In 1879 Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany. He moved to Munich, Germany when he was a baby. When Einstein was a child, he witnessed the town theater being lighted up by his father and uncle's D.C. generator. In that time his town did not have electricity. Later that night he was marveled by the power of light. He was determined to find the secret behind light and the way it worked.
As a child Einstein did not enjoy school at all. He usually daydreamed in class and was not interested in what the rest of the class was doing. He also hated the teachers and the way they taught. He thought they were like the military, strict and very unimaginative. Soon his family left for Italy and left Einstein behind to finish school. He became the class clown and was later expelled from school. The author tells all the things that Einstein went through as a child, as a young adult, and as a man.
What I liked about the book was all the theories, experiments, and the way the author describes everything so thoroughly. I recommend this book for people who are interested in famous American heroes or are just interested in Albert Einstein. I really hope you read this book.

I am a 5th grade science teacher and require my students to read and report on a scientist biography each semester. This book does an excellent job of retelling the story of Einstein's life, including his life challanges (personal and academic). The book deals with the Nazi rise to power of the 30's and its effects of the scienctific community. This is all done while still giving a accurate and understandable explaiation of Einstein's work. And, most importantly, my students really enjoy it.

with so many tiny tidbits of interesting information stuck in here and there it was a learning experience just reading the special highlights throughout the book. There were useful lists of important dates and happenings throughout each chapter and even suggested websites relating to each chapter's material for further information. The way the book was written made for easy understanding of the material and better memory of what was read. Although the book follows a text book formula it was fun to read which is rare. A real find!

I looked for a long time to find a decent world history; one that was neither 10,000 pages nor painfully dry. This is the best I found. It is a very readable book of reasonable length. The authors make good use of sidebars with thought-provoking bits of literature which are scattered throughout the overall history. They also make a good attempt at discussing underlying causes and patterns behind the historical events. I perfer that to a dry recounting of the facts, even if I may not always agree with them on the interpretation. It was surprisingly neutral on religious topics, given the origin of the book.

Following in the tradition of Yale's Cardiovascular Health Guide, the Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide, and the Johns Hopkins Medical Guide to Health After 50, the venerable Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons offers us this latest addition to the health-obsessed consumer craze for complete home medical references. As expected, this book offers only more of the same: a good name, a lot of pages, and a redundant course in layman's medicine. Given the sheer size and weight of the volume (lifting it is an exercise itself), you would expect the entries to have more detail and, well, more specialized terminology. The diagrams which accompany many of the chapters elicit more boredom than information (save for the psychiatric section's tables, which are rather good), and the overall organization of the book sacrifices content for accessibility. I've seen many home medical guides at the bookstore lately, and this one just doesn't stand out in particular. My honest recommendation is that you look past the University's illustrious name and opt instead for the MERCK MANUAL HOME EDITION (paperback version), which for its small size and affordable price is the best home medical guide for the entire family.

Very informative. I suffer from PVC's and try to get my hands on as much info as possible. I found this book to be very helpful in my understanding more on this condition.

My copy of this book is entitled "An Informal Study of Greatness." What the subtitle promises, the book delivers. Rather than an exhaustive look at each and every event of importance, Taylor gives us a glimpse of Churchill, the man, in a series of anecdotes and vignettes. For example, WWII occupies approximately the same space as the material on his hobby painting. However, as the book was written in 1952 (when Churchill was still alive), and because Churchill himself was so guarded about giving interviews, this was the necessary method of writing. It is very successful, though. Taylor supplies wit and flow to the narrative, so it is very easy and entertaining to read.

Churchill's views would today seem prehistoric - he was against universal suffrage, for example. Likewise, the narrative suffers somewhat for having been written in a time of universal chauvenism. This does not detract from the book - it's always necessary to judge people relative to the times in which they lived, and Churchill's life took place in a time of immense social and military change.

It's clear that the author respects and admires Churchill, but not to the detriment of his objectivity. He does not gloss over Churchill's heavy drinking, lack of fashion sense, or child-like impatience. He does not dwell on them, either, instead moving quickly from story to story to give a sense of the personality of the man, not a detailed analysis of his political or social views.

This book is a fascinating glimpse at the man behind the legend. It's too bad it's been out of print for some time, but it's not too difficult to find used - I gather the book did well, so there's lots of copies out there.

Taylor's biography of Churchill is one of the more interesting biographies I have read. His task is substantial: putting the life of Churchill into a volume with the loud background of the twentieth century is not easy to do. Taylor has managed to give us a kind but honest treatment of one of the great men of the twentieth century. Churchill shines at most everything he does. Although a terrible boy and student at Harrow School, he emerged as a leader at Sandhurst, then a seeker of wars and crises, an early visionary of the threat from Adolph Hitler as well as the Soviet Union and through it all a most controversial figure. How else can we explain his being ousted from his position of Prime Minister two months after he completed his role in orchestrating the defeat of Hitler? Artist, voluminous writer, military officer, faithful husband: all these qualities and more spring forth from the witty pen of Robert Lewis Taylor.

