This really is an excellent book, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is best known for Sherlock Holmes, of course, but he was also an excellent science fiction author of his time, up there with Wells, Verne and the rest, and a wonderful writer in general. The Poison Belt starts off rather humorously then become intense, sad, and joyful in turn. Professor Challenger is another larger than life character, and he is also Doyle's favorite creation, not Holmes. I enjoy the Sherlock Holmes books, but I really do like Doyle's underrated sci-fi better.

This is an excellent book creating suspense as our solar system passes through a poision belt in the cosmic web and explains beautifully the effects of a supposed poisen on our solar system. The Reader of this book will wonder that has Sir ever been an attendent of Dr. Einstein or Sir has himself teleported himself to the Deep Space and visualised the passing of 9 planets into etheral poisen.

Holmes' essay is fantastic and would be a great read prior to or following any trip to Egypt. The similarities 100 years since is amazing. The changes are intriguing. I read a library version of this book but decided to buy it for myself for reference and for the great collection of photos. The introductory essays were helpful to understand the Holmes' role in American history.

At last...a definitive book analyzing the films of Fred Zinnemann. All of the articles are good, but the article concerning The Nun's Story, Zinnemann's neglected masterpiece is brilliantly written by the editor, Mr. Nolletti. It is gratifying at last to see Zinnemann vindicated after falling out of favor and out of the conciousness of film critics. The Nun's Story, much honored in 1959, is now only a footnote in film history. Mr. Nolletti has detailed the greatness of this greatest of Zinnemann's films.

This book was very helpful. As an engineer at a zeolite manufacturing company, the book was very informative. The book enabled me to have a greater understanding of the processes in which our products are used.

I read this novella after I saw the film on Bravo. As good as that was the book is a hundred times better. Uhlman depicts a beautiful friendship between to young men that is ravaged by the insane hatred that was so prevalent during the Third Reich. In such a short work Uhlman is able to create characters that are entirely fleshed out, entirely real. The ending is a killer. I highly recommend this title.

I read some of the other reviewers' comments before buying this book. I thought: 'come on...! it cannot be that good'. I was wrong, Reunion's even better than that. The book was a delight to read, but the ending devastated me like no other book in 30 years of reading has even come close to. I cannot think of anything (Tolstoi's Hadji Murad, Kafka's Concerns of a family man, Shakespeare's Lear) that has the same emotional impact of this little book. I know, I know... It's too much. Well, read the book and see.

and Reunion is the most perfect, delicate small great jewel I have ever found ( Only 120 pages and Prologued by another genius )
It delves deeply into the moral aspects of the human soul, while weaving a unique friendship among 2 worlds represented by 2 teenagers in the pre Second War World, in Dusserldolf: A jew and a German...
If you aprecciate deeply the delicacy and talent of a friend...make him/her this amazing gift of love

Arthur Magida has done a fantastic job of bringing the details and motivations behind a shocking crime to light. Far more than a journalist's recounting of events, the author sheds valuable insight on the meaning of faith, congregation, community, and spiritual leadership. He skillfully weaves the facts of the crime and investigation with the disturbing details of the Rabbi's narcissistic, sociopathic personality traits. The reader is taken inside the congregation and made to understand how Rabbi Neulander captivated an entire congregation, seduced several of its members, and came to believe he was above the laws of man. A captivating story from beginning to end that forces us to look inside and to question those in whom we place our faith and trust.

This book should come with a disclaimer: Read only on a weekend when you don't have early morning plans.
Magida effectively portrays Fred Neulander as the rabbi from hell: a sociopath who breaks every possible commandment while abusing the trust of his congregation and community, not to mention his profession. That Neulander meets up with Janoff, the hitman, is tragic karma for Janoff, the classic loser, who is easily manipulated by this evil man. Had the two not met, Neulander would have found some other mechanism through which to kill Carol.
This book demonstrates Magida's journalistic skill. He does not moralize but rather salts his narrative with quotes from Jewish sources that leading the reader to conclude that Neulander's lifelong behavior and choices represent an inversion of normative Jewish values and ethics.
I hope that Magida sells the film rights to this book to a foreign director. I don't know if an American could capture the sense of "film noir" that the story demands.

