This was the first book I read about Buckminster Fuller. It was a great introduction to the man because a lot of people go right to his written works which can be hard to digest at first because he's just a very intense human being.

Reading this book first enabled me to understand Bucky so when I did move on the Critical Path and Synergetics I knew what I was getting in to. And boy if your ready to go through the mirror to see the truth, you're in for the ride of your life!

Enjoy!

I love to read books that I don't completely understand the first time through. This is certainly one of those books.

Part biography, part scientific dissertation, the author enlightens us on the wonderful and extraordinary life of R. Buckminster Fuller, a true renaissance man.

Many people have never even heard of Buckminster Fuller... but his ideas, inventions and philosophy have touched the lives of everyone on here on 'Spaceship Earth' as he liked to call it.

Just take a trip down to Epcot in Orlando, FL and see a geodesic sphere in real life, one that engineers and construction types said would not stand... its been standing there for almost 20 years now. Or, look down the street to the Contemporary Resort at the Magic Kingdom. Built entirely with modular construction and finished in record time.. a la "Bucky" Fuller.

Certainly this man was a great innovator... but what I was most impressed with was his 'comprensivist' point of view. He always strove to see the big picture of what is happening on Earth as well as the entire Universe around us.

Get this book if you want to open you mind to new ideas and paradigms. It has changed the way I look at many different things now.

"Buckminster Fuller's Universe" is full of information that is very pertinent to current problems in our world today, e.g., providing all people on Space Ship Earth with affordable and environmentally sound food, housing, and transportation. Sieden's passionate but not sentimental description of the obstacles Bucky faced from Corporate America lends to the compelling nature of this book. "Galileo's Daughter" depicted Galileo's genius colliding with the monolithic Church of the sixteenth century, Sieden shows Bucky's genius colliding with plumbers, architects, auto manufacturers, bureaucrats as well as ideals of the capitalist economic system. I was filled with hope by Bucky's continued enthusiasm and creativity even in the face of such huge obstacles. Sieden states that Bucky believed that Earth's problems will be solved by individual thinking and efforts and not by bureaucratic leaders or endeavors. Although, Bucky states governments can thwart or support the education and thinking of its citizens. Sieden's writing is easy to digest even when the subject matter is very complex. Seattle's Intiman Theatre will stage a production of "R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe" June 8 to July 7, 2001. Which goes to show how relevant Bucky is to today's world. I strongly recommend this book for folks concerned about Earth's problems and to hear solutions from one of Earth's geniuses.

This collection of six essays reveals why so many people not only feared communism, but were right to do so. From a variety of nations and perspectives, the authors recount the events that led to their involvement with, and eventual break from, "The Party." At times chilling, always fascinating, this short series of works is an important philosophical milestone in the (ongoing) fight against communism.

Anyone who is a fan of George Orwell or P.J. O'Rourke should enjoy this collection of essays from intellectuals who made the journey to communism and back. Arthur Koestler's (sp?) essay captures perfectly the confusion of Weimar Germany before the rise of Hitler, and shows that the communists actually helped the Nazis to power. You will come away from the book wondering how some intelligent people believed - and still believe - that communism was the way of the future. If there is a book that will turn a diehard leftist into a subscriber to the "National Review", TGTF is that book.

These individuals believed the party line whole heartedly. This is an emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and physical committment and possesses the initiate. Novices are enamored with the power of the idealogy and master practitioners wield that power ruthlessly. Emergence of an individual from said idealogy usually renders said person 'washed out.'

I am 12 years old and I gave this book to my youngest brother who is 4 for Christmas. He loved the story and especially the pictures. It is his favorite book. Both of us think it is and excellent book!

The wolves howl in the darkness, but for young Matthew, their song is nature's lullaby. The singing of the wolves are magical melodies luring him into a fantastic nighttime adventure. Guided by a silvery gray wolf, Matthew joins the pack in their secret play. They paint the night sky with diamond sparkles and a curtain of swirling colors. Wolf Songs is a beautifully presented story transforming fears into songs and wolves into warm and magical friends. Combining Raye Raya-Norman's deeply engaging story text with Richard Ziehler-Martin's rich, dreamlike illustrations, Wolf Songs will entrance children ages 5 and up as it gently encourages their renewed confidence in a friendly world.

This book is wonderful. I've been a wolf-lover for as long as I can remember and now my 5 year old son is becoming fascinated with wolves too. I would recommend "Wolf Songs" for anyone, young and old, to add to their book collection.

The book is quite moving. It is written from a different perspective. Amalie masqueraded as a Christian Pole. Norman fought in the partisan movement (the underground). Their first meeting was most unusual. Norman had come to kill her (he thought she was the enemy); instead he ended up marrying her. A very fresh look at a dark side of this century.

This book is an amazingly interesting and intriguing book which i strongly recommend to those people who enjoy love stories with a sad story behind it. Also i recommend this book to anyone who enjoys holocaust novels. The sad memoir touched my heart and i know it will to yours as well.

