After picking this book up at a Sam's club out of curiosity I found that I couldn't put it down and ended up putting it in the cart. My companion is a begining Astronomy buff and he couldn't get enough eighther. We were reading it to each other and trying to read it at the same time. We have learned alot from this book and have put it to good use with his new telescope. I highly remommed this book to the person who has always wanted to get started in astronomy!

This beautifully produced book is a superb addition to the library of any backyard astronomer or anyone from eight to eighty. It's a best buy for several reasons.
The first is its outstanding quality. The second is the BEWARE!.
This book is actually a softcover, otherwise identical reprint of "Advanced Skywatching", ISBN: 0783549415, published in 1997, also by Time-Life.
Perhaps Time-Life used this subterfuge to catch unwary on-line shoppers that already own "Advanced Skywatching" (as I do), since you can't view the contents on-line to discover you already own the same book under a different name.

The complaint on the star charts about this book (or its twin) not covering the entire sky is not critical.
There isn't room on anyone's bookshelf for all the possible fun sky-hops, of which this book and its twin present abundant excellent examples. There are more and different, also challenging and instructive ones in another fine volume, "Turn Left at Orion", and many others.

Not to worry if you get sucked in. This one makes a fine gift for your favorite grandchild as mine will.
Add this to your "must have" list if you don't already own its twin. If you do, buy it anyhow and give it to someone special.
The price is astonishingly low for the fine content.

The Beggar's Opera by John Gay is an artful yet honest representation of London in the early 1700s. As the Editor's introduction notes, it is a political satire that brings to life the actions of such notorious figures as Jonathan Wild and Robert Walpole. In the Beggar's introduction the reader is made aware of the author's intent to mock the recent craze of the Italian Opera, which is considered by Gay to be thouroughly "unnatural." Immediately after that we are exposed to the corruption of a city offical, Peachum (whose name means "to inform against a fellow criminal"), as he is choosing which criminals should live, as they are still profitable, and who should not, as they have turned honest. Peachum's character of both an arch-criminal and law man is interesting enough in his daily dealings; add to that his daughter's recent marriage to a highwayman (who the father then plots to send to the gallows). Not to mention what happens when the highwayman runs into an old aquaintance of his, who visibly shows his earlier affection, and you have what makes to be a highly entertaining, emotional, and educational story of 18th century London. The dialogue is well written, and the only problem a modern reader might have is the operatic aspect. I suspect that the mockery of the opera is not felt as much when read but rather when performed. Note to reader: it makes it much easier to understand if you read the introduction. There you will find instances of "real" London that the playwrite is satirizing. For all lovers of period English pieces who enjoy a cynical wit.

Life is a jest; and all things show it, I thought so once; but now I know it. - John Gay's epitaph As we sit here, nearly 300 years removed from the debut of The Beggar's Opera, it's hard to recapture the effect that it had on the England of 1728. So look at it this way, John Gay was the Sex Pistols of his day and The Beggar's Opera hit London like Never Mind the Bollocks....

Since Italian opera had first come to London in 1705, it had dominated the British stage. Replete with ornate sets, elaborate costumes, unintelligible plots and imported sopranos and castrati, it was less art than event. Audiences attended to share in the spectacle, as chariots swooped through the air & romantic tales unfolded on stage. Into this artificial world, Gay unleashed an opera about the scum of London society, set in taverns and thieves' dens. He tells the story of Peachum, a fence with a lucrative sideline in informing on fellow criminals. His daughter Polly has secretly married MacHeath, a highwayman. Now Peachum and his "wife" fear that MacHeath will inform on them & inherit their loot when they are hanged. After berating Polly for marrying, & not having sense enough to live out of wedlock, they decide to turn MacHeath in, before he can turn them in. As Peachum prepares his daughter for this turn of events he tells her: "The comfortable estate of widowhood, is the only hope that keeps up a wife's spirits. Where is the woman who would scruple to be a wife, if she had it in her power to be a widow whenever she pleased?" However, to the Peachum's disgust, Polly is actually in love with MacHeath and so, to her great surprise, are several other women, including Lucy Lockit who helps him to escape from prison. So, the stage is set for a madcap farce. Mix in a satiric look at the corrupt administration of justice, some political jabs at the political master of the day, Sir Robert Walpole and songs like the following:

