I don't have a lot to say about this book, but since no other ordinary purchaser has reviewed it here, I thought it better to throw in a few comments than to leave you, the potential buyer, with no guidance whatsoever. First of all, this is a collection of over 40 essays by that many different authors. Some are clearly for more gun control, some are firmly against, and some writers focus instead on what the gun issue says about our culture, generally. Some of the works are very scholarly, like a shortened version of a master's thesis--chock full of historical detail and deep analysis. Some of these deep writings do not lend themselves to casual pleasure reading. Some essays go in the other direction, giving you plenty of passionate rhetoric but few factual details to support the writer's position. All in all, this collection of 43 essays by some of the biggest names in the gun control debate today is very useful for almost anyone. I would not say that it's a "must-have" for someone who has read several other books about gun control, because you've probably seen most of these ideas before. But for someone familiar with the gun control issue who does not already have a library full of books on the subject, this is one you should get. You will find yourself refering to it over and over again.

This is the fourth book in the Ethnographer's Toolkit, a series of seven volumes discussing practical techniques for ethnographic data collection. Designed as a reference tool, key points and definitions are easily accessible to the reader. As throughout the series, symbols mark cross-references and highlight definitions in the margins of the text; the margins could readily be used for note taking by the reader.
This text provides insight to the benefits of visually representing the population for which one studies while doing ethnographic research. The book is divided into three sections/chapters. Chapter 1 gives hints as to successfully mapping an individual's or a group's social network(s). Checklists for procedure are included. Chapter 2 is quite detailed as it discusses the use of maps and symbols in charting the behaviors of a population. Many sample graphs/maps are found within. Chapter 3 focuses on research done on 'hidden populations'. These hidden populations are 'hidden' in that they are consciously visible to neither 'mainstream society' nor 'agencies of social control', such as the drug-addicted or the AIDS population or the homeless. This final chapter spends much time discussing the ramifications and consequences of such study for both the ethnographic researcher and the subjects of such research.
This book is ideal for someone already involved in ethnographic research who is looking for additional guidance or ideals regarding application of results. In addition to examples of success stories, the authors also include examples of what not to do and failed attempts at accurate data collection. The authors of this book took the time to discuss the ethics involved in ethnographic research and consequently the need for proper motivation for study. The emphasis was always on benefiting the community within which the research was done.

I used this as a text book for three semesters of University education. Some chapters are fine and quite readable, and others are random and completely lack organization. Some chapters take one point and beat it into the ground with a large baseball bat made out of lead, others mention something once and assume you understand it completely.

The examples are fair but compared to some of the chapter end questions you'd scarcely believe that they came from the same book, the difficulty varies greatly. As for the explanations even the best in this book I did not find as well stated or helpful to understanding as those found in Tipler's "Physics for Scientists and Engineers." Buy this book if you are taking a class and they require you to use it, buy it not if you are trying to learn physics on your own, as I doubt it will help you very much unless you already know it.

Following this text can be quite difficult for one who has a weak command of mathematics or of basis physics principles. The examples are quite interesting, unlike many other textbooks. I must admit that most physics texts for scientists are more complicated than this. When the material is reexplained in a clear manner, the book makes perfect sense. I think that frustration with this book is due highly in part to those who took physics not realizing how challenging it can be, especially for those who do not understand such concepts easily. As for simply skipping lectures and trying to understand physics by reading the book, this is likely to be a complete failure; I don't know if any physics book could appropriately explain physics in an understandable manner without supplement. The problems, however, in the text are excellent, and while sometimes challenging, they are essential for a student to be able to solve problems on exams.

I am a graduate student in physics and I have been a teaching assistant for 3 years now at Iowa State Univesity and SUNY Stony Brook. I have taught introductory physics numerous times and I have teaching experience with this book: IT IS GREAT. It is everything that the students ever dreamed of. Every chapter has really easy to follow explanation of the fundamental theory and numerous step-by-step solved problems and examples. It also has nice boxes with general strategies for solving problems. At the end of every chapter there is an extensive collection of exercises that fit well with the material of the book.

An advice for the students: Dont start doing your homework before you understand the material. I have seen it numerous times, students that have not understood what is really going on, trying to solve the problems. Big mistake. Open the Halliday-Ressnick book, study the material first and then solve the problems. There is a general fear among the students to go through the theory of the book (any book) first and spend some quality time trying to absorb it. They just think that physics is too difficult of a subject and that they wont understand a thing. For that reason they just use their collection of formulae and blindly try to apply it in order to solve the problems.

I believe that Halliday-Resnick breaks this barrier, their treatment of the subject shows how much they care for the student and they do their best to explain things in the easiest possible way.Something that really breaks the ice is a photograph at the beginning of each chapter that shows an everyday phenomenon that will be treated in the course of that particular chapter, like the picture showin a young girl up in the mountain, with her hair floating up in the air! (a dangerous situation as explained in the book), or the explosion of the Hinderburg and also the picture of a man inside a car that is being hit by a lightning without harming the man inside!

As an undergraduate in physics I used this book too for my introductory physics courses so I also have read it from the student point of view. I believe that it does a superb job clarifyng the fundamental principles of physics without difficult or "intellectual-kind" of explanations. It goes step by step building up until you understand it. I also used this book extensively to prepare for the Physics subject GRE test and it helped a lot. I still keep it in my office and frequently look for things that I have forgotten. I totaly recommend it.

As for the mathematical prerequisites of the book that a previous reviewer has commented on I would say that you need to how to solve simple integrals (nothing more dramatic than a polyonym or a trigonometric function or 1/r and 1/r^2) and also it would be nice to know the meaning of a derivative as the rate of change of a function with respect to some variable. Nothing more. Enjoy!

P.S.1 I am familiar with the 4th and 5th edition. P.S.2 There exists a solution manual for the book. Very helpful.