I found this book to be the perfect tool for putting together that "catch phrase" that will bring customers running to your door. Organized by subject matter instead of alphabet, this book helps you find just what you wanted to say!

Roget was born in England of French parentage and made the development of an English Language Thesaurus his life's work. He gained little recognition in his own lifetime but the results of his endeavours have been diligently embellished and supplemented by generations of academics so that now, when we need another word for the one in our mind, when we are seeking a word but it won't come to mind, when we want to put together that "catch phrase" that will bring our customers running to our door, we reach instinctively for Roget's Thesaurus. They're even a standard part of the kit for most Word Processing programs.

Organized both by subject matter and alphabetically, my Thesaurus is a pleasure to dive into. If I have one problem with it, it's that, having found the word I want, I keep reaing for the pure joy of the language. It's my firm belief that Roget has help keep the English language a rich, multi-cultural language that is understood worldwide.

Comprehensive, deep, perhaps even intellectually orgasimic. The Science of Knowledge contains the most stunning criticisms, elaborations, and evolutions of the Kantian line. Anyone who is disenchanted with modern philsophy and thinks that critical metaphysics is dead should read this book first. Practically every significant problem that is posed in modern philsophy of mind is addressed and solved! Fichte's Transcendental Idealism should become a western Zen Mantra!

Oh yeah, and follow the white rabbit.

The photos in this book show what is possible in the art of model airplane building. After looking through the book you may be tempted (as I was) to throw away all your model planes because the chances are they aren't anywhere near the quality of the ones in this book. But that's what the book is for, to improve the readers skill by showing what is possible. If you build model planes, this book is very worthwhile.

This book is pure joy and one my children love

As a newbie to Novell I was looking for a quick and comprehensive guide. The book explains things that I didn't find in other books I bought before. E.g. connecting local printers to the server. I know nobody does this, but me! And how lan, wan administration works. There is a server console command reference and everything that I needed. I compared the book with all the others that were available with the result: This is quite a good book and the price is not so high.

if your new to spider-man read it it has a lot of stuff to get you started . i got it just to add to my other spider-man books but it has a lot of info on spider-man so i say get even if you know a lot about spider-man still get it. great art in it also.

For fans of both Spider-Man and the X-Men, this isn't one you want to miss! From Spidey's first encounter with the original five X-Men to his later adventures with the other members of the team, this has it all, and then some. Written with a great sense of humor and the characters, this is a real keeper!

This is a reprint of Peter John classic book on experimental designs originally published by MacMillan but now reprinted by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics in their Classics in Applied Mathematics series. The book was written in 1971 and there have been many changes in philosophy for experimental designs since then. Also the revolution in computing has had an influence. In his "Preface to the Classics Edition" John reflects on the state of computing in 1966 when he first contracted to write the book and 1998 when the book was reprinted. He also describes the history of experimental design and extends it to the advances of Taguchi. It was industrial applications that attracted John to do research in experimental designs and he see industry as a rich source for design problems. The text covers all the classical design work with examples from agriculture and industry. It has heavy coverage of incomplete block designs and in Chapter 13 he demonstrates how to construct the various balanced incomplete block designs. There is a lot of theory. Although the title says design and analysis it is primarily a book on designs. Response surface methods and the evolutionary operation approach are also covered....

The mystery of Swiss wines uncovered at last

By way of introduction to this book review I will start out with some brief comments about how I came across "The Surprising Wines of Switzerland", the background for preparing the review, and some observations about the author John Sloan.

Like John, my interest in Swiss wines developed after being transferred to Geneva as part of the international expatriate community. Unlike John, I stayed. In pursuit of my passion for fine wine, and to further develop my knowledge of Swiss wines in particular, I became a member of the Swiss wine association, the "Jeunesse Viti-vinicole de La Côte". La Côte is a Swiss wine region in the Canton of Vaud that extends some 45 km along the shores of lake Geneva (actually lac léman to give it's true name), from the border of Geneva towards Lausanne.

