(This review refers to Volume One only.) Asimov has collected eight stories in this anthology that were influential in his own writing. Asimov read most of these stories when he was about 12 years old, being fortunate enough to devour most of them from pulp magazines that were sold in his father's candy store. As might be expected with any anthology, some stories are better than others, and some have held up better through the years than others. Yet these pieces are not included for comparison to current stories, but to show what Asimov read as a young person and how the works influenced him. Asimov's mini-autobiography alone is worth the price of the book. After each story, Asimov tells how an idea or a concept from a story led to the formation of one of his own works. A very interesting idea. "The Jameson Satellite" is a forerunner of "I, Robot," and "Submicroscopic" is a small step from "Fantastic Voyage." As mentioned by another reviewer, the reader will have to deal with several prejudices from the time these stories were written (especially racial), but overall this book is a great insight into what makes Asimov Asimov.

This collection of early, pulp-style scifi works is a great joy. Asimov's introduction to the stories is exceedingly interesting and helpful. The stories sometimes show flaws or problems in their writing and in their attitudes (while several stories are forward-looking, most show the racism and misogyny common to that time), most of the stories are entertaining and all of them are interesting from a historical perspective. Check it out if you can get your hands on it, it's a great find. I really got a kick out of several pieces, which run the gamut from more reasonable 'conquered man, driven underground, strikes back at his evil alien oppressors' to the completely ludicrous story about the planets of our solar system hatching into giant space chickens. (That last story is meant to be taken seriously, by the way.) A veritable laundry-list of great, long out-of-print authors and some wonderful writing from the early days of popular science fiction.

This book contains the good old stories from the 1930's. There is nothing great here, but it is till worth reading. You can see the evolution of the Science Fiction field by reading the stories in this book.

This is a clear, honest look inside the world of ICU. Concise, well-written, without the glitz and exaggeration served up by commercial TV in shows such as ER. This gifted physician shares his world view and realistically portrays the complexity and stresses of the day to day operation of an urban intensive care unit. Don't look for sentimentality here, this is more in the realm of science. Good job.

As an ICU nurse, I am often disturbed by the average person's expectations when a family member is treated in our intensive care unit. Too often, we are expected to perform miracles when at best all we can do is delay the course of nature for a few days or weeks while the family adjusts to the concept that their loved one is dying. This is frequently at the expense of the patient who is subjected to a long and uncomfortable death. Dr. Murray paints a true to life picture of what happens in the ICU by providing a day by day journal covering four weeks at San Francisco General Hospital. He provides an enlightening view of critical care that is both compassionate and accurate. His writing style is easy to understand, and the stories he tells of each patient he meets are compelling. He covers all; the successes, the failures, and those in between. Dr. Murray also addresses the ethical dilemmas facing us today regarding self determination and the allocation of scarce resources. A must read if you really want to know what happens to your loved ones in the ICU.

Stories about particular bears and events in the southwest, from the 1820s to the present. Shows the changing attitude toward bears. Written by David Brown, who also wrote the very good book "The Grizzly in the Southwest: Documentary of an Extinction".

I could not put this book down!!! Wonderful stories about the Great Bear that roamed so much of the American West. This is really a history lesson about how our ancestors exterminated the Grizzly mainly due to not fully understanding this animal. Let this be a lesson for present and future generations on how to preserve the American Grizzly.

IT IS A GOOD BOOK FOR WHO WOULD LIKE TO LEARN SOME BASIC MARXIAN CONCEPTS. READERS WOULD FEEL AFTER IT HAS BEEN FINISHED THAT THEY LEARNT MANY UNKONOWN MARXIAN TERMS AND IMPROVED THEMSELVES.

The Book will definitely give you the basics of Karl Marx and Marxism and get you beyond them. The book consists of essays by modern authors on the various concepts of Marx: surplus value, labour power, mode of production, dialectics, labour theory of value, etc.

Marxian Economics is both politics, sociology, economics, history and philosophy, all these discussed in this book. The essays are very easy to follow and understand.

You will crave for more after reading this book.

