If you are looking for to understand 6800 microprocessor don't go pass this book.The author is certainly have a deep understanding of this microprocessor,although this microprocessor is ancient and almost extinct , the design is the prototype of later 6800 and 68000 family microprocessor. FYI, 6805 which is direct descendant of this ancient still produced and in large quantity. I personally choose this microprocessor becouse of its simplicity and easy to understand, the other micros just put extra bell and whistle out of this architecture. Also excellent tutorial in understanding 6820 PIO chip, You can't find such excellent explanation elsewhere else. Btw, you can forget about FORTH language, PASCAL is alot better. I would suggest that this book is preserved in Adobe Acrobat format, so buyer can download after purchased it. (if the author don't want the money, I do )

This book continues the great tradition of writing from the Institute of Economic Affairs which shows that government is a Johnny come lately to regulation as it was to education and the welfare state.

Regulation is a rapidly growing area of government activity since the fiscal crises of the 1970s forced governments throughout the world to divest themselves of whole companies and sectors, transferring them to the private sector as globalisation moved on.

In this timely book, John Blundell and Colin Robinson, General Director and Editorial Director respectively of the Institute of Economic Affairs, reprint their original 1999 Occasional Paper and open the floor up to commentaries from a distinguished panel of experts.

Led by a masterly paper by Professor Norman Barry, these commentaries explore the scope and limits of private and public regulation. They are in general agreement that the scope for public regulation is limited and that private regulation is a more cost-effective and efficient alternative. Also what emerges from the papers is a sense of Hayekian spontaneous order when several of the authors outline the emergence of private regulation as the market needed it without any prompting from government.

This fascinating little book is required reading for the layman, student and policymaker alike. It is of fundamental importance in examining the role of regulation in modern life and provides a timely warning of the dangers of government in over extending it's regulatory capabilities.

The word "learning" has become very prominent in contemporary education terminology. Official policy document issued by organizations like UNESCO, or even European Union and US goverment publications have gradually replaced the words "education" or "training" with "learning". This fact has created some confusion among educators, curriculum design experts, and of course students. That is why a book such as "The theory and practice of learning" can be of great help to all of us who are involved in the process of education. It is a clear written comprehensive book that examines globally all aspects of the learning process (theory and practice). The book presents not only the views and opinions of the writers but it also demonstrates the most important features from theories of great educationalists who have influenced our society. I believe that reading this book will definetely help to understand the current trends in education. Congratulations!

Colin Duriez's "Tolkien and the Lord of the Ring: A Guide to Middle Earth" is an impressive book about the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings, and the Silmarillion. It's divided into 4 parts.

Part 1: The Mind Behind Middle-earth: Includes background info about Tolkien, his life and work.

Part 2: The Book of the Century: A guide to LOTR, how it relates to the Silmarillion, etc. Basically a recap, in case you're a bit fuzzy.

Part 3: An A-Z of Tolkien's Middle-earth: I found this very helpful; I could look up my favorite people, places, events, and things quickly and effortlessly. This is especially helpful for those currently reading either LOTR or the Silmarillion to get extra info on what they're reading. If you are intimately familiar with the books, however, it would be more reference than new facts.

Part 4: A Look Behind Tolkien's Life and Work: Most interesting part to me. Evaluates key themes, concepts, and images in Tolkien. Allegory (or lack thereof), Christianity, Posession and Power are some of the themes explored by Duriez. Then it talks about key people and places in Tolkien's life.

It's more geared to people who are more interested in the book and Tolkien's writings than in the recent movies, so it shouldn't be confused with books like, "The Magical Worlds of Lord of the Rings."

I recommend it to anyone interested in Lord of the Rings.

This textbook is an excellent introduction to anyone who wishes to study ecology in an academic context.I have found it very useful in my undergraduate studies.

Begon's book is the best way to get a serious handle on the complexities of ecology. This book attempts no dumbing down and gives more resources than could ever be used in a lifetime.
The explanations given for basic concepts are unique and cannot be found anywhere else. For example, this book makes a clear point about the relationship between evolution and ecology. Chapter One starts off with a discussion of natural selection that is unique; seems that one must rely on an ecologist for a full understanding of evolution. Begon suggests that the word abaptation be used to describe the match that most organisms display with their environment because that word carries with it the historical meaning that is left out of the picture when the word adaptation is used to descirbe the match between organism and environment.
All important areas of ecology are covered; population dynamics, energy in communities and biological diversity. Again, I have yet to see, after having examined several major publishers' offerings, a better book for either someone just getting started in ecology or a person already well versed in the topic.

