This is an exceptionally well written biography of perhaps the greatest scientific genius in human history.Clark superbly conveys the story of Einstein`s journey through physics,the world wars & Zionism.Be warned,though:the book`s encyclopedic nature & voluminous content ensures that reading it till the end is pie in the sky for people who are not used to heavy reading & deep contemplation on the topics discussed.

This is probably the most widely read biography on Einstein and with good reason: the author does a fine job of detailing the life of the man who pretty much dominated 20th century physics. It is a cliche now to say that his theories changed the way physicists think about the natural world, and his demeanor and politics continue to be the rage in so-called popular culture. Young students of physics usually get their first taste of advanced mathematical formalism when being introduced to his general theory of relativity, and the author, even though he is not a physics educator, actually does a decent job of explaining the concepts that Einstein was responsible for in his life work. The author does not leave out the politics of the man who continues to be known for his Zionism, and the reader will finish the book with an appreciation of the complexity of his thinking and his personal adherences to this point of view. Some readers may be perplexed on his associaton with the mustard gas researchers Walther Nernst and Fritz Haber, but put in context, as the author does with clarity, readers will see the reasons for this along with Einstein's commitment to the development of atomic weapons.

The author also conveys the excitement surrounding the experimental confirmation of some of Einstein's theories, particularly the photoelectric effect and the bending of the light around the Sun. In addition, the reader can appreciate more the concern among many physicists at the time of Einstein's use of "high-brow" mathematics in general theory of relativity. Now of course, such concern has definitely subsided, for today's theories of gravitation are laden with highly estoric constructions from mathematics. Einstein, as the author notes, was very young when he developed his theories. Modern theories of gravitation, such as superstring and M-theories require such a high level of mathematics that physicists who make contributions in these theories generally spend many years obtaining this background. It is interesting to reflect on how Einstein would have reacted to these theories and elementary particles physics. It is also interesting to ask whether Einstein's politics would be the same if he were alive today, given the current situation in the Middle East. In addition, computers were not available to Einstein in the way there are now to all physicists. Would Einstein have taken to computers? To computational physics? His general theory of relativity is now one of the main applications of high performance computing and symbolic programming.

This gem is not only well-researched and clearly written; it is a deeply moving overview of the life of the world's greatest scientist, not just as a theoretical physicist, but as a human being struggling to be true to himself in trying times.

Although Clark does explain a bit about special and general relativity, he does so only to aid one's understanding of why Einstein's contributions were so crucial. You will see Einstein as a curious boy, as a troubled student, as a young man making his way in the world, and then as a post office clerk who worked on physics when his bosses weren't looking.

You will see the tide slowly turn as physicists of his day began to take this uncredentialled but highly original thinker seriously. And then the day dawns when an experiment proves that gravity indeed bends light....and Einstein wakes up famous.

The book is also full of those charming anecdotes one loves to hear about Einstein, ever the absent-minded professor and "dropper of conversational bricks," such as the performance in which, armed with a violin but off rhythm, the greatest living physicist is chided by the director: "Einstein, can't you count?"

What comes through best is Einstein as a great-hearted and humble man who wanted "to know God's thoughts"; a man of conscience troubled by the wars and other injustices of his time and (unlike most of us) actively trying to do something productive about them; and most of all, a profound man whose central mood, known to every child but never to be outgrown in the inwardly alive adult, was his loving awe of the unknown.

A great book that is a must for "winelovers" with illustrations that only a crazy Englishman could think about in the wicked world of winetasting!

a must read for anyone who enjoys wine and espically those who like to talk about it. Great gift for the wine snob you know.

Is this the book that Searle illustrated some 10-15 years ago? I enjoyed sharing it with many winetasting friends. It contained such depictions as "this wine is passed its prime" or "This wine is very immature" I loaned to someone and never got it back. If this is the book, I want it!!!

The book helped me most in the following areas:

1) What is involved in kitplane construction - risks and benifits, even the benifits of purchasing a used certified aeroplane.
2) Showed me how to think in terms of aviation building with safety as a priority.
3) Covers info from the kit purchase stage to the test flight.
4) Emphasized that it is helpful to understand all forms of construction (metal, wood) no matter what kind of aeroplane you are building. The book covers composite, metal, metal monocoque, wood construction.

This is a must buy for people who are wondering what it takes to build a kitplane and are undecided about whether they should build one.

This book is not biased in stating everyone can build a homebuilt. Infact early on Ron makes it clear that homebuilding is not for everyone. He takes you through the different construction materials as well as things that you don't think about. The case studies are what realy makes this book standout. These are planes being built by people with the same amount of aircraft construction as any person contemplating building.