This book (and its second volume: Military Operations since 1871) are both required texts for my Military History class. Most students claim to only rapidly skim required reading for classes, but I've managed to read everything so far (if that tells you anything). As far as material is concerned, this text is both wide-ranging and thourough, describing the invention and development of military techniques as well as discussing the society and government of the time, and how all these factors influence eachother. Highlighted areas include the Thirty Years War and the development of limited war, and the progression though the Napoleonic Wars to almost complete total war during the War Between the States. This book does an excellent job in tying all these early battles together and showing the overall development of warfare. However, if you are interested in nitty-gritty facts on Waterloo or Gettysburg, find a book specific to that battle instead of the sweeping panoramic view this book provides.

This book is the result of the collaboration of a number of the best military historians in the US today, including Mark Grimsley, George Herring, John Lynn, and many others, skilfully tied together by the editors (who are also major contributors), Professor Ira Gruber of Rice University and Colonel Robert A. Doughty of West Point. The result is an outstanding survey of modern Western military history designed for undergraduate history courses, but easily accessible to the general reader as well. The prose is exceptionally clear and the ideas lucidly presented. These two volumes are definitely focussed on the operational level of the "military art" (i.e. on the planning and conduct of campaigns), with some treatment also of strategy, tactics, and technology, but very litte material on "war and society" subjects (i.e. how wars and military developments have affected society and vice-versa). This makes it especially useful for ROTC military history classes, but it is also a very good introduction to the "sharp end" of military history for scholars or students whose main interests lie in the effects of war, rather than its conduct.

Since I have read a lot of praises about this book I bought it and was astonished to find out that the font size is so small that I have needed a good magnifying glass to have been able to read it. Its other disadvantage is that it's lacking the English-Latin part, so what then, if someone needs to translate from English to Latin s/he should buy another dictionary. It's not a good bargain and I would not recommend it to anyone.

I ordered this dictionary after reading the reviews. I agree with the reviewer from Little Rock; the dictionary is very useful and contains a wealth of information on Latin words. It has been a great help for me in translating poets like Martial and Statius. I have difficulty understanding why the reviewer from Israel did not know this was a Latin to English only dictionary; the title clearly explains the purpose of this book. Also, the entries are a standard dictionary size font; they are not unusually small. Unless you want to buy a copy of the Oxford Latin Dictionary... then this dictionary will suit the needs of translating from Latin into English.

As a teacher of Latin for over 30 years, I highly recommend this dictionary. It is the most complete resource for the money available!! Since serious scholars do not need English to Latin transfers, this should not be a concern. Not only are the number of English meanings for Latin words of large and complete extent, but there are quotations from ancient writers to support how the Latin is used in context. My students from grades 7 through graduate school have used this dictionary with success. The only better one is the large Lewis-Short hardback dictionary.

I have been in fundraising for years and am always looking for additional resources. While the "Dummies" series are good generally, fundraising is too important to be treated superficially.

This book is another fine work by the folks at "For Dummies" - It is a great, basic strategy guide to fundraising. Beginners will find this book useful in all aspects of thier fundraising start-up and operation. It includes great tips on organizing your operation and making it grow.

When I wrote "25 Fundraising Secrets - Raise More Money, Guaranteed," I intended it to be a compilation of strategic stips and "secrets" to fundraising for political campaigns, charities and non-profits. "Fundraising for Dummies" provides an excelent companion to my book by giving you step-by step fundraising instructions to get you started, before you move into the secrets that help you expand and succeed.

In case you've been trapped on a desert island for the past several years, IDG books has been publishing "Dummies"-themed books on every subject under the sun and moon, from Windows 2000 to sex. Fundraising for Dummies is a typically informative, easy-to-read, and useful guide to fundraising for nonprofit organizations.

With 28 chapters in five parts and appendices of checklists and how-tos, the book has loads of information for novice and intermediate fundraisers alike. In fact, it's also a pretty good reference for board members and volunteers involved in fundraising activities.

There is a chapter devoted to predictions on the future of philanthropy in the U.S., with one-paragraph explanations of brief statements, such as "E-giving Will Grow." Most of these predictions are obvious to nonprofit-sector experts (and especially those of us who participate on CharityChannel!). However, I must admit to being intrigued by the idea that "Nonprofits Will Rule!", meaning that, as more for-profits become regional and national in scope, local nonprofits will assume increasing local community leadership influence.

