the book is great, the author debunks the eco-doomsters' prophecies of imminent catastrophy by citing a historical view of the Eco-doomsters' theories. They have been found wrong every time!, yet remain unrepentant and unapologetic. A necessary book to moderate the debate on Envrironmentalism.Next time a greeno says Greenhouse, you'll say Greenhoax Effect! Buy it now! and save youself from the Eco-Doomsters.

A thorough expose of the prevalant science-by-press-release methods of the environmental movement. By illustrating how past environmental claims of doom have failed to occur and how past scientific "findings" have turned out false once examined by scientific contemporaries Ronald Bailey casts serious doubts on the predictions of the environmental movement today. The author also exposes the biases of the media and their tendancy to sermonize on environmental issues rather than objective presentation of the facts. A must-read book for anyone who has wondered whether the popular apocalyptic prophesies have good scientific backing or not.

The BRS for Embryology was a supplemental text that I found incredibly helpful. The book helps to make even the most confusing development stages easy to understand and learn. It helps to weed through the details and focus on the main concepts. I found this book to be truly helpful in studying and preparing for med school exams for my first year. I would recommend this to any student who feels confused or overwhelmed by developmental anatomy.

a fantastic review of embryology.Out of 7 to 10 average embryology questions that appear on step1,this book easily helps you to answer 80 to 100%of them.A high yield book for a less represented subject.

Emerging Systems for Managing Workplace Conflict is a rich compendium of research, insightful analysis and practical advice that will be invaluable for any individual interested in the field of workplace conflict management. Written by three authors who each bring an average of between 25 and 35 years of background experience in labor relations and human resources management, supplemented by extensive work as mediators, arbitrators and consultants to public and private sector organizations, it is a "must read" in its field.

The work is based on more than six years of research into conflict management systems in the United States. The authors draw upon surveys of general counsel of Fortune 1000 corporations, onsite interviews with over 700 executives, managers and attorneys in sixty firms and extensive interviews with individuals operating as neutral parties in the settlement of conflicts and disputes.

Based upon their research, the authors conclude that "... there is a sea change in U.S. organizations that reflects an emergence of systems of conflict management and a new paradigm for organizations" (p.5). Their finding, they note, is independently confirmed in research conducted in 1999 by Bingham and Chachere who found that "about half of [U.S.] 'large' private employers ha[d] established some sort of formal dispute resolution procedure for their nonunion employees"(p. 81).

With this major movement established, the authors proceed to explain the reasons for the shift to conflict management systems, the processes that have emerged to service that demand, how those systems were created and implemented and the challenges that lie ahead in the field.

Importantly, the authors immediately focus on the corporate interests that drive the development and implementation of alternative systems for conflict management. Overwhelmingly, the primary driver in developing alternative systems to replace litigation procedures is the belief that dispute resolution can be accomplished at less cost in dollars and time." (p.6).

"In our survey of the Fortune 1000," the authors write, "about 80 percent of the respondents told us that saving time or saving money was the primary reason the corporation had used ADR" (p.313). The implications of this finding are clear and reflected, as the authors point out, in the fact that "... the vast majority of corporations favor dispute management over conflict management" (p.313).

Having presented us with the primary drivers as well as several other contributing factors, the authors move into a discussion of alternative management systems and their components. Readers will learn the pros and cons of the main features of these systems. It is truly a handbook of elements for both the decision-maker and the designer.

The book explores who is eligible in most systems, the essential elements for judging the fairness of a system, the issues of who pays the costs, training requirements, the use of outside "neutral" parties and a host of other common design features in considerable detail. You will find the most common element, the Open Door, explored with its drawbacks and its contributions. Additionally, you will find a careful discussion of other features such as "hotlines," ombudspersons, resolution facilitators, internal peer mediation and external "neutral" ad hoc personnel. Always, the authors present the pros and cons of each of the possible components.

Professors Lipsky, Seeber and Fincher then lead the reader through the process of system design and implementation, citing key steps along the way. Always, their work is based on findings from major U.S. organizations that have engaged in the process.

