I took a course from Hoover, one of the authors, using this book. The material is very suitable for a senior undergraduate course introducing the theory of computing. It covers all the essential notions one needs to proceed further into the field, such as all the various types of automata, circuits, complexity-related notations, etc. And, most importantly, I think it does so in a readable, dare I say enjoyable fashion. It gets formal when it needs to be, but intuitive when appropriate. It resists the temptation merely to enumerate the various models of computation, and instead provides meaningful insight into each (as well as proving all the important theorems). Finally, there are a great deal of problems, some of which are fairly nasty. (Well, they made ME think anyway)

This book (and admittedly also the co-author's presentation of it) contributed substantially to my deciding to study this area more in depth. I recommend it strongly to students and professors.

Just as _Death Ground_ brings _On Infantry_ to the present so _Getting It Right_ brings _The American Way of War_ to the present. It covers the 3 secrets of successful armies: practice, practice, practice and how the US Military did it, mainly the Army.

From the first pages of the book, Gnashing of Teeth, I fell head first into the story of a young man's journey. Tim's departure from home for the unknown, the bravery and terror he faced at the front lines of the Korean War, the love he felt for a young woman, and finally his homecoming after the war. I was made to feel what Tim felt, fear, bravery, sadness and joy. I was moved to tears when after all Tim went through his homecoming was not what he expected. A must read for all those who served in the military and all those connected to someone who has.

In this book Vreeland offers a cogent analysis of why governments enter into IMF agreements, and identifies startling effects of the effect of such programs on host country economic performance.

Unlike Stiglitz in "Globalization and Its Discontents," Vreeland takes a quantitative approach in measuring the effects of IMF programs. His work seems less concerned with the empty rhetoric that surrounds the anti-globalization movement that have pre-occupied many IMF crtics, and instead draws heavily upon statstical evidence.

Not the only book published recently about the IMF in academia, but certainly one of the better ones.

A collaboration of love - not only for Dr. MacKenzie but the essential history of the game of golf. Insightful, textured prose combined with correspondence, primary architectural renderings by Dr. MacKenzie and photographs, this work is the finest published on his life,and his life's work. This book comes with my highest recommendation and should be an integral
addition to every golf library.

I found this book to be quite unique in the way it covers its subject area. I know of no other book which seeks to treat in a botanical manner the more conspicuous and important woody plants of the Sonoran Desert biome. I discovered the existence of plants that I previously did not know about. Each species is covered very well, with notes on its appearance, distribution, ethnobotany, and ecology. Excellent half-tone black and white photographs. I can't recommend this book too highly if one is interested in learning more about the Sonoran Desert woody plants.

This book is by the man who revolutionized bread baking and it is excellent. The technical information on flours, oxidation, etc is very good. All recipes are based on the bakers percentage formula so it is very easy to scale anything. It is more for professionals but I have had no trouble adapating it to home use. This book will teach you to be a bread baker, not a follower of recipes. I highly recommend this for anyone who is serious about bread baking. If you are a casual baker of loaves it may be too much. If you can read basic French I encourge you to get the french edition as it costs about 25E's instead of the crazy price for the English translation.

Topology is a very beautiful subject, as many mathematicians will tell you. Point-set topology, the material which makes up the first five chapters of this book, however, is closely related to real analysis, and thus (in my humble opinion) quite dull. Nevertheless, Munkres does manage to make the study of point set topology bearable, and, in retrospect, possibly fun; the exercises consist of puzzles which are quite pleasant, if sometimes excruciating. Munkres treatment of algebraic topology is cursory and does not do justice to the subject; Massey's book would be a better introduction. This is a standard text, but make sure that you buy a simpler one if you are studying by yourself.

When I was in a topology course in graduate school, I constantly returned to the Munkres book to get clearer explanations of concepts than any of the graduate-level books could provide. What is noteworthy is that the ease of understanding did NOT come at the price of shallower coverage or lack of mathematical rigor. Although this is an undergraduate text, it covers almost everything you would get in a first-year graduate course in point set topology. If you want to learn that material for the first time without an instructor, then this is the book to use. And, if you are working in another area of mathematics, and come across words like "compact", "metric space", or "connected", and have forgotten what they mean, go straight to Munkres. He always talks to you like a real human being.