As good as this volume is in its general approaches and many helpful tips and techniques, do not mistake this book for a thorough treatment of the subject or any of its components. I was alarmed by its breezy assertion that nonprofit board service

"...is not as risky as serving on a for-profit board. Nonprofit board members are protected personally from liability in any legal action against their charitable organization..."

Haven't the authors heard of the IRS and Intermediate Sanctions? And, since nonprofit corporations are state-chartered (like their for-profit brethren), wouldn't liability vary from state to state, as well as depending on the facts and circumstances of each case? I would imagine that the D&O liability insurers would like to address this before the second printing!

One benefit of this book I found is one which I'm not sure is intentional. Grant writing is given short coverage in the appropriately-numbered Chapter 13 of the book, thereby providing two subtle reminders that grants are but a minor part of fundraising success.

Any reader interested in the subject will learn much from this book, as long as they don't take its accounting and legal advice too literally.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part 1 -- Gearing Up to Raise Funds

Part 2 -- Getting to Know Your Donor

Part 3 -- Using Your Fundraising Tools

Part 4 -- On the (Fundraising) Campaign Trail

Part 5 -- The Part of Tens

Index

From the first sentence, these stories have a simple, direct tone that is reminiscent of Hemingway. "On the first morning of the training in Bombay, just minutes before she collapsed, Elizabeth Dinakar stood in front of two hundred people in the conference hall, pointed up at the cholera bacteria magnified on the wall in front of her, and said, 'this is your enemy.'"

Every event feels urgent and full of vitality. Though the characters may have feelings that are often ambiguous, the style has a clarity that pulls the reader into the story.

Often in a collection of stories, there is little to indicate how or why these particular stories fit together. Such is not the case here. Thematically, the stories in A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies overlap quite a bit. The first story, "The Hill Station," crosses cultural boundaries, expresses an intimate familiarity with medical professions and explores the emotional isolation of a career professional. Variations on these themes are treated throughout the stories in this collection.

In exploring these themes, the protagonists are frequently introspective. They think and remember and think some more before taking the one decisive action that is pivotal to their lives and the climax of the story. These intensely analytical characters express their emotions through their obsessions. They are beetle collectors, mountain climbers and third world volunteer doctors.

As focused as the themes are between the stories, the settings are diverse. From the top of the Himalayas to the American Midwest, the author captures the essence of these locales and many more besides.

Each location has its own distinct personality that is conveyed by the vegetation and the weather, the sounds and smells, even the very feel of the wind and sun. All this adds richness and depth to this fine collection of stories.

The stories in this collection capture the poignant solitude that everyone faces in their lives from time to time. This is the bright start for Murray's writing career.

Overall, this collection of poignant stories is a treat. They show growth occurring through painful realizations of inadequacy.

I've met so many doctors over the years who have incredible talent in other areas. Some manage to balance a full career and still pursue their painting or their love of the cello until they retire to live amazingly long lives, fueled by their passion on which they can now totally focus.
I don't know what Dr. Murray's agenda will be, but I hope he can manage the balance between writing and a medical career. Murray understands the human heart. He has a great understanding of that one large or small situation or life event that hurls a person into choices they might never have made.
Add to this his knowledge of the exotic world and its suffering about which most of us are totally in the dark, his facinating data, probably collected over a lifetime, regarding entymology, and finally his amazing ability with language, and you've got a tremendous reading experience.
I envy anyone who has yet to read this debut of short stories. I grabbed it from the library after reading two Sunday newspaper reviews. I was so struck by his writing that I immediately sought out a signed edition. I can open it to any page and start reading prose that is closer to poetry.

I didn't quite know what to expect when I rec'd this book as a gift - and therefore I was delighted to discover how very much I loved this debut story collection. The stories overlap, and there is a sense of continuity, of steady progression, often lacking in such books. Most of the characters are scientific professionals fleeing from some tragic or compromising life event, only to find that you can't run away from what's within you.
Beautiful writing, straightforward but metaphorical and symbolic.
Wow...!

