I picked up this book, in part, because of the several ...[good ratings]... Isn't it great when people you don't even know turn you on to a GREAT book? I have always been a movie enthusiast, but recently, having discovered how great DVDs look and sound, I am starting to re-discover my love of movies. I want to know more about how movies work, and how different effects are acheived. This book has been wonderful in helping my understanding of cinema. From the first chapter onward, I have found insights into movies that help me look at them with a slightly different eye: why are the colors like that in this scene? Why is the shot framed like it is? Although this book seems like it could be used as a textbook in a beginning film class, I carry it around with me and read it, and even re-read parts. Thanks for the great tip. Yes a five-star book! Fun to read!

"Understanding Movies" is an excellent primer book for anyone starting to learn the art of film. It is not a book that tells you why certain films are great, or why some are inferior. Rather, its objective is for the readers to acquire a good awareness of film art so they will be able to form their own opinions about the films they see. The book is comprised of 11 chapters which can be read out of sequence: Photography, Mise en Scene, Movement, Editing, Sound, Acting, Drama, Story, Literature, Ideology, Theory. Every chapter begins with an short overview (abstract) that points out the key ideas in the chapter, then it proceeds to elaborate on them. Emphases are made not just on the technical aspects of film-making, but artistic ones as well. For instance, the chapter on photography discusses not only things like f/stop, aperture, and exposure, but also how photography can achieve certain dramatic and psychological effects.

Without any hint of snobbery, the book uses examples from all kinds of films, from revered classics to recent box-office hits, to illustrate aspects of the art form. For instance, it cites James Cameron's TITANIC (hardly perceived as teaching material for film art) as an example of a filmmaker's subtle use of different flesh tones to evoke a sense of optimism or doom.

The chapter on "Ideology" was not available on some earlier editions. It provides a fascinating discussion on how movies often contain either implicit or explicit political leanings, religious beliefs, ethical values, and other allusions that reflect the attitudes of the filmmakers. It also includes a discussion on portrayals of gays and lesbians in films.

The book is replete with still photos from movies, each accompanied with a wonderful caption that serves as a mini-analysis of a certain aspect of the movie itself, so that readers can get a quick lession on film art. Illustrations that stand out include: a series of screenshots from the Odessa Staircase sequence in THE BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN, storyboards from the cropdusting scene in NORTH BY NORTHWEST, a shot-by-shot analysis of a scene from Hitchcock's SABOTAGE that demonstrates sometimes an actor's performance can be made more effective when his or her face is unseen.

This is not a film review book. You won't see capsule reviews, cast biography, production history, etc. written about every single movie. This book does cite from about 300 films, but it only uses them as examples for discussing certain aspects of film art. It often assumes the readers have already seen the films in question. That brings up my biggest concern: the book often gives away plot details of the movies it discusses. To compensate for that, a lot of films cited by the book are popular hits that have likely been seen by most people, such as PRETTY WOMAN, TITANIC, DIE HARD, etc.

Each new edition of the book differs from earlier ones mainly in the selection of still photos. Newer editions contain more stills from recent films. The first three editions came out in 1971, '75, and '80 respectively. Hence, if you want to see more coverage of, say, films made in the 70s, be sure to get at least the 3rd edition or later.

Last but not least, the book ends with a comprehensive appraisal of CITIZEN KANE that (a) analyzes the movie itself, (b) serves as a grand summation for the book, and most importantly, (c) invites the reader to apply all the knowledge gained from the book to becoming a more astute film viewer.

This book is a must for anyone interested in movies or for film students. I first came into contact with this book in 1985 while at film school and it remains on my book shelf as a wonderful reference book. This book covers everthing from a-z and is well illustrated. The photographs are great and are direct references from the text - not just a visual for the sake of it, as often happens in subscribed texts. This is one of those books I would call "A MUST BUY." I am considering buying the most current version - eventhough I am working in a different industry.

