This exhibition catalogue is a must have item for anyone who has a serious interest in China's rich textual tradition. I have already put Visible Traces on my Christmas wish list in hopes that my relatives, who have no idea why I have been studying Chinese literature and history all these years, will break down and give me something related to my life's work. And I haven't written a wish list in ages, that's how much I want a copy of this on my bookshelf. And if they don't give me a copy, I'll give one to myself as a gift once I finish my PhD.

If you didn't have an opportunity to see these rare books, maps and artefacts when they were on display in New York or Los Angeles, or if you don't feel like buying a plane ticket to visit the National Library of China in Beijing, this catalogue is an economical way to savor what you missed. The editorial review does a wonderful job of summarizing the contents, so I won't repeat that. The color photography certainly does justice to the original works. I enjoyed seeing the photographs of a 1621 manuscript on Tang poetry because it's connected to my own research, but there is something in this volume for anyone who loves Chinese culture. The reader will find scrolls of Buddhist sutras, delicate drawings of gentlemen playing the game of go, specialist monographs on the varieties of crysanthemums, illustrated manuals on goldfish, albums of Beijing opera characters, oracle bones, pictorial rubbings and multi-color maps of the Chinese empire, and more.

For the specialist the bibliography is detailed enough to start tracking down other extant copies of the items in the exhibition as well as general information to be found in secondary sources.

That said, why didn't I rate this book a 5? Only a couple reasons. Some sections of maps and charts have been magnified, and are less distinct than their smaller scale originals, which some readers will find frustrating. Every reader will have a different reason why they love this book. I wanted to be able to see the whole 1621 poetry collection. A crysanthemum connoisseur will want to see every flower illustration. Map lovers will wish that all the maps had been printed. In other words, every one will wish the book were bigger and that it covered his or her interest in more detail (even at the expense of someone else's). At 337 pages, however, it's already a large volume. After savoring each page, you may find yourself falling for some new aspect of Chinese culture and you'll realize you may have to buy that plane ticket to China after all. Visible Traces will whet your appetite, but it won't quench your thirst, which is fine because no one volume could ever contain all the glories of China's print culture. DO NOT show this catalogue to your kids, unless you are happy for them to fall in love with Chinese history and art and study for PhDs instead of becoming a lawyer or getting an MBA.

I liked the way this book was done. Once again the Chung Kuo series manages to capture my attention. However, i feel that David Wingrove lost something in writting this, and the end of the last book. Some aspect of realism or such was lost.

Wingrove brings us one step closer to the final chapter of Chung Kuo with Book 7. The pace quickens dramatically with this volume, and the true nature of the opposing forces in the universe becomes clearer. I was impressed by the significant development we see in central characters, and the final collapse of the civilization we met in Book 1. At the center of it all, Kim Ward and Ben Shepard continue to be fascinating and clearly opposing characters. Their development over the past six books -- never having met -- and the positions they represent come to an interesting point in this novel. Days of Bitter Strength delivers the promise of this series at its best.

I have also just finished Book 8 in the series (in an imported hardcover edition) and believe fans will not be disappointed with the climax of this brilliant series.

Wingrove brings us one step closer to the final chapter of Chung Kuo with Book 7. The pace quickens dramatically with this volume, and the true nature of the opposing forces in the universe becomes clearer. I was impressed by the significant development we see in central characters, and the final collapse of the civilization we met in Book 1. At the center of it all, Kim Ward and Ben Shepard continue to be fascinating and clearly opposing characters. Their development over the past six books -- never having met -- and the positions they represent come to an interesting point in this novel. Days of Bitter Strength delivers the promise of this series at its best. I have also just finished Book 8 in the series (in an imported hardcover edition) and believe fans will not be disappointed with the climax of this brilliant series.

This book has great experiments that teach children about science. Each chapter has experiments and sections to read, so by the end of each chapter the reader will have learned something that you would in school but in a more enjoyable way. Be prepared, though, that many of the experiments don't work. Some of the experiments are also very messy and will take a while to clean up.

