I bought this book used from a library, along with a dozen others, a decade ago without much thought of what I was buying. Wow! I ended up with a lifetime of excellent reading. I've since had this book at my bedside, off and on, for the last ten years. So much excellent information is packed into this book that you can keep coming back to it and learning the most important writings of civilization.

This book summarizes the works for you. With just a little reading you can say something like, "What Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity did was radically change our perspective of time and space, and matter and energy. He showed that all motion is relative, and that the velocity of light is independent of the motion of its source. The implications are profound. To illustrate..."

Or, "What Socrates means by his definition of love, as written in Plato's Symposium, is that love is the pursuit of the beautiful; a desire for the immortal though reproduction. This, at its highest state, is manifested in a generalized love of universal beauty - beautiful souls, thoughts, laws, institutions and the immortal afterlife."

Everyone needs to read these works, and here is a condensed way to do it. It's a small investment in your education.

I recently had the pleasure of taking a class at Missouri Southern State College in Joplin, MO that used the Downs book as a textbook for the class! At that time, I had not read, nor even heard of many of the works Downs discussed. However, after reading his insightful summaries on these classics of political, social and economic history, I felt I owed it to myself to pick up the full length versions and devour them!

I have been reading an average of 2 books a month. Yet I throw most of them away after reading. This is one of a few books I keep in my library. And it is the third time I bought it because every time someone borrow the book, I never got it back. Books That Changed The World summarizes the influences of the great books to the way we believe in things, some of which we take it for granted now. Things like the solar system, gravitational force. I hardly give a five-star to any book reviews, but this one well deserves it.

I was assigned this book for my physical anthropology class. Overall, it's very easy to understand. THe authors explain difficult concepts well for the most part, and they usually include diagrams or pictures to reinforce the point. Granted the chapters on genetics weren't the easiest things on earth to understand, but I had a firm biology background from high school so it was not an issue. The authors also do a good job of making the concepts very interesting and alive, a difficult task for a college textbook.

Overall, it's a great book and very informative.

I never thought that I would enjoy biological anthropology, let alone understand it well, but this text has made the class easy and even fun (seriously, I'm not joking). The book is layed out simply with outlines at the beginning of each chapter and clear subheadings within the chapters to help get across the main points. The points are all connected together nicely to leave the reader with a complete picture of human evolution.

This book was the required text for an anthropology course I took recently. The book explained things well and actually made complex biological concepts simple to understand, even for a undergraduate. It provides a very detailed and easy to understand overview of human evolution and the biology of human culture. I would recommend this book.

My Heart, CHrist's Home is an excellent booklet, so easy to read and so convicting. It helped me get my focus back on track.

Outstanding way to reach the new Christian. This small little booklet enables you to do a self examination of the different parts of your heart. This will help you to live a more Christ like life. Once again Outstanding!!!!!!!

One of the best books that I had to read for class. I would read it all over again and again. It is a must read for Christians and those who are thinking about becoming a Christian. A great use of examples of different rooms. I totally agree with the closet example.

University-textbook style, with great organization, readable two-color text, comprehensive index, and discussion of COBOL topics (like reference modification) that I have not seen properly addressed in other COBOL books.

Distinction is also made throughout the text between COBOL 74 and COBOL 85, with separate code examples for each.

Detailed discussion of every topic, good examples and the self-test is really helpful.

i am an adjunct professor utilizing this as the textbook for an undergraduate cobol class. it has more then sufficient examples, and the self-test is helpful for the students.

While looking for a book by Dr. Bob Arnot, I accidently came to this book review for Dr. Bob and The Good Oldtimers. Well, I read the reviews and then asked an AA friend of mine of he had the book in his library. He did, so I borrowed it.

There's no author listed in the book, so I gather it might have been written by a group of archivists? The writing has that dry, "committee" like feel to it. Which is a little sad, because Bob Smith lived one interesting life! His story is very inspiring.

I read it in one sitting, about three hours, so it's not long. From my perspective, you don't have to be an alcoholic to enjoy this book. Cause I enjoyed it.

The only historical work out of GSO worth reading. Brings home the powerful message that the good Doctor carried. Gives one puase to think of what AA could have become if Bob had outlived Bill.

This is a very interesting biography. His life took many fascinating twists and turns. Some of the other reviewers noted that the writing is a little bland, but it really doesn't get in the way of a good story!

