I recommend this book to anyone looking for quick building or construction reference. Excellent for Design students.

Mark Twight has not written an instruction book filled with clear drawings about how to tie a clove hitch. Beginning climbers looking for basic technique info should buy "Mountaineering: the Freedom of the hills" and go on a course first, but this does not mean that Twight's book is for extreme climbers only.

Any climber that knows these basic techniques benefits from his thoughs and experience. The book is divided in 4 parts:

(1) Approach: about 12 pages about your mental state of mind, very useful for the climber and anyone who wants to achieve specific goals as his thoughts about self-knowledge, focus, confidence, suffering, failure and learning can be applied to a broader range of goals.

(2) Training: this is the first time I have seen a real mountaineering training program in a book like this. He covers a 20 week training cycle in detail, with chapters on mental training, strength, endurance and importantly, nutrition. This really helps set a goal and work towards it. It's impossible to climb any mountain unprepared and unfit and depending on your goal you can adjust his schedule.

(3) Equipment: Clothing, Gear and Potection.
Twight has become (in)famous for refusing the accepted 3 layering system as it's too bulky, warm and heavy. He stresses the lightweight system which was an eye opener for me. Although his thoughts are not applicable for every mountain area (if you wait in Scotland for the rain to stop before climbing, you might as well not come at all...), it helped me to better pack my stuff for my trips: lighter and more useful.
His thoughts about gear are just very useful, learn from the expert, not from someone who is trying to sell the stuff...

(4) Technique:
No it will not teach you to climb a 5.14 at -40 degrees, but it covers things mostly overlooked in other books:
- Staying Alive
- Partners
- Going up
- Bivouacs
- Going down
Especially the latter 2 are things mostly ignored in climbing books (and some courses!), but these are things that also come in handy when lost in a not so extreme environment.

Overall I could not put this book down until I finished it.
The book is filled with experiences, good as well as bad. No drawings, but quite a lot of pictures, some of them useful for understanding the text, some just funny or cool to look at and dream away...
If you own Mountaineering: the Freedom of the Hills and you are not a complete beginner, buy this before you go higher, even if it's not extreme.

It's nice to see Mr. Twight, who has borrowed from the luck pool more times than anyone can count on his numerous solo ascents in the Alps and elsewhere, write a thoughtful book on how to stay alive and get the most out of alpine climbing. This book has it all -- I have incorporated many suggestions into my own climbing and found them incredibly useful.

This is THE best book I have ever read regardging climbing, period! It not only gives practical insights in to climbing but the nuts and bolts on training, gear selection and route selection for you ability. I especially found the sections on training to be extremely insightful. This is a topic never discussed in detail by any of the worlds top climbers. This book, the text and the pictures has done more to motivate me than all books combined. I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am ready and capable to move my climbing to a new level!

This story is sublime but the telling of it is hollow. This read like a report with a flimsy skeleton. I know several people who put the book down after reading a few pages and pronounced it boring. Too bad. Teacher's lessons are pearls, especially his first regarding fear. This book reveals the true meaning of the word "occult." Its gems are hidden but worth the dig.

Emissary of Light offers a perspective on inner peace and tranquility. It is not a unique view for many who believe that God and peace are within each and every person just looking for a way out. But it is yet another way to explain it. The story of how James came upon this realization or I should say how it was shown to him. It starts slow but really takes off after the stage is set.

Inexplicably drawn to a conflicted part of the world he met those who try to preserve peace in the world. Not in the way you would normally think but in a spiritual way. By exuding the light of peace through mediation. The lessons on peace, love and life have been heard before but the book drew me in and would not release me for some reason. It was as if I was being told an old lesson in a new way. Is humanity ready for the next step in the evolution of their spirituality? The message of the book is that we are, although I tend to personally doubt that.

It speaks to the fact that all religions are man made and speak to the person in a way that they can understand. That it matters not which one you believe in but the fact that you believe in "The Divine Light". That people only see what they allow themselves to see and if it is Jesus or Buddha or Muhammad it makes no difference because it is the "Divine Light" behind the teaches of compassion and love that is what it is all about. I know this will not sit well with many people and this alone will turn them away from the book. But I believe there is a lot to be considered here.

I believe this book is a very good book that should be read by those interested in spirituality. And even if you don't agree with what is being said the story of the individual and his travels are interesting in themselves. As he explains what he felt and what he thought. It adds a personal dimension to the book that is interesting.

