I fail to understand the purpose of this book. My intent for this purchase was to get an introduction to Descarte's philosophy. To my utter disappointment, i found this book lacking any materials to this regards. The illustrations i found rather childish and annoying. There is no mention of Descarte's philosophy or any other subject that can add value or interest to a serious reader. I am extremely disappointed with this book, every page has an unnecessary illustration, these illustrations have no relevance to the subject. If the illustrations were removed the entire book can fit in 3 pages.

This is a perfect read for the layman who maybe doesn't have long periods of time to devote to reading who has the desire to learn about the father of modern philosophy and its problem of consciousness. I easily completed this book within one afternoon. Though it has a typical amount of pages, the comic-like format turns the read into a swift breeze filled with humor and creativity. It begins with explaining why Descartes is the father of modern philosophy, namely that he thought for himself (in a departure from Scholasticism). Though he retained Christian belief throughout his life, he was a very rational and mathematically minded person in the field of science that he managed to keep secular in practice, though it would ultimately be verified on God the Geometer's grounds. Aside from his biography, this Cartesian exordium lays out the philosophy of mind and all of the perspectives on it. (dual aspect monism, occasionalism, epiphenomenalism, materialism, functionalism, behaviourism, cognitivism and pyschophysical parallelism--for some more recent takes on the ghost in the machine I recommend Colin Mcginn's "The Mysterious Flame") Inevitably these talks bring up the issue of artificial intelligence and conscious automata.
Obviously like any other book in the "Introducing" series this book is simple, general, and fun, but at the same time comprehensive and a great starting point.

Perhaps one of the largest criticism of the entire series of these books is the lack of depth. I find this a strength. Already fairly familiar with Descartes I found this book to cover a broad scope of theories related to Descartes'. Admittedly there are points where depth could be needed. I think though that the people that complain about depth, are the same people who need to be spoon-fed how to think. I found that the work, made me ponder about some of the issues put forth by it. So if you want to be spoon-fed opinion, and then consider yourself an "intellectual." Then by all means avoid this book, and find something more detailed. However if you feel you are capable of deeper INDEPENDANT thought, but simply need a starting point, this is a must have.

To my mind, the "Introducing..." series is not so much a useful way of becoming acquainted with a writer as a delightful way of reviewing a writer already met. In advance of reading Rousseau, Nietzsche or Freud, for example, you will find the short summaries of their work encapsulated in a graphic layout deficient for any practical purpose and demeaning to your education and self-respect. Do you really want to admit that you first learned about the greats of the past by reading a "graphic"--i.e., comic-book--version? But once having read this or that work of a writer, or a smattering of works, you will find it entirely appropriate to refresh your knowledge of what you have read, to fill in the gaps of what you have not and to prove to yourself, and maybe to others, that you are not a stodgy old pedant by picking up one of these popularizations. Also, without having read anything by the writer beforehand, you cannot adequately judge the presentation of his work and the humor of the drawings in an "Introducing..." edition, which in the case of INTRODUCING KAFKA attain the level of brilliance.

INTRODUCING ROUSSEAU, however, is another story. The narrative of Dave Robinson ably simplifies the extraordinary life and work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, analyzes his sometimes contradictory positions (particularly in THE SOCIAL CONTRACT) and pays tribute to his amazing originality, which was born of his alienation, solitude and protracted reflection, and presaged the French Revolution, the Age of Romanticism, the "progressive" education of children (Pestalozzi and Montessori) and even certain perspectives of Post-Modernism (Foucault); but the drawings of Oscar Zarate, accompanying the text, fail to charm and even tend to turn you off. There is wit in them (for example, Rousseau sitting naked at his desk and baring his soul in the CONFESSIONS), but the artist has chosen to portray all of his figures as mannikins, puppets or paper-doll cutouts, a device that becomes boring and insipid long before the end of 173 pages. Even worse, once having made his main ink portrait of Rousseau (page 5)--a cadaverous, lipless and bewigged skull-like bust of a man who historical portraits reveal to have been full-faced, full-lipped and handsome, Zarate reproduces it on every occasion when Rousseau is summoned forth to make a statement (pages 6, 12, 13, 18, 25...). This horrible head, shrunken down or blown up, is repeated 20 times throughout the book, and all the other drawings, both of Rousseau and his contemporaries, are photo-reproduced so often you feel cheated. It's almost enough to make you agree with the paranoid "citizen of Geneva" that people planned to malign and disfigure him after his death, but more likely he was simply short-changed. Not recommended--either for introduction or review.