A fox may steal your hens, sir A whore your health and pence, sir, Your daughter rob your chest, sir Your wife may steal your rest, sir, A thief your goods and plate. But this is all but picking, With rest, pence, chest and chicken; It ever was decreed, sir, If lawyer's hand is fee'd, sir, He steals your whole estate.

and you've got Gay's recipe for what quickly became the most popular play of the 18th Century, fathering myriad imitations including Brecht's Threepenny Opera. A delicious romp. GRADE: A

Written by John Henry Newman in 1855, Callista is a fictional tale of life in the early Christian church. One of only two novels from his pen, this tale is set in northern Africa, near Carthage, about the year 250 AD, during the reign of the Emperor Decius. The talented and lovely young greek native Callista, along with her brother Aristo ply their handicraft in the shop of Jucundus, in the small provincial town of Sicca, by finishing and decorating the pagan images of gods, idols, charms and other items of superstition. Jucundus, appreciating her many talents, attempts to play the matchmaker between her and his poor befuddled nephew Agellius. This nephew, much to his continued dismay and consternation seems to be obsessed with the notion of Christianity, and worse, considers himself to be of their number. As the story unfolds, we become aware of the strange status Christians held in the Roman World. Rather than being hated for their zeal toward God, they are thought to be atheists, anarchists and traitors. Callista, though not a Christian, feels the emptiness and insufficiency of the Roman, and even the Greek world of morality and philosophy, and never did believe in their gods. Agellius, with much internal turmoil, because Callista is not Christian, wishes to propose marriage. But these are troubled times, natural disasters, Imperial edicts, demonic possessions and the breakdown of civil order bring this story to an exciting conclusion. Obviously Newman wishes to use this story as a sort of parable, while at the same time painting a picture for us of what the early Christian church was actually like. And while he may succeed in this aim, some may think the story occasionally bogs down in pedantics. For this reason I gave the story 4, rather than 5 stars.

John Henry Newman's CALLISTA, especially as introduced in this fine year 2000 edition by Alan G. Hill, stands on its own merits as a rollicking good love story, almost gothic in its plague of locusts, demonic possession of the young North African Juba, realistic depiction of mob violence, state torture and intolerance of the rising Christian religion whose adherents refused in the year 250 to worship the persecuting emperor Decius.

It is the story of a beautiful 17-year old Greek orphan who finds work as an artisan in Roman Africa, mainly fashioning statues and other adornments of various pagan cults. The evils of third century Roman imperial life depress her. She is tempted by the beauty of Christianity as hinted to her years ago by a Christian slave. Later she is wooed by the Christian Agellius who gives her another slant into his religion--though he fails to persuade Callista to marry him. Finally, Saint Cyprian, bishop of Carthage and the Gospel of Luke which he persuades her to read in a prison where she languishes falsely accused of being a Christian, tip the scales. She is baptized, confirmed and takes the Eucharist in one ceremony in prison. Shortly thereafter she is brutally martyred. The story stands on its own feet. It is a great read independently of any external impact or uses.

But CALLISTA is also, in my opinion, the most illuminating first book which any serious or prospective student of ALL the works of John Henry Newman should read (or now re-read). For CALLISTA opens the door to Newman's spiritual autobiography of conversion, APOLOGIA PRO VITA SUA. It also adumbrates DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE, RISE AND PROGRESS OF UNIVERSITIES, his sermons and Newman's many musings on the echo of God's voice definitively heard in conscience. And what CALLISTA does not lead into, Newman's earlier novel LOSS AND GAIN most certainly does lead into: ARIANS OF THE FOURTH CENTURY, THE IDEA OF A UNIVERSITY, A GRAMMAR OF ASSENT and literally every serious thing the great Cardinal ever penned. Fortunately, the best edition of LOSS AND GAIN is by Alan G. Hill who gives us the best CALLISTA as well.