Langdon's book is an important addition to the literature on Genetic Programming. After a thorough survey of the state of the art in the field, he describes how Genetic Programming can be used to generate the standard data structures that humans rely on so heavily. He then describes how these data structures can be used to extend the power of Genetic Programming, and gives a number of useful examples. In all, an important part of any GP library.

The book "Genetic Programming + Data Structures = Automatic Programming!" by William B. Langdon is a very nice introduction to the field of genetic programming. The book is well structured. It contains most, if not all, references to important previous work on GP, and further extends the range of applicability of GP by investigating the use abstract data structures in evolving genetic programs. Routines to manage abstract data structures (stacks, queues, and list) are evolved by GP. The book also shows some problems where enriching the GP-language with primitives to manage a data structure enables it to solve more complex problems.

Cees H.M. van Kemenade.

They call it "Successful Manager's Handbook". That is correct. But one thing you should know about this beautifully structured text is that it benefits anyone who seeks knowledge from it. Thus, I would not advise you to wait until you become a 'successful manager' before paying attention to it.
Even if you are the most unsuccessful messenger around, the valuable productivity guidelines in this book would go a long way in defining and improving your status. If diligently applied, the principles of this book would enhance your overall potentials: be it official or domestic.
This book is a handbook for all. It is an asset for matured dealings.

I just picked up a copy in an airport bookstore. I looked at one suggestion, and used it when I got back to the office. My productivity has skyrocketed. I think a lot of the suggestions here are commonsense. But do any of us have enough commonsense?

John Langdon and Edward Judge have captured the essence of the Cold War in this fine book. Useful for historians, teachers, students and anyone interested in a global perspective on the forty years following World War II, A Hard and Bitter Peace is truly remarkable!

"Managing For Excellence" is a portable well-illustrated handbook, which harbours all the essential tips for improving (individual) performance. The book is very straightforward. It is comprehensive, and highlights all the important factors that strengthen and weakens partnerships.
This is one book which helps its user to better understand strategies and improve output. It is superbly organized, and presents its techniques in a practical format.
However, anyone who already has the "Successful Manager's Handbook" need not spend on this one. Both books contain similar information.

Though the "Seeds of Life" never uses the word "Sociobiology", it presents in its purest form the basic tenets of Sociobiology, a discipline that became famous decades later. The author is a newspaperman and not an academic, what makes the book easy to read and to understand.

Langdon-Davies discusses the role of sex in the evolution of living beings and from this analysis he reaches the most surprising conclusions, showing that we are no more than biological robots to the genes.

The author, in delightful prose, shows that sex is a mechanism developed through evolution aiming at securing immortality to our germ cells (spermatozoa and ova). Really we are ruled by our gametes, since the objective of our life is serve as a temporary vehicle to them. While we are ephemeral, the genes are potentially immortal. From this fundamental principle lots of conclusions may be reached as regards the behavior of all living beings, from plants to man.

The book is also a mortal blow to all religions, that consider the human race the objective of creation. Langdon-Davies show that the world has always been ruled by bacteria, including our gametes, our lords, and the proud "homo sapiens" is nothing more than an expendable shell to accomplish immortality to our genes.

I regard the "Seeds of Life" the most thrilling and iluminating book I ever read.

Graphic thrills, wordplay and cosmic philosophy. This book is packed with the author's history of discovery of calligraphic possibilities, an reflections on similar structural themes. If you like Escher, you will enjoy Langdon.

I definitely recommand it to any Graphic Designer, Artist, Art Student, or just Art Lover! It's a completely different way to look at things...

Want to stretch your imagination? Get Wordplay and you'll never look at words the same again! John Langdon's intriguing ability with ambigrams will astound you. I find myself picking up my copy time and time again. Wordplay is a great conversation piece... worthy of a place of honor on any coffee table.

