I am a brand new knitter, and I found this book very helpful. The technical information was well written, and I felt the illustrations of different stitches were the best I've seen. In fact, I think this book would be helpful to anyone trying to become a book-taught knitter. I certainly refer back to the technical pages quite often. Some reviewers have not had positive comments for the projects in this book. I think it's just a matter of perspective! I think a beer cozy is a great gag gift, particularily for my friends who tease me about learning to knit. Those types of projects (and there are several in this book) are meant to be offbeat and campy. These little projects are also a good way to use up leftover yarn. I gave the book 4 stars only because it does not have a picture of every project. All in all, It's a lighthearted book with lighthearted projects, while still very informative and instructive.

I found this interesting book to be full of creative ideas for projects ranging from simple (for the beginning knitters) to challenging (for a long-time knitter like me). Explanations of
knitting techniques are clear and understandable by a novice knitter, and the photography is outstanding. I'm not sure I qualify as a hip knitter, but I love this book and will recommend it to my friends.

This is a beautiful book that makes learning new knitting techniques fun for beginners. Some reviewers have said that they thought the ideas like the sock puppet were boring. I thought it was fun to learn knitting in the round with 4 double-pointed needles by making a sock puppet tube top. My whole family loved it, and I learned the technique in 15 minutes! Others said they wished there were pictures with every pattern. I do too, but there are photos with the most important patterns. I also am making the cell phone cozy, the coin purse, and the kid's worm scarf as Christmas presents. It is a VERY welcome change of pace from standard pattern books for beginning knitters or even for intermediate knitters looking for some new skills and motivation. I wish there were more knitting books like this.

Romila Thapar is infamous for her ideological view of Indian History. This book is an interesting study of that ideology and how it affects the reading (and writing) of history, more than an account of history itself.

This book is based on assumptions that are simply not true. It sees Indian history in terms of caste conflict which is a gross over-simplification. The presentation may be in agreement with the Marxist dogma, but that does not make it right.

Romila Thapar is one of the leading Indian historians. Her earliest book, which was very well received academically, was on the emperor Asoka. Her subsequent writings have elaborated the effects of economics on Indian history more than other historians have done, but while she may draw on Marx for some insights, she cannot be written off as a "Marxist." Paul Samuelson, Robert Solow, and Amartya Sen, all Nobel prize-winning economists, also use Marx to aid their interpretations of society when he makes sense.

Ms Thapar also writes cogently about that a topic that is very sensitive for Indians, namely, caste, and the effects of that system on Indian society through the ages. Some of her comments or interpretations on this subject may not please everyone, but the effect of this system in keeping down, frequently in a brutal manner, persons considered to be of lower caste, has been quite pernicious in Indian history. It is no good taking an ostrich-like attitude towards this topic, or going into denial, which some of my fellow Indians are prone to do.

This book could certainly be updated, but even as it stands it is a good introduction to Indian history.

The record shows that I ordered this book on Dec. 5. It shows the estimated deliver date is January 3 to January 23.

Why does it take so long?

Thanks!

Gordon

I liked the book. It was accesible and unpedantic. In fact, I was able to learn calculus in 2 weeks from it while in 8th grade. I had tried a couple of other sources, and they all had a general tendency to be unapproachable. But this one explained things clearly and concisely. It has many examples, and they're almost always clearly worked.

The only two things to which I take exception are in section 5.1.2, in which a careless error is made that did in fact leave me saying "what the...", and the lack of creative sort of excercises thoughout the book. To be honest though, I never really did any of the exercises, and I understood calculus very well after reading this book.

As one more plus, contrary to most academic books, this one is very cheap. Give it a try!

I used the 3rd edition of Loomis when I took Calculus. The book explains the material so well that I taught myself reading the book. (No offense to my professors. I am sure they were fine teachers. I just did not learn anything new in the class as I read the examples in the book before the class. The examples are well-chosen, well-worked-out, and reasonably numerous.) It also helped that I tutored a classmate extensively, which forced me to solve many exercise problems. I cannot imagine anyone having trouble with this book unless their precal background is quite weak or they are not willing to study regularly.

Looking back at the book now, I prefer what Swokowski did with the series chapter better, but Loomis has interesting discussions on irrational numbers etc although at the expense of losing the focus slightly. The chapter on multiple integral starts out by stating that it is only an introduction. But it is no briefer than most other books.(Does anyone know which book Dr. Loomis recommends to learn beyond that chapter? Or any personal suggestions?) And it does not discuss Jacobian. And the book does not discuss div or curl (so no divergence theorem, but in most books, it is only a section anyway. It does discuss Green's theorem well.)

Having spent time right around the corner from the West Barnstable, Massachusetts cemetery where Percival is buried and also being familiar with the USS Constitution Museum and the ship itself, I wanted to know more. This book's narrative does provide details about Percival's life and the U.S. Navy that he served in, but they seem a bit thin.

It seems that existing documentary evidence of Percival is sparse, or at least this book leads me to believe that. Percival's 1844-1846 circumnavigation of the world in the Constitution gets the longest chapter, and is only 35 pages long. Little context is given to this voyage, surely the most remarkable phase of Percival's career. According to Ellis, Percival commanded five ships (with gun ratings, which Ellis provides only infrequently): Dolphin, 12, Porpoise, 12, Erie?, Cyane, 18, and Constitution, 44.

At times this feels like nothing but the documented facts of Percival's life strung together as a report, with a focus on quelling any "controversy". West Barnstable resident Ellis certainly did a great deal of serious research, but I was hoping for something more than just a book length vindication of the charges of dishonesty David H. Long makes in his Percival biography (the only other full length treatment of the subject).