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Book reviews for "Powers,_John" sorted by average review score:

Fundamentals of Tool Design, 4th Edition
Published in Hardcover by Society of Manufacturing Engineers (01 June, 1998)
Authors: Sme Staff, John Nee, and Sme
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Is only a review from SME home page
Chapter Name Fundamentals of Tool Design, 4th Edition Keywords Author(s)/Editor(s) SME Staff Published By Society of Manufacturing Engineers Abstract For over 37 years, hundreds of engineers and tool designers have been contributing their knowledge and expertise to Fundamentals of Tool Design. You'll find all the answers and examples you need to design successful tools. Designs are explained for dozens of processes including tools for machining, punching, blanking, inspection, gaging, welding,mechanical joining, and adhesive bonding. You'll also find the latest ideas in modular tooling, for numerical control, and quick change tooling. Detailed die designs, pressworking tools, progressive dies, and dies for bending, forming, and drawing are also explained. Each chapter details the "nuts & bolts" you need to know that impact your tool designs such as manufacturing processes, material science, tool layout, cost analysis, calculating economical lot sizes, safety, and more. You'll also find the latest on CAD in tool design including hardware, software, interactive graphics, stress analysis, design optimization, design analysis and standardization, and more. This new edition features basic through advanced tool designs plus significant updates to selected chapters, including: Updated text and graphics that conform to ASME Y14.5M-1994 Dimensioning and Tolerancing Standard, and an updated look at CAD applications in tool design with explanations of 3D solid modeling and data exchange standards.

Oldie but goodie
The Fourth Edition of "Fundamentals of Tool Design" is a revision of a book originally published in 1962. There is a chapter dealing with the many ways computers are being used in the field as well as some treatment of GD&T principals. Both new topics are "added on" and not well integrated.

This is a handbook that can also be used as a textbook. In textbook fashion each chapter has a Q&A section at the end. Subjects covered are quite comprehensive and that means that few if any persons are likely to use all of this information. This book remains true to its name by doing a thorough job on the fundamental concepts. That is not to say there is no meat in the book. Chapter 4 covers Workholding Principles in about 100 pages and is well worth reviewing even by experienced persons. There are very useful tables throughout the book that can be used to do the problems at the end of chapter. Any serious tool designer will want to get a "Machinery's Handbook" or other comprehensive and up-to-date reference for feeds, speeds, and material properties. There has to be a drawing, photo, or illustration for every one of it's 750+ pages, maybe more than one per page.
Some of the main chapters include: Workholding Principles, Jig Design, Fixture Design, Design of Pressworking Tools, and Bending, Forming, Drawing, and Forging Dies. To round out this wide variety of topics there are chapters covering machining fundamentals, inspection and welding fixtures, and considerations for new CNC techniques.

It is reasonable to expect that a person with some shop skills could read this book and design simple jigs and fixtures. It is probably not reasonable to expect a person to design a sheet metal stamping die or forging die after studying this book.You would be able to understand all the major parts of a sheet metal die and be able to buy a die more intelligently. There is also a good deal of information useful to the product designer who needs to know what the limits of the manufacturing processes are (e.g. minimum radiuses, tolerance budgeting between parts and process, and some quick cost estimating formulas for tooling and manufacturing.


Master of Sea Power: A Biography of Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King (Classics of Naval Literature)
Published in Hardcover by United States Naval Inst. (1995)
Authors: Thomas B. Buell and John B. Lundstrom
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How hate displaces reason
There's a lot of cheap and distorted information in this book (probably edited by the clumsy U.S. Navy), but there's no doubt that Mad Admiral King never understood what a submarine was or that German submariners ran up and down our East Coast at will attacking our harbors and sinking our ships. He thought they were spontaneous combustion, of some sort, and made an effort to load ships differently and thus prevent these "untoward events."