The Wealth of Choices is a very entertaining, highly readable introduction to how the internet will impact individual's lives. I would recommend this book if your have not read on this topic previously and would like to get your feet wet. The clear message that Murray delivers is that, for better or worse, your number of choices and responsibilities is going to explode in the future. He does this through numerous anecdotes in areas ranging from choosing your electricity supplier to choosing your hospital to choosing how to manage your retirement savings. Refreshingly, Murray notes not only the positive aspects of this increase in choices and responsibilities but also the downside (do you really want to spend a day figuring out who is lowest cost electricity provider?).

However, what this book does not provide is up-to-date practical advice for how to deal with the increase in choices. For example, the section on internet shopping is particularly dated, and fails to discuss tools such as price comparison shopping bots. Similarly, I would not base any financial decisions on the chapter on investing in the new economy. Much more thorough information on investing for the novice can be found in sources such as W.J. Bernstein's The Intelligent Asset Allocator, Siegel and Bernstein's Stocks for the Long Run, J. Bogle's Common Sense on Mutual Funds : New Imperatives for the Intelligent Investor or even online.......... This is probably the biggest flaw in The Wealth of Choices-there is no major listing of additional references to get more detailed information on any of the topics.

In short, borrow The Wealth of Choices from the library, get some ideas, but spend your money on more thorough books for a reference that you will return to over and over.

Alan S. Murray's book delves into the well-worn themes of globalization and digitization, but manages to differentiate itself from the rest of the New Economy flotilla by offering up specific, practical suggestions on how consumers and business owners can cope. Many of Murray's major points have been presented more effectively in other books, such as Tom Friedman's The Lexus and the Olive Tree. That said, his advice on health care, education and career advancement in the New Economy is useful and easy to understand. So we at getAbstract recommend this book less for its broad overview of the Internet Economy and more for its common-sense wisdom for daily life in a dotcom world. (One caveat: as a result of the recent technology slump, some of Murray's analysis is already somewhat dated.)

"It's a great moment to be alive. Make the most of it."

The book's basic premise is that the economy has changed so much that you have to change your assumptions in order to prosper in terms of your health and money.

The first chapter, Not My Father's Economy, sets this up by sharing the advice his father always gave him and suggesting that these rules no longer apply.

The second chapter is a quiz that lets you test how well you have adapted to the new economic realities. The quiz is on the main points in the rest of the book, so if you do well in any part of that section, you can skip the material on that subject when you get to it later on. A strength of this structure is that it customizes the book for each reader, regardless of how savvy or out of it they are about the new economy.

Then, he shares hiw own experiences in how the new economy has changed for him in chapter 3. You will meet many famous and fascinating figures, such as the Gardner brothers of Motley Fool fame.

Chapters 4-12 are devoted to shopping, health care, education, work, how to spend your time and attention, investing, starting a business, retirement, and privacy (one per chapter). In these chapters, he gives you tips for each area, on-line sources you can access to keep up-to-date, and suggests key operating principles.

Here's a summary of his perspective on the economy: "Today, the basic market principles of competition and choice have swept into every aspect of American life." "The world has gotten smaller; competition has gotten more intense; choices have become more plentiful." "Globalization, deregulation, and digitalization are turning the entire world into a modern version of the Istanbul bazaar." " . . . The power balance, for the first time in the history of capitalism, has shifted in the consumer's favor." He has trouble defining the new economy, and does so with a series of negatives. It isn't very effective, but a definition probably isn't very important for achieving the book's purposes.

For those who like their economics in a qualitative form and in an abbreviated journalistic style, this book will be an excellent source of why the economy has and is changing.

For those who want to know how to get the best deal, this book is invaluable. While all of the other books about the Internet primarily focus on building a business or investing, this one shows how to use the Internet for everyday benefits for everyone. I am sure that many books will follow in this vein, but this is the first one I have seen done from this perspective. He also offers a web site where you can keep up-to-date on on-line sources.

But the real benefit is in helping you see where you may have stalled thinking about what you should be focusing on. The book is highly effective in showing you where to look and what questions to ask. For example, if 88 percent of mutual funds underperform the market averages, why do you own one that is not an index fund? I would give the book more than five stars if I could for this aspect.

