This book is a practical reference resource for churches and other institutions working with families. In a time when churches seem hesitant to preach, teach, or even have open discussion on the subject of marriage and family for fear of alienating their members, this book provides numerous jumping off points for conversation and ministry.

The book begins with useful summaries of the Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, and secular perspectives on marriage, family, divorce, reproductive technologies, division of domestic responsibilities, and the relation of family to government. It also discusses approaches from these four perspectives to family ministry with children and youth, single parents, stepfamilies, families of gays and lesbians, the elderly, abusive families, and bereaved families. There are also sections on the impact of violence, substance abuse, and popular culture on today's families.

Of particular interest to ministers is the section on resources for congregational ministry with families. This section includes interpretations of specific Biblical passages on the family from the Old and New Testaments. These Biblical references are placed in context with discussion of the family in ancient Israel, the Greco-Roman world, early Christianity, medieval Christianity and the Reformation, and the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This resource section furnishes material that would be extremely useful in sermon preparation or as the basis for congregational education.

The book concludes with a directory of family resources. This list of religious and secular organizations dealing with family issues provides helpful summaries of these organizations' offerings for individuals and congregations, including web site and e-mail contact information. This is a very practical resource for anyone involved in family ministry or simply interested in a highly accessible comparative summary of religious perspectives on the most pressing issues for contemporary families.

A marvellous book of the film that Winston Churchill tried (unsucessfully) to ban - because it showed good Germans during WWII. The book contains original & final versions of the scripts, reasons why Powell & Pressburger wanted to make the film and extracts from Government memos to & from Winston Churchill.

I read this book while in high school, before enrolling in college. I was captured by the beauty of the subject. Every concept seemed alive: a triumph of imagination, intuition and intelligence. I chose Physics and Mathematics thanks to this book. Without exaggeration, this book had a big influence in my life. Still today it has no equals, and is an enjoyable yet challenging reading for any reader armed with a good hig-school-level math knowledge, and some curiosity.

A very interesting exposition of some of the main branches and ideas of mathematics. This is a book for beginners and experts, students and professors. The authors exposes number theory, algebra, geometry, topology and calculus. (For the last topic I recomend the great book of Courant and Fritz, Introduction to Calculus and Analysis.) The mathematical concepts are introduced and motivated by real problems, it seems to me very applied and connected to physics. I have been learning much things with this book. It is very interesting and I recomend for all people that want to read about mathematics.

This book will give you a superb introduction to basic mathematics culminating in the CALCULUS. The topics and manner of presentations are excellent. I have the 1978 edition that I still use to much benefit. Things such as numbers, matrices, algebra and trig are introduced in rapid but detailed segments. If you have been away from mathematics for a while you will soon get drawn into the text and the exercises. If you are into math today this will serve as an excellent review and perhaps give you a gem or two. However, if you have been put off by math in the past you may want to approach with caution. For even though the pace is within speed limits the text does expect a good effort to reap the rewards. I recommend this book for anyone interested in the theory behind mathematics. A real jewel for your library and personal enjoyment. Just superb!

Seymour and Girardet's book is a good beginning place for people who want to learn more about environmental problems and how they can tread less lightly upon the Earth. The text is clearly written at a level the average person can understand and a large number of drawings illustrate well the various systems and cycles they discuss. One of my favorites is the four-page spread (58-61) showing how food gets from the farm to our tables. One suspects that if more people followed the book's Six Principles for Good Housekeeping (18), the world would be in much better shape.

Readers must read critically, however. Several times I found the authors overstating their case. One wonders, for example, if more widespread paper recycling programs would really make this industry, "hugely profitable, and the scourge of paper litter would vanish." (90) I was simiarly skeptical of their discussion of the Borana tribe, a people who "live almost entirely on milk--with a little meat from time to time" but do not suffer from heart disease usually associated with a high fat diet. (70-1). These and similar exaggerations, perhaps made with best intentions, are dangerous ammunition for opponents who wish to discredit environmentalists.

Heather Drake
Bloomington, Indiana

This is a great book. I have become more aware of my actions toward our Earth.

I don't understand some of the very negative reviews here. If you are new to SQL, then this book will be a good compagnon.
This book worked for me, it's gives you the fundamentals you need to get to the more advanced stuff. This book is to teach SQL, as a reference I use o'reillys SQL in a nutshell. And the comment on the price? Well, i think all programming books are getting more and more expensive...

I am one of the authors of this book, so of course my rating is going to be a little prejudiced. However, I must say that I'm very proud of this work, and after reading the complete work, I thought it should be called "Beginning to End SQL Programming." There isn't a single aspect of SQL that is not covered in this book. While it is designed to cover using SQL from the beginning, and written in a style that is easy for novices to understand, it covers more about the actual use of SQL than any other SQL book that I've seen. I actually use it as a reference myself!

This book is excellent! It's clearly written and easy to follow! And, I must admit that when I read a review of this book by the one of the authors I thought that his opinion must be biased, but it wasn't, it was right on the mark! This book is an excellent reference book. It has replaced my previous #1 favorite, Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes. The Sams book is still an excellent title to own too! The Sams book is a good "portable" reference due to its quality and size. The Wrox book is a good desktop reference. Even though the Wrox book is a big book you'll still be tempted to keep it with you because it's so good!

Was this sketch published by a vanity press? I guess all the contributors needed a VC credit so they pitched in to get this superfluous tome done. The writers exhibit an astonishing lack of expertise in Asia. Perhaps they got the wrong continent and country???
The analysis is shallow and it reads like warmed over journalism by folks with little experience in the covered subject areas. For a book supposedly published in the last year, the contents are already pitifully out of date. The writing also lacks zest and pith. An editorial assistant could have helped.
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