As they examine the process, the authors provide the reader with another very valuable part of their work by confronting the issues inherent in evaluating the systems. Their findings will be either a comfort or a source of devastation for the planner.

The authors put the matter succinctly and critically. The frame for evaluation is necessarily couched in the key question: "As compared to what?" (p.269).

Indeed, the answer is far from easy. Rather, it may be astonishingly elusive.

The challenge of evaluation is one the authors explore in detail, showing various evaluation schemes in practice in American corporations today. Results, alas, yield data far from business case standards. "Leaders of organizations, even if they believe in conflict management," they conclude, "are often faced with going forward in the absence of any hard evidence about the benefits of the system" (p.308).
"There is in fact very little hard evidence that corporations actually do save time and money by using ADR ...," they conclude (p. 313). "Furthermore," they assert, "it is not clear to us that many corporations are even gathering the information necessary to make a cost benefit analysis" (p.313).

As befits a work of this breadth and depth, the authors do not disappoint us as they turn their attention at the close of their work to the future of conflict management systems. Their work is insightful and thorough.

"Contrary to much of the popular literature and perceptions regarding ADR and somewhat surprising to us," the authors conclude "we do not believe that the ADR movement has achieved the critical mass necessary to institutionalize it within most large businesses and organizations" (p.315). And yet, the authors are confident that the future trend is toward the expansion of alternative dispute resolution procedures, but far less certain about the broad expansion of conflict management systems. It is an area with unresolved issues and significant promises. Readers will find thought provoking and useful discussion of these issues as the conclusion to the work.

There is far more in this book than this review touches upon. Additionally, readers will find an extensive bibliography, current research statistics, informative footnotes and an eminently useable glossary.

Highly recommended.

John Baker, Ph.D.
Editor, The Negotiator Magazine

For many years, scholars and academics have focused on the importance of conflict resolution in the workplace. This tradition goes back to studies that were done in the 1940s-50s. In more recent years, conflict in the workplace has become a major issue. No longer are workplaces those socially integrative, sometimes paternalistic, havens for lifetime security. They are now arenas for multiple conflicts. The issue therefore becomes how to deal with these conflicts in a non-ad hoc manner--how to put in place systems for managing conflict. American corporations have much to teach the world in this regard. The problem is that before this book, no one has systemized these lessons. Before this book, there was no central location where the tools, the methodologies, and the processes necessary for putting quality conflict resolution was readily available. Lipsky, Seeber, and Fincher have provided a critical service in having completed this volume. They have written the definitive reference volume on the specific issue of alternative dispute resolution techniques in American business. In this context, they have served the practitioner community well. Yet not only is this a well-written book for the practitioner, it is an informative book for the academic. The combined research record of these authors is impressive and it serves them well in putting this material together. Anyone interested in alternative dispute resolution in the workplace must have this well-written volume as a reference.

First of all my review is on the 1979 version of this book. It has been in my possession that long. Once again today, it helped me drag up a mathematical fact I had long forgotten.

In 1976 I graduated from college with an associates degree in engineering. I had high school algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus behind me. Also with my two year degree, I had calculus, analytical geometry and differential equations as well. I needed a single reference that would cover everything. Then I happened upon this book in a bookstore. What a prize this was!

Since that time, I have completed both my B.S.M.E and a Masters in Mechanical Engineering and I have this dog eared book beside me at all time. From looking up linear algebraic equations, differential calculus, vector analysis, complex variables, all the way to the formula for the eccentricity of an ellipse for my son this evening, this book has baled me out of referring to ten other books. It is well worth the investment.

Ironically, years later when discussing a geometric equation with a co-worker he commented that he relied on a great reference he found in book store many years earlier while attending college. You got it, it was the same book.

What I can't speak to is the last two chapters that are new to this edition. Mine only goes to Chapter 20.

What I also should note, as a Mechanical engineer using this, I found it incredibly useful. I have no idea if a person that does not regularly use geometry, trigonometry, algebra, calculus, linear algebra, etc., would get very much use from it or not. For students in this field I found it to be very useful. Basically, read the table of contents Amazon provides and make your own judgement.