If you are ready (and the Emissaries have instructed Jimmy to travel the world teaching to all that we ARE...) you will realize deeply that you are not who you thought you were. Indeed, the world is not what you thought it was.

This is not just about a series of events that happened to someone - and I have met Jimmy and I assure you they did. This book, rather, is about an unprecedented Awakening of consciousness presently occurring on our planet (more accurately, in our minds.) Emissary of Light is a gripping adventure on its own, telling a tale of mysterious coincidences, perilous war zone action and miraculous escapades within the heart of the Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian crisis. But it is the movement within your heart, taking place between the lines, that reveals the greater purpose of the story.

I invite you to read this "book", and then take some time to let it sink in all the way to your DNA. Then, allow your light to shine like it never has before. Try it. You are READY.

Book contains about 154 pages and is divided into 6 sections. The sections discuss Light, Artificial Light, HID Lamps, Reflectors, Setup, and Electricity Basics. Appendices include Radiant Energy, Requirements of Plants, Troubleshooting, Types of Lamps, Glossary, and Index.

The book is a mixed bag of great information and cluttered lists of data. The major theme of the book wanders about. Some of the discussions contradict each other. For example, Van Patten does a masterful job describing why useful light for plants should not be measured in lumens. But then he goes ahead and displays his huge listing of light readings in lumens. Why? You made your point, use PAR Watts.

In another section, Van Patten decribes every possible detail about horticultural lamps and reflector systems, but draws no summary with a specific list of brands and models. Don't get me wrong, he lists lots of data. Pages and pages of spreadsheet like lumen data for over 115 models of bulbs. Pages and pages of 54 three dimensional charts. Yah, great, you did lots of research - but I don't need to see all the raw data. Just tell me which bulb I should buy. Maybe give me a top ten list. Should I really care what the lumens are for the 97th best bulb?

Many conclusions are very vague. For example Van Patten actually writes, "we still do not know which lamp is best". Gee, that a great reason to write a book.

I'm torn as how to rate this book. The book contains many jewels of information that are well researched and finely written. Some of Van Patten's findings are exciting, extremely interesting, and even thought provolking. But in between is a littered jumble of confusing tables and charts. It's disorganized. There are lots of typographical errors throughout. He should have hired a book editor before publishing this (or hired a smarter one).

If you plan to garden indoors with HID lights, you must buy this book (you have no other choice but this book, because there are no other texts available). The book is most valuable to purchase BEFORE you select a HID system. It will save you from making a costly mistake.

PS: I use two HID lamps, a 400 watt Agrosun and a 400 watt Sunmaster Warm Deluxe. Both are installed in identical Hydrofarm Super Grow Wing Systems. I love the results - I can grow anything!

"Gardening Indoors with HID Lights" is a cross between a technical manuscript and an How To book for beginners. With a bachelors in cellular biology, this book was perfect for me. It explained how plants react to different parts of the light spectrum for different parts of their growth cycle. It steered me away from what would have been an ineffective fluorescent to maintain my citrus trees during the snowy winter. Instead the authors skillfully discuss the relationship of cost, watts, and effective indoor growth area for what is essentially artificial sunlight. As a novice, I decided not to take all their advice about an indoor lighting system, since I wasn't sure it would really work as advertised. But the practical science which is woven throughout this book would have been an equally effective guide for a much more elaborate set up. The salesperson where I ended up purchasing my HID system did not recommend this book since it was "too technical." I myself would recommend this book to anyone who studies their gardening and purchases other garden books. A high intensity discharged lighting system will cost several hundred dollars. My system had no information with it guide me in it's use. This book neatly fills the gap.

One of the best texts on the New Testament for informing students of the value of the "historical critical method" of biblical interpretation. Simple in style and easy to understand. Highly recommended for beginning college students and seniors in high school.

Everyone is entitled to his or her fantasies about saving the world. This is Twyman's. Not only is the book not credible, all the characters talk alike. If Twyman really met such otherworldly beings, I think their accent would be a little different than his. Remember though, this is written by someone who calls himself, "The Peace Troubadour." Also, he claims (not in the book) to have had a private meeting with Saddam Hussein just days before Desert Storm. That gives you an indication of the enormity of his delusions of grandeur. I prefer grounded writings, such as that of His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama.