An exelent book, covering almost any area of ecology. Lot's of useful references. An essential book for any ecologist.

Shortly after the American Civil War, John Muir, a 29-year-old budding naturalist, set out on an epic journey across the eastern United States. Starting in Louisville, Kentucky on September 2, 1867, he walked southward through Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia, where he was delayed in Savannah. After crossing through Florida he finally reached the Gulf, but, unfortunately, his desire to continue on toward South America was hindered by an illness. Not fully recovered, he eventually made for Cuba, but went no further. Muir returned home only to set out for California a short while later. During his journey, he kept a journal in which he recorded his experiences and observations of the flora and fauna he came across. This journal, along with an article written in 1872 and a letter that he wrote while in California, constitute A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf, which was originally published in 1916, two years following Muir's death. Although there are a few instances when the author reveals himself to be a man of his times, his observations of a natural world which in many instances have long since been destroyed, are priceless.

As the human population expands the natural world around us disappears. This is a fact we mostly ignore as we go about our daily life. One day, you wake up, and discover that within your own lifetime things have been permanently altered.

When John Muir made his "Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf" the U.S. was not as heavily populated as it is today, although much had changed from the time when European settlers first moved through the area he explored -- a path that stretched from Indianapolis Indiana to the Gulf just north of what is Tampa Florida today.

Muir moved South in the aftermath of the Civil War, so he encountered much unrest, unhappiness, and destruction along the way. He describes not only the flora and fauna he found but the condition of humans as they struggled to rebuild their lives.

He says, "My plan was to simply to push on in a general southward direction by the wildest leafiest, and least trodden way I could find, promising the greatest extent of virgin forest." To a great extent, he was able to do that, however, he could not escape some of the realities of the world around him. For example, in Georgia, he encountered the graves of the dead, whom he says lay under a "common single roof, supported on four posts as the cover of a well, as if rain and sunshine were not regarded as blessings." A bit further he says, "I wandered wearily from dune to dune sinking ankle deep in the sand, searching for a place to sleep beneath the tall flowers, free from the insects and snakes, and above all my fellow man."

Muir wonders at the teachings of those who call themselves God's emissaries, who fail to ask about God's intentions for nature. He says, "It never seems to occur to these far-seeing teachers that Natures's object in making animals and plants might possibly be first of all the happiness of each one of them, not the creation of all for the happiness of one. Why should man value himself as more that a small part of the one great unit of creation? And what creature of all that the Lord has taken the pains to make is not essential to the completeness of the unit--the cosmos?"

Partly as a result of his writing, and the writing of other Naturalists, the National Park System came into being, and today, more trees grow on the East coast than grew in the late 1700s (American Revolution). The fight is not over, however, it has only begun. Many of those trees are "harvested" every year. Sometimes, even within National Forests they are all felled at the same time through a process called clear cutting. The lovely large oaks that Muir beheld are mostly long gone and have been replaced by Pine.

This is one of John Muir's best books (the other being _First Summer in the Sierra_). It's Muir's slightly-edited diary of his 1000-mile trip through the Southern U.S. to Florida, then Cuba. He traveled on foot observing nature and the people. The book holds your interest as it's written on the spot through the enthusistic eyes of a young man. It reminds me a little of Mark Twain's book _Roughin' It_, another story through the eye's of a young man latter to become famous (about working on antebellum riverboats).

Half of this book is about famous paleontologists, what dinosaurs are, and how they became extinct. The next half has at least 80 pictures and paintings of different species of dinosaurs, and a description of their characteristics and how they live. I would especially recommend it to 11 and 12 year olds who know their dinosaurs. WARNING: This is not a little kid's book. It does contain A LOT of information. It has at least a page on each species of dinosaur, but I think it should go into even more detail on these amazing animals.