For those of us who forgot our laplace transforms, indefinite integrals and differential equations the day we set foot out of school, this book provides a handy, easy to use reference.

The book is organized into 22 chapters taking the user from algebra to the properties of space curves and surfaces. The text is straightforward: examples and lots of them.

If you are looking for a text to learn mathematics - this is the not the book for you. But, if you need help to dust off the cobwebs, or to find a usable example to solve a complex problem - it is the right book.

I needed a text to teach an economics class with and searched for weeks with little satisfaction. Then I ran across this under utilized text. The writing is "brilliant" and the authors, especially Mr. Myers seem to have a very firm and realistic grasp of the essential concepts of "Economics"

This is an outstanding economics textbook. Can be used as a quick primer on what the basics of the field are all about. I believe that the author of this book is a truly remarkable and extraordinary individual and everyone should listen to him closely.

This book, based on a series of talks given at the New York Library, biographers Robert Caro, David McCullough, Paul C. Nagel, Richard B. Sewall, Ronald Steel and Jean Strouse explain how and why they went about writing biographies in the way that they did.

Each biographer explains well how the life of the biographer becomes intertwined with that of the person they are researching. In each case, they stress that biography writing is both intense and time-consuming.

Lyndon B. Johnson biographer, Robert Caro, recommends Francis Parkman's "Montcalm and Wolfe" for two reasons. One, to show that the job of the historian is to try to write at the same level as the greatest novelists. Second, that the duty of the historian is to go to the locales of the events that will be described, and not to leave, no matter how long it takes...until the writer has done his or her best to understand the locales and their cultures and their people.

In the end, it means that the biographer must not only understand the person, but also needs to intimately know the area where the person grew up and lived.

This book gives its readers new insights into the lives of some of this nation's most prominent figures, through the eyes of six well-known biographers. In "The Unexpected Harry Truman," David McCullough shows the life of Truman through new eyes. McCullough stresses that a biographer must genuinely care about his [or her] subject because you are living with that person every single day. The process is like that of choosing a spouse or roommate, therefore, the subjects that he chooses must have a degree of animal, human vitality. In Truman, he said, as with Theodore Roosevelt, he found no shortage of vitality.

McCullough created a detailed chronology, almost a diary of what Truman was doing from year to year, even day to day if the events were important enough. He also used primary sources, such as personal diaries, letters and documents from the time period. Truman poured himself out on paper and provided a large, wonderfully written base of writing for McCullough to sort through and "find" the man.

McCullough says that the magic of writing comes from not knowing where you are headed, what you are going to wind up feeling and what you are going to decide.

Richard Sewell's "In Search of Emily Dickinson," research process took twenty years and he says, "In the beginning I didn't go searching for her, she went searching for me." The process took him two sabbaticals, years of correspondence and meetings with Mabel Loomis Todd's daughter Millicent Todd Bingham to uncover the whole truth.

Paul Nagel's "The Adams Women," gives readers a sense of how important the women in the Adam's family were. Nagel said that contemplating the development of ideology is good training for a biographer. After all, he said, the intellectual historian takes an idea and brings it to life. For Nagel, working with ideas establishes a bridge into the mind and life of the people who had the ideas he studies.

Nagel said that he likes and admires women and this is why, after writing about the Adams' men, he wrote about the Adams' women. Nagel also said that he has learned and taught his students that our grasp of history must always remain incomplete.

Ronald Steel said, that the hardest job a biographer has is not to judge his or her subject, however, most fail to keep their judgements out of the biography.

In Jean Strouse's, "The Real Reasons," she explains that the modern biography examines how character affects and is affected by social circumstance. Biography also tells the reader a great deal about history and gives them a wonderful story.

In writing about Alice James, Strouse found that there was not an interesting plot line to her life other than that her brothers were writers Henry and William James.

