I sincerely feel that the NOAA Diving Manual should be a required text for anybody who is a diving professional. The information presented is valuable to all divers: recreational, technical, scientific, and commercial. I refer to this text often and bring it to all classes I work.

This is by far the best and most complete collection of diving knowledge i have seen. It is not an introduction to diving, but realy a manual for all levels of divers, from the novice diver searching for futher information, to the experienced instructor looking for the latest updates. Dont miss it.

Great Book. Invalueable to anyone from rec. divers to commercial/tech divers. Now I'm waiting for the 4th edition to come out.

J.P. Miller has an interesting background. He spent twenty-one years in Naval Intelligence as an expert cryptologist, which makes him eminently suited to create mysteries and puzzles. He is also a linguist, skydiver, and traveler. His areas of expertise also include criminal justice and medicine. He presently teaches aviation survival to pilots and aircrews.

Detective D.J. O'Hara operates out of the 12th District in the Northeast corner of Philadelphia. He's been on the force almost long enough to retire, and is presently dating and considering marriage to Kristen, who is trying to extricate herself from an abusive husband. Life is going fairly well, until a serial killer begins his spree in D.J.'s territory. D.J. narrates the story, and he includes lots of refreshing tidbits about police procedural that are entertaining and informative for the reader:

"It wasn't surprising that Ray didn't discover a cartridge case. The killer's weapon was probably a revolver, and revolvers don't eject the bullet case. Another explanation was simply that the perp picked it up. However, when someone commits murder, they usually don't take time to retrieve the hardware. After firing they get the hell out of Dodge."

D.J. is, thankfully, not an alcoholic. Please, writers, stop that overused convention! He is a cuddly but tough cop who has already "made his reputation." He has believable, normal problems: a daughter he adores who is probably going to have to move; whether to propose to his girl; how to take care of her abusive ex-husband. These are the things of everyday life that people want to read about. This makes Facedown in Fishtown a readable, fun book. D.J. is just enough of a smart-aleck (his conversations with his partner Manny are hilarious) to be the kind of guy who is engaging and heroic in an ordinary day-by-day way.

J.P. Miller does not shirk on details. Every step of the hunt for a serial killer with enough rage to take on an army is logical. The narrative which takes the reader into the mind of the killer (not an easy thing to do) is also straight-ahead and compelling. Facedown in Fishtown is brilliant!

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

It's the details that get you ... the author's obvious familiarity with forensics and the worldwide locations keeps you engrosed. I'm looking forward to more from this author.

Miller is a gifted storyteller whose powerful narrative unfolds through his vivid depictions of an inner-city Philadelphia cop and a seemingly unsolvable mystery that takes the reader from the City of Brotherly Love to the streets of beautiful Bucharest.
Miller spins a riveting tale of gritty Philadelphia cop, DJ O'Hara as he trails a peculiar serial killer. The short chapters make this a fast read and a thrilling ride! This is a great read!!

My (10 year old) daughter got interested in '20,000 leagues' after reading the "Wishbone" version (go ahead and laugh). I went searching for the real thing to read with her, and came across this edition. With all of the missing content recovered, plus the annotations to fill in all sorts of additional information, the result is fascinating for adult readers. If you read the usual (butchered) version as a kid, you really owe yourself this one. All of the critiques of Verne over the years that tried to belittle his knowledge of science turn out to have been based on translations that whacked out what Verne really said -- they thought it was too dry and boring. Reading what he really said, plus the extensive footnotes that describe the state of knowledge at the time, make Verne's brilliance tripling astonishing. Just consider that he wrote about the Nautilus at a time when the Hunley was the state of the art!

One of the great problems with Jules Verne is that in the English speaking world he is relagated to the category of "Boys' Own Adventures". On the Continent, however, he is considered a brilliant social commentator, and biting satirist, AND a man who predicted the future. This is a volume that helps set matters to the right.

If you know of "20,000 Leagues" already, you will find little different at first. The plot is still the plot. Nemo is still Nemo, Prof. Aronnax is still pompous and fascinated by the Nautilus and Ned Land....

Ned Land is a flaming socialist.

This is one of the major shifts between the original French and the "cleaned up" English editions. Most of the science of the day was pulled out as a "dull read" and all the Socialism, anti-English remarks, and other commentaries of a "questionable nature" were excised. We Americans have unfortunately been until only very recently only able to find these poor early translations, or translations based on these poor translations. There is much more to Verne than submarines and diving suits. He is a man with a vision of his times, both scientific and political, and his books underline this strongly.

English readers, demand your Verne well-translated! Do not allow yourself to be fobbed off with bowlderized versions! To be able to read as he wrote himself (well, in English, for those of us who don't read French...) is a greater pleasure than merely an amusing old science-fiction story from the 19th century. Reading this book, as Verne /meant/ it to be read, if a pleasure, but also a struggle to understand ourselves and our relationship to the oceans themselves.