Asymptotic expansion of Integrals, a very applied technique, is fundamental to my area of research: computational electromagnetics (CEM). I have read the review by one of the anonymous reviewer, and do agree fully with him/her. Professors Bleistien and Handelsman have done a remarkable job in exposing the asymptotic theory, as one of the parameters (in the exponent of the integrand) becomes large. This technique is fundamental to our understanding of "high-frequency" phenomena and in particular diffraction phenomena. Without repeating the contents of the preceding review, I must reiterate that a reasonably good knowledge in the theory of fundtions of a complex variable is essential for benefiting from this book.

The book is presents a rigorous theory of a very useful and applied mathematical technique for electrical engineering (radars, em scattering, antenna theory) and is a must for those wishing to do some serious yet useful research in CEM. Very typically, the Green's functions for a e.m. b.v.p (boundary value problem), can be approximated by such techniques, which results in substantial savings of computer resources at higher frequencies.

(It is one of the most useful books in my personal library.)

The book contains valuable information about a specialized area of applied mathematics. The material presented in this book is applicable to problems involving quantum and electromagtnetic scattering at high frequencies. In the area of radar technology, the radar cross-section of a target is calculated using asymptotic evaluation of Fourier integrals that appear in the final form of the electric and magnetic field vectors following a solution to the appropriate boundary value problem, starting with Maxwell's equations.

To study the book, the reader must have had course on complex variables upto and including residue theory, infinite series, analytic continuation, conformal mapping and multivalued functions, plus a introductory knowledge of ordinary differential equations.

Without discussing the contents of each chapter, I can only comment that they are most lucid and intellectually satisfying; in particular chaps. 7 and 9 are most useful to practical problems

The contents of chapters 7 and 9 are widely applicable in various electrical engineering problems - short-pulse radars, high-frequnecy scattering, antenna theory and the like. The main advantage of using these asymptotic methods is that they reduce spectral integrals stemming from potential theory (Green's functions) are to " almost " closed form solutions that are not exact but computationally extremely helpful. In many cases, for example EM scattering by a circular cylinder, numerical results can only be obtained if asymptotic methods are applied at high frequencies. The use of asymptotic methods in engineering computation is primarily to reduce the c.p.u. time by several orders of magnitude as compared to exact calculations. This allows faster and more efficient solution to problems. The book is well organized and there are enough homework problems for the interested reader. A must pre-requisite for understanding the topic(s) is a reasonably good grasp of the theory functions of a complex variable, as mentioned at the begining of this review.

I have made this book mandatory for all of our advanced emt students. It provides a step by step manner of acquiring the psychomotor skills necessary for today's prehospital professional. It provides consistency of presentation that concurs with our local protocols. RJH, Paramedic Instructor, Massachusetts

A very good boo

This book has answered all my questions. It tells the ins and outs of the martial arts in clear, easy to understand language. I can now ask the right questions and know what to look for in an instructor or school ( DOJO ). I recommend reading this book to anyone interested in studying the martial arts!

The question has been asked is there a comprehensive guide of martial arts for children. Finally, the answer is yes. Martial Arts for Kids not only answers all of the readers questions, but adds insight and valuable information. This book is an informative guide to anyone interested in the martial arts.

This book is all the more shocking when you realize that RIGHT NOW the taxpayer, thanks to credulous politicians like Senator Tom Harkin and Congressman Dan Burton and others, is being made to pay for "medical care" that is every bit as crazy as the things in this book. Someday someone will write a book like this but it will be about *present-day* nonsense, including a National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (the only center in the NIH oriented around the needs of practitioners - CAM practitioners in this case - as opposed to the needs of patients) that pays for psychic power therapy, a White House Commission on CAM headed by a former devotee of the Bhagwan guru whose group launched a biological attack in Oregon, and on and on ...

We have had a boom in interest in "alternative health care" recently, but that interest has been with us ever since there has been a medical establishment to which there could be "alternatives." In the American Midwest in the 1930s three alternative healers began a rise to financial, social, and political power. _Quacks & Crusaders: The Fabulous Careers of John Brinkley, Norman Baker, and Harry Hoxsey_ (University Press of Kansas) by Eric S. Juhnke documents the rise and fall of all three medical conmen, and gives a lesson in the dangers of credulousness.