Now all this time'early 40's'the Brits had been warning KING about the present position and anticipated arrival of every German submarine sent across the Atlantic to attack our Eastern ports, but the number one SOB on our side (and an American) refused to ever listen to the Brits due to a pathological craziness that negatively focused on the Brits. Instead he did the opposite. The ports were left unguarded. The German wolf packs roamed just a few miles off our Eastern seashore at will and thousands of men died needlessly! Why this one salient point wasn't a large focal point of this book is beyond me.

As bald as King's purposeful negligence seems today I must admit that everyone wants to read about a leader who is also a buffoon. Madness and stupidity offer great areas of comedic relief even in pointless deadly battles. A glimpse at some of the most fatal but stupid and uninspired Anglo-Saxon battle plans'"over the top boys!"'of the 2nd World War will convence anyone of this! That's why this book isn't selling but would be selling 2000 copies a month right now had the authors and the U.S. Navy relentlessly searched for the truth and then after finding it wrote is all down exactly as it happened. But the U.S. Navy was then a boatload of WASPS in search of a great U.S. Naval leader and Mad Admiral King looked just like a leader with his clean face and pretty white hair. In their egoistic ways and means, the writers tried to place King anywhere but where he belongs: in a yellow submarine. Instead, King's long and costly road to victory was too grevious for everyone in the end and so no foolish writer wanted to spend time researching him when his record spoke for itself.

Mad Admiral King's true plan for the Pacific war was to island-hop for another three years, to have the war end in 1948. His dwarf like mind conceived the worst and possibly malignant war plans when he purposefully ordered Iwo Jima to be invaded. This latter plan of death and dying caused even the most cynical American Admiral-to-be to suggest that island hoping was a bad idea. Bypass the remaining islands and bomb Japan back into the stone age with incendiaries. The deaths of the truly great fighting men at Iwo Jima were placed there by King and ordered to take the island at allcosts. This is not insightfully addressed in the book on King because it's just more proof of King's pathological arrogance and conceit.

An outstanding biography of an extraordinary figure
Ernie J. King was one of the least known and yet most important figures of American 20th century military history. While others, such as Nimitz and Halsey, gained laurels in the press, King actually defined the strategy, determined who would lead American naval forces across the Pacific, and single-handedly ran the Navy Department throughout the war. Yet he remains almost unknown to modern generations [during a recent visit to the US Naval Academy, an official tour guide -- a retired Naval officer -- told me that King was buried in Arlington cemetery, when in fact he is buried at the Academy]. Mr. Buell addresses this gap with this extraordinary book. Buell tries -- by all available means -- to get at who the man was, what he was like, and what he did -- no easy task considering that King distrusted the press for much of the war, and was almost universally regarded as an SOB within the Navy Department. Yet reading this book, I came to understand why it took an SOB to accomplish the defeat of Japan simultaneously with that of Germany -- something that Admiral King seems to have understood as well. I felt that at the end of this book, I understood who King was, what motivated him, and what he was like. The reproduction of King's 2-page memorandum to FDR about Pacific war strategy is an extraordinary document and a classic example of good business writing. It is unfortunate that Buell's biography of Raymond Spruance does not manage to capture equally the character of Spruance -- admittedly an enigma. Buell's bibliography is a marvel of critical assessement of sources -- he uses the same style with his Spruance biography and new Civil War history. For someone interested in sources and original material, Buell's syntheses are unparalleled. My only question is: when will Buell take up the story of another fascinating military figure such as Pershing, Arleigh Burke, or McNair? Barry Miller Bethesda, Maryland


Models of Computation: Exploring the Power of Computing
Published in Paperback by Pearson Education POD (1998)
Author: John E. Savage
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Too many errors and too dense
I get unceasing complaints about this text. The explanations are too shallow, the topics are too dense, and the author presents wonderful proofs with no explanation of what it is he is really trying to prove, or why the proof is important. To make matters worse, there are material errors in the text that impact the dicussion he presents. These errors make it nearly impossible to understand the underlying points he wants to make, and unfortunately there are many errors (for example, his whole discussion of CNF in Chapter 2. There are many others).
I think that when the author corrects these errors, and rewrites uncomprenhensible parts, this could be a good text. For now it is average at best, and I do not think it is ready to be used for classes, at least not at an undergraduate level.

