This is a thorough treatment of London architecture, covering not only iconic landmarks like Buckingham Palace (although they're here too), but as well, buildings from all eras across Greater London. Post-WWII architecture is surprisingly well represented. The region is divided into a grid of 24 squares, each of which is illustrated with a detailed map (except outlying areas), and this grid is used for organizing the book into chapters. In all, over 900 buildings are included, each with a 2 inch x 2 inch photo and a description of three or four sentences. Floor plans are shown for each of Wren's churches and for a handful of other buildings. Appendices have maps showing 'The Great Estates,' London squares in chronological order, and 'The Inns of Court.'

John Chris Jones' "the internet and everyone" is a remarkable new book which gives some much needed perspective to the transformation that has taken place in our culture due to electronic media. Beyond this, it addresses the implications of these changes for society as a whole, suggesting ways through which we might not just be blown by the winds of change, but instead begin to make the weather ourselves. As such Jones' book should become required reading for all those with an interest in taking advantage of all that digitization has to offer, while avoiding the dehumanizing effect that these technologies can sometimes have.

Like the culture it describes, this beautifully designed book is occasionally chaotic and confusing, but Jones provides "reading paths" so that people of different interests can "hop" through the book, finding those aspects that are most relevant to them. In this way Jones mirrors the structure of the internet, presenting multiple narratives to be stitched together by different readers.

In terms of content, Jones has been exploring the social implications of technological development for almost half a century. "the internet and everyone" presents these findings and shows very clearly how, though radically new in many ways, digital technology is in fact an extension of innovations that preceded it. Jones provides what is so rarely found: a presentation of the social implications of technology and, most importantly, specific suggestions for how to adapt these technologies more fully to suit people (rather than our adapting to them). By taking this broader view of technological development, presented from the point of view of one who has very much been part of its development, Jones gives an unparalleled insight into not just the future course of technology but also of our interaction with it .

"the internet and everyone" presents essays, notes, plays, correspondence -- seemingly a hodgepodge. This idiosyncratic presentation, however, is most suitable for the central message that Jones is presenting -- that for technology to be humane it must be decentral, partial, fragmentary. Anything else risks a tyranny, one which begins in the way we shape our technology and which will eventually take root in society, often limiting our options without our even clearly knowing. We can take from Jones' book to begin with what is most of interest to us. With patience and curiosity we can dip back into it from time to time until even the most odd seeming parts make sense.

Jones' book provides what the internet does not -- perspective. Though seemingly weekly the "next big trend" in the internet is reported, the real implications of this development of a "digital nervous system" for society are much broader. For those who would like to get a sense of what is possible, and of how it might be used to fashion a more humane society, Jones' "the internet and everyone" is a seminal work.

I did not know what to expect when I ordered this book, since I had never heard of this author before. But, being the daring sort, I decided to give it a try. I try to read at least one or two novels by new authors each year, just to hear a fresh voice, and am I ever glad I chose this one! First of all, the plot is outrageous. In the first chapter alone, you've got a child abandoned at birth; two mentally unbalanced parents; one parents with a shocking, personal secret; a suicide and a lobotomy. All in the first chapter... And somehow Mr. Jones keeps up this feverish pace, bringing the story alive with a motley cast of characters. This novel is so unusual that it kept me reading, just to find out what was going to happen on the next page. It's a very hard book to describe, but it makes fun of Southern family saga novels in a fun and light-hearted manner. I would definitely recommend picking this one up...

This is one of the top three Christian books I have ever read. Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones is an incredibly gifted expositor who helps you understand God's word, provides great theological insight, and gives you practical applications. You will be greatly encouraged in your walk with God by Paul's letter to the Philippians.

Hardcover -224 pages 25th print edition

This is a FABULOUS introduction for teenagers to one of the best loved Christian leaders of the 20th Century. It makes "the Doctor" into a fully rounded human being. The author is his eldest grandchild, and for fans of Dr Lloyd-Jones it is great to see that he was as wonderful a grandfather as he was a world famous preacher and writer. Buy this book yourself and then buy a copy for your youth pastor - and, why not - all the teenagers in your family as well. Everyone of all ages can profit by reading this brilliant book.

I first read this book when I was 10 and I never forgot it. I read it this year to my junior church kids and they loved it. Many asked for a copy for themselves. I highly recommend it for its lesson that the Word of God is more precious than gold.

This book presents many new essays from several ancient scholars. The papers are well-written and on diverse topics. Although the hardcover is expensive, it is well worth the price, since quality commentaries and new scholarship seems scarce. The article on the Demiurge by Jan Opsomer is top notch and well worth the price of the book. M. R. Wright's paper is excellent as well. Look out Cornford, there's some new kids on the block. Included in the back of the book is a comprehensive list of commentaries and translations of the Timaeus, which is extremely useful.

The Machinery's Handbook has been frequently referred to as the Machinists Bible for as long as I can remember. It contains an incredible wealth of information that everyone in the mechanical trades will immediately appreciate.

Detailed information about practically any mechanical problem, ranging from the basic lever and wheel, right through to rapid prototyping. At this point I can honestly say, that I have always found the information I needed in less than 4 minutes. Exact, detailed information.

The only area that I found the book lacking in, is the exclusion of European standards. For instance DIN reference numbers, but as the world is heading toward ISO9000 the old reference numbers are becoming obsolete in any case.