The best translation in English. Satisfies the intellect and imagination. Translated to show the truly beautiful qualities of Verne's writing that no other version can equal. The adventure comes alive by not omitting the breadth and depth of Verne's aesthetic ability originally entrenched within this masterpiece.

Words cannot totally express how much this book has helped to define my outlook on life. It covers many important issues, not only of the time it was written but also of today. Cleaver had a clear perspective of life when he wrote this book and it shows greatly. The chapter entitled "Soul on Ice" is a part of the book that I will not allow myself to forget. Eldridge Cleaver was a very evident literary genius and moreover, a gifted prophet of how everything in life "hangs by such thin and whimsical threads."

This is by far the best book I have ever read in my whole life. Once I picked up the book I could not put it down. Eldridge Cleaver talks about the things almost no one else would dare to talk about one of the greatist books of this century. Eldridge talks about the black man's stake in Vietnam, how it really is behind bars, Malcolm's death and offers a real look about Black America. This is one of the greatist men who ever lived who takes a real look at a racist America. A great novel and a real page turner.

Going by this text alone, it would appear that, unfortunately, going to prison is the most enlightening experience that Eldridge Cleaver has ever undergone. The epiphanies and revelations that Cleaver makes from his cell at Folsom State Prison reach deep into the soul and psyche of the African-American male, and uncover many truths here-to-fore considered taboo. A definite must-read!

If you have ever dreamed of inhabiting the sea like I have, then the book, 'Living and Working in the Sea' is for you. The authors have provided a concise and comprehensive account of man's attempt to penetrate the ocean, their attempt to remain there indefinitely through the use of saturation diving techniques and provide the reader with the highlights of the many saturation programs, which have utilized seafloor habitats throughout the world. This book is recommended for all those individuals who have participated as aquanauts in a saturation diving program or who are intending to become an aquanaut in the near future. I still use this book today as a reference tool for the day-to-day aspects of supporting an undersea research laboratory and it is required reading for all our saturation diving staff technicians.

Authored by two of the most experienced and learned contributors to the science of underwater habitation, this book is an absolute must read for anyone interested in saturation diving and undersea living. It chronicles the history and the construction of all the sea floor habitats ever used. If you want to build one, read it.

Although divers first viewed the undersea world over 5000 years ago, it is less than 40 years since man first lived on the seafloor. Since 1962, over 65 seafloor habitats have been developed in 17 nations around the world. An amazing variety of enclosures were used including inflated baloons, cement mixers and elaborate homes.

The successes and failures of these ingenious attempts to colonize the seafloor and the technology that made it all possible is the subject of this fascinating book. Both authors are experienced aquanauts having lived on the seafloor for over a month. The book reflects their first-hand experience as well as their personal knowledge of many colonization efforts throughout the world.

This book is the only source available that tells the story of seafloor habitation from the very first spartan steel chamber, to the world's first underwater lodge, an underwater classroom that has served thousands of young students, and gives you a look at the possibility of future undersea resorts, theme parks, villages and cities.

I recieved this book as a gift. I read it in less than a day. It's absolutlry delightful and one those books one just can put down. It's filled with stories that warm the heart. It also is filled with unique, humorous, and tear jerking stories. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys animals or day-to-day life.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about animals or amusing anecdotes from the experiences of a veterinarian. This book opened up the possibility for me to pursue a career as a veterinarian. I recommend it to anyone and everyone. I only wish I could contact the author to thank him for writing this book, and giving me the opportunity to read it.

I just couldn't stop reading it ! THIS is the book you'll want to read to pass the time in an airport or waiting for someone in a restaurant, and yet you VALUE every book you read, not just some so-and-so story to pass time with but a really good novel with exciting, refreshing, humorous (humor IS the underlined word in this book - my belly ached, my eyes wet reading the book), yet down-to-earth story in which you'll also find sorrow, embarrassment, pride, and joy, all through the life of a humble (yes Mr.Herriot - he IS also a genious (and funny !) story teller)veterinarian. A great, compact, binded pieces of paper this surely is. Oh, and Doc Miller, if you're reading this, in chapter 15 about the nice people - the widow and her daughter, I think you LIED and YOU're the one who bought them the pu...well, any would be readers just have to derive their own conclusion about the story of the pretty and polite 16 years old and her widowed mother in chapter 15, when The Lord decided it's payback time to the nice people. Buy it, borrow it, in any case, read it. It's a great book. You'll have wonderful time reading it. Many people including me did. I still giggle everytime I remember some of his funny stories and look up at the sky everytime I remember the incident with the nice people.

I remember reading, and rereading, this book as a child. Growing up in Kentucky, I can relate to the rural aspects of the book. The story is timeless and timely in the world today. Jesse Stuart will remain forever in my heart and the hearts of grown children everywhere who read his works an example of what goodness can come from writing for children.

In "A Penny's Worth of Character" Jesse Stuart takes the reader back to a simpler time, when a boy could exchange used paper bags for a candy bar at the store. The message of the book is as old, that of honesty. Stuart skillfully illustrates the inner turmoil of a young boy who has been dishonest and how he makes it right. It's an excellent book for kids from 4th grade up and would make an excellent story to read aloud.

