This is an important book. John Holland, who is heavily referenced, foreshadowed its publication when he linked the concepts of real options and complex adaptive systems in a talk at the Santa Fe Institute in late 1998.

The authors clearly and persuasively explain how modular design adds a tremendous amount of value through the creation of real options. Furthermore, modularity allows for the evolution of both design and industry.

In the 1960's, IBM created the System/360, the first modular family of computers. As a result, IBM launched an industry -- and lost control over the tremendous value it stimulated.

"Design Rules" was recommended me by one of the authors' colleagues, who thought that I'd "eat it up." I did, and I'm hungry for Volume 2.

Opening the "black box" of technological and industrial progress, Baldwin and Clark introduce the notion that technology is a set of tasks and the organization mirrors the design of the artifact that it produces.

The authors model builds upon the work of John Holland, Stuart Kauffman and Brian Arthur (from the Santa Fe institute) on Complex Adaptive systems (CAS). CAS have four properties:

1. Each of these systems is a network of many agents acting in parallel. The control of these agents is highly dispersed.

2. The CAS has many levels of organization, with agents at any one level serving as the building blocks for agents at the higher level. Furthermore, CAS are constantly revising and rearranging their building blocks as they gain experience. Baldwin and Clark carefully document four layers operating in the computer industry, The global financial system, the markets for goods and labor, organizations, and the design and production of computers. In Addition, the authors describe the six "modular operators", the complete set of options that can be used by agents to modify the system that can be used at any level.

3. All CAS anticipate the future. The various models, whether implicit or explicit assumptions, are constantly tested, refined and rearranged as the system gains experience. Baldwin and Clark assume that designers "see and seek" value, with value being measure in the global financial system.

4. CAS typically have many niches, each one exploited by an agent adapted to fill that niche. Moreover, the very act of filling a niche opens up new more niches. Thus, there is no equilibrium in these models, it is not about a "punctuated equilibrium". The process is a constant search for an improved fit with the environment. Moreover, the clock speed of the process should match the environment.

This book has deep implications for practitioners and scholars interested in understanding the "new" economy. I highly recommend the text.

I paged through this board book when my daughter was only weeks old. I had to buy another copy by the time she turned a year old. We had read it so many times, it had been chewed and spilt on, was just about dead. I ended up buying a new one and she still has it at age 3. I think this is an excellent book for mothers to read to their daughters and sons. The pictures are large and bright and the poem is adorable. Being a single mom, I try to find books dealing with it at her age, and I thought this was a perfect one due to it's simplicity. I reccommend this to any mother. I have even bought a few extra for fellow mother friends. It is just a wonderful book!

I have bought this book for my two grown daughters. It captures the essence of the love of a family. beautiful

I laughed out loud or got misty-eyed (sometimes simultaneously) at the photos and captions in this book. The photographer has captured the essence of doggy expression. One of my favorites (and there are many) is the tilted head and "I'm listening" look of the dog for whom it is wished, "May you always understand what is being said to you." This book is a lovely gift for yourself or any dog people you know.

I have seen this book and being a dog lover, I really enjoyed it. Some of the captions for the pictures made me laugh out loud. I saw an interview with the authors and the said that The dog we call an Irish Setter her in the US, is called a Red Setter in Ireland. The Pictures are great and the captions are even better.

My 3 year old son loves these books,and they have really helped get him excited about animals and nature. Now when we go for walks he can name every bug, bird, snake etc. that we see and tell me a little about them.

This is a very good book and is my second favorite Eyewitness book coming after Eyewitness SHARK. This book tells about every reptile: Snakes, Allogators and Crocidiles, Lizards, Turtles and Tuateras.I love this book because it tells you very intresting facts about reptiles. You should buy this book because it is awsome!

Although this book's subtitle refers to religion in the heartland, essays in this collection evoke a more personal and, at times, idiosyncratic take on spirituality. David Hoppe, for example, writes about the "solitary communion" he spies through his neighbor's windows as they sit in front of their television sets at night. Jim Poyser recounts a surreal adventure at the Zoo in winter with his sons. In short, these essays, along with the handsome collection of photographs that complement the text, admirably plumb the psychic root cellar that entwines beneath the stereotypical surface of this Midwestern community.

Though strong Hoosier threads tie these stories together, the contributors share spiritual insights and experiences that will be meaningful to those outside the heartland as well. Read the tales for religious reasons or just because they are good stories by and about sensitive, observant people.

The editors chose writers from a variety of faiths and professional fields--included are a woman rabbi, newspaper people and professors. Big-name contributors are author Dan Wakefield and Pulitzer Prize winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa.

This book is a primer on how to do solution-focussed work with families. The great thing about these techniques is that although the author is writing from a child protection perspective, and she is working with families, she describes the techniques and principles in such a way that the reader can see that the solution focused approach can be applied to a wide variety of situations, including individual work. The author's writing style is fluid and enjoyable, such that I was actually enthralled by the book and didn't want to put it down. Her case examples ring true. The book really shows the importance of joining with clients, and not needing to take on a top-down expert attitude. I was able to apply the material to my practice immediately. The author gets bonus points for actually having an introduction and preface that was actually quite valuable, as opposed to being filler, which can be the case with some books.