Jewish Bulletin of Northern California -- 6/13/03

"Magida's cast seems to have been recruited from the dank, smoke-filled and, invariably, black-and-white alleyways and barrooms more commonly conjured by Philip Marlowe or Raymond Chandler.... Yet this is not make-believe, but horribly, vividly and even nauseatingly real.... The result is a dense yet tightly paced retelling that reads like a top-notch crime novel and has more angles than a dodecahedron....
"... a thoroughly entertaining and satisfying read... Magida's writing demonstrates his backbreaking research and is spiced with just enough emotion and personality to avoid the banal tone of daily newspaper reporting but not dip over the top into a morality play."

In the story of Puss In Boots, a miller dies and leaves one of his sons nothing but the cat. This cat turns out to be quite clever and earns the favor of the King for his master. The cat also obtains land and a castle for his master and gives him the title of the Marquis of Carabas. The King becomes so impressed by the Marquis that he offers his daughter's hand in marriage, and the simple miller's son becomes a prince. The use of clever illustration makes this book an effective piece of folk lore. "Narrative Expectations: The Folklore Connection" discusses the basic pattern of a folktale. The article states that every folktale begins with the main character of the story being no different from or more special than any other character. Then, out of nowhere, the character is boosted into a "supernatural world" and all of a sudden he is moved up to higher society and viewed as a hero (67). This resembles the plot pattern of Puss In Boots, with the Marquis being the average character who becomes a hero. This jump to a higher level of society out of luck is strangely enough realistic in the twenty-first century. With things like inheritance, lotteries, and the stock market, a person of today could easily go from the poor miller's son to a "prince." However, this is not a common occurrence. The article also states that folklore "functions in part as an informal system for learning the daily logic and worldview of the people around us (71)." The author chooses not to use human characters to represent Master Slyboots and the rich ogre. He could have done this easily with illustration by making Master Slyboots a servant boy and the ogre a Marquis. Instead, he uses an informal style, placing animal characters in the book. This represents a higher level: Using animals in contrast to humans in order to show the differences in people as a whole.

This new translation of the "fairy" story first presented by Charles Perrault (1628-1703) in his Tales of Mother Goose in 1697 was illustrated by Fred Marcellino and translated by Malcolm Arthur. It was a 1991 Caldecott Honor book (that is, a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustrations in a book for children. The youngest son of a recently deceased miller receives a cat as his inheritance. He feels that he will soon die of starvation (after he has eaten the cat) since he has no other possessions. But, the cat convinces him to get him boots. The cat proceeds to find a fortune and a position for his young master.

I regularly visit school classrooms and read aloud to children from Kindergarten through eighth grade. Finding books that appeal to more than one grade level is a challenge.

I have found that the pictures in this version of 'Puss' appeal immensely to kindergartners through third graders. (Fourth and Fifth grade children also like it, but are often embarassed to say so in a classroom setting!). Children who often have a hard time sitting still for a story have sat transfixed as I read this book, holding the pictures in front of them all the time and giving them lots of opportunities to check out the wonderful use of light and color. The illustrator uses a lot of wonderful yellow that is very appealing to young children and seems to draw them into the book. I love reading this book out loud both to see children's reaction and also because I love the detail and color in the pictures.

Reading this book aloud has also sparked some beautiful art work from young children.

This book is one of a number of Professor Challenger adventures of Sir A. C. Doyle. A noted zoologist (Challenger) has come across evidence that there is a plateau in South America that can be reached from deep in the Amazon rain forest in which prehistoric animals still exist. An expedition of four (Challenger, a sceptical zoologist named Summerlee, a noted hunter (Lord John Roxton), and Edward Malone, a journalist) sets out to verify this report. The arguing and interactions between the academics is interesting in that little seems to have changed in the last 87 years! It should be noted that Doyle isolates the plateau so that there is minimal interaction with the rest of the rain forest (thus, the dinosaurs can't escape). But, why couldn't the ptereodactyls spread out? This story was one of the earliest "Lost World" tales and has been made into a film a number of times. Other stories in this sub-genre owe much to Doyle and Challenger.