This book contains not just experiments but valuable reference material and applications of science. Four subjects - Water, Air, Movement and Light - are covered in detail. For example, the two pages on "Disappearing Water" include three experiments, an explanation of how sweat cools the body, an illustration of how evaporation is used to preserve fruits and vegetables, and simple but thorough explanations of evaporation and water vapor. This book is perfect for assigning individual projects and supplements your other science reference materials...from The Science Spiders(TM) Newsletter.

The title of the book promises software to aid in software measurement. Unfortunately the software installation is poorly designed. This makes installation diffucult if not impossible. The software support that is mentioned in the book is nonexistent and unresponsive. I don't recommend the book.

This books is the next step in the evolution of Dr. Barry Boehm's seminal work, Software Engineering Economics (it was NOT written by Dr. Boehm, however). It provides a logically laid out format that examines measurement at each stage of the development life cycle. I was impressed with the attention paid to testing and V&V. I have not tried the software that comes with the book (book includes a CD ROM with a product called PAMPAS); however, I view the software as an added bonus. It is certainly not required to gain an extradorinary amount of knowledge from reading the book from cover to cover. Highly recommended!

The comment states that this book is for 4 to 8 year old children. This book is not appropriate for toddlers. I would even hesitate to show this book to an eight year old child. I think that for child that is 10 or older, it would be appropriate. The material (reading and pictures) is much to graphic for a four year old child.

I think this book is appropriate for children ages 4-8 and maybe even older, depending on their maturity (or lack thereof). If you are generally open and honest with your children and usually explain things to them in a no nonsense, matter of fact way -- this book will assist you with the "tough" questions. It VERY briefly covers the whole "sex" thing -- but explains it in simple terms that children will accept easily -- without shock or embarassment. The pictures are NOT too graphic, in my opinion. Great book! Very useful and really very sweet.

I love the watercolors and the artwork created in this book; the shimmery scales surely catch the eyes of the children. This book is a story about a beautiful fish who has many glittery silver scales combined with her other scales. One day when a small fish asks for one of the tinniest scales, Rainbow Fish angrily replies, "Who do you think you are?" The little fish swims back to the others and tells them how Rainbow Fish had treated him. The other fish decide to ignore Rainbow Fish. Rainbow Fish becomes very lonely. Rainbow Fish then goes to the very wise octopus and asks him why no one likes him when he is so beautiful. The octopus tells him to give each little fish a shimmery scale. Can Rainbow Fish part with his beautiful scales? Will the other fish forgive Rainbow Fish for acting so selfish? This is a beautiful story to teach children about the importance of friendships and sharing! This is an excellent book to begin the school year reading to your students!

This book will soon become one of your child's favorites. No one is immune to the stunning beauty of the vivid watercolors that are highlighted with reflective, colored foil to make the Rainbow Fish shimmer across the page. The sheer gorgeousness of the image makes the moral of the story hit home like a smack into the middle of your forehead. All children have trouble learning to share, and this book makes an eloquent case for why that's in your child's best interest. It is easy to see why this book won the American Bookseller's 1995 Book of the Year Award!

The Rainbow Fish was simply "the most beautiful fish in the entire ocean." He had scales that "were every shade of blue and green and purple, with sparkling silver scales among them." Not only was he the most beautiful, the "other fish were amazed at his beauty." When the other fish invited him, "Come play with us!", he would just glide by. But he did enjoy being admired.

When one of the fish asked for a scale, the Rainbow Fish haughtily said, "Get away from me!" Pretty soon everyone avoided the Rainbow Fish, and he was lonely.

The rest of the story describes how Rainbow Fish achieved happiness through sharing. In the process, he makes the whole ocean more beautiful and his own life a study in connectedness. Psychologists tell us that people have both a need to be distinctive and a need to be connected. Those desires can cause behavior that improves one satisfaction at the expense of the other. The Rainbow Fish effectively shows how the two dimensions can be combined through locating and sharing with others who have the same interests.

This book will be improved by some discussions because a child may not have the experience to know how to extend the moral of this story into her or his own life. For example, your child doesn't need to permanently give away 90 percent of his or her toys in order to have any friends. However, your child should be prepared to share 100 percent of toys when friends or relatives visit. You can explain to your child how the same sharing will occur in reverse when visiting the other children. In that way, everyone has more and more fun.