Don't get me wrong. I like the message in James Twyman's book and I do think much of it is divinely inspired. But I think much of the so-called plot of the book (which reminds me of the search for the Holy Grail) is either not reported or non-existent. The dialogue passages are too didactic and lengthy to be factually accurate protrayals of their actual occurrences (unless James was recording his sessions with the Emissaries, which I doubt since electrical equipment usually doesn't function near the frequencies that such energy transmissions as he describes occur) and also they ring profoundly of A Course In Miracles. So there is much here to make me believe that this is at best somewhat fictionalized. However, the message of the book and the methods that anyone could use to achieve inner peace are clear and useful. As with all mystics, the path to inner peace and oneness has been defined clearly as the inner road. There is nothing new here about that. Nor is there anything new about inner peace leading to outer peace. It is only new if you didn't already know it. For those who need to learn these truths, this is a powerful book. But study A Course in Miracles and the writings of mystics of all religions for yourself, and you will move far beyond the messages James brings in this "fictionalized autobiography".

We have all been gifted with eternal moments, commonly sparked beneath the same mantle of sky -- moments when we felt suffused with God's peace, immersed in the certainty that all is as it should be and nothing can change the truth of things. Occasionally, our common sky holds out one star whose pulse ignites more peace-lit moments than its neighbors. Just such a star, ascendant on the New Age horizon, is Jimmy Twyman's book, "Emissary of Light."

It chronicles Peace Troubadour Twyman's unexplainable compulsion to bring his Peace Concert to war-ravaged Bosnia-Croatia, and the extraordinary events that unfold when he finally arrives. From the moment he leaves Italy, the synchronicities urging him on begin to accelerate at an alarming rate, until he finds himself secluded in a mountainous terrain, at the mercy of strangers, on the very border between Bosnia and Croatia. Into the thick of the fighting, staring straight in the face of the Bosnian Serb Army, Jimmy is led to a mythical, mystic community of peacemakers called The Emissaries of Light. For countless centuries, The Emissaries have secretly kept humanity from self-annihilation by extending Divine Light. Jimmy lives with The Emissaries, joins their intensive meditations, receives practical instruction and amazingly is entrusted with their peace-invoking secrets. It is time, they explain, for the world to learn of their work and Jimmy has been summoned as the one to reveal their story. Then suddenly, with the tumult of exploding bombs behind him, Jimmy is escorted to Rijeka and boarded on a plane bound for Chicago. But the saga does not end here, for he returns again, performs The Peace Concert in Sarajevo and narrowly escapes an assassination attempt. What follows remains for the reader to discover.

As a simple Indiana Jones-like adventure, "Emissary" comes out a winner with just the right blend of action and suspense to keep the reader wholly absorbed. But the content of this tale is so much larger than its wrappings. Framed within the adventure is a message that opens wide any light-seeker's understanding. The importance of releasing fear and stepping into the present's light, where no past or future casts a shadow on truth, is reinforced again and again in every chapter. Danger encroaches upon Jimmy and The Emissaries from all sides, but never grabs hold. As they stand firmly rooted in the light of truth, only truth can be seen, and approaching shadows melt shined away at their feet. The Emissaries remind Jimmy to stay presently receptive and demonstrate how Love's extension is accomplished through clear vision. Jimmy has come already supplied with the philosophy that Love is the only reality and The Emissaries clarify for him how to live that ideal daily. Behind the smokescreen of our judgements, the only thing we experience in truth is Love's Light. There is nothing else to be felt. By letting go of all distorting labels such as pain, anger, grief, consolation, pleasure and even happiness, we are freed to purely access the only energy there is and use it to create as we are in Love created. Thus do we peel away the last masks of illusion and return safely home where our real identity has always been known. What other path to peace could there be?

For all the light it sheds, "Emissary" is not a flashy book. Jimmy's homespun style includes the reader, invites all onlookers to join him on his journey, to sit back with him and enjoy the ride. "I'm no different than you," he tells us and we believe him. Therein flames the hope his words emblaze forever in our hearts. Twyman and his Emissaries gently restore us with a sense of purpose, a job to do and a function to fulfill. We come away from his book assured that each of us has a vital and indispensable contribution to make. He convinces us that peace is not the idle pipedream of mystics and poets, or a political game reserved for power players only, but the result of everyhuman's personal quest to uncover the impersonal already realized within his/her very core. Jimmy's passion for peace is contagious and leaves no one untouched by its transforming grace. If you are tempted to believe Author Twyman's offered blessings have run dry with the last page of his book, I recommend you find a copy of his Emissary of Light CD and listen to Troubadour Twyman sing. In his music swells a celestial certainty that his blessings, in union with ours, runneth over eternally.