schuyler's writings if you take for instance one of his comments on Marcus Garvey, of whom he was generally skeptical :

Marcus Garvey has a vision. He sees plainly that everywhere in the Western and Eastern hemispheres the Negro, regardless of his religion or nationality, is being crushed under the heel of white imperialism and exploitation. Rapidly the population of the world is being aligned in two rival camps: white and black. The whites have arms, power, organization, wealth; the blacks have only their intelligence and their potential power. If they are to be saved, they must be organized so they can present united opposition to those who seek to continue their enslavement. (George S. Schuyler, writing in the Interstate Tattler, August 23, 1929)

and compare it to what he had to say about the success of Black Empire :

I have been greatly amused by the public enthusiasm for 'The Black Internationale,' which is hokum and hack work of the purest vein. I deliberately set out to crowd as much race chauvinism and sheer improbability into it as my fertile imagination could conjure. The result vindicates my low opinion of the human race. (George S. Schuyler, from a Letter to P.L. Prattis, April 4, 1937)

Taken at face value, he seems to be criticizing his black readership for enjoying stories based on the vision he had extolled in Garvey.

But perhaps this conflict is more easily reconciled than critics would have us believe. Throughout his career, Schuyler seems to have been entirely consistent in his hostility towards those who sought to speak for blacks. It is this general stance which explains his opposition to Garvey, Communists, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and so on. In Black Empire, he presents Belsidus as quite a monster, willing to use mass murder and near genocide to achieve his ends. It's easy to read the story as reflecting both his most treasured dream--the triumph of blacks over racial oppression--and his inherent pessimism about the leaders and means that would be required to achieve that goal.

At any rate, the story is great fun and Schuyler's personal conflicts only serve to add a few layers of tension. The reader is often unsure whether he's writing with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek or whether he's allowing characters to speak his own forbidden thoughts. That you can read it on various levels merely adds to the enjoyment. There's also a terrific Afterword by Robert A. Hill and R. Kent Rasmussen, from which I gleaned much of the information in this review. Altogether, it's a marvelous book and the Northeastern Library of Black Literature is to be applauded for restoring it to print. Schuyler's reputation among academics and intellectuals declined in direct proportion to his increasing conservatism, but his is a unique and valuable voice, deserving of revival.

GRADE : A-

This is an incredibly interesting (to say the least) story ofthe rise of a Black dictator who takes over Africa (and the Blackdiaspora). Sort of "The Turner Diaries" meets "TheSpook Who Sat By The Door." It is noteworthy that Schuyler (asthe notes in the introduction indicate) did not intend for this workto be taken seriously. But many did, and I'm sure that many modernAfrocentric readers would also.

Despite the prevalance of e-learning, the classroom remains the preferred training platform, both by students and trainers. Most classroom experiences would benefit immeasureably through the well-researched, practical techniques in the Creative Training Idea Book.

Beginning with the right foundation - how the adult brain learns - the book offers hundreds of ideas most trainers learn only through long trial and error (if at all). As the author discussed bread and butter subjects such as the multiple ways the classroom can be set up, how to use flipcharts effectively, how to tell stories, ideas for class evaluations or the best questioning techniques, I found myself agreeing with nearly every suggestion.

This book would have helped me become a seasoned presenter much earlier in my career. And although I'm now a seasoned facilitator with thousands of presentations under my belt, I still picked up some new ideas. Highly recommended for all stand-up trainers and presenters committed to delivering boredom-free, professional sessions.

I just read this book and all I can say is WOW! I got so many ideas for setting up classrooms that will enhance my training, engaging participants, stimulating learning and delivering training in a way that is effective and FUN, that I am not sure which strategy I want to use first. This book has terrific information and ideas for generating learner enthusiasm, rewarding participants, gaining learner involvement and rewarding positive behavior. The author really sets the tone for the entire boiok in the first chapter where he discusses research on brain-based learning, multiple intelligences, adult learning principles and much more. Throughout the book, he's also provided something he calls "bright ideas" and "Interim Reviews" for applying the information provided.
This is going to be a book I reference often and would encourage anyone involved in T&D to own.

I think just about anyone who has taken a literature class has been ENCOURAGED...[required] to memorize this poem.

And it's a darn good poem; tells a story that sounds, [especially to a younger person, very real].

Robert Service has always been like...the 'other' Jack London. These two authors should be, [if not already], required reading in any English/Literature class taught.

This particular poem was always a good one to have memorized--- in order to recite it around the campfire at a Boy Scout camping trip. Just seeing the title in print brings back fond memories.

The Cremation of Sam Magee is definatley Robert Services funniest poems ever, it shows a master genius at work and I shall always remember the words "Strange things are done in the midnight sun by the men who mole for gold" This book is a definate buy!!! I shall keep this book till the day I die

What an amazing woman! I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Jeanne Foster, and it brought back many memories of my early years in the "north country" before I retired and moved to Florida. The authors winter here in Venice, and they have given many interesting talks in the area about Foster and her famous friends, displaying diaries, actual letters to Foster from people like Ford Madox Ford and Ezra Pound, and drawings of her by William Butler Yeats's father. Recommended for lovers of biography and great stories.

This book is a great story of a truly "American" woman who was a friend to the world or at least to the world of artists,writers, and politicians. The biography has everything to keep a reader reading: beauty, poetry, intrigue, sex, passion mysticism, and sweetness. I wish I could have known this person called Jeanne Robert Foster.