The book's main weakness is that you cannot teach someone everything they need to know in each of the areas in a few pages. His reach exceeds his grasp in areas like investing, starting a business, privacy and retiring. Each subject area requires many books to fully understand. You should go find those books and study them. Don't take the advice here too literally.

I also thought that he misunderstands about education. He suggests going for the 'best' education, but seems to automatically equate that with 'brand name' education. Be a little more skeptical than that about the 'brand names' in education. Their product is not what it once was.

After you have read and absorbed the book's lessons, ask yourself how much of your time you really want to spend on making all of these new choices. Then decide which areas you will spend that time on. Even with the tips in this book, you will still find that you will have to ration your attention. I suggest you focus on health care, education, work (or business), and use whatever is left for shopping. But you should decide for yourself!

As with many other countries, Lonely Planet has a very good guide for Ireland. Every city, town, and village are covered in this book. No matter where we were, we could always find something on the location. The index is wonderfully useful for that purpose. There are also some suggested itineraries. My only criticism is that LP seems to have missed many of the excellent guesthouses in Ireland. I would think this should be LP's speciality, so found this aspect disappointing. Still, I would not leave home without LP, on this trip or any other for that matter. Even if you don't want to go the budget route --something many associate with LP -- you will gain from the descriptions of places, restaurant and pub recommendations, maps, history, and more. And despite its reputation, LP does list high-end hotels, castles, and the like. I haven't found a single excellent guide for Ireland, so I suggest doing some internet research before leaving and taking LP and at least one other guide (I like the Blue Guide series).

Bon voyage!!

The Lonely Planet guide book series is by far the best set of books I have found for travel. Let's Go, Rough Guide, Frommer's, etc do not live up to these books. LP offers a great blend of interesting facts (history, etc) with the travel information that we all really want.

I am a student who spent the summer of 1999 traveling through Europe and spring 2000 in ireland. I did read a number of other books before and durring the trip, and will always buy Lonely Planet as they have impressed me as being the best, hands down. If you want to go on a drunken tour, buy Let's Go and end up in the same run down American hostels and American bars as the rest of the American students, but take my word, you will have enough ability to do that with LP, but you will not be forced to either. LP will help you to actually experience the culture, and take in a more European version of Europe than Let's Go, and still give you the opportunity to party like a rock star when you want - its up to you.

It is the most complete and most versitile book I have found. It will cater to budget and intermediate travelers of all ages and groups. I will buy the same series even when I can afford nice resturants and hotels, because LP tells it all.

The same experience is true for my trip this last spring to Ireland. Lonely Planet Ireland is as good as Western Europe, but more detailed.The Lonely Planet guide book series is by far the best set of books I have found for travel. Let's Go, Rough Guide, Frommer's, etc do not live up to these books. LP offers a great blend of interesting facts (history, etc) with the travel information that we all really want.

I am a student who spent the summer of 1999 traveling through Europe - poor, but free. I did read a number of other books before and durring the trip, and will always buy Lonely Planet as they have impressed me as being the best, hands down. If you want to go on a drunken tour, buy Let's Go and end up in the same run down American hostels and American bars as the rest of the American students, but take my word, you will have enough ability to do that with LP, but you will not be forced to either. LP will help you to actually experience the culture, and take in a more European version of Europe than Let's Go, and still give you the opportunity to party like a rock star when you want - its up to you.

It is the most complete and most versitile book I have found. It will cater to budget and intermediate travelers of all ages and groups. I will buy the same series even when I can afford nice resturants and hotels, because LP tells it all.

I just returned from a three month bike tour of Ireland. I had no tour guide; I brought only myself, my bicycle, clothes (of course), and four guide books on Ireland. The one book that I used over and over again, leaving all others tucked abandoned within my pack, was the Lonely Planet guide. The LP guide has detailed chapters on anything and everthing in Ireland, including phone numbers, prices, hours, city maps, hostels, B&B's, hotels etc... It also includes history and facts so that when you do arrive in Ireland and see a castle or a dolmen or the Burren, you will know the story behind it. I can't say enough good things about this guide. If you are going to travel in Ireland, this book is a must!