I often fantasize about going back in time and attending conference proceedings I've missed. Shelter Island comes to mind, the first Pugwash. Feynman, am I sorry I missed this one. I like this one so damned much that I sacrificed my copy to my junior genius at Bohr in Copenhagen. I am an idiot. That copy had all my notes.

Because graphic methods are very popular in statistics, when you read the title you might think this is a book on the use of graphics in statistics. That is not what the book is about. The directed graph on the cover might be a hint for some. The book deals with the theory of undirected and directed graphs which has applications to causal modeling in statistics and the development of expert systems (which Edwards claim are now more commonly referred to as probabilistic networks).

This subject is being made popular again based on the recent work of Edwards, Pearl and a few others. The book incorporate the approach in many classical statistical problems. This is not commonly seen except in specialized texts on latent variable models.

Edwards discusses implementation of the methods with the freeware MIMS that is available in Denmark and on the web. The book is very well written and applications in MIMS are given throughout the text. Edwards also provides us with an excellent list of references (over 200 with many on causal modeling).

The software LISREL produced by researchers in the US at UCLA for latent variable and path analyses is only briefly mentioned on page 217. The lack of coverage of American and British publications on this topic is the only drawback I see.

Dr. Ed Rozar was a cardiac surgeon who contracted AIDS during a surgical procedure. His story is touching and very inspiring. He and his family could have fallen apart, because it seemed that his career would have to end, not even considering battling the disease itself. Their faith in God and the love of friends, while not curing the disease, has helped him to live "Laughing in the Face of AIDS". Alot of information and answers for some common concerning HIV/AIDS.

It seems the most popular budget classical music label, Naxos, not only makes most of the Western musical output available at very reasonable prices (no top stars who demand absurd fees make this possible), but it has also issued three very nice boxed sets of recordings on cassettes and CDs (I have the latter) that together give you a quick, fairly accurate, and quite enjoyable survey of three major topics. Perry Keenlyside's (NA 314412) is on three tapes or CDs and more or less delivers what the title promises in about 3 hours and 40 minutes. The text is considerately divided into sections--"Mozart, the child prodigy," "January 1762, the first journeys," "Paris and London, 1763-4," and so on--with tracking cues for each section. The narration and quotations from letters and journals of the time are accompanied by the appropriate music drawn from the bottomless Naxos catalogue. Nigel Anthony is the narrator, aided by Paul Rhys (Mozart), Edward de Souza (Leopold Mozart), with David Timson and Anna Patrick in "other parts." I have not seen the original books to see how much of an abridgment this is, if at all, but that is immaterial. The voices are personable, the information digestible, the whole project very worth while, especially at the price. My only objection to the Naxos recordings of books in the low recording level that makes it a bit difficult to hear on a walkman set up on (say) a noisy train. But this should offer no problem to home hearing or even in your car. These sets are really perfect listening for long trips.

This superb period work, the honeymoon project of a remarkable LIFE Magazine photographer/journalist couple (10 months, 30,000 miles, thousands of photos), constitutes "a chronicle of American Writers from 1607 to 1952." Rather than shooting a "sentimental array of personal relics," the authors opted for a "pioneering use of photographs to interpret literature," capturing the "nature, mood and quality of the writing" of 93 seminal American literary men and women by photographing America as they had seen her.

Hence, the subjects vary as widely as do the writers' niches within the "recurring spirit of revolt and reform" that is found to emerge. There are landscapes, such as Washington Irving's Sleepy Hollow, Willa Cather's Nebraska plains, Robinson Jeffer's Pacific seacoast; urban domains such as Ben Franklin's cobblestone Philadelphia, Dos Passos' Gotham skyline, Ring Lardner's tropical Grand Hotel, and Sandburg's Chicago stockyards; small town vignettes including New England farmsteads, Midwest general stores, and various country inns, mills, and "great houses"; and such psychic interpolations as John Steinbeck's long road, Sinclair Lewis' hypocritical Main Street, and all too many authors' derelicts, shanties and ruins.