Excellent resource for anyone wishing to re-energize their practice with families, especially families referred by/to child protection agencies.Challenges the practitioner to re-think many basic assumptions and practices. This book can help to re-shape your perspective. The material provokes you to think differently about the families you work with and your usual interventions. It is refreshing to focus on solution-building rather than being bogged down by preoccupation with problems, although making that shift is a tall order! This book was a pleasure to read.

The long-awaited field guide to the diverse reptile populations of East Africa. This book was everything I expected it to be and more. Comprehensive listings, excellent photography and detailed information on habitat/distribution, natural history, conservation status etc. I can't say enough good things about this book, the list of authors should speak for themselves! ;-)

No serious herper's library is complete without this book...

I was hoping to be able to buy this book before my trip to Kenya in August 01. Unfortunately, it wasn't yet published at that time. I thought I could pick up a decent field guide in Nairobi, but I was wrong. The best I could find there was a short paperback with fuzzy photos, anecdotes, and very incomplete list of species. Nonetheless, I had a great trip and identified some nice herps.
In December I saw that this Field Guide was out, so I bought it and found it to be outstanding. A nice fat book jam packed with beautiful and useful photos, great descriptions, habitat and range info, and natural history. There is so much precise and credible information in this book it is amazing. So much work must have gone into producing this thing! The species coverage is vast. For example, there is complete info on over thirty species of chameleon. The identification keys are also practical and simple. The writing is straightfoward -- minimal superscientist jargon -- but also precise and complete and consistent. Good sections on how to find herps, how to use the book, dealing with snakebite, etc.
I am very glad I bought this book. The authors have my admiration for this achievement.

Its the best book out there on Laos. The information seems to be correct and comprehensive. It is easy to follow and extremly helpful. I like that it always says good things about every hotel and restaurant. I doesnt critizise or generalize which is good!
You pretty much now where you want to go, how to get there and enjoying it with the help of this book!
I stayed in Laos for 2 months and this book made my stay there a whole lot easier! In the end of my stay I had very little money and the "catalogizied" sections of "cheap places to stay or eat" really helped me to work out my economy. There is also sections for medium or pricy places too.
This book has it all!
Buy this book, you will be happy you did!!!

It is refreshing that a travel book plunges you into the details of getting you around and through country before providing the background information that may be on interest to the reader while en route. The authors have provided detailed maps of the major cities (four for Vientienne of different focus of detail), a suggested walking tour of Louang Prabang (along with illustrations of the types of house design to find there) and the names and addresses of many guest houses - especially important for Louang Prabang as the more modestly priced places tend to fill up quickly. The authors present a knowledgeable level of detail which makes the reader think that they have actually been to the places they describe. I have compared their maps of some of the smaller northern cities (such as Muang Sing) to those prepared by locals and there appears to be no major discrepancies. They are not totally comprehensive - they give no mention to the boat route to Louang Namtha from Huay Xai and short shrift to the boat route to Xieng Khok from Huay Xai - which is disappointing as Huay Xai is one of the major entry points to Laos. The map at the end is not particularly detailed and is missing some small but interesting towns. The strengths of this book far outweigh these minor flaws and I look forward to the next edition.

Mid-level adventures abound in the forest kingdom. This compilation of modules set in the kingdom of Cormyr are wonderfully layed out. They have been so put together that one could play them in any orde, or leave out any one of their choosing and still feel as though everything was accomplished. They draw on all the skills needed to survive, deductive, martial and diplomatic. A wonderful product, I hope to see more of this quality.

The adventures described all tie in to form a bigger plot and all of them have a different feel to them. From mystery solving to standard hacking and slashing. The adventure name is a turn off but once you get past it it shows itself to be a good adventure. The one problem it has is that it seems overly generous with its magical items. Some descretion needed

Chasing northern leopard frogs and spring peepers is a worthy pastime for kids. I discovered this when I was six at a lake in southwestern Michigan when I brought home an unexpected new pet from a duck pond. "Frogs: A Wildlife Handbook" is a great guide for moms and dads to help sort through what Junior brings home from his adventures.

This handbook provides the Latin name, a description, habitat, size and vocal call of each listed frog. There's a watercolor illustration of the frog, and a map of what range that frog has. You can know for sure if your find is truly a leopard frog.

More than a mere species descriptor, we read about the anatomy of frog types. Excellent diagrams of their skeletal structure, of how their tongues grab insects in mid-air, and of a tadpole metamorphosis are all highlights.

Predators and disease have their own chapters, and are worth reading. This helps put science (for nonscientists) behind the news about environmental concerns, as well as direct landowners through what's going on in their ponds.

On the fun side, we get a list of other languages' terms for 'frog'. In Hungary, you'll learn it is 'béka,' in Gaelic, 'losgann,' and in Hmong, a frog is called 'hma'.

I've read dozens of frog books for grown-ups and children, and am pleased to have read this one. While a six year-old might be overwhelmed with this one, he'll enjoy the pictures and grow into it. Everyone else will find it a useful guide for knowing one frog from another.

Anthony Trendl

Kim Long's handbook on frogs is exactly what you need if you're looking for any type of information on frogs. I've read a lot about frogs before this book, but nothing has given such a broad variety of topics in such a straight-forward fashion. I've learned so much about this fascinating species from these pages. Trust me, you can't go wrong with this great book!