I like this book. The author made me think of the pros and cons of building a kitplane versus buying a certified model. It almost seems like he tries to talk you out of it at first. This makes you think if you have the space, time, skills, and dedication to build your own safe airplane. I definitely recommend it to anyone thinking about homebuilding. After that, the author dives into all of the various construction methods and gives quite a bit of detail on each. I was surprised. He even includes case studies of each type of construction (ie composite, metal, wood, etc) on a particular builder and their project. READ IT!

Most gay readers know Ronald L. Donaghe for novels that explore gay issues, especially his bestseller Common Sons. However, many of his readers have also discovered his autobiography: My Year of Living Heterosexually...and Other Adventures in Hell. I also suggest that book, but Letters in Search of Love...and Other Essays offers a probing look at various other times in his life, finding wisdom, insight, and sometimes humor from those moments. The fact that he wrote the essays at various times allows him to look back more introspectively, discovering and re-discovering the full impact of those moments on his life.

In this collection of richly detailed and reflective prose, Donaghe constantly stresses the importance of learning from one's family and one's experiences, which makes the essays themselves so much more than just true stories from a fiction writer. Like one of the other reviewers here at Amazon, I found the tribute to his parents especially touching.

You'll share in Donaghe's surprises, disappointments, and personal growth. Though being gay and breaking up with his first lover both affect much of the writing, these essays should appeal to anyone, gay or otherwise, who likes thoughtful, well-written prose that analyzes an individual life. In that analysis, Donaghe finds reasons to keep living, loving, and writing, while you will find reasons to keep reading this truly gifted writer.

Having read all of Ron's works, and anxiously awaiting future publication of his fantasy trilogy, I have to say that this book is probably my favorite of all his books.
It allows us a glimpse of his soul, from hurt and lonely when he's left by his 14 year partner, to an optimist looking at the best in the people around him when he escorts an elderly man on his farewell trip to relatives before he dies and staying with 2 HIV-positive young men on a primitive goat ranch.
His description of the New Mexico landscape approaches poetry at times, and his love for his parents is tender.
He only briefly describes the newest segment of his life, and I hope that he follows this work (and My Year of Living Heterosexually) with a sequel. It will be eagerly read by those of his readers who enjoy his writing and want to know more about him.

In this collection of essays, Ronald L. Donaghe proves that his novel, Common Sons, was no mere one-note wonder. Donaghe emerges as a highly individual voice, with a novelist's instinct for drawing in the reader. His is a gentle voice-intimate, soothing and conversational-yet possessing an underlying passion that renders his observations far above the ordinary. I found myself reading late into the night, unwilling to leave Donaghe's company.

The essays cover the years from 1987 to 1991, a period of momentous change for Donaghe. We learn of the breakup of his 14-year relationship, and his subsequent search for emotional and romantic fulfillment. Along the way, we share his adventures as he encounters a gallery of quirky characters, all observed in Donaghe's generous, non-judgmental manner. We also meet members of his family, most notably his parents in the deeply moving essay, The Healing Place, one of the most poignant tributes I have ever read.

Yet there is also considerable hilarity in Donaghe's journey. His account of correspondence with potential boyfriends is alternately touching and funny, and readers-both straight and gay-will find much to contemplate as he continues his search for the ideal partner.

The book is divided into three sections. Part One deals with his initial state of mind in the period following the breakdown of his relationship, and the search for love through his advertisement in RFD magazine. The second part takes the reader into two "adventures", "The Old Man and St. Louis" and "AIDS in Paradise." The former describes a bizarre round-trip from Deming, New Mexico to St. Louis in which Donaghe acts as chauffeur for an old man determined to make one last journey before his death. The latter also touches on the subject of death as Donaghe spends two eventful weeks on a New Mexico goat ranch with a couple who are HIV positive.

Part Three concludes Donaghe's journey of inner discovery. We meet his parents, his sister, and an old school friend. We also become acquainted with his hometown of Deming, and share his trepidation as the town reacts to the publication of his gay-themed novel. Finally we learn that his search for love has been a successful one.

Donaghe is an effortless writer with a knack for "liquid" prose that gently seduces the reader. His descriptive powers are superb, and his ability to capture the awesome power of nature is truly compelling. Equally impressive is his refusal to tow the politically correct line when it comes to his passionate defense of monogamy in gay relationships. Donaghe's writing will appeal to all true romantics-indeed to anyone who has ever searched for love.

For Ron's fans from his fiction books, this book is a must read. Actually, reading this before you read his fiction would let you see from where many of his characters and settings had been derived. You'll see the father from "Uncle Sean" in Ron's father, Joel's mother and father in Ron's mother and father, Tom's caring for the garden in Ron's life, and many others. It makes his fiction even more enjoyable.
Many of us have been through some of the experiences Ron has, and sharing them with him as you read through the book will bring back many memories, some regrets, and a few laughs. His "'bad' years" in the laboratory, the friendships he formed, the search for living his life under the structure of the military, all of these will enrich your understanding of man striving to be himself.
I'm glad Ron had the courage to share his story. Also check out his "Letters in Search of Love". That book elaborates more on his life and thoughts.

