This book is really neat for those of you trying to boggle yourmind with brain puzzles. One of my favorites is "If King Midassits on gold, who sits on silver?" (You'll have to figure that out on your own) Anyway, it is very funny and makes you laugh at yourself when you see the answers to some!

Some people can travel through or even live in a place without wondering about its history or the origin of its name. I'm not like that, which is what makes this book such an interesting and useful tool -- whether traveling here in Washington, or just browsing at home.

I mean, you gotta wonder: Is Humptulips as vaguely rude as it sounds? Who or what was Sedro Wooley? Who fought whom at Battle Ground? Did Startup get its name because that's where you 'start up' into the mountains (and what if you're coming the other direction)? And what about the whole Snohomish-Skykomish-Swinomish-Suquamish-Skokomish-Sammamish mess? This book is an excellent reference for getting to the bottom of it all. Not only cities and towns, but mountains, counties, rivers -- nearly everything with a name (except roads, bridges, and buildings) is listed here.

I do have to note, though, that although this book has been updated at least through the 1990s, it neglects to mention that King County, Washington, was 'renamed' in 1986. It no longer honors former US vice president William Rufus de Vane King, but is in fact now named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (this is true; you can look it up). Apart from that oversight, though, I recommend this title highly for people like me who can't help wondering why where they are, is what it is.

You can't drive through Washington, watch tv news or read a newspaper without this book. Along w/ a map, you can become a true Washingtonian. This book is fascinating.

This book is not only educational, it's also entertaining. Learn why Auburn isn't called Slaughter anymore, and what the original names of that town we call Bellingham really were. Anyone with a historical bent will love this book.

As a psychologist who has MVPS, I was surprised by the comments about personalities. This is my area of expertise and research. To date there are no studies to support any particular personality with MVP. As the book states, chest pain can be fearful-that goes for anyone with any type of chest pain. Nothing new learned there. Authors have lots of speculation. Stories of others with MVP will help you learn that you are not alone. However, most other MVP books help with this. On a positive note, we can always use books on MVPS to increase the visibility of this syndrome. Only wish this was more medically based. I agree with a previous commentary that references are to a newsletter-not evidenced based medicine!

Unlike a few others, I found that there was some good concrete evidence in this book. I have found that the kind of evidence a researcher looks for is quite hard to find on the topic of Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome. The original writer and researcher in this field, Lyn Frederickson, wrote the first and definitive book on this topic back in 1988. I would disagree with another reviewer and say that Ms. Scordo's book (rather than leading the way) basically restates Ms. Frederickson's work while discounting the need for medication and relies totally on exercise , meditation and alternative therapies. This new book delves more deeply while crediting Ms. Frederickson and gives the latest information including biological, physical and medicational aspects of the syndrome. Although Ms.Frederickson's book is now out of print I think it only proper to give her the credit she deserves.

What a great book! This is a must read for anyone with the syndrome, or if they know anyone with it. It gives you wonderful insights on how to deal with Mitral Valve Prolapse. The chapters on nutrition, and medicine goes a long way on helping you understanding what you can do to give yourself a better quality of life. If you only read one book on this subject make sure this is the one. You will wonder why someone did not write a book like this before. What I really liked about this book is that it was written by people who deal with this syndrome on a daily basis since they have it.

Although I have read literally thousands of histories, geographies, and anthropologies over the years, I had always avoided Michener thinking he was a "popular writer" not an academic. After reading 'IBERIA', I know now that not only is he popular but is a knowledgable and insightful observer and analyst. He writes about Spain in a personal yet authoritative manner and manages to cover most of the major themes of the Spanish way of life without being pedantic. The only shortcoming I would ascribe to this book is that being written almost 40 years ago towards the end of the Franco regime, the book, in parts, is dated by more recent developments in Spanish history, politics, and societal change. This, of course, is to be expected in a book largely a history of then contemporary Spain. Michener has given us a snapshot of Spain as he knew it during the 1930's, '40s, '50s and '60s. Although Spain has changed along with and in many cases more than other parts of the world due to not having changed much for so long, Michener's descriptions and insights remain largely accurate and relevant even for readers in the 21st century. Even if some anachronisms are included, they still hold interest as a description of how much Spain has changed in the 25 years since Franco's death.

This is not like most Michener books, which are generally fictional; this is his personal travelogue of his impressions of many travels all over Spain. It should be understood that it was published in the late 1960s and that much has since changed in Spain since that time. While 'Iberia' is normally taken (in the USA, at least) to incorporate Portugal, Michener is writing almost exclusively about Spain in this book.

Michener clearly loved Spain and knew many Spaniards as friends. He discusses Spain's history, culture, art, literature, dance, geography, sports, and spirituality. Rather than putting all that into nice neat little buckets, he weaves it all together to paint an entrancing picture of the Spanish soul as he knows it.

Unlike many such authors, Michener uses photos very carefully to illustrate aspects of Spanish culture, from the assuredly adamant eyes of the Guardia Civil to the warm smiles of the poorest people. He also takes a lot of time to explain words that are difficult to translate and what they tell us about Spanish culture.

Recommended with equal enthusiasm whether from the viewpoint of history, religion, culture, or art. Also of special value to those living in Spanish-speaking countries or regions with large Hispanic populations, as Spain's influence on those cultures, as a mother country, is readily apparent.