This is an interesting companion to reading Wallace in the original, and Brooks does a reasonably good job of portraying his subject, although more recent books e.g. Tim Severin's SPICE ISLANDS VOYAGE is perhaps more entertaining if more pop. More troubling is his almost personal vendetta against Charles Darwin, in which he sets out to "prove" that Darwin "stole" the idea of evolution by Natural Selection from Wallace -something that Wallace himself NEVER suggested or implied. After an exhaustive search through shipping company records & an examination of the postal service (one must admire Brooks' zeal if not his motive)he is essentially back where he started: personally convinced but with a lot of speculation & one-sided interpretations of material. The sad part of this ... is that a) it takes away from Wallace's enormous contributions in a wide range of areas -he is responsible for most of the foundations of modern Biogeography for instance- b) it implies a craven motive for Wallace's supposed silence-in-the-face-of-persecution (Does Brooks REALLY think that someone so feisty & outspoken as Wallace, who took on everything from land reform to vaccination, would simply cave in to "The Establishment" over a matter of priority? c) ignores the real scope of Darwin's scholarship & d) smacks of sensationalism. This is silly. Wallace was a marvellous man and a wonderful scientist. Enjoy the first parts of this book & consign Brooks' idle speculations to where they belong: ...

This book is thorough and very interesting. I recommend it.

The theory of evolution by natural selection is often thought of as being THE grand theory of biology. Where do revolutionary intellectual advances come from and how does the human community absorb them? Such questions are raised by the history of science and books like Just Before The Origin.

Is science the triumphant march of objective truth being revealed by noble seekers of the truth or is science polluted by human ambition just like any other human endeavor? Was Darwin the saintly seeker of the truth we learned about in school or a mere mortal? If he was a mere mortal, how did he achieve the great revolution in evolutionary thought?

Extraordinary ideas must be rooted in extraordinary human experiences. We are taught that Darwin was the prepared mind in the right place at the right time, that his voyage around the world opened his eyes to patterns in the geographical variations in the diversity of life. If so, why did so many years pass between his voyage and the publication of his ideas on evolution? Might it be important that in science, as in all of life, it is not just what you know but who your friends are?

The conventional rationalization for Darwin's delay in publishing on natural selection is multi-fold. First, it seems likely that Darwin feared the very nature of his discovery. He could well imagine the outrage that would be stimulated by any theory that finally toppled the Judeo-Christian view of man as having been created by God in His image. Second, because of that fear, Darwin felt compelled to marshal a large amount of supporting data, enough to ensure that announcement of his theory would be decisive and able to withstand all resistance.

There is third component to the conventional story that seems to explain what finally ended Darwin's dithering over the theory. Alfred Wallace was ready to publish his own version of the theory based on his own extensive observations as a naturalist.

John Langdon's analysis of Wallace's work suggests a variation on the standard theme. What if Darwin's main reason for delay in publication was personal dissatisfaction with his theory, not dissatisfaction with the amount or quality of supporting evidence? What if it was Wallace's more extensive data set that provided the basis for the key idea that finally overcame Darwin's own lack of faith in the theory of natural selection, finally allowing Darwin the courage to publish? And what if Darwin never admitted this critical role of Wallace's work?

Since the dawn of Western Science, research proposals and manuscripts have been submitted to respected scientific peers in order that well considered decisions can be made about the support of research and the publication of new ideas. Most agree that it is wrong for a senior scientist to read the ideas of a young scientist, appropriate those ideas and exploit them, while at the same time rejecting the requests of the young scientist for support or publication of completed work. And yet, scientists are only human. What if you have worked on a problem for 20 years, for many years feeling on the verge of a breakthrough, then one sad day you realize that some young upstart has reached the finish line before you? This is the most delicate question raised by Langdon's book. What did Darwin do when confronted with this situation?

In our society, science is a source of fame, wealth, and power. Those who wield this power defend the existing system. If a few eggs get broken, a few Wallaces get handed the dirty end of the stick, well, that's life. Its a dog eat dog world out there, and only the fittest can be expected to survive. Such is the standard view. But life is change. What is the origin of change? Even a mighty dinosaur might be replaced by a small mouse. Listen for a squeaking sound coming Just Before The Origin.