I am a teacher and I had to teach a history class to my students on Colorado History. I went to the Library and picked up the book Beauty of Colorado. It has so many interesting facts about Colorado and beautiful pictures that I decided I wanted to buy the book for the school library. I liked the book because it was so infomative and had many facts about Colorado. Also the pictures were nice size and full color. It covered the mountains, parks,plains,some history,people and places of Colorado. It is a short book of 79 pages but out of that I got several days Colorado History lessons from it. If you were considering moving to Colorado or wanted to know where to visit, this book would be a good one to buy.

This book was very captivating! I think it is good in showing the problems found in Jewish-Catholic dialogue, including revealing prejudices and misconceptions on both sides. It reveals the anti-Semitic attitudes in France, which continue to cause problems though the setting is post WW2. It's a long book, but reads quickly.

This book is the bible for Sussex Spaniel owners. It's also the only book on Sussex in print in the U.S. If you are seriously considering purchasing a Sussex you ought to buy and read this book before contacting a breeder. It will help you evaluate if you are willing to go through the process of buying and raising this rare breed and give you the basis to ask intelligent questions. Lewis' book is chock full of wonderful full-colour photographs that show Sussex at all ages of the two body types. These are beguiling dogs and the pictures will steal your heart. Lewis provides a through history of the breed both in England and the U.S. Like the Bible, Lewis spends a large number of pages on the "begats." This is very useful information for a novice breeder but a snooze for pet owners. Lewis also provides useful, general information for new puppy owners. He suggests specific toys that Sussex universally enjoy. My only criticism is the section on health. Lewis glosses over the real health concerns of Sussex owners. Sussex are a healthy breed with few problems but there are serious problems which occasionally occur. It would have been nice if the book provided information about how to recognize the early symptoms of these health problems. One final fun fact: One of the photos in the book identifies the dog as a Sussex but it's a Field Spaniel! After reading the book you should have no problem spotting the mistake.

I found the first two chapters of this book, hard work, due to the clinical tone of the writing but I persevered,and I am glad I did. The book got better,funnier and warmer the more I read and by the sex chapter, I was really enjoying myself ( not literally!). I would have no objections to any man who treated me the general way these writers suggest.Everyone should read this book,especially men! First two chapters;one star;rest of book;four stars

Rainey delivers good one here. campbell also has a good story. i was mostt impressed by Spence, unknown to me. the rest o the stories are not so good, but not really bad either. i really like this fertility goddess granting humanity gifts, but demanding worship and sacrifice. ok, an obvious link to paganism. but that makes it realistic. the goat is the creature from the mythos i'm having least problems imagining.

"The Shub-Niggurath Cycle" is a veritable morass of pedestrian plotting, derivative imagry, and tepid writing. All the defects of Lovecraft worship are painfully evident: obsessive codifying of the Mythos, cosmic pretentions, dream sequences featuring weird geometric angles, silly names, and masses of writhing tentacles. Lin Carter's execrable "Dreams in the House of Weir" and his attached doggrel are the nadir of the anthology. Of course, Carter's work always has a way of tainting anything near at hand. The book, however, is redeemed by a single tale: "Harold's Blues" by Glen Singer. Singer's story is a sly and witty Faustian redux which intermingles a fictionalized version of the murky career of real-life, real dead bluesman Robert Johnson with the Cthulu Mythos. The dialect of the narrator is excellent in terms of its understated subtlety and consistency. Singer utilizes the Mythos as it should be used -- as a murky, wicked backdrop that overpowers the actions of genuine characters with lives of their own. There is an insidious, doomed atmosphere which is far more effective than somnambulating trudges through cyclopean, extra-terrestrial ruins or "weird doings" in the dank cottages of unsuspecting professors. "Harold's Blues", then, is nothing short of a pearl in the swine slop and by its strength alone, this anthology rates four stars.

Shub Niggurath, the black goat of the wood with a thousand young, is mearly hinted at in H.P. Lovecraft's fiction. Mentioning little more then the name and appellation, old Shubby is shrouded in mystery. Price has compliled here some of the works which have followed Lovecraft's scant clue to define Shub Niggurath. Price includes one of his own stories, a tale sexual decadence, perversion and madness in the name of Shub Niggurath which, of itself, makes the book worth reading.