We used this book to get a complete overview of these wonderful creatures. The book is large sized and has wonderful color pictures. The text is easy to read for ages 9 and up and can be read aloud to younger kids, so the book works for whole families. There are all sorts of hands on projects, great little pieces about some famous dinosaur excavators and dinosaur moments in history. Of course all the information about how the shape of the continents took place, how fossils are made, the geological time, etc. is there and complete. We were really impressed with the ease in which we could gather information from the book.

I got this book as a gift. From the first page, I knew that I liked it! The detailed pictures show texture and are colorful. It is easy to read and understand. On each page there are different boxes with crafts you can do and interesting facts. (for example, some small carnivore dinosaurs ate their young when they were starving.)

I use this book for research in school and when I write stories. I have read it many times and it seems like it's new every time! If you know any kids that like to read and like dinosaurs, this is a book for them. There are exciting and surprising things on every page!

Glasgow is as far North as Moscow. In the time of Charles Rennie Mackintosh it was a tough, smokey, industrial city still living in the shadow of centuries of Scottish Puritanism. Not exactly the most promising environment you would think for an artistic movement that created the works of exquisite beauty presented in this book.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh, with a tight-knit group of fellow artists known as the Glasgow School, ensured that Glasgow at the turn of the century was an integral part of the international Art Nouveau movement, that was also flourishing in Paris and Vienna. The Art Nouveau movement is now seen as a major watershed in global culture because it was the first major art movement that drew inspiration equally from East and West.

As art evolved away from representative art, spiritual aspects came more into play. As with the Secessionist in Vienna, the German Expressionist, and the French Symbolists, mystical ideas became increasingly prominent, turning much of this art into a kind of ouija-board farce. The ghostly and heavily-symbolic works of the other members of the Glasgow School earned them the nickname of the "Spook School" and saw them marginalized.

But while much of the painting of the time reflects the faux spirituality of misunderstood oriental mysticism and sham seances, Mackintosh's work was distinguished by his deep, instinctive understanding of Oriental aesthetics, expressed unpretentiously in beautiful lines. This gave him the Midas touch at whatever he turned his hand to.

In his painting, posters, stained glass windows, furniture, and architecture, we can see the masterly interplay of straight and curved lines. Although John McKean's rather pedantic text in the book doesn't really emphasise this point enough, what we in fact experience in the stimulating tension between Mackintosh's straight and curved lines, is no less than a fusion of yin and yang, the 'female' and 'male' components of the Universe.

Fighting an uphill struggle in a city that didnÕt really understand his unique aesthetic, Mackintosh still managed to do an impressive amount of work as Colin Baxter's excellent pictures reveal. The greatest fulfillment of his art is in 3-D work, especially his furniture designs, which are notoriously difficult to photograph well, although here Baxter does a good job.

It was with furniture, especially in his many chair designs, that he most fulfilled his aesthetic. While most furniture designers of the period gave into the yin or the 'feminine,' with over-elaborate curves and rich decoration, creating a heavy effect, Mackintosh played these 'feminine' aspects off against the yang or 'masculine' by emphasizing simplicity and straightness, creating an uplifting tension that was not only beautiful in itself but also interacted with the curvature of the human form.

While much of Art Nouveau art and design is forever anchored in the historical period that created it, the work of Mackintosh continues to float with us into the future.

In Charles Rinnie Macintosh: Architect, Artist, Icon, John McKean and Colin Baxter collaborate to showcase Charles Mackintosh's kaleidoscopic talents as an architect, painter, furniture designer, and graphic artist. They provide an insightful appraisal of Mackintosh's unique talents and offer an informative overview of both the man and his achievements within the context of his personal life and times -- and how his work is viewed today. Enhanced with often stunningly beautiful photographs, Charles Rinnie Macintosh is an outstanding contribution to personal and academic artbook reference and art history collections.

