At first glance, this book struck me as highly suspicious. However, once I began reading it, I quickly came to seriously consider Gold's thesis as tenable. By the end of the book, I was strongly inclined to think that Gold has a much more credible explanation for the source and formation of oil and gas than the de facto one.

Gold does write convincingly, but moreso he presents some very cogent reasons for his abiogenic theory. I'll not attempt to rehash the details, but just say that his theory is parsimonious, involves little hand-waving and uses no dramatics.

There is nothing scientifically outlandish here, unless you have some ideological adherence to the biogenic view. In fact, the biogenic view seems now quite contrived and dubious in retrospect. Gold's view accounts not only for oil, coal and gas, but also confers reasons for formations of biogenic matter - peat and lignite - as well.

Gold's further assertion that a biosphere exists going many kilometers down may have seemed ludicrous years ago, but in light of our knowledge of extremophiles nowadays, his thesis seems very plausible.

As if that weren't going far enough, Gold further asserts that it is far more likely that (assuming life had a terrestrial origin) such life began deep in the earth, not in shallow tidepools or other surface environments. Any origin-of-life theory is very difficult to justify, but Gold's seems as plausible as any, and more plausible than most.

A worthwhile read.

This book is more than a mere milestone. If approached with an open mind, it will revolutionize much traditional thinking in the areas of energy, seismology, and the life sciences.

Professor Gold is an astrophysicist of high repute, who applies his excellent, free-thinking mind and impeccable logic to disciplines outside his chosen field with astonishing success. This disturbs traditionalists and adherents of scientific orthodoxy no end, especially when Dr. Gold, more often than not, is correct in his iconoclasms.

The instant work presents and consolidates Dr. Gold's seminal work in the area of earth sciences. Dr. Gold argues convincingly, and with easily understood reasoning, that petroleum, and even coal, are not biogenic, i.e., created from previously living organisms. Instead, he contends, so-called "fossil fuels" are the result of hydrocarbons being brought up from and through the earth's mantle, and being transformed into their present states by bacteria living in the Earth's crust. These bacteria compose the "deep, hot biosphere" in the book's title. Thus, fossil fuels are a self-renewing resource not nearly as susceptible to the depletion so often forecast by doomsayers.

Dr. Gold's logic appears impeccable to this writer, and the tests he has done to date, such as drilling in the granite of a large Swedish impact structure and finding hydrocarbons where none "should" exist are persuasive indeed. The popular conception of oil, gas, and coal being the remains of once living creatures seems hopelessly out of date in light of Dr. Gold's research.

Dr. Gold goes on to discuss the origin of life, as it relates to microorganisms found in the earth's crust and asks whether these primitive creatures may exist on other planets as well.

Another interesting theory arising from the implications of mobile hydrocarbons in the Earth's interior relates to earthquakes and their prediction. Dr. Gold notes many cultures have spoken of physical changes occuring prior to earthquakes and suggests that these tangible phenomena are related to gases moving in the crust. When a critical point is reached in terms of shifting tensions, Dr. Gold suggests the result is an earthquake.

Interestingly, much Russian research agrees with Dr. Gold on this and other of his theories. Western research appears more bound to orthodox thinking. It is this writer's belief that Dr. Gold and his cohorts have much to say on the true state of the planet beneath us, and its contents.

The book receives my highest recommendation, and it will be interesting to see how much of Dr. Gold's thinking becomes the scientific orthodoxy of the future. The book is rated a must read for anyone with an interest ie earth sceiences, energy issues, or both.

This book is a five-star must-read for anyone with an interest in Earth Sciences. Dr. Gold may be the Wegener of this era.

I read Tom Kayser's book in the early 1990's when it was originally written for Xerox. The new edition is a fine adaptation. The book has been immensely helpful to me as a facilitator. It gives great instructions to a new and experienced group leader.

Mr. Kayser understands group dynamics. By reading and more importantly, following his "recipes", you will find that meetings are both more efficient and effective.

One of the most valuable lessons I learned in my brief time as a researcher at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center was that meetings need not be unending wastes of times. When I first noticed this and asked how it was possible that so much always seemed to get done, no mater who was involved, I was given a copy of the Tom Kayser book "Mining Group Gold".

What a wonderful and unexpected surprise reading it was! Although concrete steps are given to guide people into getting the most out of working together and, more important, thinking together, its basic value comes from the way it enables folks to remain themselves - only do a better job of it.

Since leaving Xerox three years ago to be a consultant for Microsoft, General Electric and Sun Microsystems, I've given numerous copies to new cohorts so as to make life easier and the flow of work more efficient for all.

Thomas A. Kayser has set forth a systematic means for gaining the maximum benefit from meetings.

Starting with John Kenneth Gailbraith's infamous attribilious amphigory: "Meetings are vital to those who want to make sure nothing happens" Kayser leads the reader through the labyrinth of traditional meeting quagmires and enables everyone to profit from combining their brain power optimally.

