Not only did I purchase this book, I purchased one for a friend of mine who is a quilter. The quilts and the incredible stories behind them are powerful motivators for those who wish to accomplish anything, not just quilting. It is the triumph of the human spirit and proves that deep down, each of us has an indominable core. I am envious of the skill that these women posessed and of the oral history and cultural traditions which have been created and passed down. It's a reminder of the scope of human potential.

I am an Alabama native. I have visited Gee's Bend, Alabama many times, but mainly to EAT!! They have more than pretty quilts in Gee's Bend. I have seen the quilts but because I love quilts and even tried unsuccessully to make one but, not being an expert, I guess I did not appreciate how popular the Gee's Bend quilts would become until I saw the story on CBS's Sunday Morning about the quilts being on display at the Whitney Museum in New York. The current quilters visited the opening at the museum and song those old gospel songs to their many fans.

The book itself is filled with stories and lovely photographs of the quilts. All the quilts are hand-stitched, of course. I couldn't imagine anyone creating such beauty with a needle and thread.

I am so happy I pre-ordered the book from Amazon. It will be a prized part of my collection.

Congratulations!!!! A few of these women are my aunts and they have been working so hard at this all their lives, I am so happy that they are finally getting the recognition that they deserve. They used to make so many quilts when we were younger and just give them away to family members as Xmas gifts, now they are being hung in museums around the US and I have proudly displayed my childhood quilts so everyone will know just how proud I am of them!!! Now I know the Pettway woman will always be remembered for the proud and strong women they are.

This is the best book written that I have read in a long time which lays out the problems of contemporary corporate society from the perspective of society's most vital worker, the engineer. The author, who has more than 100 patents to his name, and has been an engineering pioneer in many settings, sees the best friend the worker has, not in political acumen, nor in schmoozing up to the powers-that-be, but in the laws of nature. Just as Natural Law is the power and the policy for keeping order in the universe, states Livingston, so also does it apply to the workplace. Let the author's own words set the tone of this marvelous book. He sees the discovery of a breakthrough constellation concerning the individual since the Industrial Revolution. This "constellation marks the swing of the pendulum of power away from the impersonal corporation, where totalitarianism reigns supreme, to the individual and into the Skunkworks, where the real business of solving problems always takes place." Livingston's voice is the best kept secret I know of in the last decade. He is, as this book illustrates, a consummate problem-solver. He states, "So much of what we have been encouraged to believe about solving problems has turned out, instead, to be problem amplication...The stuff of problem-solving works like a charm, especially in the trenches where we labor, and the payoff is now." Engineers, in my experience, are brilliant problem-solvers but less than brilliant politicians in protecting their place and space. They have the power of their knowledge, but often lack the will and the way to translate this power into corporate influence. Livingston acknowledges this fact, and illustrates what an incredible cost it is to corporate survival and the security of workers because of it. He laments: "You are discouraged from thinking for yourself and you are persuaded to ignore complex matters rather than to face them ... While the increasingly complex world demands more understanding, we are encouraged to think less and less for ourselves." Again and again, he illustrates how the normal modus operandi is to "ready, fire, aim." Livingston identifies the power of Natural Law in the equation and puts it very simply: "Our problem-solving power draws from having the correct frames of reference." If you have ever been lost in the jungle of mixed messages, counterproductive activities, the installation of new systems which duplicate old problems, read this book. The author spells out the three basic all-encompassing dimensions of problem-solving: context, process and content. He doesn't do this with obtuse theoretical perspectives but practical illustrations that every engineer and technician has encountered more times than he or she would like to recall. The author also likes acronyms which tend to make an imprint on your brain, such as POSIWID (THE PURPOSE OF A SYSTEM IS WHAT IT DOES). Powerful! Concise! On target! If this book sounds like a diatribe against corporate society, it is not that, but rather a cry for competencies using FIRST PRINCIPLES and the technologies of their application. I mention this because I fear that technical executives may avoid this book because of the possible fear of taking its message personally. The focus is always on the problem, not on the people who are caught up in it. Livingston just wants this talented resource, engineering problem-solving manpower, to be fully utilized into solving problems from a common base frames of reference. Again, he laments, "Schools turn out graduates who have their brains already pre-shrunk to fit slender corporate 'silos.'" A bonus of this book is Livingston's growing understanding that in order for technical systems to work properly, there must be an equal understanding of social systems. My original training was in chemistry and chemical engineering. But most of my life has been spent in dealing in the arena of social systems, first as a corporate executive, then later as an academic and consulting social scientist. I mention this because I have learned a great deal from Livingston's model of the interdependent nature of these two systems from an engineer's perspective. Here are some examples of his insights: (1) "Most attempts apply control theory to human behavior and miss the point that behavior involves control"; (2) "Every human is a system, a system in control to produce consistent ends by variable means"; (3) "The group behaves as a system itself which must behave the way we see it behaving"; (4) "Group behavior vs individual behavior corresponds to the distinction between solving simple problems and complex ones"; (5) "In order to obtain good control, the system must be sensitive to off-specification situations ... Projects in trouble become insensitive to disturbance"; (6) "The key weapon in the arsenal for buffering disturbance is trust." The display of insight, thought, compassion, concern, and especially, rapport with the reader is illustrated by these random samples of the wit and wisdom of William L. Livingston. It is a book which remains in a special place in the library of my mind. Read it and you will see why.

This book is worh its price with the following revelation: "...the problem always has its act together." If your engineering management can not understand this concept, you are working for a sick organization. Boyce Griffith, PE, Oak Ridge, T

The Quilts of Gee;s Bend is much more than a beautiful coffee table book. It is that, too, of course. The book is filled with social history of this small place near Selma, Alabama. I've been lucky enough to visit Gee's Bend and see the quilt-making process. The Whitney Museum exhibit must have been wonderful. Sunday Morning on CBS did a story on the exhibit. The quilters traveled to New York for the opening and entertained the guests with their singing. That's what Gee's Bend is like: A rich yet poor stop on the road where women made the best of what they had and turned out great art in the process.

I have seen the exhibition of the Gee's Bend quilts at the Whitney museum three times. The quilts of Gee's Bend are simple, graphic, and stunning. Although I own the smaller of the Gee's Bend quilt books and the video about the quiltmakers, I find that I want to know and see much more. I have thumbed through this book at the museum and am delighted that it is full of lush photographs of so many more quilts. At the top of my holiday list of things I must have, is this, the larger of the Gee's Bend quilt books.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this treasure of a book. Wonderful, clear text and beautiful photographs to illustrate all phenomena described! This would be a terrific read for anyone interested in science, physics, and nature. Definitely worth the money!

This book is intended for people who are intrigued or awed by the way light is expressed in nature. It describes many natural phenomena involving light, including shadows, the color of the sky, clouds, mirages, halos, rainbows, the effects of ice in the atmosphere and much more. The intended audience in my eyes consists mainly of people who like physics but the beautiful color full-page pictures and tips on taking them also make this book a great resource for anyone interested in photography. Even physics students can benefit from this book (although it is intended for laymen, so no equations are used) - the book shows them interesting manifestations of optics in nature. The book also makes a nice gift for people who enjoy nature and would like to know how it "works". Highly recommended!

I am sorry to see that this title is out of print. "Color and Light In Nature" is a wonderful look at the ways that light touches us everyday. I recommend this title for Directors of Photography as well as anyone captivated by light.