Congratulations to Michael-Anne Johns! He has written a fantastic fun and fact-filled book on the life of Jonathan Taylor Thomas on and off-screen. Unlike some biographies, Johns uses more words than pictures, so you learn a lot more about what they're like, rather than what they look like. He has done a lot of research and included a nice review at the back of Thomas's favorites and quick facts. Every Jonathan Taylor Thomas lover should read this great book. Hopefully Johns will come up with a new JTT book to talk about Wild America and his new roles. Congrats again Johns

It gave me lots of information on JTT.
I learned so much about him!
If only I was able to meet him!
:-)
Everyone should read it!

I am a total JTT fan, and when I read this book, it really informed me evern more! I loved how it was so complete with stats, quotes, color pics, and everything from a-z! I couldn't put it down until I was done

"Never As Good As the First Time" made for interesting reading. My husband's boss gave it to me saying how good it was. Once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. I asked my husband if I had to give it back.

The book was great. I am not a person who loves to read but when I read this book, I read it in one day's time. This book is really good. When you start reading, you wouldn't want to put it down. That's just how good it is.

The book was excellent!! I was really shocked at the two best friends half the book but I guess that's what happen to some where the women knows more about ones needs than the man. Jake and his baby's mother trying things again is fate because fake has it's way of coming back around when the timing is right. All the events that took place caught you really off guard but kept you reading more and more. I have recommended the book to several at work and they have read it and enjoyed so keep up the good work and can't wait for the second book.

This is always the first book my two-year-old grabs before bedtime. He'll now sit and "read" it to himself. This book includes a great collection of animals (bunnies, dogs, otters, tigers, kangaroos, bats, and my son's favorite. . . the panda)! I highly recomend this one. It not only includes the animals but also includes lots of HUGS. ENJOY!

My 17 month old boy absolutely loves this book. I usually have to read it to him two or three times in a row or he will get upset. It has been on heavy rotation at our house much longer than the average new book we get for him. Michael Rex is one of the best kids book illustrators out there as far as I'm concerned. If you like this do a search on his name. All of his books are awesome--especially the Painting Gorilla.

This gentle book begins, "You hug your mama, and your mama hugs you." From there, the text asks how each of several animals hugs - from a bunny to a gorilla and even a bat. The question is answered for a different animal on each double-page spread using words and pictures. Both the text and the illustrations evoke a variety of senses and encourage the parent and child to hug along. A cozy book to share with a child.

I read Michael Bremer's book, Taming The Electronic Beast, cover to cover, and found it fun, very entertaining and inspiring. In fact, I was so inspired I spent six hours recently learning basics on my computer without a single moment of stress. It was the most fun I've had yet on the Beastly Bin of Boorish Banality! (See three-part insult starter kit in book.) I've had a pc for about three years now, and whenever the thought of trying to use it appeared, I would feel aversion to even turning it on. I avoided spending time on it because I saw it as a joyless waste of time. I simply wanted to be able to turn it on and know how to use it without spending too much time. The suggestions and the voice of the book changed my attitude. I now see the time spent during the learning phase is not a waste. The Edison example was inspiring, and the idea that learning something new exercises the brain makes the learning curve much more palatable. And making mistakes represents progress. I knew all this, but I needed a reminder. I see the light and it looks like fun! I loved the humor of the book. Just the thought of embarrassing my computer with a pair of big, pink, floppy, ears makes me smile. The three-part insult starter kit has the potential to be very useful in many situations. And I may even try spending some time on a computer game or two. I hear The Sims is quite entertaining. Really, the book was been very helpful. I'm loaning it to my Mother now. We're both looking forward to future Advice From The Neighborhood Nerd books. There are many questions beginners have. For many people it is a challenge to become computer literate. We appreciate having someone like the neighborhood nerd out there to hold our hands, and the voice of the book was comforting. I recommend it to anyone preparing to learn about computers.