Bravo, Sr. Michener. Faltan mucho a Ud.

As an avid fan of Michener's fiction, I decided to pick this book up to see how Michener dealt with nonfiction. I can without hesitation say that Michener is at his best in this genre. "Iberia" is a stunning achievement of meticulous care and fascinating recounting of events.

His account of Spain, though dated now by thirty years, made me feel as if I were there travelling side by side with Michener. It is wonderfully detailed and always engaging. There are long sections that are just descriptions of art and architecture, and being the art philistine that I am, these became a bit tedious. Still, my appreciation of these passages came less from the art described than from the obvious passion with which Michener describes them...

This book is a must-read.

This text is very insightful and wounderfully written, however, I would consider using this book solely for lectures and theory. There are very few examples and and many topics are simply glossed over. If you would like to have a great deal of "head knowledge" in regards to PowerBuilder, this is the text for you. If you are a hands on developer, this book will leave you stranded, smart, but stranded! If you have a need to go into a meeting knowing all the buzz-words and PowerBuilderees, buy this book.

If you want to develop systems for your clients, keep surfing!

The author did say that "this is not a tutorial", he's right, it's not a tutorial, it's not even a reference text. Save your money!

I almost did not buy this book. I read the reviews and the book received a pretty bad review from one reader. Fortunately I found it in the book store and took a look at it - I was impressed. This is a pratical book for experienced developers, not Sybase promotional literature. It covers a lot of advanced material (with examples) and the authors seem to speak from experience. I took a look at the reviews again an noticed the poor review was from a reader in public school. So I guess I you should not buy this book if you are learning PowerBuilder. I DO recommend the book for experienced developers.

There are in-depth chapters on distributed PowerBuilder applications and building multi-lingual applications. These two topics are of interest to me. The chapters walked me through all the steps to distribute an application and to make our application multi-lingual. There are a lot of samples and the code is really simple to follow. There is also a lot of coverage of other "Enterprise" issues.

The first time laid my eyes on this book; to tell you the truth I was a bit frightened. I was expecting a very complex law book that would take me more than one pass over the material in order for me to get the material. This was not the case, the book really made the subjects easy to understand and the writers made the book very easy to read. The tables and diagrams also make the book even better for those of us that are more of the visual learner types. I would recommend this book.

Now that the University of Nebraska Press has undertaken to publish the complete James correspondence, these one-volume samplers can be relieved of the artificial responsibility to do the impossible - that is, tell the whole story in 600 pages or less.

Horne's effort suffers in comparison to Edel's by its self-imposed mandate to favor previously unpublished letters. (Personally, I found these almost invariably of lesser interest. It looks like Edel skimmed the cream.) But his cannily selected interstitial material makes it a far more rewarding reading experience. I would say this now stands as the best introduction to the subject.

And for what it's worth: the Penguin Classics paperback edition is a very nice piece of manufacture - comfortably sized in dimension and font.

Psuedo- advice guy Louis Phillips shows us his greatest wit yet in this selection. I was attracted to this book because walruses are my absoulute favorite animal. Even though most of the book is not about walruses, it was still a pleasure. Covering every topic form English to History. How do you lift a walrus with one hand? You'll just have to read this to find out.

This is by far the best biography about Richard Feynman to date. All the others, even the ones written after this book, pale in comparison. It is wonderfully written. It lets you see and feel Feynman not only as one of the giants in 20th century physics, but perhaps more importantly, as a human, with his passion, his idiosyncracies, and the same struggles and pain he had to go through just like everyone else.

Ironically, Gleick never met Feynman, which goes to show how great a writer he is. I never spoke to Feynman, but he was invited to our freshman physics classes once (at Caltech), shortly before he died. I remember waking up the morning after he died, found out about it, and was very much saddened, and saw the banner "We love you Dick" hung across the Milliken Library on the Caltech campus. For readers who never met or saw Feynman in person, this is truly a great biography. I read it a few years ago, and I still recommend it to my friends all the time.

-- Ed Lee, Santa Barbara.

A man as brilliantly lucid as Richard Feynman deserves a biography equally brilliant and lucid. James Gleick achieves this. And though Richard Feynman is painted in human tones, the reader still experiences the mystique which surrounded this legend of science.

Some of the most enjoyable sections of this book deal not with physics or biography, but Feynman's philosophy and refreshingly rational worldview.

This book is a testament to the power and beauty of a great intellect, in its all its humanity.

My only reservation with this otherwise astounding book is that it was, at times, a bit too glowing and not critical enough. Feynman is presented as a scientific hero, but as we all know too well, even heros are not without their faults. As for these, as Feynman himself said, "it does no harm to the mystery to know a little about it."

The author not only succeeded in portraying the wonderful life-loving Richard P Feynman but also in writing a book even a layman (my girlfriend) could enjoy. Writing about Feynman is a rewarding experience, I think, for an author. All the ingredients are there: Creativity, drama, originality and fun. He (Feynman) rubbed shoulders with the all the great players in the scientific community of the 20th century. I was always interested in the people around the development of modern physics. Feynman was one of the key players in that field. I recommend this book to everyone interested in original people.