What's a lesbian doing reading a gay memoir?
Enjoying the honesty and humor of a well-written life story.

Ronald L. Donaghe may be better known for his fiction (The Blind Season, Common Sons, Uncle Sean), but his own life story certainly lacks for no excitement. As an Airman First Class during the early 1970's, Donaghe writes about a slice of time in his life when he was nowhere near as comfortable with his sexual orientation as he must be now, given the fact that he has become a bestselling gay fiction writer since then.

The narrative is well-written and peppered with pithy observations. With honesty, he explains what it was like to be young, gay, and closeted from his family and friends--and even from himself. In denial, he married young and fathered a child before coming to grips with that folly. One would think that joining the military would have been yet another misstep, but instead, the military atmosphere actually assisted him with coming to grips with and accepting his sexual orientation as well as extricating himself from a bad marriage.

I found some of the boot camp description rather droll, and it was amusing to learn that so many soldiers during the Vietnam era were too high on drugs to care about Donaghe's sexual orientation. Nowadays, being "out" in the military often brings attacks and court martial. For Donaghe, it seems that the U.S. Military served as a safe place where he could come to terms with his sexuality.

Like Ricardo Brown's recent memoir, THE EVENING CROWD AT KIRMSER'S, about gay life in 1940's St. Paul, Ronald Donaghe tells another piece of the gay experience, this time from a soldier's point-of-view. I highly recommend his honest and forthright memoir and think it deserves a place in the canon.

-[....]

Thank you Ron for sharing your story with all of us. It is presented in a way that brings us all into your story. I hope there will one day be a sequal!

Keep writing my friend!!

As a gay Mormon man in my early twenties, I was on the edge of suicide for many years (as many gay Mormons are). Reading this book was a major turning point in my life. I know it sounds dramatic to say that this book saved my life, but I honestly do not think I would be here today had a friend not had the courage to give me this book.

This book is a must read for anyone, especially anyone in the Mormon faith, that is seeking understanding of the often difficult subject of homosexuality.

A comprehensive and wonderful book detailing the pain, suffering, joys, and blessings of being a gay mormon. Through personal stories, sceintific studies, and offical policies, the myths and mystery surrounding this issue is brought out of the closet. A must read for anyone who knows a gay mormon or is dealing with the issues of homosexuality. I have personally found great peace and comfort in my own life from this book. As a gay mormon myself I know and understand the pain of not having the answers. Some of the answers are to be found in this book.

This book is must read for anyone struggling with sexual identity while still trying to maintain a love of God and church. Whether you are Mormon or belong to another faith this book is equally as powerful. Through the essays of gay people, their families, spouses, and clergy members, Peculiar People portrays the painful choices sometimes chosen by, and sometimes forced upon, those whose only sin is loving the "wrong" people.

I read the Chinese version of this book for several years, I am quite sure it's the best chinese book i have ever read.

Limited Views could be seen as an anachronistic (but no less brilliant) work of Classical Chinese philology, but as another reviewer has already remarked, it is startlingly modern, deconstructionist, and even tips its hat to the melee of cultural studies. For those who lament the death of philology in the modern American university, Qian proves that, at least in its Chinese form, philological studies is still firmly at the centre of the humanities and liberal arts. Qian's extraordinary command of the languages and literatures of six or seven literary traditions should leave modern cross-cultural studies in tears of shame. But beyond that, it is Qian's familiarity with the scholarship and the intellectual history of those traditions that is most breathtaking. For a scholar emerging from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution to pen such a work is a fete none can match. This isn't to say that Limited Views is necessarily a model for reconstructing a philology, but what Qian has achieved is something that the modern division of disciplines in the humanities can never achieve while still divided. And the value of Qian's work is hard to deny.

Like the previous reviewer, I'm only familiar with the original version of this work, which is something like 2000 pps, written in a classical Chinese utterly incomprehensible to your ordinary Chinese college graduate. Qian carried out what Benjamin, dying young, failed to complete, a book not written, but quoted. That is, at least 90% of this immense book is made up of quotes, in Latin, Italian, German, French, English, and of course Chinese. This sort of undertaking requres imagination as well as learning, not to say a real appetite for reading practically anything. By the way, Qian wrote one of the few good Chinese novels of this century, and pretty good traditional verse.

An excellent book for all people interested in Laing. Hopefully Mullan will find a way to publish the material so that those interested can read it rather than holding onto it and waiting for a publishing deal that isn't too far "beneath" his expectations.

This is one of the most engaging books I've read in over 20 years: it brought back to me the stimulation of encountering a truly first-rate mind.