The Bible of Theoretical Computer Science
Here is a book that has it all: a complete summary of theoretical computer science; well organized, detailed proofs; and quite understandable for the novice. This book should become the standard in its field.


Planning for Uncertainty: A Guide to Living Wills and Other Advance Directives for Health Care
Published in Hardcover by Johns Hopkins Univ Pr (1993)
Authors: David John Doukas and William Reichel
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Ethics not details
The author's comments are right on target. If you want to debate the reasons to have these documents, weigh ethical considerations, and write a values statement, this is the book for you. But if you buy the book already convinced you need these documents and what you want is a detailed list of suggestions, customized wording, state-specific information and forms, this book is disappointing.

Helpful to get the conversation going
An excellent book that highlights how and why one can make decisions in end of life treatment. The book correctly sets aside the idiosyncracies of state forms (these are free from any doctor's office), and gets to the heart of _why_ to discuss this topic. This book is very helpful in starting and encouraging a conversation between family members and health care providers about what is important to the individual before and when the chips are down.


Power Factor Specialization: Chest & Arms
Published in Paperback by McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Books (1999)
Authors: Peter Sisco and John R. Little
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Are you looking to increase strength?
If you are buying this book to help build strength like I did this is the wrong book for you. It may be good to build mass but not strength. The premise of the book is pounds per minute and this will give you your biggest gains. I've tried in the past with lower weight higher reps and more sets and did not see good strength gains. This best strength gains I've had were due to the opposite of what this book suggest. Maybe I'm complaining about something the book was not intended for but it sounded good because the title. There are not many books out there just on how to build bench power I'm still searching.

Make up your own mind
The philosophy of "Power Factor Training" is doing heavy partial reps in X amount of time. Okay? That's it. Some people swear by it. Others swear at it. Make up your own mind. The book is valuable, though, in that it does show which exercises are the most effective for certain areas.

The book with the most thorough research on weightlifting!
I must say that I am more than satisfied with the content of this book. The research that these two authors have placed in this book is amazing! These authors have given us the basis as to why certain exercises work and why others don't. They also provide us with an incredibly intense workout program.

As a weightlifter, I have read in many books, such as "Beef It" by Robert Kennedy and "Basic Weight Training" by Thomas D. Fahey, that one should not overtrain. What is the definition of overtraining? Well, these two authors have given us a mathematical (yes, mathematical!) formula that can help us measure how much our strength has grown and whether or not we have overtrained our muscles. How many other weight training books have been able to encapsulate our amount of muscular output into a mathematical formula?

These two authors took the time to analyze the most popular arm and chest exercises in existence and rated them according to their overall effectiveness. Do you think dumbell butterfly is a good exercise for you chest? If you do, then you really need to buy this book. It's no wonder why Harvard University's Physiological Department utilizes this book as the basis for their research.


Rugby and the South African Nation: Sport, Cultures, Politics and Power in the Old and New South Africas (International Studies in the History of Sport)
Published in Paperback by Manchester Univ Pr (1998)
Authors: John Nauright and David R. Black
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Rugby book review
Rugby has played a prominent role in the history and development of the South African nation, especially since the apartheid years, beginning in 1948. In their book, although lacking concision and clarity, David R. Black and John Nauright amply demonstrate this important theme. White dominance was exceedingly evident during the apartheid years, and rugby, among other sports, was just one avenue by which it was carried out. Black and Nauright begin by laying the foundation of the evident role of sport in culture and politics. Sport has been tied to power in South Africa, and it is no longer possible to separate the worlds of sport and politics.
Rugby was brought to South Africa by the British in the early 1800s. Rugby, among other sports, has since been a dominating force in South African international politics. A strong sense of white superiority was brought with the game of rugby, and the nation has been fighting the effects of the apartheid years through sports as well as other avenues ever since. Black and Nauright also address the chain of events surrounding the international boycott of South African sporting participation and how the nation has since reentered the sporting arena, this positive change beginning with the 1995 Rugby World Cup (RWC).
After the 1995 RWC, South African rugby began to fall apart, and rugby slowly lost some of its power over government policies. Black and Nauright conclude the book with the notion that rugby's role in nation building in South Africa is going to shift and change, but continue to remain an important influence. The authors leave you with somewhat of a sense of finality, tying up much of the confusion from previous chapters.