In practical, no-nonsense terms, nothing is left to chance. Those who practice the lessons will reap the immediate and continued rewards from the old axiom of time being money!

If you revel in pagan dementia, and are in for a solid laugh, James Stephens's Crock of Gold will have you rolling. The words are poetry. The thoughts are strangely intellectual. The characters are truly from another dimension. A masterpiece like no other. Long live the Wise Salmon of Glyn Cagny!

Pure free-poetry as only Stephens can do it, these pages have informed and nourished me--along with friends and lovers--for nearly fifty years: From the time when I first happily seduced my young wife by reading Chapter VI to her...to my having now become one of the Two Philosophers who continue its argument. I was overjoyed to find this edition back in print again, with its wood-block prints and original type plates still intact. Don't miss this one.

The book is appealing on many levels. It has fantasy, mystery, myth and abundant humor. Most of the tales are mythical in nature. Some are fabricated tall tales. The writing is excellent, with rich detail expressed in terse language. A delight from cover to cover.

"The White and The Gold" tell the epic story of the French regime in Canada. Beginning with the early explorers, we meet the heroes and villains who charted the northern rivers and lakes, cleared the forests, evangelized the Indians and built the country that grew into Canada. The names from history books come alive on these pages. Jacques Cartier, Etienne Brule, Samuel de Champlain, Jean de Breboeuf, Msgr. Laval, Frontenac and so many others become real people to the reader.

The French settlers' conflict with the Iroquois receives much deserved attention. The conflict with the Iroquois dominated the development and settlement patterns throughout the French era. I always wondered how the Iroquois could give the French so much trouble when the other Indian tribes were allied with the French. In this book Costain gives the answer. The Iroquois were more intelligent and better warriors than the Huron, Erie and other tribes with whom the French allied themselves. The Iroquois not only harassed the French but actually destroyed some of their adversarial tribes, leaving place names as their only legacies.

I was surprised to see how much attention is devoted to the French personalities and events which had an impact on New France. We hear much of Louis XIV, Cardinal Richeleau and other figures who shaped French policy regarding Canada.

I started this book in hopes of learning about my French-Canadian ancestors. If finished it very well satisfied.

Fascinating book, captivating, and easily readable. It tells an accurate, historical story of the colonial French history in North America (New France). From the discovery of St Lawrence seaway to voyages along the Great Lakes, inland rivers of the Northeast,the Mississippi River, and settlements all the way to New Orleans; the French clearly provided lasting profound imprints on North America. The book's last chapter ends with the loss of the French to the English on the Plains of Abraham in Montreal. This battle ended the French and Indian War. New France was renamed Canada. The White and the Gold vividly brings to life this exciting and pivotal historical aspects of North America.

Magnificent history of early French- Canada. Costain has a very readable style.

As a long time interpreter of this fascinating historic site, I can testify that this book is as factual and well written as any on the subject. I am now into my second copy of it, and when I am performing my school show about the Goldrush, I still use it as a handy source of reference.

I am not ready to introduce my toddlers to the more violent aspects of the bible, and this book skirts them nicely. I like theses short stories which provide an easy platform for talking about God's promises and grace. ...

Thank God for academics like Dr. Layton. I took his Anthro Class many years ago and soon loved Thursdays. His class was the highlight of my day. He writes as wonderfully as he lectures. It is always a gift when a professor makes a difference in your life. BRAVO!

Middle class and lower class in today's England. Scarlet, middle-aged housewife, is slowly cracking up because every day seems alike and she sees no purpose in it. Her teenage daughter Camille decides to grow up but does not like it one bit. Husband and step father is a shadow in the background, because men do not really count. Scarlet's neighbor and very best friend is Constance, who has a Turkish boyfriend and who sells things that fall off trucks with the aid of her Gypsy family. Constance is the amateur psychiatrist, who explains the facts of life to Scarlet - either with straight forward, no nonsense talk, or else with the help of strong spirits.

This is a wonderful book, taking a surgical knife to England's middle class. And it is written in a tight, concise language that is so often missing nowadays. The Brits still know how to handle the language.

In clear, easy to understand language, Gold records the various stages of Taiwan's economic development from the perspective of the political, social, and cultural trends present at each important turning point. As a result, the reader sees how all these non-economic factors shaped Taiwan's development.

Each chapter covers one "stage" of development, and while dated, the book is a great crash course on how Taiwan achieved its reputation as an "economic miracle."

And the revelations which are in this last book concerning the Unbeliever are a trip indeed. So many colorful characters, with one of my favorites being Saltheart Foamfollower, the big-hearted giant. He steers Covenant to his destination in this last book, and his sense of humor becomes the catalyst which Covenant needs to propel him on to his destination. And what is it that they say - "laughter is the best medicine?" Read on the end and you'll discover this truth. This last book was so disappointing because it was the last. I remember writing a letter to Stephen Donaldson a year after this series ended, asking him if he was going to write a Third Installment of three books, and he graciously declined, stating that maybe in the near future something like this would be possible. But, in any event, this six book series is well worth the investment for any lover of fantasy, but please put down your comparisons to the Lord of the Rings - there's no comparison. This one stands on its own, and its Highly Recommended!!!