It's price of $80.00 may seem steep, but in comparison to the other works out there, it is reasonable. All in all, if you work in the mechanical trades, you cannot afford to pass up this book.

For a French guy, it's amazing all the stuff you can learn with this book. English technical terms and also mechanical and tooling history. I work in a tool maker company as mechanical engineer and this book is very helpfull for me.

I bought my first copy of Machinery's Handbook as a drafter in 1968. In the thirty-one years since then, I've grown thru the designer-to-engineer curve and the editors have done much to augment and expand the content and scope of this book. The Handbook is still the single most important - nay, vital - text at my engineering workstation. Now that the text is available in electronic (CD-ROM) format, I impatiently await the arrival of my copy - I just love computers, don't you? Now I'll be able to grab all that information without even reaching for the shelf! Guess I'll have to find some other exercise for my pects, lats, triceps...

Every designer should have a copy of this book.

slightly dated now - but still the classic guide to design process.

My copy keeps getting stolen - going to have to buy a new copy.

Design Methods: seeds of human futures By John Chris Jones 1970,1980,1992

Architects, confronted in the 1950s and 1960s with design efforts involving many designers and many stakeholders, were forced to study their methods to make them more open to scrutiny and input at all stages. By the time "Design Methods" was published in 1970, architects, engineers, and industrial designers had begun to raise their perspective to include a much larger picture, ranging from the designer's internal processes all the way to planetary conditions. As a society, we were re-designing design. Many of the design methods which Jones presents in his "recipe book" grew from this design group work. Even today, best practice for design teams is largely developed from methods described almost thirty years ago in this book.

From the Introduction:

"Jones first became involved with design methods while working as an industrial designer for a manufacturer of large electrical products in Britain in the 1950s. He was frustrated with the superficiality of industrial design at the time and had become involved with ergonomics. When the results of his ergonomic studies of user behavior were not utilized by the firm's designers, Jones set about studying the design process being used by the engineers. To his surprise, and to theirs, Jones' analysis showed that the engineers had no way of incorporating rationally arrived at data early on in the design process when it was most needed. Jones then set to work redesigning the engineer's design process itself so that intuition and rationality could co-exist, rather than one excluding the other."

This cooperation of multiple faculties seems to be a consistent thread throughout his work.

"Design Methods" is divided into two parts.

Part one gives a brief history of design, argues that new methods are needed for today's more complex realities, breaks down the design process into three stages, and shows us how to choose a design method for each stage. The 1992 edition has added several prefaces which are well worth reading. They help explain how to use the book.

Part two consists of descriptive outlines, or recipes, for 35 design methods. These methods include: logical, data gathering, innovative, taxonomic, and evaluative procedures. Reading part one gives you a grasp of the book. After that, the methods in part two are best read singly or a few at a time, as you would any recipe book.

* * * * *

Jones breaks design down into three stages: 1) Divergence, 2) Transformation, and 3) Convergence.

The divergence stage is ".. extending the boundary of a design situation .. to have a large enough, and fruitful enough, search space... The objectives, and the problem boundary, are unstable and tentative. Evaluation is deferred. Every effort is made to escape old assumptions, and absorb new data."

The territory of the problem is tested to discover limits, consequences, and paradoxes. The questions are: What is valuable? What is feasible? What is dangerous? Where are the dependencies between elements? What are the penalties for getting it wrong? Are the right questions being asked?

The transformation stage requires a shift of gears. The territory of the problem has been mapped. Operative words here are: eliminate, combine, simplify, transform, modify.

"This is the stage when objectives, brief, and problem boundaries are fixed, when critical variables are identified, when constraints are recognized, when opportunites are taken and when judgements are made. [It is] pattern-making, fun, flashes of insight, changes of set... Pattern-making .. is the creative act of turning a complicated problem into a simple one by .. deciding what to emphasize and what to overlook."

At the last stage, convergence, "the problem has been defined, the variables have been identified and the objectives have been agreed. The designer's aim ...[is to] reduce the secondary uncertainties progressively until only one of many possible alternative designs is left... Persistence and rigidity of mind is a virtue: flexibilty and vagueness are to be shunned."

Convergence can be done, as a programmer would say, from the top down or from the bottom up; or architecturally speaking, from the outside inward or inside outward. Often the best approach is to do both at once, and resolve differences as the two processes meet.

* * * * *

Design today is an increasingly social art, involving multiple designers, and multiple stakeholders as client/sponsor, suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, consumer/customer, and citizen groups and government agencies concerned with a shared environment, all get into the act. Individual design geniuses now must learn to communicate and negotiate effectively to succeed in the current enterprise environment.

Advances in the capabilites of engineers and engineering tools must be matched with advances in techniques for resolving a broader range of issues and demands, and more effective communication skills and design transformation skills among designers and design managers.

Computers will drive the role of humans in design to the earlier stages - divergence and transformation - of the design process where flexibility, intuition, and soft-focus attention are required. Knowledge base systems will take over the convergence stage, kicking the problem back to us only when discovered contradictions force re-evalution of design goals. The iteration of complete designs from a given design problem definition will become faster as our knowledge base improves and as computer power increases. As the speed of iteration increases, a threshold will be passed where qualitative changes in both design and designing will result.

"Design Methods" is a seminal book which was widely credited with stimulating fresh approaches to design thinking. It will continue to be recognised as a classic work, and a useful text kept handy by every drawing table, CAD system, and engineering manager's desk.