This book is a fairly good intro to stats, for someone looking for alternate explanations. HOWEVER, there are some glaring problems-- Philips does not understand significance testing, for example. This book should be taken with several grains of salt and used only as one of many supplemental texts.

This book focuses on concepts rather than computation. It is an excellent supplemental text which takes the time to explain the ideas behind the equations. Statistics can be very difficult conceptually to the beginning student. By focusing on concepts, this book can break down some barriers to learning.

The scope is that of an introductory statistics course, including in introduction to measures of central tendency, the normal distribution, correlation, inference, hypothesis testing, and a final chapter on correlation, causation and effect size. The example problems are well chosen, and the discussion is clear and well reasoned. If I were teaching a course in statistics, I would require this as a supplemental text. It is also appropriate for self study.

This book is a great introduction to statistics. The author not only explains each concept with its application, but also provides case scenarios to reinforce the concept. But it doesn't stop here. The author goes even further and examines the circumstances and assumptions surrounding each application of the concepts. An excellent introductory book for understanding statistics!

This collection offers the reader a very mixed bag. Pulling off an anthology like this is extremely difficult because the stories threaten to be repetitious, tedious, or both. Robert Price has only moderate success here.

The stories are remarkably varied; Price has taken a good cross-section of stories about the Necronomicon and has avoided the repetition problem for the most part. Despite this, some of the stories are quite predictable.

The strength of this collection indeed lies in its variety. When was the last time you read a Mythos story by John Brunner? His story is one of the best of the book. For that matter, Silverberg and Pohl are not well known for Mythos contributions, but they make contributions to this volume.

The real tedium in the collection comes in the versions of the Necronomicon. There's only so much archaically-written gobbledygook a reader can stand. After a page of it, the rest looks like more of the same. Thus, "The Sussex Manuscript" and Lin Carter's contribution are of little interest to the reader. Carter's repeats the same themes again and again, showing some creativity but soon losing the reader's interest.

The value of this collection, then, is limited. Some of Price's other collections present a much more interesting read. This book is one for the dedicated Cthulhu Mythos fan.

For those of us who came early into our addiction to H. P. Lovecraft, the Necronomicon assumes a singular place as the most famous book never written. Lovecraft's non-existent volume, a treatise on magic that unlocks the dimensional barriers that seperate us from Earth's powerful and horrific former rulers, has assumed a life all its own.
The Necronomicon: Selected Stories and Essays Concerning the Blasphemous Tome of the Mad Arab is a wonderful compendium of lore and imagination compiled by editor Robert M. Price. The various stories, prefaced by an informative and insightful introduction by Price,
are all excellent in their own way, but rather uneven in tone. From genuinely creepy tales like "Settler's Wall" and "The Howler In the Dark" to more tongue-in-cheek offerings like Robert Silverberg's " Demons of Cthulhu," The Necronomicon offers a little bit of everything for the hardcore Lovecraft junkie.
For me, the book's real spine lies in the pseudo-scholarly articles that deal with the Necronomicon and its author, the "Mad" arab Abdul Alhazrad, as if they genuinely existed. Included here are such choice items as a biography of Alhazred, a history of the Necronomicon as written by Lovecraft himself, the John Dee Translation of the Necronomicon (an over-the-top parody so hilarious it reads like Shakespeare on acid), and a refreshingly serious , A Critical Commentary on the Necronomicon written by Robert M. Price.
If the idea of ancient tomes of forbidden magic, exotic lands, distant times and unutterably terrifying monsters appeals to you, then this book is a welcome addition to the growing body of Lovecraft studies.

If you're a die-hard fan of H.P. Lovecraft's work, and the Cthulhu Mythos that grew from it , then you MUST add this book to your collection!

The book is composed of essentially two sections. The first is a collection of stories, by various authors, concerning the Necronomicon, that blasphemous occult tome invented by HPL. The second part of the book has several versions of sections of the Necronomicon, and commentaries about the tome. Even if you do not find the stories of interest, this book is well worth having for the latter material alone! Most notably included are Fred L. Pelton's "The Sussex Manuscript," Lin Carter's "The Necronomicon: The Dee Translation," Robert M. Price's "A Critical Commentary Upon The Necronomicon," and H.P. Lovecraft's "History of The Necronomicon."