CALLISTA, perhaps the greatest of "Christian Romances," indeed deserves to be read both internally for itself and also externally as a first step into the huge ocean of Newman's essays, poems (e.g. "Lead Kindly Light"), sermons, histories, satires, educational theory, philosophy, theology and more than 20,000 letters. CALLISTA, set in Africa, paradoxically invites readers to step into the almost as little known spiritual world of 19th Century England, one of the most creative times and places the world has yet known.

-OOO-

Like most collections of essays, the quality of this one is mixed, but if you can stomach the sometimes trite personal narratives ("I came from a trailer park and now I teach at a community college full of students from trailer parks!"), you'll ultimately enjoy the insights that some of the book's 21 contributors have to offer. However, the collection is aimed at a specialized audience, particularly college English teachers, so if you haven't spent a significant portion of your life wondering why, with all your education, you have ended up where you are, this book won't make much sense.

The most interesting essays address the problem of social class within academia itself. For example, Olivia Frey writes, "The regard (disregard) for composition and composition teachers has interesting parallels with the daily struggles of workers and laborers, and their status within society at large." Although the sentiment here is nothing incredibly new, the fact that it is stated in print is in itself significant and might disturb many composition instructors (and their administrators) who are in deep denial about where they are and what they do.

At times the collection turns on itself, however, with some contributors appearing to advocate relaxed standards and "dumbing down" theories based solely on the social class of students. As a whole, the book would be more effective if it focused entirely on the problem of social class within the teaching profession, but it's still a great read.

In this anthology college teachers from all walks of life tell us how who they are, where they're from, affects their pedagogy. It's a terrific, ecclectic collection that should be required reading for teaching assistants beginning their careers. May it liberate and enlighten them, and any others who can come to personal history, to class, with an open mind.

I don't know why this book is unavailable at this time, I bought it a few years ago and found it to be a big help. Alan Dawson was the drum teacher of Tony Williams and he was big on drummers knowing their craft and playing musically. The book starts off with 86 rudiments and how to play them. You should already know how to read music before attempting this book. Its best for people who have been playing awhile as it does not cover how to hold the sticks, music notation and other basic topics. The presentation is more like an outline for improving technique and how to better your independence. After the rudiments, the author show the "rudimental ritual" which is a method for practicing all 86 rudiments equally. The next section covers how to use Ted Reed's Syncopation as a tool for improving indepenence and reading ability. He presents many ways to interpert the material in Ted's book and show how to play it musically. Next comes a section on using George Stone's Stick Control and finally some thoughts on improving your single stroke roll. The book finishes with some solo material demonstrating everything covered in the book. I use the book as a refresher on technique and for improving my independence. Like I said its not for beginners but if you know how to read music and want to improve in the areas the book covers then its a good buy. Its a good reference on rudiments but to me the best part is the section on using Ted Reed's book.

I know Prof. Ramsey personally (after all, he was my drum teacher at Umass). In my lessons with John, his focus was on independence of limbs (using Ted Reed's Syncopation) and with greater technical facility (George Stone's Stick Control and the rudiments' section of his book).

This book won't teach you cool fills or new rhythms, but without the valuable technique knowledge in this book, you won't be able to learn new complex rhythms. A firm foundation produce good skill. Get this book to sharpen your technique! Highly recommended!

In the course of a long life beginning before the Civil War and extending to shortly before the election of President Eisenhower, John Dewey (1859-1952) made large contributions to philosophy and to American public life. Dewey wrote extensively for both an academic and a public audience. He developed a philosophy of pragmatism and contributed significantly to American education. He was a socialist and was publically engaged througout his life in addressing the issues of the day. In particular he criticized the President Roosevelt's New Deal for what Dewey thought was an inadequate response to the Depression and a misguided attempt to preserve capitalism. He supported United States participation in WW I but shortly after the end of the War, he became an isolationist. He retained this isolationist stance until Pearl Harbor.

Dewey's thought resists easy summation. His writing style, particularly in his philosophical works, was long, winding, obscure and difficult to follow. As did many thinkers in the 20th Century, Dewey changed and modified his views with some frequency during the course of his life.