Professor George E. Challenger, noted scientist, says dinosaurs are still alive, and he knows where to find them. The scientific community says he's a madman or a fraud, or both. Challenger's only evidence is a bunch of blurry photographs. Fellow scientists say the photos are obviously doctored and the newspapers call it a fantasy. Boiling with rage, Challenger goes into seclusion. Anyone foolish enough to bring up the tender subject around him is liable to end up in the gutter outside his house, with a few extra lumps for the gutter press.

The only reporter brave, or stupid, enough to face the professor's wrath and get the story is Edward Malone, young, intrepid journalist for the Daily Gazette. At a boisterous scientific meeting, Professor Summerlee, a rival scientist, calls Challenger's bluff. Summerlee will return to South America and prove Challenger wrong. The young journalist volunteers to go along. Lord John Roxton, the famous hunter, can't miss an opportunity to return to the jungle and adds his name to expedition. Professor Challenger is happy they are taking him seriously, even if they don't all believe him. But what will they find in South America? A strange, living time capsule from the Jurassic period filled with pterodactyls and stegosaurs? Or will they only find vast tracks of endless jungles and Challenger's daydreams? Either way there will be danger and adventure for all.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote "The Lost World" in 1912 for the Strand magazine, the same magazine that published his Sherlock Holmes stories. It's a great Edwardian science-fiction adventure, although some may not like the British Imperialism and Darwinian racism. Still, in "The Lost World" Conan Doyle lets his hair down a little. Changing narrators from the earnest Doctor John Watson to the rash reporter Edward Malone makes for a big change. There is a good deal more humor. The students in the scientific meetings are forever yelling out jokes at the expense of nutty Professor Challenger. Affairs of the heart play a big role in Malone's life. He matures from a young swain out to impress his girlfriend to more of a wistful man-of-the-world by the end. It is a very different Conan Doyle than some are used to reading. Different, but just as good, maybe, dare I say it, even better.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created a classic dinosaur adventure story when he wrote The Lost World in 1912. The tale's narrator, Ned Malone is a newspaper reporter who joins an expedition to the wilds of the Amazon to impress his girlfriend. However, he scarcely anticipates the dangers he will confront when the expedition's leader, zoology professor George Challenger takes them to a plateau filled with dinosaurs and ape men.
Doyle's human characters are described much more richly than Michael Crichton's minimally interesting protagonists in Jurassic Park (1990), so the story hinges as much on Challenger's eccentricities as it does on dinosaur attacks or Ned Malone's quest for validation of his masculine bravado. A weakness is the lack of female characters worthy of more than passing note. Ned's fickle and heartless girlfriend makes only brief and displeasing appearances at the beginning and end of the tale. Crichton does no better with females.
Hopp's Dinosaur Wars, published in 2000, does a much better take on genders, giving equal weight to a young male/female pair who brave the dangers of dinosaurs loose in modern-day Montana. It seems that even dinosaur fiction has evolved over the years.

The problem that I have with this book is that it is outdated. 1984 was a long time ago in the scientific world. The Bohr model of elements is no longer the gold standard. I would love to see this book updated. However, I have found it to be invaluable as a study guide.

I enjoyed the first 9 chapters of basic chemistry but my interest slowed with the steady diet of formulas. I think it's an excellent reference book and a book that would go very well with an outline course. I miss some of the examples given in standard books. But a very good primer.

For the person who needs to understand enough Chemistry to help their child get through High Scool Chemistry it is most helpful. It is a very logical presentation of the basic ideas. It can be used as a supplemental book to a Chemistry course.

One of the most frustrating, useless, and difficult textbooks I have had in 20 years of school. I'm startled to see favorable reviews of this textbook as it is completely unhelpful as a reference or educational tool for anyone actually trying to learn Mechanics of Materials. The examples are difficult to follow. The text is overbearing. The figures are confusing. An awful textbook.

One of the best reference books to have on the shelf, although some others may be better as course textbooks.

I was searching for a text book dealing with the concepts of Advanced Mechanics of Materials and found the right choice.One can undoubtedtly go ahead in buying this book as it vividly explains the concepts...