I doubt I can do Jean-Jacques Rousseau "credit" with this attempt of a "review." If complex, intriguing, and enigmatic personalities are your cup of tea -- coupled with a genuine appreciation of the 18th-century Enlightement Period -- then this book is for you.

Reading of his youthful exposure of his backside to a group of young aristocratic girls in Turin made me laugh. A disappointment was reading of his prescribed religionist sentiment (Deisim) in "The Social Contract," wherein he -- to my shock -- promoted intolerance of atheism and that nonbelievers should be put to death (he later regretted this final chapter of "The Social Contract" and tried to suppress it). Another disappointment concerned his relationship to his children.

This book is loaded with information on the man and his thoughts. It is an excellent and wonderful "introduction" to Jean-Jacques Rousseau -- and actually more than an introduction, as the book very adequately touches on the salient points and major (and some minor!) events of this man's life. It's a very solid biography.

Of particular interest is contrasting Rousseau's ::artistic:: personality (sentiments and moods) alongside of his contemporary "Philosophes" such as Voltaire and Diderot. My impression is that Rousseau discovered, by himself, methods of what would today be termed ::meditation::, and he also seems to have come to know the essences of Yin and Yang, though of course he'd probably never heard of those concepts. His artistry and nature-appreciating soul was primarily what set him apart -- fascinatingly -- from his contemporaries.

I'm now reading "The Confessions" online. I was sad to finish the book, and can't yet put it away; I'm skimming certain sections again. Rousseau certainly touched me, despite my marked disagreement with him in certain areas.

Called 'American Dreams' it might have been justly titled 'American Commercial Trivia'. Each year from 1889 thru 1989 has a business idea explained in a few hundred words and stock archive photos. Of course, in some years not too much happens, the spread for 1956 covers the interstate highway program and 1935 gives a page to National Labor Relations Act and the AFL CIO.

A book of interesting ideas and products that have changed our lives explained in a superficial way. I would have expected something with more substance from The Wall Street Journal...'the daily diary of the American Dream!

I enjoy reading Jocasta Innes. She has a breezy, engaging style that's often amusing. But if what you want is detailed instructions on how to carry out projects, well...

In this book, she covers a wide range of topics, from where to find good second-hand bargains, to paint finishes for walls and furniture, making curtains and slipcovers, and building your own bookshelves. But it's all breadth and no depth. She assumes you already know the basics, so the instructions given are very general (maybe some people can make 10-foot long curtains to a stately home standard by reading two or three pages, but I'm not one of them!).

This is not for the beginner who needs to be shown step-by-step, this is more of a "here's a thought" book for experienced do-it-yourselfers looking for new ideas and projects to try.

I was hoping this would be the sequel to the awesome beginners asp database book by John Kauffman. It was not even close. This book trys to cover so many platforms that it ends up not covering anything very well. The examples are terrible and confusion will set in after the second chapter. I have found that with Wrox books, if there is more than one person on the cover, then it will stink up the place.

My favorites were Section 5,7 and 8. The case studies were okay. Good cover on MTS and Novell Directory Services with ASP.

As a reviewer for this book I have read the book from cover to cover. The strong point about this book is that it covers many different aspects of data access. If you are somewhat new to ASP this book will show the ropes on ADO, XML and how to mix data from many different sources. If you are an experienced developer this book covers many areas that will interest you - data warehousing, the use of several different DB other than the very familiar SQL Server and non-realtional data sources. I have taken my copy of this book to work and everyone wants to borrow it.

This book is not for the serious sewer or for anyone requiring more than a couple of inspiring ideas. This book was as fun as picking up a glossy magazine for a few minutes. It does help you think outside the proverbial box.

This book is as jaded and contrived as Dr Peirce's class. There is only one chapter worth reading #7, the rest of the book serves absolutely no value. Furthermore, I agree with the previous reviewer that Dr. Peirce makes some very strong statements in his class. However, why didn't the put them in his book? I guess other professors in the field would have laughed at him. Do not buy this book..........and save yourself 15 weeks of torture by not taking his class at Nova............MBA99

This book is a good general overview of strategic management but lacks well thought out insight into what makes a strategy successful. For example in class Dr Pearce calls SWAT analysis worthless. If that is the case then why doesn't he say that in this book? Furthermore, chapter 7 is the only worthwhile chapter in the book. But even then it lacks sufficient depth to be useful to a student or practitioner of strategic management.