So well-documented and persuasive that it is certain to be quoted extensively by the defense industry lobby for years to come. But the truth it presents is a simple one. A more complex truth would want to examine the doctrines that require the US to outspend the next 6 largest armed forces in the world COMBINED.

The Two Theater War Doctrine that was established during Cheney and Powell's last tenure (back when they were SecDef and C-JCS, rather than the VP and SecState) is the benchmark that all of these defense "requirements" are based on. Scrap that doctrine and the perception of a train wreck diminishes drastically. A less partisan examination of American defense spending would start by asking why the US is still spending at Cold War levels, why non-US military aid is a joke (in Pentagon terms, the amount of aid given is a rounding error, no more than that), and why weapons are seen as the be-all and end-all of security. The fact that Goure did not answer the hard questions puts this book on the same level as propaganda.

Dr. Defenestrator's Prescription: Don't read it; there's a good chance that US policymakers have already read it, and you'll no doubt hear it repeated verbatim repeatedly. Cindy Williams' "Holding the Line" offers an alternative view on the issue, and you should at least read the two books together if you must read Goure.

The central argument of Goure, et. al., is pretty straight forward: the Clinton administration has not spent enough money on "recapitalizing" the US military -- that is, hasn't replaced enough of the tanks, ships, and airplanes -- so everything will wear out about the same time, leaving the United States undefended, unable to defend its interests, and unfriended. That's the "pending train wreck." The argument is not new. Indeed, the analogy to a "defense train wreck" emerged shortly after the Clinton administration took office in the early 1980s, touted, strangely enough, by some disgruntled low ranking members of the preceeding Republican administrations. Partisanship aside, how does the argument stand up in the face of nearly a decade since it first emerged? The answer is mixed. When first voiced, the train wreck was going to take place before the end of the century. Goure's most recent warming over of the gruel now pushes it into the new century, suggesting that he and his predecessors might have let their resentment of the current administration cloud their understanding of the actual dynamics inside the Pentagon. But that noted, some of the trends they note do ring true and do support the contention that the US will face an unfortunate situation in which the relative lack of procurement over the last decade will reduce the readiness of the force because its equipment is wearing thin. To Goure and his fellow authors, this is a great shame, for it will make the world's most powerful military a hollow force. Here's the real limitation of the book, for it assumes the Cold War force the United States built and honed over half a century should be the standard for the future. But this Cold War force was built for an era that has passed, and has characteristics that make it ill suited to the present and future. It is a ponderous force, dedicated to a concept of "overwhelming" might, rather than a "smart" force that is agile, swift, and suited for the problems we face now. Goure and his colleagues are right about the remnants of the Cold War force running down (even though they seem to be wrong about the immediacy of the train wreck). Where they're significantly wrong, however, is in the notion that we need or want the kind of force they're so concerned about losing.

The authors provide compelling evidence of a forthcoming "train wreck" in U.S. defensive capabilities, and make a compelling case for increasing the defense budget by $60-100B a year for a mixture of preserving readiness; acquiring mid-term capabilities needed to replace a 20-30 year old mobility, weapons, and communications base force; and implementing the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA). This is a well-documented and heavily fact-laden book-the authors as individuals and the case they make in general terms-must be heeded by the next President and the next Congress. Where the book does not go, and a companion book by the same authors would be of great value, is into the detail of WHAT threat, WHAT force structure. They accept, for example, the Navy's 304-ship Navy that keeps adding gigantic carriers and does nothing for littoral warfare or putting Marines within 24 hours of any country instead of 6 days. Similarly, they accept Air Force emphasis on fewer and fewer bigger and more sophisticated platforms of dubious utility in a 21st Century environment that requires long loiter, ranges of several hundred nautical miles without refueling, full lift in hot humid weather, and survivability in the face of electromagnetic weapons in the hands of thugs. This book demonstrates a clear mastery of defense economics, and it is an important contribution to the bottom line: our national defense is desperately underfunded, and this must be in the "top three" issues facing the 43rd President and the 107th Congress. What we buy, and why, has not yet been answered to my satisfaction.

This book for help in my job

This book was great for my psych class, but I believe it would also be great as a refernce tool for either psych or sociology students. Clearly written, made my class a lot easier!!

The author takes a very "medical" look at heartburn. What this pamphlet (at 96 pages, half of which are blank or almost blank, I cannot call this a book) preaches is the same nonsense that medical doctors have preached to me for years, but there's just one problem: their four phase "treatment" process does not work very well in the long run, if at all. The first part of the book explains (in incredibly simplistic to the point of insult) terms what heartburn is, and what may cause it. This explanation and treatment process are completely one sided, as the author never for a second mentions that it may be the DEFICIT of stomach acid, not an increase, that may cause reflux and symptoms of heartburn. Unfortunately, medical doctors in this country swear by the process that is described in this book, and this is likely why this country has the largest occurrence of heartburn. Phase One is "lifestyle changes with occasional liquid antacid use." Garbage. If the cause of heartburn is in the DEFICIT of stomach acid or digestive enzymes, taking antacids will make the condition worse over time. Phase Two is "addition of H-2 blockers and more liberal use of antacids." The nonsense piles up. Phase Three is the "addition of stronger acid-blocking agents." You see the pattern. And finally Phase Four is surgery which promises symptom relief for "as long as five years." What exactly happens afterwards, the author does not say. He then proceeds to outline costs of each phase of the process. It becomes clear that the only ones benefiting from it are the MDs, drug companies, and pharmacies -- but not the patients. The book is also full of useless little facts. For instance, did you know that in 1994, a 6 year old burped 844 consecutive times which set a new world record? Finally, while the author fails to mention any alternative treatment methods that have actually been shown to work, he does provide about a dozen recipes said to prevent or reduce reflux. Let me close this review by saying that one of those wonder-recipes contains 3 cups of marinara sauce. Here comes heartburn salvation! NOT.