Although both parts of this book are exceptionally well written,
I've seen even better presentations of general topology in Sutherland's "Introduction to Topological and Metric Spaces", although admittedly Chapters 5 and 8 are not covered there. On the other hand I have found it very difficult to find a better book that covers part 2 of this book, Algebraic Topology. Most textbooks in this area either seem outdated or overly abstract. However, Munkres takes the time to explain concepts like covering spaces and the fundamental group with care and detail, providing a number of concrete examples. Combine this book with his differential topology book, and one can easily self-study his or her way to a mastery of first-year graduate topology.

This early sci fi classic continued Jules Verne's streak of scientifc adventures for his publisher, Hetzel. An amazed and fascinated France eagerly awaited the weekly installments, as the unbounded genius of the young author captured the imagination of Europe and soon the world. Countless boys and even adults were inspired by Verne's ability to grasp the potential of inventions for the future, and to focus serious attention on hitherto unexplored regions of the earth (or beneath it, or the ocean), or over it. Obviously for such literary spotlighting of mankind's present and future endeavors, Verne required a new kind of hero--the Scientist, rather than the swashbuckling romantic of the Romantic era.

JOURNEY is admittedly Verne's most improbable adventure, yet readers marvel at his detailed foresight in the provisons required, plus in his ability to insert theories of the earth's formation into the actual plot. Unlike most of Verne's protagonists, this one is neither French, English nor American but German. Young Axel is both orphaned nephew and student assistant to his brilliant geologist uncle, Professor Lidenbrock of Hamburg. When the latter discovers an ancient manuscript in an antiquarian book purchase, he becomes instantly obsessed with its translation and then with the passion to follow in the footsteps of a medieval Icelandic exlporer, Arne Saknussem.

Axel is wary of such folly and argues the dangers, but the single-willed professor counters all scientific reasoning with a logic of his own, both before and during their arduous journey. With their stoic but resourceful guide, Hans, the three men undertake to seek the center of the earht, using the Icelandic volcano of Sneffels as their portal to mystery and danger. Is academic fame a sufficient lure for one, or mere weekly salary for another? Axel's own personality (often dreamng of his beloved cousin)
undergoes a true metamorphosis as the result of months of hardship in the bowels of the earth. Still fresh almost 150 years later, this adventure tale is certain to entertain and enlighten. (Ignore subsequent movie versions with change the cast.)

Forget for the moment the established theory that the center of the Earth is a ball of fire, and enjoy this wonderful adventure written over a century ago that offered an alternative view. I'm a big fan of Journey To The Center Of The Earth. I've read the book and seen the movie countless times, and still never tire of it. Alien Voices attempts to tell the story in a way that would suit a modern audience, while still retaining the spirit of the original. Long, descriptive passages can be circumvented in the aural medium with a few lines of dialogue or sound effects, and tighten the pace. Projecting the fascination of the unknown and portraying science in a highly positive way is indeed very Verne, and in this Alien Voices get it exactly right. Leonard Nimoy is an unsurpassably brilliant actor who brings the crotchety and irascible Professor Lidenbrock to life with panache. This is one man whose voice is perfectly suited to audio. John DeLancie unfortunately overdoes his part way too much for my liking, being too soppy and emotive as Axel. Still, that's the way Axel was written, so I can't say he got it wrong! The acting all round is competant, though it's mostly Nimoy and DeLancie who we hear, and they are seasoned professionals in film and t.v anyway. Put this on the headphones, and the sound quality becomes most evident, and you'll soon be taken away into the past. A worthy interpretation, for the most part, certainly to be congratulated for being far truer to the novel than the nonetheless highly enjoyable 1959 film.