Fear not the Great Old Ones and Outer Gods! Get this book!

Having been a Michael Phillips' fan since reading his ESCAPE TO FREEDOM, I looked forward to an idyllic country setting and the unraveling of a mystery in turn-of-the-century England as promised on the book jacket of WILD GROWS THE HEATHER IN DEVON. But the book only half satisfies. While Phillips' picturesque prose does capture the serene beauty of the Devon countryside and the manners of the period, the mystery of the hidden missive set forth in the prologue remains concealed through to the 447th and final page. The book is too long, too tedious, and the plot at times unconvincing. Charles Rutherford's conversion turns on a single encounter in London. Jocelyn accepts her birth defect as given deliberately at the hand of God, rather than as something God allowed to happen for the growth of her character. Amanda we sense from the beginning to be the prodigal. Better were the plot if she became the prodigal early on in the book with the resolution to her story coming at the end. Alas, we must await the next book in the series (or perhaps the one after that) to find out what happens to her. The build-up and lack of resolution are unfair to the reader. Despite the book's didactic tone superimposed on lengthy conversations, the author does deal with the intellectual ferment of the times: questions of Darwinism, communism, and a woman's right to vote. He also probes emotional and spiritual dilemmas as well, for he recounts Jocelyn's journey through the pain and rejection of a dysfunctional childhood to her wholehearted faith, and the burning questions and open rebellion a teenager Amanda who does not adopt her parents' faith and sees God as remote and unreal. He does not skirt these issues. When the secrets of Heathersleigh Hall will be revealed remains just that--a secret. If the reader has the patience, perhaps he will discover how Amanda's future and the hidden note will come together in a later volume. Perhaps at that time the discovery of that missive will somehow begin to pierce the cloak of independence Amanda has drawn about her. As a reader, I am not sure I have that kind of patience.

I just finished this book, and was a little disappointed. The paperback version of this book is a whopping 447 pages, and the description of the characters takes about that long. I believe the author may have been setting the stage to read the rest of the series; however there was little substance to this book. The author puts in "teasers" of a secret that exists in heathersleigh hall from two generations before its main characters. There are glimpses of subplots for books yet to come and/or read; however, I was greatly disappointed when none of these sub-plots were revealed in all 447 pages.

The opening chapters of this book descibe an event concerning the first generation of Rutherfords. In this "hush-hush" event, it appears that possibly a birth was concealed (as a midwife is present, along with a vicar), and the senior Rutherford exclaims that he wants only a son to inherit his estate.

Suddenly, the reader is thrown into two generations later, when the senior Rutherford's grandson now runs Heathersleigh Hall and is loving things of the world, and reveling in the early 1900s when "change and thoughts" are prevalent and exciting. Charles Rutherford (the grandson) experiences a spiritual awakening when he is introduced to Christianity and embraces it fully, leaving his political/worldly ways behind. Charles' wife, Jocelyn, also embraces the Christian lifestyle, as do their two younger children. However, the oldest daughter, Amanda, has nothing to do with their new life, and rebels. The novel climaxes with a "prodigal daughter" theme which leaves the reader wondering what happens to turn Amanda (presumably) back to the Christian way of life. However, the author assumes you will want to read another of his novels before you find out.

Also, the title of this series "the secrets of Heathersleigh hall" is not revealed one iota. There are teasers where the secret may be revealed; however, I was disappointed to not receive any more "! ;clues" to the secret in all 447 pages.

The author does a beautiful job of portraying the lifestyle and scenery of the privileged Rutherfords; however, the character development could have been done in half of the time. Overall, I do not believe that I will want to read the rest of the series.

I have just finished this book two days ago,and as I did like it greatly,it had nothing to do with the synopsis Amazon has put on......I believe what they have put on is the second book in the series......is there a second book? If so,I would love to read it. Phillips ended the book as if there was......sort of just hanging. I did enjoy the book.....would recomend it to anyone!!!!!