Are you afraid of your computer? Need to figure out what the kids know? Is it time to jump on the computer bandwagon but worried about falling down? Join Michael Bremer in this humorous and commonsense book to lose your fear and become more in tune with today's technology. Bremer manages to put everything into perspective and make learning about the computer more enjoyable. His main goal is to help you conquer your fear of computers by learning what might happen if you push the

wrong button. Afraid of breaking your computer? Losing your data? Getting a virus? Bremer goes over these details with refreshing clarity and simplicity. And he is reassuring in his assessment of computer "damage," unlike the doomsday press notices we see each day about computer failures. Truly a worthwhile book for those with computer anxiety. - The Science Spiders Newsletter

Taming the Electronic Beast with a subtitle Conquering Computer Fear is a well written book from writer Michael Bremer who calls himself The Neighborhood Nerd. The illustrations are clever. This easy to read book would be an ideal gift for anyone who is hesitant about making their first purchase of a computer. Bremer really taps into the basics with his Computer Attitude Tests. A good read.

This book is everything it's cracked up to be. One thing anyone considering buying this should note, though is that it's a UK based publication. In discussions about visas and work permits, it assumes EU citizenship. A lot of the advice wouldn't pertain to a U.S. citizen. Most of the directory information only lists U.K. based organizations.

That said, this is a great resource and very inspirational. It's made me think about going to places that I would have never even considered before. That's mostly because it combines engaging narratives by obviously well-travelled writers along with nuts and bolts practical information on the "how to" planning stages, and insightful advice.

It prepares you for the cultural differences you're likely to encounter, and prompts you to think about contingencies due to weather, medical, or political trouble. There are warnings about the hazards and adversity of some travel without trying to scare you away from it. The book manages to be a general purpose travel guide without being generic. It would be an equally good read for adventure travellers as it would for cruise ship enthusiasts.

The reference section alone is well worth the price, giving you fascinating and comprehensive information about every country on the planet. This book approaches you like a good friend who happens to be an experienced travel agent, hoping to help you plan a trip of a lifetime. It is remarkably well written and organized. I can't imagine planning a trip overseas without it.

This is a great book. It is little in size, but huge in content. The editors have covered just about every aspect of world travel. If you want to know about riding a camel, how to survive being kidnapped, or how to avoid hassles in a certain country, this book will have the answer for you. It also includes a lot of emergency contacts, practical global travel tips, and useful website addresses.

What an indispensable guide for the world traveler. This book is cover-to-cover bits in a single volume, weighing the same as a water bottle. This book is literally the planet earth's version of the famed "hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy", with short, informed essays on everything from choosing guides to all forms of travel to finding great rates to finding places to stay to equipping for a trip to what to do when things go wrong (topics for that one include: theft, trouble with the law, surviving a hijack, surviving a kidnap, surviving in jungle/desert/cold, and my favorite: surviving a civil war). Plus it's got 300 pages of directory, like an all-bits almanac....

I checked out several dictionaries before I bought this one. I have an old beat-up New American Dictionary that I simply won't part with, even though the cover's barely hanging on and the pages have turned yellow. I purchased this dictionary for a friend who's in prison and whose letters to me were filled with atricious spellings: sykology for psychology, for instance. He's working on his GED (and hopefully his spelling, though his recent letters don't show much improvement), and this book, if he uses it, will provide him with solid definitions that may make him the next Jack Henry Abbott. Then again, maybe not!

This is a great Dic, cuase it is great for the students man I like it vey much. You people sould try it.

This pocket dictionary is very user-friendly and concise. It is accessible to me at all times. As a high school student, I am very busy and at times, I cannot reach for a normal hardcover dictionary, so this pocket dictionary is perfect. Not only does it give the pronunciation, syllable breaks, and definition, but it also has an appendix giving common abbreviations, alternate spellings, accents, and it even features innumerable encyclopedic references! This dictionary has it all and more, and its compact size offers even better usability. If you find yourself frequently grabbing for an accessible reference book, this is the one!

I am a former Russian journalist and a documentary filmmaker who has also worked at NASA in the US.

"The Anatomy of Russian Defense Conversion" touches on many more subjects then just Russian Defense Industry. This is a very thorough, informative and important work that analyses the history of US and Russian Defense Industries, weapons exports and conversion, and possibilities of transformation from a militarized to a civilian economy in the new millenium.