Read it for knowledge not pleasure.
David Black and John Nauright's Rugby and the South African Nation steps the reader through the history of rugby in South Africa. From the early 1800's until the late 1900's, rugby was brought by the British, developed in their missions and played key roles in the lives of both South African settlers and natives. Black and Nauright did a good job explaining the importance of each major topic on the overall effect of the people and government in South Africa. The use of words that leaves many readers going for the dictionary together with long complicated sentences made it obvious that they wrote this book for the well-educated reader. This book did discuss, as the title suggests, rugby and its role in South Africa.

Black and Nauright start with the history behind white and black rugby in South Africa and how it has helped form the nation. They write in depth on the secret society of the Broederbond as well as the sporting relationship with New Zealand and the Rugby World Cup of 1995. Each of these chapters are well organized individually, however, seem to be awkwardly organized in the overall structure of the book.

This book should not be read for pleasure purposes. It has a depth of information regarding the effects of rugby on the South African Nation that will inform anyone who reads the book. Black and Nauright are sometimes hard to follow, however, seem to know the material and write like their readers have at least a limited knowledge of rugby and the South African Nation. You may spend considerable time re-reading sentences in order to decipher the authors' thoughts.

Review
In their book, David Black and John Nauright delve deep into the roots of sporting history in South Africa - tracing it to its British origins - while also tracing the roots of South Africa's widely-known racist ideologies and exploring their effect on each other through the sport of Rugby. Black and Nauright imply that rugby is one of the most important sports in South Africa, if not the most important, and that sanctions imposed by international sporting organizations on the game had the most deeply-felt effects on the apartheid government.
The first few chapters of the book provide a general history of sports in South Africa and follow the development of rugby. The middle chapters present the meat of apartheid and sport in South Africa, with stories of international sanctions and particular focus on South Africa's relationship with New Zealand and Australia. Writing about the 1995 Rugby World Cup held in South Africa, Black and Nauright make a clear statement that many government efforts at presenting a reformed face to the sporting world were superficial and short lived.
Overall I found the information in the book to be helpful, but hard to swallow at times. The highly academic language was a factor, as well as the sheer volume of information crammed into such a small space. Both factors served to dull an otherwise fascinating topic. The notes at the end of chapters however, were useful, and there is no doubt that the authors presented a well-researched project in their book.


The Tiger Woods Way: An Analysis of Tiger Woods' Power-Swing Technique
Published in Paperback by Three Rivers Press (1999)
Author: John Andrisani
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No that great
The book is a good attempt, but a lot is missing, such as diagrams, pictures and more specific ways for drills.

promising title, average content
I want to play better golf so I bought this book. Its title is very inspiring for everyone especially beginner who want to hit the ball a long way. The good points of this book are the author keep encourage the reader that he/she can play good golf and offers alot of practice drills. However, there are also some points which should be improve otherwise it can be a good book not an average one (for me). These points are its lack of pictures. For instruction book like this, an easy to understand picture is need not just a picture of Tiger Woods' swing here and there. I think it should include some details of each club in the bag. For this subject, Ernie Els book did a great job. What I really can't stad is that the author praise Tiger too much. I agree that Tiger is a great player in this age but he is not a god like perfect player. When I read this book, I feel like it said Tiger never make a mistake in which I disagree. Tiger is a great player and he also make lots of mistakes. That is the way golf is played. My suggestion is to borrow this book from you friend. Browse it to see if you l like it then decide wheter to buy it or not.