This is a classic novel by Jules Verne. In the story, Professor Hardwigg and his nephew Harry discover an ancient parchment by an alchemist named Arne Saknussemm. They travel to Iceland and climb an extinct volcano called Sneffels. With them is the Icelandic hunter Hans. They journey into the center of the earth, in which Harry gets lost. They come upon and ocean and cross it. While they are on the sea they witness a battle of ancient sea monsters. Eventually they are thrown out of a volcano on Stromboli, an island in Italy. This was a wonderful book, but sometimes it went into too much detail. Still, a classic five star book. I don't see why anyone would give it 4 1/2 stars. It is simply absurd. I recommened this book to anyone with a good imagination.

Lemuel Gulliver is a surgeon/ship¨ˆs captain who embarks on several intriguing adventures. His first endeavor takes him to Lilliput, where all inhabitants are six inches tall, but resemble normal humans in every other respect. His next voyage lands him on Brobdingnag, where a grown man is sixty feet tall, and even the shortest dwarf stands thirty feet tall. On his third trip, he travels to several locations, including a floating island. During Gulliver¨ˆs final voyage, he is abandoned by his mutinous crew on the island of the Houyhnhnms, which are extremely intelligent horses. No evil or concept of lying exists among these creatures. The island is also inhabited by Yahoos, savage, irrational human-like creatures who are kept as pets by the Houyhnhnms. Gulliver wishes to spend the rest of his life on this peaceful island, but he is banished and forced to return to England.
I really enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to people 14 or older. Since the novel was written in the 1700¡¯s, the words, grammar and usage are a little confusing. The reader also must have prior knowledge of 18th-century politics to get a full image of what Swift is trying to convey. At some points, the author goes into detail about nautical terms and happenings, and that tends to drag. Overall, the book is well-written, slightly humorous, if not a little confusing.

Swift's classic satire of English and European governments, societies, and cultures should be required reading of every college student. (Except for those who appear to be in law school as is the earlier reviewer who referred to Swift as being an "18th century Unabomber." Swift may have been conservative in his beliefs and not cared much for individuals such as Robert Boyle, who is satirized in the book, but he was not violent. Perhaps our "law student/reviewer" is offended by Swift's biting satire of lawyers and politicians in part four.) The version I read was an annotated edition by Isaac Asimov and contained many passages that had been deleted by previous publishers. Asimov's comments enable the reader to more fully appreciate Swift's satire. In part one of the novel, a ship's surgeon, Lemuel Gulliver, is shipwreaked and finds himself on the island of Lilliput, the inhabitants all being only six inches high. This section is great satire of English politics and wars. Royal ponp, feuds amongst the populace, and wars are made to look rediculous. In the second part, Gulliver finds himself in Brobdingnag in which he is only six "inches" tall (relatively speaking). This part forms another satire of European governments. In part three, Gulliver visits the flying island of Laputa where shades of ancient scholars can be called up. This section is a satire on philosophers and scientists. Scientists are portrayed as men so wrapped up intheir speculations as to be totally useless in practical affairs. Absurd experiments are described (for example, extracting sunlight from cucumbers (but, extracting energy from cucumbers and other plants is no longer so absurd Jonathan)). Also described in this third part are the Struldbergs, men and women who are immortal but who turn out to be miserable and pitiable. In part four, Gulliver travels to the Land of the Houyhnhnms, horses with intelligence but who have no passion or emotion. The word "Yahoo" originates in this part. READ IT!

Gulliver's Travels is an excellent book. In it Swift satirizes what he thought were the foibles of his time, in politics, religion, science, and society. In Part One Lemuel Gulliver is shipwrecked on Lilliput where the inhabitants are only 6 inches tall. The rivalry between Britain and France is there satirized. In Part Two he is marooned on the subcontinent of Brobdingnag where the inhabitants are giants. The insignificance of many of mankind's achievements are there satirized. Next in Part Three Gulliver is taken aboard the floating island of Laputa, where Swift takes the opportunity to satirize medicine and science altogether - incredibly Swift did not make up the crazy experiments he describes; all were sponsored at one time or another by the Royal Society. Finally in Part Four Gulliver is marooned by mutineers on the island of the Houyhnhynms, in which Swift takes his parting shot at human society - presenting them in degraded form as the Yahoos. Most people read no further in the book than Brobdingnag - I urge you to read the rest.