The book also reflects on the current state of defense industries in the US and Russia, and "brain drain", or loss of intellectual capital in Russia and other countries after the Cold War.

I found reflections in Arkady Yarovsky's chapter "From the Culture of War to the Culture of Peace" very contemporary, especially in the light of recent events in the Middle East:

"Our time is unfortunately still characterized as "the culture of war." The culture of war is evident first and foremost in the hostilities between people and states, between nations and faiths, and in the inability to solve conflicts by peaceful means... Humanity has made it into the third millenium because the lust for power has been restrained by fear of nuclear war, but this restraint is not to be counted on permanently... The danger hidden in the separateness of people of different countries, unfortunately, remains a legacy for the next century... If humanity renounces the legacy of the culture of war, it can start down the road of cooperation, peaceful creation, and enlightenment. This is the only road leading to the culture of peace."

One can imagine that I, as a small child living in San Antonio, Texas, next to three Air Force bases and an Army base, living through the Cuban missile crisis, thought about the threat of the Russian military. I also met my parents' wonderful emigre' friends, and to this day have had warm relations with Russian people.

This book tells of the enormous cost to the Russian people of building and maintaining their war industry for so many years, a militarized economy where people got second best. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, defense industry just about shut down, but civilian industry has not grown great enough to support the population. There are horrendous unemployment, and terrible health and social problems. There is some danger that the path of least resistance for Russia, if we neglect the situation, could be to re-start weapons production, for export at first.

In my opinion, the United States also, to a lesser degree, has neglected the manufacture of quality consumer goods, importing them instead, and has let its physical economy deteriorate, despite much activity in the financial sector. We, too, have been insufficiently careful of the environment. This book provides some idea of what these trends could lead to, if carried to extremes.

Perhaps the involvement of United States companies in Russia, could lead to more of a recognition here, of the importance of the physical economy. Hopefully, both countries could also work to put industry on a healthy environmental footing as well.

There is awareness of the problem of Russian defense conversion, at high levels of our government. I hope this book helps educate people and sustain that interest.

The following review of _Encounters With God_ appeared in _Choice_ (Jun. 1999), published by the American Library Association. The reviewer was Bruce Stephens of Pennsylvania State University (Delaware County): "Winner of the Brewer Prize of hte American Society of Church History, this fresh approach to the theology of Jonathan Edwards avoids the narrow specialization of recent studies, yielding a sense of the whole rather than a glimpse of fragments. Twin themes of 'spiritual perception' and Edwards as Christian apologist open onto this larger vista. McClymond (St. Louis Univ.) argues that Edwards's genius was his capacity to delve into the fundamental principles of the inherited intellectual tradition of the Enlightenment and, through deft reinterpretation, to put it to work in the service of his own theology. This reworking of the Enlightenment tradition allowed Edwards to link idea and emotion, the cognitive and the affective, theology and spirituality. Setting major Edwards texts within their larger 18th-century context, McClymond reexamines Edwards's metaphysics in _The Mind_, his spirituality in the _Personal Narrative_ and _Diary_, his ethics in _End of Creation_, his view of history in _The History of Redemption_, and his apologetics in the _Miscellanies_. All of this in 112 well-honed pages, plus 46 pages of insightful notes and a judiciously selected bibliography. Recommended for a wide readership, from undergraduates to research specialists."