This review applies to White Gold Wielder and also to the five books preceding it in the series. The Thomas Covenant chronicles was my first real foray into fantasy saga, having developed a fascination and affinity for the genre through playing Dungeons & Dragons as a young teenager, and reading the occasional novel. I read all six books over a one year period (age 18-19), and was utterly hooked almost immediately upon starting Lord Foul's Bane (yes, I'm a slow reader, but I savoured every minute of it!). What impresses me the most is how Donaldson so completely transports you to The Land, and creates in you such a love and wonderment for all its poignant beauty, legendary richness and inhabitants, that you cannot bear to see any ill come to it; it takes on a quality of sacrosanctity. Covenant himself quickly establishes himself as a tragic (if unlikely) hero, but with certain character flaws and frailties which reinforce his humanness. His leprosy is used skillfully as a vehicle to keep himself sane in this fantastic world, which he fears is a construct of madness closing in. His "unbelief" that this "Land" is reality at all lends the saga a delicious aspect of irony, as he nonetheless fights to preserve its beauty and history from the ravages of Lord Foul, the Despiser. The conflict between good and evil is well-defined; never corny or predictable; Foul is undeniably evil, and his contempt for the sacred Land truly disturbing; Thomas Covenant, through the power of his white gold ring (the only hope The Land has of salvation) is a muddle of self-doubts and paradoxes, but undeniably loves The Land and plans to defend it no matter what the cost. The ravage and war waged on The Land is both extremely exciting, and unbearably brutal. The sub-plot of fellow "real-worlder" Dr. Linden Avery affords us a look at a new dimensions of Covenant than were possible in the first trilogy. Now he has female companionship, allowing potential for a physical and emotional bond, and an ally whose incredulity at this Land is similar to that of his own in the first three tomes. Covenant's love for The Land is infectious, and his gradual acceptance of it truly moving. This Land is the only thing left that Covenant cares about, having been shunned by the world to which he used to belong. Donaldson has ensured that character development throughout all six books is rich and revealing, the descriptions of The Land, its customs, creatures and peoples exquisite. Maybe it was the age I was at, or the state of mind I was in, but never have I been moved since by a book (or series of books) like I was with the Covenant chronicles. I still remember reading the last line of Wielder in my grandmother's house, at four in the morning, after a marathon read. Still remember the shiver that went down my spine. The following words are my attempt to do justice to this masterwork:

Fantastic, breathtaking, goosebump-giving, exquisite, majestic, powerful stuff....pure magic.

I give it a gold star. White gold, of course.

I've read this book, and this series, twice, with a span of twenty-some years in between. When I first read it, I liked the characters, images, and story, but the language seemed deliberately over-complicated and intellectual. Now, after re-reading it, I think that I just wasn't ready for it the first time.

After thousands of years, as far as The Land is concerned, but a short time, as far as Thomas Covenant is concerned, our hero has found again thrown back into The Land. However, it's almost unrecognizable, as everything is weirdly corrupted. Again, without fully accepting its reality, Covenant does what he can to battle evil and restore The Land to its past beauty and magic. He still does not have fill control of the white gold magic, but he nowmust be the driving force to save The Land, instead of a tool, as the people of The Land are either locked into a mode of surviving one day at a time. or they have given up. He and his physician/friend, Linden Avery from the "real world" go on a quest for the One Tree, from which a new Staff of Law can be forged. The Staff of law will restore health and order to The Land. Covenant and Avery have a love/hate relationship and, at times, Covenant has a hard time accepting that Avery might be a key factor is saving The Land (Covenant has always been the savior/hero, whether hewanted to be or not).

This is the third book of the new trilogy and the sixth book in the series. The first three can stand alone, and the second trilogy probably could, as well, but it is best to think of this series as a sextet. After reading the first trilogy, I wanted more. While the second trilogy does not disappoint, it does take the tale, and its hero, far enough so that I no longer want more. Some reviewers have said that this last book was already too much, but I disagree. As the hero is weary by the end of the sixth book, so is the author and the reader. This does not mean that Donaldson should have stopped sooner. I wrote a long novel, available as an e-book, and I know that, by the end, I was not running out of ideas; instead, the story was just naturally reaching a conclusion. Thomas Covenant has gone through an ordeal and, even as he has repeatedly saved The Land and restored its beauty and magic, so he has been restored in health and in sanity.

The characters in this series are deep and well-developed; the writing is complicated, intelligent, and extremely sophisticated (the exact opposite of Hemingway's stunning simplicity and not far off from Faulkner's esoteric and obtuse complexity); and the story is riveting, complex, andcoherent. This is NOT a quick, easy read. This IS deep, major fantasy on an epic scale.