We used this book to teach an introductory Java course for experienced programmers. Without exception the students didn't like the book. They felt they really couldn't learn from it--topics are covered too quickly. They wanted a text with a more step-by-step approach and one with more examples.

If you are looking to learn real java 1.1 coding then this is the book for you. Mastering java 1.1 is one of the faw books out today that will see you have to code with java to the 1.1 spec ! !

I like the book for the way the approach is organized, and all the components, and details are patiently and thoroughly studied, no assumption is made about what you know , and the plan to this complicated program is laid out in a very understandable way

Be careful as you mix from this book. It makes me wonder whether the previous reviewers actually used the recipes to make muffins. Page 12 1 cup(4 oz/125g) page 17 2 cups (10 oz/315g)

page 18 1 cup (5 oz/155g) 1 cup (2 1/2 oz/80g) 1/2 cup (3 1/2 oz/105g)

The errors are on about every other page as one continues through the book.

This book has a nice combination of tried-and-true favorites (corn muffins, banana bread) and creative, newer recipes (Buckwheat bread, triple-chocolate muffins). I've tried several and I always get rave reviews. The oatmeal raisin made with buttermilk is a standard at office parties. The recipes are easy and every recipe is pictured in color! I think this book is great additon to any cooks collection.

I've tried almost every recipe in this book and they come out perfectly without fail. Excellent book for the pro or novice. Easy to find ingredients and easy to follow instructions. Pictures accompany recipes. Final product usually resembles picture. Most people will find that these recipes will yield the desired result.

Exploring Proverbs goes systematically through the book of Proverbs giving interesting but lengthy stories to illustrate Solomon's witty observations on human nature. Unfortunately the commentary is marred by errors, guilt and narrowmindedness. "Christian Science members are deluded victims of cults who are totally blind" (page 20). "Masons are a cult" (page 43). We are all "poor sinners... in this dark world of sin" (page 336). Phillips quotes the King James version which is the hardest to understand and least accurate. He not only fails to correct the KJV mistranslation of "Sheol" or "death" as "Hell" in Proverbs 15.11 (a New Testament concept), but then proceeds with a lengthy discertation on Hell. Yahweh is mistranslated as Jehovah on pages 196 & 554. Although today's Bible scholars are unanimous that Ecclesiastes was written 700 years after Solomon died, Phillips attributes Ecclesiastes to Solomon (page 199). For a more up-to-date and accurate commentary on Proverbs read THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE BOOK OF PROVERBS by Cody Jones (1999). Five modern translations are included in parallel to the KJV to improve accuracy and understanding. The comments are interesting and very readable and put things into a historical setting. It includes many historical drawings and photos to give you a sense of the culture of the time.

John Phillip's work is excellent devotionally. I bought Cody Jones' work on Proverbs and it was a total waste of money. Apparently Cody Jones is using the reviews on Amazon to blast other writers and to praise his own work. That should tell you what work you want to explore (M. Fox's work on Proverbs 1-9 is one of the finest today).

I have found Phillips commentary not only easy to read and understand, but devotionally inspiring as well as doctrinally sound. His excellent outline of each chapter is worth the price of the volume. It certainly makes preaching and teaching through the Proverbs a joy. I sometimes use it for my morning devotional study. Every Christian would profit from reading this volume.

This book is not about blondes; it is about brunettes who bleach their hair. Real blondes - those who got their hair colour from their genes and not out of a bottle - will be disappointed, as there's nothing in this book that relates to them. There is a lot of interesting information about the bottle blondes like Jean Harlow, Marilyn Monroe and Madonna but real blondes are quite something different.

great book, wonderful layout and pictures, great writing. very whimsical and a great example of modern writing and interest. recommended to anyone interested in popular culture!

Very complete and informative, this book deals with the history and psychology of the so called dumb blondes. The text is brilliant and the pictures outstanding. Let's enjoy the icones such as Madonna or Marilyn Monroe (Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve etc) and the advices of the international who's who of colourists.

I have read a lot of books on the JFK assissination.

