I give good marks to each of the scientists providing their viewpoints. Each was thoughtfull and concise in his or her viewpoints.

Since 1984, the State of the World reports have been published, and since 1984 the overall tone has been one of impending doom avoided only by the most drastic of human changes.

If you picked up this book expecting to get an authoritative understanding of environmental and population trends, then you have made a big mistake. This book tells one side of the story- clearly the most attractive as it pulls on that side of us that feels lost in a world we don't understand. If you *really* want to find out both sides of the story, you should search out the counterpoints in scientific litterature. Kudos to you for trying to find out everything about the subject before going on. I recomend Earth Report 2000- a counter publication written specifically in response to this book.

After reading both books I am quite convinced that, as a percentage of all there is to know about the planet, we basically understand as much as we did 40 years ago. The information provided in this book is based on theories that, as a young human race, we can not validate for many years to come.

Read this book for ideas, but not answers. That is unless you are a doomsayer looking for an amen experience- in which case this baby is right up your alley.

The main intention of the book is to show the world's standing last year. It has not changed much since then, yet we still have the same goals and duties, as citizens of the earth. The authors provide scientific evidence that we ourselves are destroying Mother Earth and that our responsibility is to take care of it and improve ecology today.

I have read other books on the subject of the world's state today and it is interesting and frightening at the same time, to see that they were all proffessing the same message.

Each chapter provides statistics and facts from history in introductions and throughout chapters. Stunning information made me realize how we ourselves have caused deterioration in ecology and society. We, as citizens of the earth have polluted the air, causing global warming, shortage of resources and water, that has led to starvation and other disasters. It is comforting that each chapter does not end on a sad note, after presenting disturbing statistics. Instead, authors provide solutions and steps we could and should take to save the world. We have to work together to willfully stop the degrading cycle. Great book!

Reading State of the World 22 took me out of my cushy frivolous life and made me really think. I used to be of the frame of mind that sources of energy and the aids problem were nothing to do with me and someone else could deal with it and anyway to tell the truth it sort of bored me.Each time I read this book I would find myself crying as I turned the pages, it really is sad how down the world has gone and how much further it still has to fall if we dont change our ways of thinking. This book puts all the information on sustainable issues and world problems in straightforward english with interesting graphics and statistics in easy to read graphs so that even I (not quite a brain surgeon) can grasp the information.State of the world is not just a book moaning about what we have done wrong it also explains the solutions and what each person can to do help after all we are the cause and we can help be the cure.

"The Southern Heirloom Garden" is a rich and instructive work.

At the start of the book, William C. Welch and Greg Grant tell us that "gardening is one of the oldest, and richest, of our Southern folk arts."

The authors divide the book into two sections. The first section refreshingly explores French, German, Spanish, Native American, and African-American contributions to Southern gardening.

The Spanish, for instance, intensely developed and utilized small garden spaces, while African-Americans used brightly-colored flowers in the front yard as a sign of welcome.

This section also has a commendable essay on historic garden restoration in the South.

The second section addresses the plants "our ancestors used to build and enrich their gardens."

There are nearly 200 full-color photographs here, along with dozens of rare vintage engravings. While some of the pictures are a bit small, they are still informative.

Southern gardeners and historians will particularly enjoy this fine volume.

This is a really great book. I loved the essays on each plant. Greg Grant is very humorous. This is not just a coffee table book, although the pictures are beautiful. It offers advise and inspiration to those of us who will never have the "Southern Living Landscape" look.

In these days of trying the "Western grass garden" or the "English perennial border" it's particularly refreshing to study a book devoted to plants that happily grow in the Southern humidity and heat. While the opening chapters on historical gardens in the new world (French, Spanish, etc.) were interesting, the later chapters on plants were the most informative. When reading I could hear my Grandmother using the same commonplace names, like "paw-paw" and how to make jelly from the fruit. The challenge will now be to find some of these plants. (The authors admit some plants are only available from old gardens in the South). It remains one of my favorite garden books for its affectionate commentary on one of the oldest southern pastimes - our gardens and the talking and sharing of plants with loved ones.

The book should in no way be your only source of test preparation material nor does it advertise itself to be such. The practice exams following each chapter were helpful for giving you an idea of the types of questions you may encounter on the exam, but I noticed it contained many errors. Some of the errors were very careless which makes me wonder if portions of the book were proof-read at all.

Overall, the book is helpful at highlighting the keywords and concepts, and types of test questions which you need to pass the exam despite the many errors.

This book is not well organized compared with other MCSE TEST PREP books. There are lots of wrong answer in the questions which will wast your time for sure but it still provede some helpful information. Remember, all these book are reference only. If you think you can pass the test with only one book, you are either very good or you must be dreaming.

Although there are some mistakes in the text, and a few obvious errors in the test questions, OVERALL this is a great book to use for your final pre-Test preparations. It WILL NOT stand on it's own (hence some of the bad reviews it has gotten). You must already have a good grasp of the material. This book will help you to reinforce that knowledge and pass the test. I spent 4 days with the book (after taking the 803 and 922 courses in an ATEC) and passed the test with an 855.