Alan Ryan has written an exellent study of John Dewey which explores Dewey's life, the influences upon him, his philosophical writings, his political activism, and the rises and falls in Dewey's reputation after his death. The book is somewhat dense and repetitive, but this too is a characteristic of the writings of its subject. Ryan writes insightfully in trying to place Dewey as philosophically somewhere between the despair of European existentialists such as Heidegger and Sartre and the English-American analytical philosophy of the 20th Century which denied that philosophical thought had a distinctive contribution to make to human intellectual endeavor.

I thought Ryan was good in discussing Dewey's early Congregationalit upbringing and his falling away from Christianity. I also thought Ryan placed good emphasis on the Hegelian idealism which Dewey adopted early in his career. The book could have used a fuller discussion of the nature of Hegelian idealism. As I read Ryan's book, I thought that Dewey retained even more of a Hegelian influence in his later thought than Ryan recognized. Dewey's emphasis on holistic thinking and on the relationship of the community and the individual remains Hegelian -- a naturalized Hegelianism as Ryan points out.

Ryan discussed Dewey's educational work at the University of Chicago. This is the aspect of Dewey's work that is best known. As Ryan points out, Dewey is often criticized for the shortcomings of American education. He is blamed, probably unjustifiably, for a lack of discipline and academic knowledge in too many American students. Ryan does point out, in fairness, that Dewey's actual educational theory was obscure in many points and undeveloped in specifics. It is hard to know just what Dewey had in mind, but it surely was not laxness and a deference to the wishes of young children.

I thought the strongest aspect of Ryan's book was his discussion of Dewey's mature philosophical writings, in particular "Experience and Nature" "A Common Faith" and "Art and Experience." In these works, Dewey tried to develop a philosophical pragmatism which was based on science and secularism. He denied the existence of an objective independent truth which science tries to capture and also denied subjectivism. Dewey recognized that human experience could be viewed from many perspectives and he struggled to explain how many of the goals of the religious and artistic life were consistent with science and secularism. He wanted to show them as perspectives equally important to the scientific perspective and to disclaim a concept of truth as "out there" rather than as sought,developed and made through human social activity. Dewey's position is difficult and, to his credit, Ryan does not simplify it. Ryan's exposition is challenging and made me want to read some of Dewey for myself.

A great deal of Ryan's book is devoted to Dewey's career as a public intellectual commenting on the issues of the day, as he saw them. Dewey travelled to Russia and China, investigated the Russian show trials of Trotsky and others, supported American participation in WW I, and advocated social liberalism. Ryan discusses Dewey's positions fully and intelligently and explores how Dewey's issues remain alive in the late 20th (and early 21st)century. The discussion of American political life and of the role of ideas is fascinating even though I frequently did not agree either with Dewey or with Ryan.

Ryan recognizes the paradoxical nature of the work of this American thinker. Dewey was a philosopher who critized sharply thought and reflection separate from action. He was a secularist who saw the importance of religion. He recognized the nature of industrial society but stressed the importance of art and culture. Dewey was, as Ryan points out in his conclusion
something of a visionary of the everyday. Ryan writes (page 269): "It was his ability to infuse the here and now with a kind of transcendent glow that overcame the denseness and awkwardness of his prose and the vagueness of his message and secured such widespread conviction. .... He will remain for the forseeable future a rich source of intellectual nourishment for anyone not absolutely locked within the anxieties of his or her own heart and not absolutely despondent about the prospects of the modern world."

Ryan, from a British perspective, offers a detailed biography of Dewey the philosopher while enveloping the reader in the context of Dewey's varied and shifting America. Ryan also wrestles with the issues America wrestled with and continues to struggle with today. The work blends nicely the intricacies of Dewey's tremendous ideas with detailed and insightful references to Bertrand Russell and contemporary Democratic politics in America. The greatest contribution Ryan has made is detailing the arguments, philosophy, and problems Dewey felt significant without epitomizing and reducing Dewey as many have done since Dewey rose to prominance at the turn of the century at the Chicago Univeristy Lab School.