John Brinkley was a licensed doctor, having graduated from a diploma mill. He latched on to the "gland transplant" experiments done on animals, and believed that transplanting animal glands into humans was a key for rejuvenation. "A man is as old as his glands, and his glands are as old as his sex glands," he proclaimed. Male goats were the randiest animals, so they were the tissue donors, but they turned out to be just the thing to boost female fertility and development of the bust, too. He compared himself to Jesus, gave sermons, and demonized the American Medical Association. Norman Baker specialized in cancer cures. He worked as a machinist and in vaudeville before settling down in Muscatine, Iowa. He persuaded city officials to let him start a radio station that would present honest-to-goodness down home programs as opposed to the high-brow fare coming from the cities. Baker called Morris Fishbein, the head of the AMA, the "Jewish dominator of the medical trust of America," and insisted that his clinic was a bastion for personal freedom and against the evils of urban industrialism. Harry Hoxsey proved to have the most staying power. He specialized in herbal cancer cures as well. Not a physician, he was able to enroll renegade physicians into his service, and he was bankrolled by an evangelist minister. In Dallas, he enjoyed poker, nightclubs, and womanizing, and his diatribes against interference by the AMA and the government won him friends from the political right wing.

Juhnke's tales of these colorful characters are great fun to read, even though the rascals bilked many of their patients of money and sometimes their lives. The eventual success of the AMA against them is not a pure victory; the shortcomings of the AMA at the time are examined here, too. Few people remember these quacks now. The towns that boosted them because they brought in business now view them as an embarrassing part of their histories. It is important that Juhnke has brought them again to our attention. We may no longer have such manifestations as goat gland transplants, but anyone who watches television knows that herbal cures, homeopathy, and healing magnets are still taking money from the gullible. There is still a large group of potential patients who view organized medicine (and governmental regulation of medical treatment) as some sort of conspiracy, and of course there are plenty of faith healers who are glad to have their flocks doubting the efficacy of regular medical treatment. People are finding it harder to pay for physicians, and drug costs are up. Brinkley, Baker, and Hoxsey may have eventually lost their power and their millions, but Juhnke's useful study reminds us that there are always healers ready to take their place.

Sitting in your doctor's waiting room is usually not the most productive way to spend one's time. However, I had a good 45 minutes in my homeopath's office to peruse "The Complete Family Guide to Alternative Medicine," and found it to contain a wealth of answers to questions I had asked myself on numerous occasions. For example, I've felt that I could use some bodywork training -- this book's descriptions of Alexander, Feldenkrais, and all the others helped me see quickly that Alexander will best suit my needs. Homeopathic, aromatherapy, flower essences, all forms of meditation and psychotherapy, chiropractic -- virtually everything is there, with attractive photographs, beautiful layouts, and handy sidebars that clearly list the ailments for which any given alternative therapy could be expected to provide benefits. I was so impressed, I copied down the name of the book and came straight home to go online and see if Amazon had it. Highly recommended

This is exciting stuff:

Alternative Medicine Magazine in the July 2001 issue calls Quantum-Touch, "... a significant breakthrough in hands-on healing." They go on to say that "...for professionals and lay people alike, Quantum-Touch is an essential and invaluable tool."

Dr. C. Norman Shealy, Founding President of the American Holistic Medical Association calls Quantum-Touch, "... the first technique that may truly allow us all to become healers." He also wrote the foreword to this book after he became impressed that Quantum-Touch provided dramatic and lasting pain relief to his patients with 20 to 30 years of chronic pain, who had not been helped by any traditional or alternative modality.

This is the only book I know of on hands-on healing that is praised by physicians, chiropractors, acupuncturists, physical therapists, nurses, Reiki masters, chi gung instructors, and a host of other health care professionals.

Dr. Darla Parr, D.C. wrote, "You actually have to see this work to know how good it is. Bones move into alignment with just a light touch, and it speeds up the healing process."

Amazingly, you can actually learn to use Quantum-Touch from just reading the book, but if you get the chance, I highly recommend attending a Quantum-Touch workshop.

Quantum-Touch really resonated with me - I have studied many healing modalities from Reiki to Lomi-Lomi and found Quantum-Touch to be the most powerful yet easiest way to understand and practice hands on healing. Quantum-Touch is fun to read, and de-mystifies hands on healing by describing pratical ways to work with life-force energy. The Quantum-Touch video is fantastic as well. I used the techniques on my Dad who had a lung infection for the past 8 years. After a few hours of Quantum-Touch, his infection was 95% clearer and is still clear a month later. I've seen lots of other awesome results as well : "healing" bruised ribs, eliminating sciatica pain, releiving all sorts of pain, bringing down bunions, etc. etc. The fun part about this work is that anyone can learn it; my friends who have learned QT have had great results as well.

As a nurse-healer, I am always studying the dynamic and often mysterious process of energy-based healing. When I read Quantum-Touch, I knew I had discovered an important key to the process of accessing and directing the subtle energy which we healers use. I quickly put the information into action and feel as if the quality of my healing work has taken a quantum leap. The book is a true joy to read, never complicated, down to earth. I loved this book and after reading it cover to cover, I went out and bought 4 copies to give to my closest friends. I am now rereading it. Richard Gordon is a deeply developed healer with the ability to communicate the process of energy (life-force) science in a beautiful style. I recommend this book to anyone who has interest in developing the art and science of hands on healing.