The Book That Shows You Why Tiger Woods Is So Great !
A very useful intsructional golf book that simply shows why Tiger Woods is such a great athletic golfer and how the reader can develop similiar golfing skills. In addition, the author compares in various areas of the golf swing and body movement, how Tiger's style of movement compares with a other great golfers. An enjoyable book to read and also learn how to emulate Tiger Woods great golf swing.


Power Programming With Rpc
Published in Paperback by O'Reilly & Associates (1992)
Author: John Bloomer
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I would not recommend this book for RPC beginners
The presentation is very informal and brief. It is very hard for a beginner to have a clear picture of RPC by reading this book.

All you need to fully understand the details of RPC
This is imho the reference for RPC.

This book keeps the usual high standard for O'Reilly nutshell books. Yes, this should be seen more as a reference than as an introduction or beginners book, though it covers all important topics and pitfalls to avoid.

If you want the best reference and most comprehensive explanation on RPC and how to use it, this is the book to get.

Danger: As with all of the better O'Reilly "reference/nutshell" books: it may not be very easy to read. The book assumes a fair good understanding of networking and protocol issues. I think someone looking for a introduction or beginners guide will be very dissapointed. This is what makes O'Reilly nutshell books good, they fill the sorely lacking area of deep and detailed books covering all gory detail but does not spend a lot(read: anything at all) of space for the beginner. You will have to think quite a lot to understand it and reading it from cover to cover WILL take a lot of time. If you are aware of this and wants a comprehensive book which goes through everything, this is the one to get.

It is easier to read than RFC1050 and does explain some very very tricky concepts/areas which the RFC just assumes are obvious or assumes you should figure out yourself.

I recommend this book.

Excellent fountain of RPC knowhow
The book fills a gap in RPC knowhow, that was much needed in the market place. It is in my humble opinion an excellent text on ONC RPC for UNIX (principally Solaris, but doesnt seem to be limited in any way). I did not find any PC specific solutions, but if one uses ONC RPC the XDR message format should ensure cross platform portability IMHO. I have only encountered one other good source on this subject, but I will not do Mr Bloomer a disservice by mentioning that book here .The author has made a sizeable investment of energy in trying to explain a complex and intricate RPC paradigm. The book gives examples of how to do both simple and some of the more complex things with rpc. I was particularly grateful for the author putting in examples and explanations of how to integrate with event-loops of GUIs, and to also how to do i/o multiplexing in a single threaded application. This book helped me tremendously during intricate debugging sessions to understand some of my problems. I have nothing but praise for the authors efforts. I salute you sir....


Angel of Midnight
Published in Paperback by Pocket Books (1995)
Authors: John Bonnett Wexo and Jo-Ann Power
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Lackluster
This book begins by asserting a female heroine who appeared to be strong-willed and dynamic. However, at the introduction of a strong male presence, she loses all her wits (despite the narrator's insistence that she is still intelligent and willful). In attempting to play on the words (Angel and Devil of Midnight), which is essentially the object of the story, this book gave up a great deal. The treachery of the evil was average at best, and the resolution of conflict was very sloppy and rather unfitting, lacking any tension and drama that would have added flavor to this book. One reads the first 3 quarters of the book looking forward to a resolution, yet it hardly deserves such high-hopes. All in all this was not a memorable read.

Very Good
This book is wonderfully written. Even though Angel is supposed to be a stand-on-her-on woman, most of that was an act so as to not give onto her fears. And the way Devil was always there for her and see right through it was totally romantic. He understood her need for independence, but showed enough support to still fit the times of the book. All in all, Jo-Ann has given me some very good ideas for my own books.......


Change is Power
Published in Paperback by EBC Publishers (01 December, 1999)
Author: John Ross
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The Ultimate Con
I had a chance to work with this guy in Texas - has been and still is a crook.....stay away!

Outstanding Book!
Highly recommended book! Ross takes the best inspirational, motivational and self help books and combines it all here in one. If you only read one book this year, read this one!!


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