The Battle of Alamein is actually more than a retelling of that battle (hardly THE turning point of WW2; but in fairness to the authors this is the US title), rather it's an overview of the desert war. As an overview of the British and Italian armies of the period, it's acceptable: as a military history it is less successful. This work suffers from a typical problem authors encounter (usually unwittingly) when they use interviews almost exclusively. This is naturally the fallibities of human memory. After more than 50 years events can become clouded, rearranged or distorted.
Errors of fact especially regarding equipment and tactics, are rife in this work, revealing the authors' lack of research. German tanks are described as diesel-powered and superior to British equivalents-wrong on both accounts. Additionally German ranks and unit designations are flat wrong; and are ascribed to interviews with German veterans. An example: A german veteran supposedly calls his unit's weapons "Schmeissers" and "Spandaus". No German veteran would ever do so. Either he was editing for his audience, or his interview was recast for the book; both are unacceptable for a history. But the most spectacular mistake is that the authors seem to be blissfully unaware that Winston Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty before he became Prime Minister! They also go easy on Montgomery where he is most subject to a dispassionate critique. Namely, his lackluster pursuit of Panzer Armee Afrika as it retreats across Libya. Here we read a version of the "Great Man", where Montgomery is well intentioned but badly served by his subordinate commanders, and a worn-out Eighth Army. Frankly, that IS a commander's job-to drive his forces if required to find, fix and destroy the enemy. If his forces were exhausted, then the under-fueled, under-fed and under-armed Axis forces were the walking dead.
For a casual reader the information on the Italian Army in the desert might be enlightening, however if the authors submitted this as a history paper to me I'd give them a C+. Not recommended.

John Bierman and Colin Smith are semi-retired journalists who live on the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean. They collaborated on "Fire in the Night", a wonderful biography of Orde Wingate, a few years ago, and this is their second venture together. It's a very good book, with only one real criticism from me: given it's a history of a battle, it spends relatively little space discussing that battle.

The war in Libya was one of the last chivalrous conflicts in history. Almost all commentators agree that the Germans here were much less Nazi-like in the North African desert than anywhere else. The German commander, Erwin Rommel, the famed Desert Fox, wouldn't allow SS troops into the region, and insisted on treating enemy wounded and prisoners fairly and compassionately. The British generally responded in kind, and the army in Egypt was often shocked by the appearance of a soldier who'd been serving in Britain, seen houses bombed, and came out to the theater hating the Germans. The new arrivals were likewise shocked at the admiration the veterans had for the Germans.

The war went on for more than two years, if you count the British campaign against the Italians in the winter of 1940 and the Allied campaign in Tunisia in the spring of 1943. The heart of the campaign, and the book, was the year-and-a-half-or-so-long struggle between the British and their Commonwealth Allies on the one hand and the Germans and their Italian Allies on the other. The book spends a great deal of time dealing with several of the larger battles from the first part of the campaign, notably Crusader and Gazala. When you get to the Battle of Alamein itself, the book is half over.

Strangely, the battle of Alam Halfa, gets only cursory mention. This is odd, given that some people think that this was the first (or second) stage of the actual battle. Instead, the meat of the book describes "Supercharge", the British attack on Rommel's forces which finally, conclusively, defeated the Germans in the North African Desert.

One of the reviews above says that the authors are uncritical of the leadership personalities in the war. I don't think this is particularly fair: the authors spend a considerable amount of time telling you of Rommel's mistakes, and failures, and health problems. They also spend a good deal of time detailing the mistakes made by various British commanders, and Churchill comes in for his share of criticism. When we get to Montgomery, he's relatively gently dealt with, but this *was* the period of his greatest success. I've never completely agreed with the Correlli Barnett theory that Monty was completely a figment of his own fantasies, and a lousy general. Here, vain, self-promoting, and stubborn as he was, he comes across as the man who used all of these characteristics to defeat the Afrika Korps, and win the battle. It's a fair, balanced appraisal, and not that favorable, but it shows why he won the battle.

Like I said, the one criticism is the way the book is structured. The actual portion of the book that deals with the battle in the title is only 80 pages, maybe, of 400. The introduction to the war, and the early campaigns, take up individually almost as much. There are little sidebars with interesting personalities from the war, writers and poets and so forth. You learn of the woman who served in the French Foreign Legion at Bir Hacheim, the Hungarian nobleman adventurer who was the basis for the book The English Patient, and a score of other participants in the war. There is a prologue and an epilogue detailing reunions and commemoration ceremonies that are still being held with veterans from the war. This part is especially well done.

I enjoyed the book a great deal. I just wish they'd spent a little more time on the battle itself.