Educators, graduate students in education and philosophy, politicians, and anyone genuinely interested in American thought will be inpsired by Ryan to dig further--to read more by Dewey, to read more of the history of American ideas not just events in America

... think "lots of highly intelligent people with recognizable names give their best parting words of advice to graduates"... it reads like quick snippets from commencement addresses that these people may well have given at some point. The words are true and often poetic and full of hope for aspiring young people. The phrase "sage advice" wants to work its way in here somewhere. What I wonder is... is this a book that young graduates will WANT to read? I appreciate it as a resource to offer with students I work with, but I'm also 5 years out... I'm sure I would not have picked this up to read straight through at 21. If you sat through your own graduation speaker, chances are you don't have a burning need to read through 15 more mini-speeches that offer the same basic "make your mark on the world" challenge. This is the book parents and well-wishers give to grads, though I'm not sure they're gonna read, so that's why I gave it 4 stars.

I haven't even read this book and I know it's good. How do I know? Because Madeline L'Engle's in it!

This is an excellent discussion (historical and schematic) of what goes on at the nitty-gritty level of infantry combat; the squads, platoons, companies, and battalions. It shows how various systems succeed or fail at tasks such as flexibility, manouver, combat cohesion and morale, and why the German army was generally qualitatively superior to both Western and Eastern rivals in both world wars.

That being said, the authors tend to overemphasize the capabilities of infantry on its own -- particularly unsupported light infantry, and particularly in the theoretical section which concludes the book.

While rightly critical of the excessive logistical tail some modern "armies of drivers" drag around, they lose sight of the fact that foot infantry by itself totally lacks operational mobility -- 20 miles a day vs. over 200 for forces with their own organic transport. And they neglect the degree to which infantry alone lacks even tactical mobility on a battlefield saturated with automatic weapons.

It's no accident that the armies which actually do a lot of fighting -- the Israelis, for instance -- structure combined-arms teams around honking great monster tanks like the Merkava III or the M1A2 Abrahms, 70 tons or so of massively protected lethality.

Mobility means the ability to move, but tactical mobility means the ability to move _under fire_.

This poses a genuine strategic dilemma; forces light enough to move rapidly _strategically_ are often too heavy to be mobile in the tactical and operational sense -- you can fly light infantry quickly to the other side of the world, but they can't move when they're actually fighting.

Still, an excellent book on the whole.

John English is a brilliant tactician and historian who has written THE masterpiece on the origins of Infantry. I would have English describe infantry to about the Vietnam era and have Col Dan Bolger take the coverage from there to the future in his own book Death Ground: American infantry in battle. Bruce Gudmundsson was attached to the updated English book to attempt to bring the work up to date.

Taking the masterpiece for what it is, it delivers an important lesson mechanized maneuverists do not want to realize---that the German "blitzkrieg" died in the forests and cities of Russian when it met infantry that would not crumble if surrounded or cut-off from comfortable supply lines. Using a defense-in-depth, a nation on a total war footing can absorb and defeat another less committed nation that hopes to use a smaller force to penetrate and collapse. Many, maybe even most people mistake the German defeat in Russia--and hence WWII---with the cold Russian winter, and this is incorrect. The next critical---perhaps most important lesson and contribution English makes to the defense of freedom is---that a mechanized "combined arms" unit is ONLY AS GOOD AS ITS INFANTRY. When terrain and weather go sour, artillery and tanks will reach a point where they cannot contribute--and the entire battle then falls on the infantry. When this took place in Russia--the German infantry was NOT up to the task with inadequate numbers, clothing and bolt-action rifles. English points out and lesser historians should take note--that the German war machine was good together but not really that good because its PARTS were weak. When combined-arms technotactics could not be employed in the forests of Russia, the battle rested on the German infantry and it failed.

