Before I bought "Exploring Medical Language" I knew absolutely nothing, and I mean nothing about Medical Terminology.
And to tell you the truth, when I first opened this huge, intimidating, monster of a book, It scared... me... I mean, wouldn't "rhabdomyosarcoma" or "esophagogastroduodenoscopy"
frighten you (just a bit) I thought, nooooo way.

But I opened it, read it, did the cool excersises, listen the the audio tapes, played a bit with the CD-R.

She begins at the beginning.....Little baby steps.

All of a sudden... I was like, I get it! I really get it!
Not only that, but I was beginning to enjoy it.

The prefix, suffix, and word roots suddenely become beautiful, flowing words that make sense.
Myrna LaFleur Brooks made this book come alive, interesting, and allowed medical language to become a little bit like music.
Well, a little!!!! Thanx for the "A" Myrna!

I'm currently using this book as a supplemental text for my paramedic training. We've just finished cardiology, and I couldn't have done it without this text. I already owned Phalen, Dubin, and Huff; all are good, but the Huszar text is now the one I go to first when I have a question about ECG's. There are a multitude of practical illustrations, tables, and review questions. Best of all is the 200-and-some strips for practice in the appendix. Highly recommend!!

It is a great book for those who is WWI aviation fun. It gives you description of all victories of Voss, Immelmann, Goring and Red Baron's young brother. It also gives short biographies of their unlucky adversaries and if they managed to survive the war their consequent life achievements. WWI aviafuns, you MUST read it.
On the otehr hand it is NOT the book you want to introduce yourself with to the subject

It is a well written book describing all documented vitories of four German Aces. The book gives the dates and details (if available) of fights and biographies of their opponents. Its structure resembles the structure of "Under the guns of the Red Baron".
Those who are not accustomed to this type of literature will consider it dry and should read something more general about WWI aviation before buying this particular book. For WWI aviation fans its MUST TO READ.

This book is not only a treasure trove of historical information, it also manages to evoke the humanity of the Great War. The authors have tracked down tons of information on Richthofen's victims - where and when they were born, some tidbits of their lives, where they were buried and who they left behind (or what became of them after the war if they survived). The book seems to reveal two sides of Richthofen, too - sometimes, a cold-blooded hunter, other times, more of a sportsman who delighted in meeting his adversaries after defeating them.

The authors have also very, very carefully investigated each confirmed 'kill' to try to determine which Allied loss, if any, it was - and in the process exposed the difficulties and inconsistencies in identifying enemy aircraft, determining what happened to them, and recording all the information correctly. Not surprisingly, their research has revealed that some of the 'victims' may have made it home after all - and that perhaps Manfred did not claim every enemy he shot down.

The book is packed with wonderful photographs, of victims and aircraft and, of course, Richthofen himself. There are color paintings of ten of the victories, along with the artist's comments on some of the historical accuracies and liberties he took.

The only problem - and one that is easily overlooked - is some sketchy editing. Some of the text is not as clear as it could be, and some of the text is not well organized.

Massive amoumts of research were obviously put into this book.UNDER THE GUNS OF THE RED BARON recounts every single one ofRichtofen's eighty enemy kills, and, the death of the Baron himself. It also contains a short biography of the pilots who were shot down, and what plane the victims were piloting. Although this may not be your typical history book, it should be in every aviation enthusiasts bookshelf.

The author goes over the history of fighter tactics and compairs the aircraft that were adverseries. Their strengths and weaknesses. He explains the changes that were made, the mistakes and triumphs. Illustrated examples of the tactics used by some of the "Aces". The examples cover from WWI (1914) to The Falklands War (1982)and Bleriots to Sea Harriers.

This book is in two parts, one covering Bloody April, by Franks, and one covering Black September, by Guest. Each part starts with a brief description of the orders of battle and the main objectives, then goes into a daily narrative of all the combats: planes, pilots, squadrons, times, and places of all fights, along with the claims and losses for each side. Each day ends with a grim list of Allied casualties and a comparison of the total claims of both sides to the actual losses for which records exist. Interspersed in the catalog of each day's events are snippets from personal accounts and interesting historical comments.

As a statistical handbook, the book is invaluable. However, the authors make little attempt to analyze the fighting in the depth that their obviously vast collection of data would allow. The book is essentially a narrative of the dry facts of the encounters. Who ordered all these missions and why? Who planned them? How, in detail, did the squadrons carry out their various task? What did the average pilot in 57 Squadron think about going out again the day after a massacre at the hands of the Jastas? And most importantly, who won? One reads of the battles fought and their outcomes, but what about the planes that saw no enemies? What percentage of the RFC's missions were successful even in the slaughter of Bloody April? Such information would have been of great assistance to the reader and made the book a more complete reference work.

This is a very good book. If you are a modeller, so buy it. If you, like me, is just interested on this subject, buy it as well. Comprehensive photo material and superb color plates. Unlike in Albatros Aces, this time Mr. Franks has added a good number of accounts, some personal, of the events about the units and the men who fought in and against the famous, although short lived, Fokker triplane, the "Red Baron" included. Excellent.

Having just seen the show that this text accompanies, I can highly recommend this catalog to those painters and viewers who enjoy Auerbach's work. As with all reproductions of wonderfull paintings these ones are not able to convey the physical/visual illusion contained in the work. They are very good however and the accompaning text informative. Auerbach has already created a great body of work and seeing it across the hall from an amazing Rembrandt exhibit, also at the Royal Academy, gives hope to the future of painting when it's obituary is beeing written tacitly by so many.

The Jasta War Chronology is a first rate piece of research, and such is nothing less than what one could expect from Norman Franks and his fellow contributors. If you are looking for a book to read cover to cover then this is not it. But valuable research it is. Simply put, it is a compilation of various raw records into a refined system which allows the reader to track the daily claims and losses of German fighter units in World War One. In essence, it fits as close to a primary source document as most can get regarding this topic, and the reader is able to follow nearly every German pilot's career. The additional explanitory notes are highly valuable, as they often show the name of the Allied flyers shot down, and their fate. One can use this material to cross-reference it to other lists and reports in order to fill in gaps regarding certain aspects of WW I aviation. Franks and his crew have certainly done their homework, and this is a "must" reference work for any serious student of WW I aviation.

This is the story of Germany's great WWI ace Oswald Boelcke. Boelcke developed many of the air combat principles that are still valid today. He was also a great ace himself, shooting down 40 enemy aircraft. Much of the book is made up of letters and diary entries written by Boelcke himself,which makes the book as much autobiograph as biography.