Mullan has brilliantly effaced himself so that you get 100% Laing direct. And a Laing worthy of his better reputation. Mullan limited himself to brief preface and introductions and, during the interviews, short guiding comments and questions. Another interviewer might have cluttered the interviews with his/her own agenda and introduced the book with lengthy analysis, all of which would have obscured Laing. Undoubtedly Mullan also had a mark in selecting and editing the interviews, but what he achieved was this wonderful effect of making the reader feel like he/she is alone with Laing listening to Laing pour out his life in great detail, with great feeling, and without pulling any punches.

In the section on "Influences", Laing's amazing retention and grasp of his existentialist sources is illuminating. In "Kingsley Hall", you get an inside scoop, with lots of warts acknowledged, on this famous and infamous experiment. These conversations are an invaluable complement (and more) to the other sources on Laing, including Laing's own books.

"Great men have great weaknesses": I was struck by how negative Laing was about many of his contemporaries including coworkers. He seems to have distanced himself from many people. As much as Laing seemed to understand Existentialism, my impression from the section "Buddhism" was that his understanding of Buddhism wasn't especially strong. He claimed to have been credited with having a rare kind of "Nirvana consciousness". Do you need a credited consciousness? At any rate, even with Buddhism, Laing poured himself into it and was not shy of insights.

Whether Laing had a "Nirvana consciousness" or not, he was most certainly extraordinary in these interviews. You'll feel why Laing was special if you read "Mad to be Normal". And you'll have a great context for understanding any of Laing's major books.

Mullan has done Laing a special favor. And us.

In this huge set of interviews, the former king of counter-culture philosophy expresses his provocative opinions on all imaginable topics, from mystcism to politics. If you are the type of person who thinks for yourself and suspects that straight society is almost incurably ill, you will probably find a kindred spirit in this fascinating man. Being a prestigious psychiatrist and former military officer, he knows the system he's trying to change from the inside out (an advantage most radical thinkers don't have).

This book is full of helpful tips and hints. It's a no-frills design, but it packs a lot of information. Out of all the books on parenting multiples that I have read, this one has given me the most/best information. I HIGHLY recommend it.

This book helped me through the hardest time of my life. It exampled what I was going through and why I was going through it better than any other book I read on pregancy.

I thank God every day for my little gifts and having the strength to endore the pregnancy and the birth. This book helped me through both. I would recommend it to anyone expecting a multiple birth.

EXCELLENT SOURCE FOR A MOTHER EXPECTING TWINS!TELLS YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW. PLEASE ALL THAT ARE HAVING TWINS~TAKE IT EASY~BECAREFUL WHAT YOU DO. I DID, BUT STILL LOST MINE AT 21.5 WKS. JENNIFER~MOTHER OF SAMANTHA & TRAVIS BORN ON MAY 15, 1999

I bought this as a reference guide, but found I had a great deal of difficulty putting it down. The explanations are comprehensive, informative and not only guide you through the bible, but give you a history of the people and their time.

If you are a student of the Bible and you can only afford one quality Bible dictionary, get this one. If you already have another dictionary, get this one - it will soon become your favorite. Big, colorful, READABLE print and index - it is exactly what a student needs to find things fast and to have a clear explanation when he finds it. Worth the investment.

This is an excellent resource for anyone who desires a one volume, comprehensive dictionary of all things biblical. The entries are arranged in alphabetical order and cover nearly every theme and topic imaginable. The book has those one would expect (e.g. Trinity, Jesus), as well as information that is more specialized (e.g. a 5-page entry on biblical minerals). If something is mentioned in the Bible then it should be here. After all, there are over 7,000 entries and many are several pages long. It contains entries on non-biblical topics too (e.g. Philo and Josephus). My favorite articles are those on the books of the Bible (primarily the Protestant canon, although there is an entry on the apocrypha). They examine such issues as authorship, dating, content, and theology. All of the entries are scholarly, informative, and for the most part, written in "layman's terms." Many famous scholars have contributed, including F.F. Bruce and Daniel Wallace. There are cross-references to the major bible translations including the NIV, KJV, NRSV, and REB. The notes are non-denominational and usually well balanced and are written from an evangelical, conservative Protestant standpoint. For readers interested in a more critical approach, I would recommend the Oxford Companion to the Bible.

There are other reasons to buy this book too. The introduction explains how best to use the dictionary and includes a good survey of biblical history and theology in chart form. There are hundreds of full color maps, pictures, and photographs to illuminate the written words. For example, under the entry for Pontius Pilate there is a photograph of an inscription from a Roman theater bearing his name. There is a section containing maps too. Also, the type size is enlarged for easier reading. Overall, this is a great resource, especially for Christians who want to know more about the people, places, things, and doctrines of the Bible.