Regardless of subject, the compositions evince an expert eye and sympathetic heart. Even Thoreau's cliched pond is freshly interpreted as a dawn study in receding shadow and rising mist. The shots taken from Emily Dickinson's bedroom windows, or along a deeply embanked stretch of Mississippi's legendary Natchez Trace highroad, are alone worth the price of admission.

Production values are high in this 50's era Dodd Mead, BOTM Club Dividend publication: heavy, glossy paper only slightly browning with age does justice to the full tonal range of the superbly composed images. Many of the shots (Wolfe's Asheville; Twain's Virginia City) have themselves become historically significant records of a "today" long since replaced by much more of considerably less. The "concise biographical material" on the writers whose worlds the 179 photos depict are designed to "place [them] in the unfolding literary scene" beginning with Captain John Smith over 300 years beforehand, and continuing through 1952 with mention of the "promising" newcomer, Eudora Welty. The mostly black dust jacket ties it all together with a mythic aerial shot of a 19th century steamboat "headed south, below Memphis" on a gloriously golden-hued stretch of Mark Twain's beloved Old Muddy.

Many of these writers are no longer considered major, if they ever were. No matter - they fill out an American panorama, and their stories and the hauntingly atmospheric images that interpret them are worth returning to again and again, for something that goes a bit beyond mere nostalgia, I think; or if not, then as broadly American a nostalgia as we can realistically hope for, at least through a survey of our literary heritage.

This parasitology textbook is the highlight of my second year in medical school. Most of my classmates do not rely on this book as their study tool, but to me, it is everything that will help me get through my parasitology course. The details regarding pathological symptoms, treatment and diagnostic methods are very clear and easy-to-read. A must for medical students taking parasitology!

David Cooper does a fantastic job of selecting key excerpts from the great works in Metaphysics covering the dawn of Greek philosophy up through Heidegger. He also includes some key Eastern texts, something missing from many anthologies. Cooper organizes the works in a logical, historical progression and situates them nicely with brief introductions to each selection. This is a very good textbook for any Metaphysics course and also a good purchase for any student of lover of philosophy who simply doesn't have the time or moneyto read through the entire texts of Kant, Heidegger, Schopenhauer, Spinoza, etc. Also, in reading through massive, difficult texts such as The Critique of Pure Reason or Being and Time it can be hard to know exactly what you are looking for. What Cooper does is cut to some of the most relevant sections of these works. I feel that dealing with the primary texts is necessary and rewarding for those teaching or taking Metaphysics. For all of those people, I would highly recommend this book.

I happen to be a Dartmouth grad (1934) but I believe this compilation will convey to any interested reader more than just the history of this venerable Ivy League institution. It will also acquaint him/her with the distinct flavor of this institution which is so "miraculously builded" in the hearts of all who have studied there, or even visited the campus. (This title is from a song that is a favorite of the glee club). Why do I believe this? Well, the editors included just about every essay, song and poem that we alums best recall, plus many others with which I at least was not familiar. As am example, if you buy the book, be sure to read "My Dog Likes It Here" by Corey Ford. That alone will give you a picture of what makes Dartmouth and Hanover tick. And President Eisenhower's widely quoted address to the college's commencement exercises about burning the books is included to give readers a look at how the outside world views the academic side of college life. I could go on citing the very complete contents of this fascinating compilation, but perhaps I've said enough to convey my enthusiasm. All I can suggest is that I am convinced that a perusal of them will, I am sure, be well worth your time and effort.

An important review of heart disease from fetal life through adolescence. Very well written and quite clear and complete. No reference library on congenital heart disease is complete without this book

A young girl learns about love and friendship as she faces losing Charlie, her beloved pet, who can't move to the city with her. Despite her understanding of her cat's country needs, the girl is saddened at the thought of losing her best companion and her parents help her to understand.