I purchased this book because I was looking for material to prepare the PMP certification exam. The book is easy to read and the concepts and key terms are clean and well explained. However, from my point of view, is too shallow to be fully "effective". I've been managing software projects for the last 6 years and, after reading the book, I felt that it didn't cover all my expectations, for example, treatment of Critical Chain Project Management is little more than a quote of its existence.

Anyway, if you are looking for an introductory book on PM I think is a pretty good book, but remember, to gain more in depth knowledge on particular subject matters you'll have to look at the references.

I find this book superior to Harold Kerzner's respectable text on project management with the definitions, examples, and overall layout of the book being clearer and more easily understandable. The principle obstacle to engineering management (and project management in general) is the precarious "balancing act" managers have to maintain proper technical quality within a reasonable budget and timeline. This book is succinct in presenting this and comes with an informative CD-ROM for further studies. It is a highly recommended addition to any manager's library.

After having read dozen of books on this specific topic, I believe that this book is a remarkable tool for an experienced Project Manager. Wysocki,Beck and Crane did a very good job, because they have analyzed in a layman's language the most significant issues on this field. Very applicable information, well structured with easy to understand and implement examples. Their approach is customer orientated and one can learn how to monitor and control the process of a project, organize, recruit and manage a project team as well as estimate the length of a project. However, it addresses to experienced Project Managers with hands-on experience on CPM, Network scheduling and PERT method.

This book was a tragic, candid look at the lives of everyday soldiers caught up in a hellish conflict. This reality is so unimaginable for my generation today, yet these men confronted it with honor and dignity. The author's affection and admiration for his companions makes his memoir both powerful and moving.

An incredibly detailed, truthful, moving, and painful personal account of war as experienced by a front line soldier in the Vietnam War.
This book was obviously written from extensive notes taken by the author when he had the time in the field to write down his feelings and experiences. For reasons of his own, the book was not published until after his death in April 1994.
This book will have immense meaning to anyone who has experienced the hell of war, as well as, anyone who wishes to understand the sacrifices our fighting men and women in battle must endure. President Bush and his top advisors should read this book before they send our treasured youth to fight another war. If those in positions of highest political authority, after reading Sgt. Peterson's war memoir, still decide we must go to war then they will understand we must fight the war to the finish with the best military tactics and strategies available not hindered and defined by vague political considerations.
I recommend this book to all. I sincerely thank Mr. and Mrs. Peterson for their service to our country.

one of the best memoirs i have read on the vietnam war.
maybe even one of the best books i have ever read.
peterson's daily account of his vietnam experience is meticulously described,providing a view of his metamorphosis from an average midwestern farm boy to combat-weary grunt that is brilliant. reads more like a novel in the sense that the character in the first few chapters could not even fathom the feelings,thoughts, and experiences of the character at the end.
also provides compelling illustrations of the frustrations and inner conflicts felt by an average american required to follow orders which he is morally opposed to and intuitively wary of.
the book grows darker by the page and the reader is drawn into his sense of impending doom and constant fear.
i highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the vietnam war.

Don't be misled by the title; this book is not for everyone. Unless you are very comfortable with calculus and have more than a nodding acquaintance with differential equations this book isn't for you. The author does a good job of providing solutions to interesting problems through applied mathematics. However, he does something that mathematics professors always did that used to drive me crazy and it still does. He sets up a model, develops some defining equations and then makes a leap with something like "using these relationships, it can be established that ..." or "With this information, we easily determine that ..." Some intermediate steps would have been helpful.

The book is interesting and entertaining but without a background in calculus and an understanding of ordinary differential equations, you won't like it.