I began searching for educational materials on heartburn after I had lived with it for several years and had poured all kinds of antiacids into my stomach. This book is very informative, explaining the causes, treatments, and even the long-range effects of continuing heartburn. It educated me to where I was able to discuss my condition knowledgeably with my physician and had no "fear of the unknown" when it came time to begin treatment.

Montgomery's Auditing, 2001 is just a supplement to the 1998 version. You need both the 1998 version plus the 2001 to be current. I would prefer to have it all in one book.

If you are interested in this book to learn a bit of spherical trig, you might want to see a copy before buying. This book is rather terse in describing the subject matter and of course there are no answers to the exercises. The copy I recently purchased actually contained two books in one cover, "Spherical Trigonometry with Naval and Military Applications" and "Five-Place Logarithmic and Trigonometric Tables." My copy is first edition, fourth impression, dated 1942. The book does cover a lot of ground but suffers from the era of doing many calculations using logarithms - pre-calculator. The drawings are actually well done, considering they are limited to black and white.
I am not a book collector, so I can't offer any comment about collectability etc.

Not bad, but review a copy before you buy to see if it meets your needs.

It is a very good text book, but the pictures would be colored. Color pictures are important for the patologist veterinary and for the students.

This is a very good and concise textbook. However I think it is a big minus that all the pictures are in black and white. Colour pictures are extremely important for students of pathology!

This is an excellent reference book for pathology students of any specialty. There are good examples and descriptions of each topic, and the book is well organized, making it easy to search for a specific topic.

It has been about 3 years since I wrote the first review for this book on Amazon.com. In that time there have been some new, and I feel better publications about R. M. Schindler

The most comprehensive Text is Judith Sheine's book (entitled R. M. Schindler) published by Phaidon. Please see my review for more details. Sheine is also the editor and narrator for two CD-ROMs produced by Planet Architecture. These are both excellent sources. Lastly is the lavishly photographed catalog for the Schindler Exhibit entitled The architecture of R. M. Schindler by Elizabeth A.T. Smith. This has good essays and photos although I feel is better as supplementry text to Sheine's new book

I am an avid fan of this master architect/builder and I am pleased to see that Shindler is finally getting the attention he deserves. There is an abundance of material about Schindler now available to the public. Whereas, just ten years ago only a few books were available about Schindler (Gebhard and McCoy). This is a large format book with lavish color photos. Early books on Schindler, such as those by Gebhard, McCoy, and Sarnitz were small in format and contained equally small black and white images.

This book is divided into two parts: Essay and Selected Works. The essay, by noted California Author/Historian James Steele assumes that the reader has some familiarity with Schindler and the Wagnerschul. The author skips over biographical data on the architect, such as birth, upbringing, family life etc. and instead presents the reader with a concise, competent essay on Schidler's place in Early Twentieth Century architecture. The essay shows how Schindler was influenced by his mentors and peers such as Loos, Wright, Nuetra, and Irving Gill. It also touches on Schindler's rejection from Johnson and Hitchcock's International Style exhibit.

The second part of the book - selected works - presents the reader with thirty-two of the architect's built works in a chronological order. The selected projects include twenty-five houses, six apartment buildings/complexes and a Baptist church. Each work contains a brief description. About half the projects contain color photos. These appear to be recent photos and include many interior shots. Some projects, such as the Kings Road House and the Wolfe Residence contain reproduced color drawings (plans, sections, elevations) There are also a few renderings, color and b/w. Other projects are, disappointedly, not given proper attention. The Lovell Beach House, considered by many to be Schindler's masterpiece does not have the plans and section that are so essential to the understanding of this seminal structure. One project, The Grokowski Residence, contains only one, small black and white photo - not sufficient to give an adequate description.

The book also contains a map of L.A. with the architect's projects pin-pointed and a brief biography at the end. There is no bibliography that could point the serious scholar to additional sources, nor does the book contain any of Schindler's writings.

THE BOTTOM LINE This book contains nice color photos - some apparently previously unpublished, some good graphic resources. It is not a deep book, however it can be a nice compliment to previously published work on this master architect/builder.

textbook of endocrine physiology by james E.Griffin(editor), Sergio R. Ojeda (editor)

This book has chapters written by a variety of authors. Some of the authors write very well; others leave something to be desired. The text by Balint Kacsoh is a much better overall buy.
I used both texts in an endocrinology course.

This book is excellent for anyone interested in the basics of endocrine physiology - unfortunately it fails to go into sufficient depth for anyone trained to at least an undergraduate level knowledge of physiology. Some sections are reasonably detailed, but the treatment of the adrenals was way too brief to be effective.

The amount of detail is this book drowns out any overall message on the proper way to create operating procedures. No plant could ever actually follow all the recommendations, steps, and layers listed. (A collegue stated that his calculus text book was easier to read.) However, the mind numbing detail is basically correct and properly focused on what plant workers should have in a useful procedure. Too much clutter with peripheral issues like how to get your boss to approve your project. A big weakness is the focus on document formats and document production methods optimized for printing on paper. Process plants are moving en-mass to computerized document management and delivery systems. This book does not explain how to format documents for optimum presentation on a computer screen. Also missing is any useful discussion of management of change methodologies to keep documents current.