Photography plays an increasingly major role in the contemporary art scene, and this book, based on an exhibition held at the Kunstinstitut Bern, Switzerland, offers a very good range of reference, with most lost photographers represented by typival images. My one complaint is that the subtitle is misleading: there are images of both men and women.

Basically, it is a book about literature review but with well organized ideas proposed by the author himself. The author covered almost everything in the area of numerical simulation of CVD and focused on the transport phenomena simulation. The boundary conditions are described in detail. However, for the radiating heat transfer the description is not very useful for a beginner. There are only very general descriptions on this topic which interests me most. Some equations are somewhat confusing to the reader in the conjugate heat transfer part.

I'm a scientist in natural science and I always wanted to gain more out of my data by use of some mathematics. However before I was very reluctant and shy to even touch the subject of modelling, mainly due to the fact that I was afraid of advanced mathematics. However, the material presented in the book is so easy to understand and can readily be absorbed. Especially the combination between the mathematics and the solutions via a modern modelling package I found very attractive.

I will continue using the material presented in the book for my own research and can recommend it to anyone who is interested to gain a basic understanding of models in the soil-biosphere.

Towards the end of the middle ages, monarchs and kings came to the realization that the transmutation of elements may not be physically possible. The creation of wealth via alchemical means therefore shifted to another sphere. Rather than employ chemists laboring to create gold from lead, rulers instead hired economists to create gold from paper. The symbolism and metaphor of the alchemical process carried over from chemical to economic terms is really quite enlightening.

The relationship to the Faust legend and the role of Goethe in the development of the early modern economy makes this book a very interesting read for anyone who may be baffled by the current system of value creation in our modern economy.

The real insight of this book lies in its illumination of humankind's quest to gain mastery over time and our own mortality. Here the author demonstrates how science is used to gain predictive control over time by use of the past (the evidence of scientific method). Economics is used to master time via control over the future (money as "value" stored for future use). And the arts overcome the constraints of time by stretching out the present (the transporting nature of the sublime). The alchemical means by which this is accomplished is demonstrated clearly. Magic turns out to be very real indeed.

The setting of this book is in a small village in a country like Austria. The victorious countries after a big war don't want to rebuild this country, but totally destroy it. In post WWII times an american General had those plans for real, in the book it is described, what could have happened. The village is strapped from anything what could be described as modern infrastructure. The railway is being closed, there are no factories anymore and the people are not allowed to have contact to other parts of the former country. Bering, the main character is interested in birds and iron machinery. Therefore he becomes the driver of Ambras, the survivor of the KZ close to the little village. He is the only one who is allowed to own a car, because he is some kind of a mayor of the village. The story is compelling, but not the important thing about this book. The best about the book is the language, which stands in the tradition of Musil, Zweig or Lenz but also brings up new, interesting and fitting phrases. The way he describes scenes like the every year returning "show" of playing KZ to remind the inhabitants of the village of the dreadful past is phantastic. Literature does'nt have to be boring, Ransmayer is proof for it.

Nothing is left for one to imagine after this reading. The mystery and circumstances of Mozart's great work is described in incredible detail in this book. It is really not an attempt by the author to prove or disprove theory and speculation about the compostion, but rather, to offer the reader the combined evidence accumulated throughout the years. These facts are then substaniated by quoting the source documents from books and essays that were written about the Requiem after Mozart's death. The author also includes letters as written by the key players as the Requiem controversy unfolded. I also very much appreciate the pictures of the original Mozart score and the printed score made available at the end of the book.

I must say that I am not learned in music, and I often found the book to be of difficult reading when musical terminology is used--and it is used quite often. Besides discussing the controversy, the author attempts to define Mozart's purpose and eventual composition of each movement. While fascinating to say the least, the use of musical terms can be overwhelming at times.

In all, I found this to be an exceptional book and I recommend it to anyone who loves the work of Mozart and especially that of his "Requiem."

David Pecnik

The most magnificent book of neurology published within the last 10 years. If you haven't read this you should not be dabbling in neurology

This is a wonderfully well arranged collection of letters, testimonials, court records and other contemporary documents by and relating to Johann Sebastian Bach. The editors have selected items which paint a picture of a man who knew his own worth, (he argues for, and gets, a higher salary than his predecessors in most of his jobs)didn't tolerate fools gladly, and who had exactly the same problems church musicians today face.

Incidentally, it made me laugh frequently. Some of his testimonials for former students show him damning with faint praise. His argument over who should appoint school prefects leaves you wondering who was lying. And his begging letters to his employers are masterpieces of not-very-obsequious charm.

A great book to dip in and out of, and a resource every musician should own.

Uma das melhores colectanias da actualidade em termos arquitetura realizada com um dos mais nobres materiais a Madeira.

The book addresses readers with every kind of knowledge:

Part one motivates performance modelling and describes several stochastic modelling formalisms. Therefor it is ideal for readers new to the subject.

In Part two deterministic and stochastic petri nets are introduced. Two different approaches for numerical analysis of DSPN are presented, which represent an active area of research. This part addresses engineers as well as active scientists, for there are pointers and references to more detailed mathematical papers given.

Applications of the introduced modelling formalism in performance analysis of multiprocessor systems and memory consistency protocols are shown in part three. It is interesting for the engineer, who can learn how to apply DSPN effective. It is also understandable for novices, because a basic introduction to multiprocessor systems is given.

Additionally the book is shipped with the software-package DSPNexpress on CD-ROM, which is explained in part four. It addresses readers, who want to use the results of the book with the mathematical background hidden by a intuitive graphical interface.

The book is highly readable and gives a complete overview about performance modelling and recent research results. The software makes the introduced methods easy to use. Because of pointers to advanced material, the book is interesting even for advanced scientists.

It is worth the price!