The charm and attraction of most of the problems in this book comes from their unusual nature. I for one probably would have never thought to ask what the relative areas of the colors are in the flag of the United States. Another fascinating computation deals with how many times the world's water has been consumed (ingested) by humans. Not surprisingly, it is on the order of one part per million. An interesting supplemental problem would be the rate of change of this ratio. Given the high current population, the rate of increase is the highest in history. While the problems are extremely interesting, one is often hard pressed to find a practical application for the results.
My favorite problem is the computation of the length of the seam of a baseball. The problem fits in well with the mindset of baseball aficionados, who adore obscure statistics concerning the sport they love so passionately. When the weather turns bad, there is not one person among us who has not stood in a shelter and asked the question, "Will I get more rain on me if I run as fast as I can or if I just walk?" The answer here is thorough, as the author even considers the amount of water that splashes on you when your feet hit the ground. To learn the answer to this pressing question, you will have to read it for yourself.
If you ever wish to complete my childhood fantasy of going to China by the direct route through the Earth, then you will want to read chapter 11 before you make the attempt. Assuming you can iron out all the minor engineering details concerning the molten core of the Earth, you will need to understand what will happen to an object at one end of the shaft if it is dropped. The journey to the other side of the Earth would also be a surprisingly short one, roughly forty two minutes in duration.
Learning and teaching mathematics requires that certain problems be presented and solved. However, once the core is covered, consider taking a sideways trip and explore these delightful oddities. It is well worth the effort.

This book, together with the author's earlier title "Towing Icebergs, Falling Dominoes" belong to the bookshelf of everyone who loves applied mathematics. They contain some of the best examples I have ever seen on "applied" math (versus many other great titles on "pure" math), represented by numerous fun and funny cases. Read the preface and be intrigued by the questions addressed in them. As all good scientists and engineers know, the key to problem solving is really not math, but how to apply them, how to "model" or "approximate" real world cases. That's what these 2 books are all about.

To fully appreciate these problem-solving skills, you need to be comfortable with advanced calculus or basic differential equations (probably at the halfway point of these courses). On the other hand, students who are taking these courses should read Banks' books just to see what they are really learning. Math really comes to alive through these pages. I had a great time.

really interesting read. rainey has a way of making something seem very fresh. his plots always seem original, even when they are not. great stories. great descriptions at times. what rainey is really master at, however, is the angle. he writes a story from a certain angle, making it very intersting. his stories are at their best the most refreshing stories i read in horror. very enjoyable

Rainey does what so many Cthulhu Mythos fans cannot - he takes the idea of unknowable horror, things that see us as nothing, and places that idea firmly in the modern day without doing a Lovecraft pastiche. His stories in this volume are all connected by locale, but range in horror from trapped heroes, doomed to a grisly fate, to a feisty futuristic heroine, fighting for survival after the stars have become right. Satisfying work, set in the Mythos, but without the standard trappings so many authors feel necessary to throw in (the million moldy volumes, rattling through the entire Old One pantheon, etc.). Highest recommendations. I've just ordered Balak, his novel, after finishing the collection, and can't wait for it to arrive!

If you love the Cthulhu Mythos for its sheer alienness & imcomprensability instead of for repetative buzzwords (you know them) then this is for you. With his own setting & minimal direct connection with the mythos, Rainey has expanded far beyond the traditional pastiches that make up the majority of material being offered. These stories show how truly brain-twisting impossible realities can affect people. Great reads!

This book is good. But I guess I just liked his 'mind control' better. However, this book examines many of the issues that slow the healing process, such as stress and relationship issues. It's also broken down to a daily practice for those who need that element of structure to guide them. I'm only about a third of the way through. It gets more interesting as it progresses. I would recommend it for anyone who wants to begin working on self-healing at any level as it is clearly broken down, easy to digest, and simple to follow. It will yield results. Silva's work is phenominal. The medical profession is truly missing the big picture by not incorporating any of the elements of mind control into it's continuum.

I had an accident with 150lbs of ice falling on me.My grandmother was looking for a book for me and this one fell out of the closet,"this must be the one, she thought."Prior to reading it I hadn't been able to move my wrist more than 1/4"and everytime the barometric pressure changed I felt alot of pain.Well,I read this book for 2 weeks with a meditation a day and by then my wrist had healed and I haven't had any pain 8 yrs since then.I recommend this book to anyone who can't afford the high price of hospitals.

This book is a must-have for the betterment of humanity. Not only does it explain how you can heal yourself, but how you can heal and help others at a distance through the proper use of mental imaging. It leads you step by step through an inspiring 40 day workout where it explains not only HOW you can accomplish these miracles, but more importantly, WHY it works, and it makes sense! You can begin using these techniques immediately and see impressive results. It allows you to discover your "true purpose in life" - to help your fellow man. Along with attempting to help others, anonymously, who are in need, I send this book to them anonymously, then sit back and watch the results. This is the most positive, uplifting book ever written. The author is a true inspirational genius. Could you imagine what a wonderful paradise we would all live in if everybody practiced these techniques.