John Bierman and Colin Smith's joint venture, 'Alamein: War Without Hate' follows hot on the heels of a number of other very good titles covering the Battle of El Alamein (Stephen Bungay's 'Alamein' and Clayton & Craig's 'End of the Beginning' to name just two). This title covers the history behind the desert campaign, the lead up to famous confrontation at Alamein and the results of that pivotal battle (at least in the eyes of the British Commonwealth).

In just over 400 pages of tense and illuminating narrative we learn more than just the 'what, why & how' of the battle. As readers we get the chance to have a glimpse into the lives of the soldiers who fought in this campaign. We read about soldiers from all parts of the Commonwealth and their German and Italian enemies and we get an idea why this campaign was known as the "war without hate".

The story was presented in a lively and interesting manner and although I have read quite a few books on this battle the story was fresh and retained my interest throughout. I found that at times the authors presented accounts with humor and sometimes a little sarcasm but at all times with fairness to soldiers on both sides of 'no-mans land'. There may not be much that is new here but this book does offer a refreshing and easy to read account of one of World War Two's more famous battles.

I also found that at times whilst reading this book I really got caught up in the lives of some of the participants and I was sadden by many of the outcomes. This is the story about the ordinary infantrymen, tankie, gunner, pilot, sailor and civilian, on both sides of the conflict. I really enjoyed the stories from these men and women and it was pleasing to see that the poor old Italian soldier get a fair place in this account. The author's style of writing was captivating and drew me into the narrative with ease, and I enjoyed many of the little snippets of information they provided on a range of subjects and characters.

Below is a section taken from the final chapter of the book 'Requiem':

"Two Englishwomen, sisters well into their sixties, are making a belated pilgrimage to the grave of their father, Lieutenant-Colonel John Evatt, officer commanding the 21st Anti-tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, a professional soldier who was killed on the fourth day of the battle. His daughters, Judith and Jancis, were four and six years old respectively at the time; a third daughter, fleetingly conceived during Colonel Evatt's embarkation leave, was yet unborn.

The Colonel's widow never remarried. The daughter she was carrying when her husband was killed died earlier this year of cancer. At their father's grave, the surviving sisters use a borrowed hotel spoon to dig an inch of two down into the loose sand. Then, into a shallow depression beneath the headstone they tip the contents of a small casket they have brought from England - the mingled ashes of their mother and their sister. These they cover over, to blend in with the desert soil that covers their father. No tears; the daughter of the bygone Empire do not weep."

This is a good story, well presented and well written. I am sure that many readers who enjoy WWII history will enjoy this book immensely.

againandagainandagain. it gets almost interesting. lovecraft's scientific story ending up with nothing much of a climax, Poe drowning in nautical technical information and fragmentary style. taine's is the most interesting one. first too little happens, then too much. could have been good, but is first too boring then too much in the overwhelming action-genre. glasby has good descriptions, but his story doesn't go anywhere. some of the other stories could have been good too. but always, something destroys. too boring, not going anywhere, lacks suspence. truly sad since many of the stories shows potential.

An excellent collection of short to medium length stories, all dealing with Antarctic expeditions and what the adventurers found (but wish they hadn't).

I only gave this book three stars because of the horrible proof-reading. It appeared as if the original documents had been scanned in and run through OCR software without a human bothering to check the results. Some examples: in one story, Tekeli-li is printed T>k>li-li; in one story all instances of "he" are printed as "be".

Other than that, I would recommend this collection to anyone interested in weird fiction set in Antarctica.

From the ends of the Earth come stories of adventure and really BAD things. Start off with a sonnet by Lovecraft himself, called, 'Antarktos', then on to the first course with 'The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket' by Edgar Allan Poe, with a follw-up of excerpts by Jules Vern's called 'The Sphinx of the Ice Fields'. This is followed by the not-so-well-known 'The Greatest Adventure' by John Taine. 'At The Mountains of Maddness' by H.P. Lovecraft is served next, the main course, followed by 'The Tomb of the Old Ones' by Colin Wilson. Arthur C. Clarke cooks up a fine story in 'At the Mountains of Murkiness' and what meal would be complete without 'The Thing From Another World' by John W. Campbell Jr.? We finish off our fine dining with 'The Brooding City' by John S. Glasby and 'The Dreaming City' by Roger Johnson. Full yet?