A story that I've never forgotten in 50 years of reading. I've searched for a copy of it for 40+ years. Any one, young or old, who readys this simple story will be changed forever...unless they are the most callous individual alive

There can be no more powerful telling of the history of slavery in the United States than to read it and hear it from the slaves' own mouths. Their recollections are, for the most part, graphic and chilling, but the diversity of these life experiences are also rich with good stories, too....slaves bonding together, looking out for one another and at times outwitting their masters and overseers. While the general knowledge of salvery has been known to many Americans for years, it is the actual detailed accounts of day-to-day life that make this book come alive. I hadn't known, for instance, that slaves were required to have passes in order to travel off the plantations or that Christmas and New Year's were largely times of rejoicing for both slave families and their master's families. Yet for the rest of the year the hardships and conditions that most slaves witnessed was incredible....beatings often for no reason, no shoes or lack of other clothing during the winter cold and often not nearly enough food. The clarity with which these former slaves recall their life 80 years or more before is an indication of how etched in their young minds life had been. The accompanying audio cassettes were the main reason l bought the book and they simply added a human dimension to the whole story. l had only two small disappointments with the audio segment....l would rather have had none of the actors read the transcripts...(the actual slave voices are far more powerful) and l wish that photos of the slave speakers could have been provided.... while there were many photos of the former slaves in the book they were not the photos of the slaves who made the audio tapes. In a time where revisionist history seems to be the rage it is, in a strange way, rather comforting to hear these stories told by the people who lived them. How these men and women suffered under bondage and lived for so many years afterward to finally tell about it is a tribute to their spirit and courage.

For several years I've been reading powerful thought-provoking slave narratives. This is probably the most moving due to accompanying tapes of slaves discussing their thoughts and conditions when they were slaves. This book and tapes should be used in every high school American and World history classes. I recommend this book to everyone above the age of twelve. If you want to begin educating your children earlier about American history, specifically slavery have them read K.J. McWilliams books; The Journal of Darien Duff, an Emancipated Slave, The Diary of a Slave Girl, Ruby Jo, and The Journal of Leroy Jones, a Fugitive Slave. They are based on slave narratives such as this one and include many interesting photos as well as additional information.

I am currently a high school student that read part of this for a Civil War class and let me say this is one powerful book. With people who were the slaves themselves tell you their stories, you learn alot about the antebellum period. I would recommend this book for any mature person due to the fact that some of these stories show the true horror of slavery.

Although reading such a long book in its entirety seems at first measure a daunting task (and one that few people's academic credentials hold up to....), readers daring enough to try are pretty well rewarded across the whole of this book. This book is an introduction to systems theory (i.e. that the result of a conglomeration of small scale processes can be seen to accumulate into larger, predictable processes at macro levels, similar to how a person who makes individual knots can end up with a rug...) that straddles the mark from physics to political economy (which is running far indeed!!!)

This is a really big book besides having a lot of pages, and I have a hunch that not too many people are going to buy it outside of researchers or university librarians. But, I suppose, if you're either of these (though if one were going to research they'd probably look to a sucession of smaller books, no?) I'd buy this book.... your collection would be enriched through having it....

Don't let the size of this book stop you from exploring it. The author has designed the book so it (slowly) reveals itself, working from basic concepts of how dynamic systems work through levels of biological and social complexity. It is a brilliant work, a must for anyone involved in any sort of analytical work. It is one of the most important books of the 20th century and, if attention is paid, will be an important guidebook to the 21st.

To see more of Miller's work and its implications, see the web site Principia Cybernetica.

Despite this is a book with an enormous and difficult text, since the very first chapter it enlightens the most basic message: that sciences, and knowledge, can be integrated, in a sort of unified theory, the "general theory of living systems", as the author puts it. And it does; since I began to understand the hole thing, it really makes me easier to think, and to view the world, like somekind of natural phylosophy, or organic phylosophy. It's really helpfull. (My email is galfroid@hotmail.com)

Aspects of Phantom of the Pines are slightly cheesy, but ultimately, the Jersey Devil has to be my favorite mythical beast. The accounts of parents not allowing children to school for fear they'd be prey of the monster are as chilling as they are silly.
The JD has a long, rich history. You can say that sasquatch encounters go back to Native Americans, but the "wild man" hairy hominoid stuff is very Jungian. The Devil is its own beast.
This is a fun, worthwhile introduction to the terrifying creature. You don't need to be from Jersey to appreciate the Devil.

fascinating book - definately recommend it - especially to native New Jerseyians...

Where do i start! This book was head to toe in detail! I am a Very big researcher on the jersey devil and i would not read or buy any other book for info. I have read "The Jersey Devil" By James F. McCloy and Ray Miller Jr. That was also a really good Book! So anyways This was a great book and if you are really interested in the jersey devil i really suggest u read this one!