In Michael J. McClymond's book, Encounters with God: An Approach to the Theology of Jonathan Edwards, he seeks to synthesize all of Edwards' writing around 'spiritual perception' and 'apologetics,' or 'experiential manifestation' and 'integration.' Surveying Edwards's "reasoned" response to the Enlightenment obsession with reason (as opposed to faith), McClymond sees Edwards as "modern yet with a twist." In the Introduction, McClymond introduces a short historiography of Edwardsean scholarship. He also introduces a bit more, the 'spiritual perception' he sees in Edwards. 'Spritual perception' is the particular attention paid to defining and describing the subjective and objective realities of religious experience, for "Edwards contrasted with the later Romantics, who focused exclusively on the inner experience of religion." To this end, McClymond's comparison between Edwards and Schleiermacher provides a fascinating look into the nuances of religious experience perceived by both men. Furthermore, McClymond uses the introduction to stress the "apologetic orientations of Edwards's spiritual perception" and his "perceptually oriented notion of Christian apologetics." In other words, Edwards labored in his writings to 'teach' spiritual perception while all the while maintaining an 'apologetic' tone. As John Gerstner put it, Edwards was indeed a "rational biblical theologian." Chapter 1 is primarily concerned with defining further and offering examples of Edwards's sprirtual perception. McClymond 'exegetes' some of Edwards's writings, such as Religious Affections, and shows that "there is no dichotomy in Edwards between the spiritual sense of divine things and the philosophical, theological, and historical reflection that may be engendered by it" (p. 26). Chapter 2 shows the apologetic tone in Edwards's metaphysics. In contrast to the "anthropocentrism of the Enlightenment, his metaphysics were primarily theocentric in tone." For Edwards, the measuring stick for all reality is God. After discussing the 'theocentric motif' McClymond delves into Edwards's notions of "God and Being," "God and Knowing," and "God, Beauty, and Causality." Chapter 3 highlights Edwards's contemplation as spirituality and spirituality as contemplation. Expositing the Diary and Personal Narrative, McClymond paints Edwards as a contemplative, a Christian thinker. In contrast to the introspective contemplation of the Puritans, Edwards's "theocentric contemplation" provides a departure from the 'subjective' tradition of his forebearers. Chapter 4 is a look at the ethical strain in Edwards's corpus. Looking at End of Creation, McClymond concludes that, "it does not portray the inscrutable God of Calvinism, who eternally elects some merely for his own good pleasure and whose purposes and actions can be known only after the fact" (p. 58). This is the case because Edwards "anthropomorphizes God" by showing the Aristotelian notion of the "superior man" that is "not subject to the whims of popular approval yet does not ignore well-deserved and well-founded praise" (p. 61). In short, "the God of End of Creation resemebles an enlightened despot in the sense that God possesses unlimited power but uses it for the sake of others" (p. 61). Chapter 5, "Drama and Discernment in History of Redemption," looks at Edwards' view of the unfolding character of history and the "comprehensiveness of God's activity in history" (p. 69). Of course God's providential, paramount activity in history was the death of Christ whereby He secured salvation for His people. Additionally, an eschatological element is present within Edwards's view of history. Acting as a sort of 'contemplative prophet,' Edwards wondered if he would witness the Millennium, beginning in America after the Great Awakening, wherein Christ would reign on earth for 1,000 years. The sixth and final chapter looks at Edwards as Christian Apologist. McClymond charts the obfuscation of God that took place in the modern age and shows the "explicit" and "implicit" character of Edwards's apologetics. Before doing this, however, he looks at the apologetics of William Paley, Joseph Butler, and Frederich Schleiermacher. While these three thinkers took three different avenues in the defense of God, Edwards "is more encompassing than any of [them] yet shows affinities with all of them" (p. 84). The explicit nature of Edwards's apologetics rests with his arguing for the "credibility of Christianity, the existance of God, and the historical evidences for Christianity," just to name a few. The implicit nature of Edwards's apologetics is the subtle way in which he attempts to reinterpret the reigning genres and styles of writing in his own day. He attempted to use his critics' style to defeat them, turning it on its head. As McClymond puts it, "he "baptizes" every eighteenth-century idea and intellectual tradition he could lay hands on" (p. 101). In the Conclusion, "The Religious Outlook in Edwards," McClymond does another sort of historiography of Edwards' thought. In surveying Edwards' worldview, he concludes that "Edwards set for himself the prodigious task of rethinking the entire intellectual culture of his day and turning it to the advantage of God" (p. 112). In this sense, then, Edwards is indeed "modern yet with a twist." McClymond demonstrates his intricate knowledge not only of scholarship on Edwards, but the corpus of Edward's own writings. He articulates the main ideas in Edwards's writings and conveys them in a scholarly, yet readable fashion. He continually prompts the reader to turn the page. Encounters with God is a must for all students of not only American religious history, but American history in general. The quiet, yet profound Puritan from the eighteenth century speaks again!