This book caught my eye for that reason. However, once I began reading it, this book kept my attention. It read like a novel. I liked that, it was a switch from the usual fact presented like facts JFK conspiracy books. I liked that about this book. It certainly had me convinced that this guy had something to do with the JFK murder. It made me wonder why we didn't do more then in regards to this guy.

The book was gory when talking about the dismemberment of his mother and father. I really didn't like that. I'm not sure that it added much to the book except some length. However, it did make me realize that this was the type of man who would do what he thought needed to be done and might certainly shoot at a president.

This book is very interesting and those interested in reading about the JFK assassination would do well to consider reading this book. It is an easy one to skip over with the massive amounts of books available to read. However, the novel like feel of this does not detract from the research completed and conclusions drawn in this book.

I have read quite a lot of books about the Kennedy assassination but this one is the best by far. It is well written and reads like a thriller.

At the end of the book a groundsheet of the Rogers' house is shown. This helps to understand the description of the crime and the search through the house by the two police officers. What I miss is a groundsheet of the parsonage. From the description it is not possible for me to imagine how it looked like. It plays an important role so I think it would better the book if it was printed too. A thing that makes me curious is: what did the authors put on their trail? Where they one of those informed by Marietta Gerhart?

I can't remember ever reading a biography quite as enjoyable. The authors are to be congratulated for their perfect blend of scientific and personal anecdotes. You won't find any of Feynman's lectures here, but you will come to understand why Feynman is so revered. The author's write, "Does the world really need another book about Richard Feynman? We think so, or we wouldn't have written it." I agree with them, and I'm sure you will too. A wonderful book.

ÒRichard Feynman--A Life in ScienceÓ is a welcome addition, another view from yet another aspect. Other biographers have stressed different sides of Richard Feynman--magician, joker, non-conforming oddball, but this one is true to its subtitle, focusing on Feynman the scientist. For that was what Feynman was, first and foremost--incredibly inventive, irreverent and unconventional, yes, but underlying it all, an inquiring mind, a physicist of the very best. If you have more than a nodding acquaintance with science, and want to know what made such an extraordinary person tick (not that weÕll ever know it all), this is the one to read.

Richard Feynman was clearly a giant among giants. He was also the most human of beings. Quantum electrodynamics and related topics can be among the most esoteric of any. Writing a book that adequately portrays such a variety of topics can be a forbidding task. This book meets the challenge admirably. While much if not most of the material can be found elsewhere, the clarity of the descriptions and explanations of the technical topics is excellent. Well worth reading.

HPL died in 1937. This book was published last year. He did NOT edit it. If he did, the contents would have been much better than the tripe contained therein.

Lovecraft may be dead for sometime now but he manages to live on through other authors who have taken his work to a whole other level. I had purchased this book as I had others just knowing that I would enjoy it. I certainly did and the stories relate in one way or another to Lovecrafts works. Sometimes you have to know what Lovecraft wrote about,others you do not so it can be for a Lovecraft fan or a horror fan. There are a few that have nothing to do with Lovecrafts work but I wont hold it against them. Ultamitly it is up to you to decide if you really like or dislike the scary, strange world that Lovecraft has opened up for us all to see.

This new anthology is one of the best of recent Cthulhu Mythos literature, 21 exceptional stories that are fresh, imaginative and most of them quite witty. These are not run of the mill pastiches. The writers attempt to provide a different approach to the material, and for the most part are quite successful. Among the best ones are: "The Cabin in the Woods" by Richard Laymon, "Sour Places" by Mark Chadbourn, "The Firebrand Symphony" by Brian Hodge, "Princpals and Parameters" by Meredith L. Patterson and (if you like a good "joke" story) "Are you Loathsome Tonight?" by Poppy Z. Brite. The last one is an Elvis Presley Mythos tale. The recent, exceptionasl new book "The Complete H. P. Lovecraft Filmography" has a chapter on mythos tales that could be successfully adapted to the screen. Well some of the tales in this new anthology could also apply to this category as well. "Children of Cthulhu" clearly shows that the Cthulhu Mythos is not moribund, but is continuing to grow in new directions. Recommended!