Being the only computer professional in this group of wine professionals, I assumed responsibility for establishing and maintaining the Internet web site for the wine association. The web site now includes a section devoted to books, magazines and other publications dealing with the subject of Swiss wine. In researching the available titles and sources of information to be included in the web site I came across this book by John Sloan. John is a Canadian diplomat who served 4 years at the Canadian Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva and is now based in Tokyo. His book, "The Surprising Wines of Switzerland", first published in 1995, is the only authoritative book on Swiss wine currently available in the English language.

Before giving my own comments on the book, let me provide some comments made by leading wine critics and journalists :

"Switzerland is producing a far wider range of wines than the casual visitor to the ski slopes might imagine.... The problem for outsiders is finding more information.... Canadian Diplomat John C. Sloan has written and published an admirably thorough ... guide, The Surprising Wines of Switzerland.... Jancis Robinson THE FINANCIAL TIMES

"The book is in no way a compliant tourist brochure. In 280 pages, he addresses the various facets of Swiss wines, from their history to their vinification processes via a description of the vineyards, the grape varieties, a selection of the best producers.... He should, by default, become an ambassador to the English speaking world." Cristian Bernet JOURNAL DE GENÈVE

"John C. Sloan describes Swiss wines in their broadest context; their history and the landscape, the science of wine making, folklore, little-known facts and tasting notes are all reported as thoroughly as those who make our wine could do. Criticism, where appropriate, is not missing. I can recommend this book with confidence." Hanns U. Christen (-sten) BASEL ZEITUNG from the German

To the above "expert" reviews I would now like to add my own personal comments. To start with I will refer back to the title of this review - "The mystery of Swiss wines uncovered at last". Why the title? Because, when reviewing other available wine books such as Sotheby's Encyclopaedia of Wine, any reference to Swiss wines is usually limited to a few lines that state something to the effect that the majority of Swiss wines are usually comprised of Chasselas, a white neutral wine, lacking in distinctive taste, rarely exported, and designed to accommodate local Swiss taste as an aperitif or to enjoy with Swiss cheese fondu. This does not exactly stimulate the informed wine connoisseur to seriously pursue the exploration of Swiss wine. However, John Sloan, through his extensive research, interviews, and visits with wine makers throughout Switzerland, has prepared the first comprehensive and authoritative work on this subject which is reflected both in the title of the book, and the accompanying sub-title "A practical guide to Switzerland's best kept secret".

What are the secrets? There are so many that only reading the book will reveal all. But just to give some insight, few people know that Switzerland is host to the highest commercial vineyards in Europe located at Vispertermin in the Canton of Valais. Here you will find wines made from the Heida and the Rèze grapes. Heida has been grown since the middle ages and there are references to this wine dating back to 1586. The Rèze is another one of the oldest and increasingly rare speciality wines of Valais. It is used as a foundation for the sherry-like "Vin des Glaciers". Then there are the wines made from the Petit Arvine, the Amigne, and the Findling grape which is a Müller-Thurgau clone found in Geneva. The wide diversity of grapes provides the reader with an abundance of opportunities to explore and enjoy some of the unique wines of this remarkable wine producing country. Even the much maligned Chasselas, which in France is enjoyed as a table grape, provides wines that are as distinctive as the wine regions that produce them. The neutrality of the grape enables the wine maker the opportunity to express the "terroir" (soil and climate) of the region, and even the vineyard, that it is grown.

I heartily recommend this book. The reader will not only discover Swiss wines, but will also learn a great deal about the Swiss wine regions, the grape varieties, wine making styles, future trends for Swiss wines and not forgetting the "Fête des Vignerons" which seems to be the world's largest and oldest wine festival. The "Fête" held every 25 years in Vevey near Montreux, has continued without break since the 1700's. The wine festival is celebrated in music, dance and parades, plus wine tastings of course, involving up to 40'000 participants seen by some 500'000 visitors over several days.

In closing I can do no better than echo the words of John Sloan from his introduction to this book. Swiss wines are generally not well known beyond the borders of Switzerland. They certainly deserve a wider, international appreciation. Wine lovers, in their never-ending search for fine wines which are novel, uncommon or singular can profitably investigate the varied offerings from Switzerland's alpine vineyards. "The Surprising Wines of Switzerland" is a welcome addition to the library of all wine enthusiasts.

philipweights@yahoo.com Geneva April 3, 2000