two main components, the science of genetic engineering with an excellent explanation of mutations, and the moral/ethical aspects of genetic engineering. They explain how already human genes have been put into pigs, how we may be able to change the genetic make-up of humans, and the genetic basis for making these species level changes in human's genetic code. R&S also give a great deal of time to explaining the different types of genetic mutations that occur. For example, a whole chromosome may be lost or gained, such as an extra copy of the small chromosome 21 that causes Down's Syndrome. Or part of a chromosome may be inverted put be fully intact. And they explain how dominant and recessive genes affect us and how they are transmitted from generation to generation. This is probably the best book reviewed here that deals with genetic and chromosomal mutations and how they interact to make us what we are, including the dangers of genetic engineering on humans. First, genes often work best when they are situated next to each other, and mistakes in insertion locations may interfere with tumor-suppressor genes. But these are all technical problems and there is good reason to believe they will be overcome as we complete the Human Genome Project. Less time is given to the ethics of genetic engineering by R&S, but again it is also the most controversial and interesting part of the book. They do point out that "Ethics is normally thought of as a narrower concept than morality, and it can be used in several different, though unrelated, senses. The most general of these suggests a set of standards by which a particular group or community decides to regulate its behavior--to distinguish what is legitimate or acceptable in pursuit of their aims from what is not, such as 'business ethics' or 'medical ethics'." What this means is that there can be no such thing as unethical practices in the pursuit of genetic engineering or eugenics, because any action deemed unethical has to be agreed upon by the participants, not imposed on them. The socialists forget this when they try to impose secular or politically motivated ethical standards on scientific procedures because they fear that the knowledge that may result will harm their egalitarian cause. (See Culture of Critique by MacDonald.) R&S then discuss the morality of genetic engineering, both intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic being actions that are right and wrong on their own (based on religion, evolution, etc. ??) and extrinsic that only considers the beneficial consequences of actions. They do a good job of explaining these two positions, and how for example in the debate on abortion the two sides are arguing from different perspectives with regards to what is moral (extrinsic versus intrinsic). What they do fail to discuss is that if humans share a moral history with other primates based on reproductive success of the tribe, how can we apply morality to present day actions of right and wrong? and of course we can't. (See my article on morality). Neither the utilitarian, consequentialist, Kantian deontological formulations, or any other system has any innate truth when morality is considered within an evolutionary perspective, the only one that is empirical. I especially liked their discussion of 'holistic', 'ecological' or 'environmental' objections to genetic engineering (and many other human actions the naturalists don't like). They point out of course that we have been breeding crops and animals for over 10,000 years and that virtually everything humans do are in this sense unnatural, that is, apparently incapable of being done by other animals. As they state, "the progress of civilization has been largely dependent upon our 'interference with nature'." At one time religion was used to try and stop scientific progress, but as faith in religion has declined the anti-empiricists have had to turn to other forms of mystical arguments in order to block human progress. There are now attempts, even though we have not been able to assign a non-Darwinian moral system to humans, to apply arbitrary moral rules to all of nature. These arguments are made more in the milieu of postmodernist arguments that become incoherent when evaluated rationally, but the mere volume of emotionalism often overshadows rationalism and can sound convincing. For example, arguments are made that nature is somehow foreordained to be symbiotic, with some form of natural order that humans may corrupt or upset to the point that the planet will be destroyed. I would argue, that aside from nuclear war, this is impossible. And even then I would have to believe that after a nuclear holocaust, a few species would survive to repopulate the earth. None of this is good or bad in terms of the earth and all of its creatures. The universe is oblivious as to whether the earth has organic life or not. And all of the other organic forms have no contemplation of non-existence, nor is it possible to prove that organic existence is intrinsically good or better than a world devoid of life and suffering. None of the holistic arguments make any sense outside of life as a genetic algorithm that increases in complexity as it progresses, without any actual goal. Humans, like any other species, are