Effective Nonprofit Management: Essential Lessons for Executive Directors

Robert L. Lewis
Copyright 2001 Aspen Publishers
300 pages

Reviewed by Norman OlshanskyPresident, NFP Consulting Resources Inc.

As a professional who has served as an executive director and consultant to many non profit organizations, I looked forward to reading Robert Lewis's book. Mr. Lewis has an impressive background as an attorney, board member, and chair of several organizations. More recently, he has served as a consultant to nonprofits and is an educator with the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Case Western Reserve University.

Mr. Lewis has a very "folksy" way of telling his "lessons" about the trials and challenges of nonprofit leadership from the perspective of the board member and executive director. It is easy to relate to many of the examples he shares from the real world. He even shares several of his own consulting experiences to make his point.

He gives proper emphasis to the different roles and power relationships that exist between board members and the Executive. He debunks the myth of "partnership." Such cannot exit between non-equals, especially when the Board can fire the Executive but not vice versa. He follows up by giving tips on how to maximize effective working relationships and establish appropriate roles and responsibilities.

I especially liked his emphasis on the importance of being mission-driven.

He covers some very important issues such as:
Getting started on the right foot
Remembering roles
The nitty-gritty of the ED's job
Board Relations
Vision and Leadership
Accountability
He poses ten very good questions which should be asked of every board member to determine if they are serious and able to serve in a meaningful way. He also offers an appendix on tax compliance, accounting, and budgeting issues.

The strengths of the book, however, were diminished by the style of presentation and lack of depth of content. Mr. Lewis rambles on as a story teller, going off on tangents that are difficult to follow and often do not relate to the subject at hand. Readers will learn about Greek mythology, the Latin derivatives of words, and techniques of stage savvy. After all, he also has a vaudeville background.
He describes himself as a meandering octogenarian. He is someone I would love to meet and talk to about his experiences. Unfortunately, he misses the mark in this book -- not so much for what he says, but how he presents his material. If you are looking for a good book on nonprofit management, this is not one of the first ones to read. It is too rambling for the beginner and not substantive enough for the experienced veteran of nonprofit leadership.

Nonprofit organizations employ 1 in every 14 American workers, generate 6% of the gross domestic product, and mobilize the efforts of an army of 84 million adults volunteering 15 billion hours each year for their communities. While a large number of these institutions employ a chief professional officer (often called the executive director), a small proportion of the burgeoning supply of nonprofit management publications focus on that job. The few authors that do tend to tackle this topic in either an academic or hortatory manner characterized by heaping doses of prescriptions and generalities. Once readers put these pedantic, ponderous publications down, they are hard to pick up again.

For those readers who either serve as or work with a nonprofit chief executive, aspire to become one, or merely like to study these interesting creatures, along comes Robert Lewis to save the day. Effective Nonprofit Management: Essential Lessons for Executive Directors is a practical, informative, and often hilarious look at one of the most interesting and grueling jobs in the U.S. economy. Lewis brings extraordinary perspectives to this topic as a scholar of ancient Greek, a playwright, a teacher, a former lawyer, a former stage performer, and a gifted comedian. Most of all, he brings years of experience as a practitioner who has served on the governing boards of many organizations with different missions, structures, traditions, leaders, and cultures. The result is that I often found myself wondering whether Socrates, Mel Brooks, and Henry Kissinger might have sat down together to collaborate on this entertaining and educational set of lessons for nonprofit administrators.

Lewis wisely focuses on what will be one of the make-or-break performance measures in the tenure of any executive director -- his or her relationship with the governing board. His central premise is that "Your board will be able to provide you (the executive director) with the rational, consistent, high quality support to which you're entitled only when it has the tools for making good decisions." He also recognizes what too many non-practitioners don't get -- the executive director will play a profound role in the education, performance, and character of that board. His advice on how to exploit this reality is delivered with wit and wisdom, spiced with stories from his current work as a consultant, teacher, and administrator at the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations of Case Western Reserve University; his past life as a Vaudeville performer and World War II soldier; and literary citations ranging from Zeus to Marx (Groucho that is).

One of Lewis's greatest gifts to the field is the way he debunks the mind-numbing myths and simple slogans that have characterized too much of the nonprofit management and governance literature to date. His well-developed sense of the absurd blends well with the ambiguities and paradoxes surrounding the rewarding (but often bizarre) experiences of millions of people reporting to, serving on, or working with the individuals who make up the board of a nonprofit organization. I have a feeling that I would have enjoyed this book almost as much even if I had not shared these experiences in multiple roles as a chief executive, trustee, administrator, and consultant. The author's insights about the interpersonal relationships and group dynamics embedded in every nonprofit organization are applicable to so many other parts of our lives as human beings.