Strouse, when asked by another writer about the descendents of the three James' children, she said that William's great-grandson in Massachusetts, tired of being asked whether he was related to Henry or William, moved to Colorado where he was asked whether he was related to Jesse or Frank. Strouse reported that he stayed in Colorado.

Strouse realized that in order to tell the story of the James' family, she was going to have to use her own voice to give life to the family, especially Alice. This is not recommended for all biographies, but in a case such as hers, it needs that biographer's voice to connect all the information for the reader.

In Robert Caro's, "Lyndon Johnson and the Roots of Power," he talked to the people who knew Johnson to get a sense of the former President from Texas and what made him worthy of a new biography. He wrote the biography to illuminate readers to the time period and what shaped the time, especially politically.

This book will help writers understand the steps he or she will need to take to write a biography. It shows the difficult research processes and makes the reader want to either write a biography about an interesting person or never want to write again. Either way, this book provides new insights that one may have never thought about before. I recommend this book to both beginning and seasoned writers

I was pleasantly surprised and amazed by this collection of short stories. I doff my cap to the writer... I suppose there are still a few gifted unknowns in the literary arena. Thus it is that I am highly recommending "The Face and Other Fantastic Tales."

The Face And Other Fantastic Tales is a highly imaginative collection of short stories that explories the fabric of our socity and human relationships. A well written novel giving the reader a lot to think about. A Book you won't want to miss.

The latest entry in the University Press of Kentucky's "New Books for New Readers" series, Fights For Rights offers a concise (58 pages) and reader friendly survey of the American struggle for individual rights. All to often, Americans take many of their personal and political freedoms for granted, forgetting that they were originally won through hard work and bloodshed. Fights For Rights explains our everyday rights of free speech and religion, the rights of the accused, and how our Constitution guarantees these rights for everyone, black or white, male or female, young or old, rich or poor.

I was thoroughly impressed with how interesting the author portrayed this subject. While one does not typically think of legal battles as good reading, one has to remember the culture in which we live. We watch "The Practice" and "L.A. Law." We see Judge Judy, Judge Mills Lane, and the People's Court. This book is quite similar, and if you enjoy these TV programs, you'll enjoy the book.

The story, the characters! This book is sensational, probably the best I have read in years. Do not miss this. Mr. Alexander is solid.

This book provides an intimate view into the frightening world of international business. It also provides excellent political undertones to the arguably unfair connections necessary to succeed in the modern business environment. There is also a wonderful portrayal of how Giles has learned to cope with the difficulties and mask his true self to even close associates. A must read.

James Branda

Frances Karnes is Director of the Center for Gifted Studies at The University of Southern Mississippi where she is also Professor of Special Education. Ronald Marquardt is Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at The University of Southern Mississippi and a specialist in constitutional and administrative law. In Gifted Children And Legal Issues: An Update they have collaborated to bring together the very latest in a profoundly informative survey of the legal rights and obligations connected to the public education of gifted children. The chapters include Federal and State initiatives, the legal process and gifted education, court cases and gifted students' educational opportunities, a case-by-case examination of school policies affecting gifted education, negotiation in gifted education, gifted education and mediation, gifted education and due process, other legal issues related to gifted youth, gifted children and the Office for Civil Rights, legal issues affecting the gifted in the new millennium. Gifted Children And Legal Issues: An Update is further enhanced for the reader with a number of appendices: Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 1988; Table Of Cases; State Offices of Gifted Education; State Associations for the Gifted; National Associations and Resources for the Gifted; Position Statements of the National Association for Gifted Children. Gifted Children And Legal Issues: An Update is essential reading for all educators, policy makers, and parents concerned with the issues of public education and the gifted child.

Gifted Children and Legal Issues: An Update picks up where Gifted Children and Legal Issues: Parents Stories of Hope left off. The new volume adds more recent legal findings, plus options to full legal discourse, including negotiation, mediation, and finally, due process.

Plus appendices including the Javits legislation that we often hear of, but until now I didn't know what it *really* said, a list of state gifted education offices, state associations, national associations, and position statements of the NAGC.

A good reference volume for parents and professionals working with (and fighting the battles for) gifted children!