This book is an excellent introduction to optics; from basic ray tracing, f-stops, color correction, etc. It has information on binocular, telescopes, mirrors and other items of daily interest. Highly recommended.

Helen McInnes would have been about 94 years old this year. I wonder what she would have thought about the events of September 11th? This thought has been going through my mind a lot lately as I remember the trilogy that she wrote in the late 1970's and early 1980's. That trilogy includes the titles: Prelude to Terror, The Hidden Target and Cloak of Darkness. These are books that I have read, re-read, and thought about a number of times. (In fact, I even wrote a "fan letter" to Ms. McInnes some years ago, commenting on her excellent main character, Robert Renwick. She sent me a postcard!) The subject of all of these books is world terrorism, yes, fictional for storytelling purposes, but stories that are so well-crafted and so highly literate that they are still relevant and readable today. In some ways the plots of the books even echo recent events, for unfortunately terrorism is not new to the world scene. Those three books and Ride a Pale Horse were written at the end of Ms. McInnes' long and distinguished career and perhaps are most relevant today, however most of her books (in spite of changes in the world political scene) are still very readable and in many ways, educational.Helen McInnes is and will remain one of my favorite authors of the international intrigue genre.

I reviewed the orginal version of this book which was in C#. I've been lucky enought ot get my hands on the new VB.NET edition and it is even better than the original. I am more used to VB as it is, and I spent quite a lot of time translating some of the code snippets in the original, but now I don't have to! The book has changed a bit, it looks better than the first edition, and it is now completely 1.0 compliant. I've used the first book a lot, it's told me more or less everything I've needed to know. If you need to know about web services and you prefer VB then this is the only book you'll need!

As an English instructor, I've found this book to be the most help for students whose previous experience in writing focused on larger more content based matters such as thesis statements, topic and support sentences, etc. , rather than on the sentence-level matters of styles. Many of my college students have an adequate knowledge of how to write an argument, but no idea of how to vary their sentences and link one sentence to the next. This book is a great help and the only one I've found that deals with matters like specificity, conciseness, precision, subordination, coordination, tone, and voice in the detail such matters demand. I highly recommend it.

Under the expert editorial guidance of Robert Cherrry and William Rodgers, Prosperity for All? provides an in-depth set of articles on the economic boom and Afro-American experiences. While employment among blacks has risen to an all-time high, the book questions whether one type of disadvantage has been replaced by another, and examines what types of jobs are offered to Afro-Americans, and by whom. Excellent survey of the realities of the new prosperity for the underclass.

This large, very comprehensive book (about 800 pages) was published some years after the authors's well-known and excellent classic Shakespeare's Proverbial Language. It is compiled in much the same way, and does for other Renaissance dramatists what the earlier book did for Shakespeare. Hence, it seems to me appropriate to quote here what I wrote about the earlier book. Readers can, in essence, substitute for "Shakespeare", in the review below, "Renaissance dramatists". So here comes a repeat of my review of Shakespeare's Proverbial Language:

"Many of today's readers - including many Shakespeare scholars - do not realise how frequently Shakespeare uses, or adapts, proverbs or similar sayings current and popular in his day. Thus, as not even the Oxford English Dictionary is strong in this area, a good reference book listing the proverbs we find in Shakespeare is quite indispensable: without it, we frequently cannot understand his originality and/or contact with 'folk wisdom" of his day, and even run the risk - quite often - of simply misunderstanding what he says. This compilation by Dent is generally recognised as the best of its kind: while much help is also provided by M.P. Tilley's famous Dictionary of the Proverbs in England in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (1950), and by F.P. Wilson's updated Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs (1970), Dent is yet more comprehensive. He might have offered more explanation of the meaning of the proverbs, but usually that becomes clear from the many examples he quotes. A REPRINT IS VERY MUCH NEEDED." - Joost Daalder, Profesor of English, Flinders University (South Australia)

This book was the most important identification reference for Pteromalidae in the Holarctic region up until recently, and is still the most authoritative reference in that region for species identification. It is still the most reliable identification guide to European Pteromalidae, and it is not likely to be replaced soon. The drawings are among the best available, and the information is still relatively up-to-date for its time, though it is recommended that students make sure the information they find here is up to date by consulting more recent literature.

The Puritan Bookshelf CDs is a wonderful collection of rare, out-of-print books written by the best preachers and theologians of the First and Second Reformations. This is a great way to get an extensive library of reformed books, lectures and sermons, for very little expense. All 32 CDs are packed with a wealth of wisdom and biblical instruction we don't often see today.

This ninth CD contains nine books by 16th and 17th century Reformers, and is the first in the series to include, along with the five books by contemporary covenanters, James Douglas' classic, "Strictures on Occasional Hearing: An Inquiry Into Song 1:7."

As I consider the many different denominations and variations on denominations in the church today, I wonder... is it biblically permissible for a Christian to visit and worship in any Christian church he chooses, regardless of its doctrine? Or are there stipulations in Scripture as to where he can worship? This book answers these questions and many more, with ample proof from the Scriptures and historical testimony. It is good, straightforward teaching of a long-forgotten truth.

"The Works of Robert Harris" is a collection of twenty-four sermons on the "Way to True Happiness" taken from Matt 5:1-12, and twenty-one other sermons on various texts. Some of these include "Of Newness of Heart" and "The Softness of Heart," both from Ezek. 11:19, and "A Remedy Against Covetousness," from Heb. 13:5. The sermons are well presented, setting forth clearly the truths contained in them. I really appreciate these sermons, preached so long ago, yet so relevant and convicting even today.

William Perkins' "The Foundation of Christian Religion," is an excellent primer for those who need to learn the basics. It is a brief book, very simply laid out in the question-and-answer format of a catechism. It expands on the six most important, basic principles needed to equip the reader to hear sermons profitably, and to know he is partaking of the Lord's Supper with a clear conscience.

"An Exposition of the Symbol or Creed of the Apostles," also by William Perkins, is a much more detailed work, where he expounds on the Apostles' Creed. His extensive treatment leaves no stone unturned as he studies every phrase of this beloved Creed, examining each word under the spotlight of God's Word.

What a precious legacy has been left to us by these godly men of the Reformation! How privileged we are to be able to sit at their feet and learn from their vast stores of knowledge and wisdom, the like of which is so scarce today.

This is only a small sampling of what's available on these CDs. If you would like to see the full listing for this individual CD (or all 32 CDs in this set) you may view the complete set of Puritan Bookshelf CDs in one place online, at Still Waters Revival Books. SWRB also lists a similar set of 30 CDs in their Reformation Bookshelf CD series.

I enjoyed this book as it reveals the stories behind the stars. It is suprisingly inspirational. This wonderful book prompted me to read Barbara Barrie's equally wonderful book, Second Act about her bout with colon cancer. Both Books givew great insight into life. Fame, beauty and Stardom matters not. One does not feel alone after reading these two wonderful books. One never knows what waits.