free to exploit every corner of their ecological niche for their own benefit. However humans, with our large brains and our ability to contemplate our own deaths, finally have the means to arbitrarily give meaning and purpose to life, in our pursuit of trying to assuage our death angst. Some turn to mysticism, some to Marxism or racial purity for their own tribe, some embrace science and accept the inevitable, etc. And this is where eugenics as a secular religion fits in. It is merely an act of creation, directing our species to an ever higher level of intelligence in order to better understand the many remaining fallacies of belief we have adopted in our journey from our primate past. Does this mean that eugenics as a secular religion is similar to Christianity in being an anthropocentric religion, that establishes a dualism between man and nature, where it is our duty to exploit nature in the name of God, as R&S point out? Hardly. It is based on science and does not fall into the naturalistic fallacy. Eugenics as a secular religion is merely an act of creation using purposefully directed evolution as its tool. Where it is going, the means taken to get there, and the safety mechanism to be used to obtain the expected results are the same as any scientific project. But it is not subject to metaphysical concerns. It readily accepts the arbitrariness of human actions, and is based on the simple observation of science that more intelligent people who have fewer genetic diseases will live a more fruitful life, on average. It is no different than wanting to build safer and safer airplanes because then fewer people will die in plane crashes. But it does tend to further desacralize life for those unable to accept the inevitable death angst that they must live with, and is attacked on this basis alone. Speciesism is another attempt to define a moral system for all creatures, "Put at its most succinct, it is of little significance, the argument goes, that humans belong to a different biological species from, say, chimpanzees, dogs, farm animals and laboratory mice; we do not have the right to treat such species merely as we choose and for our own ends. Think of the conditions we normally require before humans are permitted to be used as research subjects." Of course this is utter nonsense, because if all species are equivalent then they all have the same moral obligations between species or tribes (pack, etc.). The fact is, even chimpanzees will treat each other in the troop with some moral considerations, even taking care of an injured member, but will go on raiding parties to kill members of other troops. Canines and felines will also kill their own. So if we are really to put aside speciesism and rejoin the moral constructs of other animals, then the only moral imperative is reproductive success, and that includes practicing genocide whenever we can get away with it to benefit our own kin! Is that really what these moralists (specifically Peter Singer) are arguing for? Such formulations of human ethical behavior can only be grounded by ignoring our own evolutionary past and all the empirical evidence regarding our true nature. R&S discuss the ethics of using DNA fingerprints to establish a national database as is increasingly common in a number of countries for controlling immigration, paternity suites, and to fight crime to name just a few uses. For a more complete discussion however see Richard Dawkins' new book Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder. Finally, R&S introduces another one of those anti-intelligence arguments stating that if we become too smart, and our memories become too vivid, we may regret it because we will not be able to forget unpleasant happenings (or even dreams for that matter). But all one has to do is ask how many people lament not being able to remember some

I am just a high school student, yet I undersood this book. It is great!!! It is not too technical, yet it covers what it needs to. Sections on plant, animal, and human genetic engineering make this book worth reading. No matter if you are a student with just an intrest, like me, or a genetic engineer yourself - you will enjoy this book. I get it a ten!!!

If They Mated is one of my favorite skits on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, so I just had to buy this book. I am glad I did, it is one of the funniest books I've ever read. Even if you never saw the show before, or this skit, I highly recommend getting this book, I guaranty you'll laugh! I would have rated it a 5 but the pictures in the book are grayscale, color would have been much better, but it is still a great book.

Ive always loved Conans humor. He is the king of couch humor. A classic comedian. In this book he showcases my favorite, and I think everyone elses too, jokes that he does. IF THEY MATED. Very funny book. Purchase this now.

Conan O'Brien is one of the funniest men alieve and this book proves that!This book evolved from a sketch on the show(one of the best, other than Pimpbot 5000). He and the Late Night Writers are amazing,they come up with so many diffrent sketches that its not even funny. If you have ever wondered what celebrities babies looked like this book is a must have.
HAIL CONAN!

heart,
ivy the barbarian