The cryptic lesson here is that we need GOOD infantry in large numbers and we don't get it by placing them into the back of armored vehicles in less than squad sizes, shut off from what's going on because they can't open a hatch out and see because we put a turret on the vehicle and we are afraid it will rotate into them. The Army made this mistake with the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, is trying to correct it with its vehicle for the new Brigade Combat Teams while the marines are about to repeat the error with a huge autocannon turret on their next generation amphibious assault vehicle. The second lesson of English is still being ignored---those that do mechanized combined arms don't value infantry action---they ride too long in their vehicles and get ambushed by missiles and RPGs fired from enemies hiding in key terrain that should have been taken first by the infantry. To do this you need a large amount of aggressive, not complacent infantry. As the Russians found out in Grozny, when their armored vehicles became flaming coffins, the battle then falls on the infantry to clear out enemies hiding in urban terrain.

This is not to say English believes in a "Super Infantry" since we saw in Mogadishu the best light infantry in the world get shot up because it was without armored fighting vehicles to shield it from enemy fire. What English is saying is that we should start with quality infantry when building forces and not in the process of creating combined-arms organizations ruin the infantry capability by reducing numbers, battle awareness and use as a separate maneuver element.

On Infantry should be required reading for ALL U.S. military personnel coupled with Bolger's Death Ground. I'd like to see the book updated to the present with a fresh perspective for the 21st Century where we apply English's lessons to the future battlefield.

This is the book of books for histologists... a virtual bible for the histotechnologist. The book covers everything from laboratory management, fixation (theoretical and practical aspects), sectioning, staining, and an overall and detailed view of histology and immunohistochemistry. However, I found some sections to be more as summaries rather than desciptions. By that I mean, for instance the microtomy section (which deals with problems and solutions to those problems while sectioning) lacks the details needed to correctly resolve a situation unless you are already a trained histologist. I would recommend maybe adding more information with diagrams of the microtome, blade angles and the difference changing such angles would make (something that would be found in a BOR study guide or more like the microscopy section - Chapter 4 that perfectly diagrams and depicts all aspects of microscopy very well). Also, the recipes for some stains... unless someone was a trained histologist, some the solutions may be difficult to make up from the way they are worded (i.e. amyloid (Congo Red) solution saturated in 80% alcohol ... back of book tells what saturation point for Congo Red is in water but not alcohol... simple explanation within recipe itself would help making up such stains easier, I believe.

A copy of this insightful and useful guide is essential to anyone interested in histochemical techniques. My copy will not collect dust.

Foster is great at painting images of NASA, the Senate, and the workings of a shuttle mission. He goes even further with surprising the reader with the looks of the inside of the mysterious asteroid, and the grand climax of the asteroid sailing away at the speed of light to an alien planet called Cocytus.

The descriptions of the ancient alien machinery is uninspired, and the beauty of the world that comes across in the game is noticeably absent. Brink's crystal madness is understated, and instead of becoming a raving, screaming madman, as he does in the game, he sort of states that he has a problem with Boston Low and lets it go at that. I was extremely disappointed in this book.

This book is a nice piece of science-fiction. The Dig has all the characteristics of a space opera with enough information to keep your feet on the ground along with enough mysterie to keep you holding the book in your hands instead of putting it down for a break everyonce and a while. However there was one draw back, this entire book was based on a computer game! I played the game befor I read the book and I ended up with not enough surprise to keep my eyelids open, The entire expierence was almost ruined for me if it wasn't for Foster's originality. I would recomend this book for whoever hasn't played the game. It is a very mysterious novel that is definately a five-star. I hope I see more of Alan Dean Foster.

When I first started the book I thought the story line was a of juvenile theme, but after about 30 pages you soon find out that there is an underlying mystery that is the basis of the book. The story is an adaption of a PC adventure game that Lucas arts of Star Wars fame produced, and it wonderfully gives the best of both worlds, the discriptive imagery of Alan Dean Foster and the cunning puzzle of the game. The story is a first contact book that revolves around the adventures of the three main charecters, Boston Low, a NASA astronaut, Dr. Ludger Brink, a scientist, and Maggie Robbins, a reporter. Thier adventures exploring an alien planet are the premise of the novel. The book is a good story that holds the reader and leaves you wanting to play the game to see if you are as good as the charecters