You can also use the story to help explain the joys of giving to those in need. For example, you could read this book before your child trick or treats for UNICEF (or helps raise money for some other charity) for the first time.

Unfortunately, your child can mistakenly see this book as suggesting that it is a bad idea to stand out. That can be harmful in areas like academic achievement, where there is a lot of peer pressure not to excel in some schools. You want your child to understand that excellence is praiseworthy, but pridefulness and rudeness towards others are not.

You can turn this around by encouraging your child to come up with games and activities that can be shared with others. When we share the richness of our minds, the lives of all are improved. The bounty we receive in return is boundless.

I like books that raise fundamental questions about how to live an upright and emotionally rich life, and The Rainbow Fish will provide many wonderful opportunities for discussions of this sort. As a result, you will have more wonderful experiences with your child. That's a great benefit to get from sharing this book!

After you have finished reading the book many times, ask your child how a person can obtain more happiness. You will be impressed with the good ideas you will hear, and you can enjoy the happiness of seeing the beauty of your child's character in the answers.

Create beauty through giving!

The Rainbow Fish is the story of a beautiful fish who was covered with glittery silver scales. The Rainbow fish would never play with the other fish because he thought he was too good for them. One day when a small fish asks for one of the scales, the Rainbow fish yells at him, saying, "Who do you think you are?" The little fish ends up telling the other fish how mean the Rainbow fish was, and from then on,the other fish ignore the Rainbow fish. This bothers him, and he asks a wise octopus why no one likes him when he is so beautiful. The octopus tells him to give a shimmery scale to each of the other fish. It is hard for the Rainbow fish to part with his scales, but he does, and seeing how happy the other fish are, he feels good inside. The story ends with the fish all playing together! This is a wonderful story, and the book contains silver foil on each page to make the scales stand out! Follow-up:This book can also be used in a unit about colors. Children can paint their own rainbow fish afterlearning about the primary colors and color mixing. I have children mix each of the primary colors on paper using watercolors. For example, I tell them to put blue on their paper. Then they put yellow on top of it. They are amazed when they see green. After an activity like this, they could paint their own fish by mixing the primary colors.

this books detail and consice managing is good but laks interesting experiments/inventions.for kids it may be fun and get a few laughs but when it comes down to work and when it comes down to "does it work" it fails the test.yet this book is still two stars!

If ever someone needs to be cheered up, or if you're just in the mood for some high-time bragging rights, this book is the one you should buy! With some really great tricks and good information, I believe practically anyone could enjoy it! And if you're in need for a present for your favorite future chemist or scientist, this book will definitely kick them off! :) A great book!:)

I still have a copy of this on the shelf from my undergraduate days in the 70s. It gives a good description of numerical methods for such things as solution of differential equations, polynomials, curve fitting, numerical integration, matrix algebra etc. The methods are well described and easily understood by someone learning these things. The coding examples are written in FORTRAN IV, although you could easily understand and write them in something more modern. The first chapter is a real piece of history, talking about how computers work ("modern" ones like the IBM 370) and discusses core memory, rotating drums and discs (with massive densities up to about 200,000 bits per square inch), card readers, etc.

The book is a rather short one with half of it devoted to Chinese Documents translated into English. Kuo provides a general overview of events leading up to and some following the First Anglo-Chinese War (or the First Opium War). There is not much critical analysis as such as the author suggested in the title but it is still useful as a general introduction. Since it was first published n the 1930s, the views may also be outdated in certain ways.

There are some useful translations of documents. After reading the Chinese version of the documents, Kuo's translation is generally accurate. There are some important ones concerning the Opium Legalisation issue brought forward by the Qing Official, Xu Naiji, and the subsequent discussion on it. Although, Kuo did leave out a few equally important documents on this issue. A Useful Introduction!

Peter Kuo (of DreamLAN consulting), has done an excellent job of providing an overview and the details necessary to build a successful NetWare 4.11 based Web Server. The majority of the book is "timeless" for people just starting to build an Intranet or Internet site.

However, I would really like to see a second addtion covering the updated features of NetWare based web sites including Oracle 8 integration and Netscape Fastrack and Enterprise servers.