This book contains excellent choices from the writings of Jonathan Edwards, the first great philosopher in the American colonies, including some of his earliest writings, mostly just philosophical or biological musings. It reflects some interesting developments in the maturation of his thinking. It also has letters to friends, colleagues, and family members. Some of his most well-known sermons are alongside some representative samples of his sermons. Unfortunately, there is room for only excerpts from his longer works, such as The Religious Affections, but that can't be helped in an affordable popular anthology. If you want all of his works, but the complete works from the same publisher. If you just want a representative sample of some of the best works of this great theologian and philosopher, get this.

I originally was required to read this book for an introductory course in cultural geography. It was an excellent collection of works by various authors. It really opened my eyes to the world of cultural geography. As a testament to how much I enjoyed the class I'm keep the book.

She-Wolf has a secret. She and her mate are on the move, traveling through wetlands and snow covered forests. The earth stands still to listen to their song as they howl beneath the moonlit sky. They hunt together preying upon rabbits or swamp crabs. They are in search of a den. As they near a farmhouse a farmer shoots at them and they lunge into a cold icy river to escape. Struggling to survive, they search for higher and more distant lands far from humans. In spring their pups are born and we are left hoping that humans will allow them to live in their world. Again, Jonathan London magnificently captures the spirit of these great creatures while Daniel San Souci's illustrations reflect the true beauty of the endangered red wolf. In 1987, red wolves were released into wilderness areas. Now over one hundred inhabit the lands of "Red Wolf Country": Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, Bull Island, Horn Island, St. Vincent Island and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Roland Smith, the former red wolf species coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service writes in an afterword an informative history about the red wolf. Red Wolves were plentiful in the southeastern U.S. until the mid-1960's when, through the destruction of natural habitat and thoughtless activities of hunters, trappers, ranchers and farmers, they became extinct. A few wolves were found in Texas and Louisiana and, for their own protection, they were placed in captivity and later released in N. Carolina's islands off the shores of Florida, Mississippi, and S. Carolina and , in fall 1991, in Tennessee's Great Smokies National Park. Now there are approximately 100 red wolves running free.

A good book about soft paddling. The maps and explanations
of the locations were well done. Made me want to try many
of the suggestions.

"The Map Is Not The Territory" expresses Alfred Korzybski's second principle of general semantics: namely, Non-All-ness. By this Korzybski meant that no word ever says "all" about anything and no map ever represents "all" of any territory. We can profitably use words and maps, Korzybski said, as long as we constantly submit them to rigorous examination so that we may keep them accurate and up-to-date. This helps us avoid constructing maps of territories that do not, in fact, exist.

The author of this book, Jonathan Z. Smith, has plainly taken Korzybski's words for his title, dropping only the definite article "the" from before the words "map" and "territory." Yet he makes no mention of Korzybski in the book's index and waits until the last line of the last essay (page 309) to insert the following line:

"For the dictum of Alfred Korzybski is inescapable: 'Map is not territory'--but maps are all we possess."

This faint and belated acknowledgement represents both a misappropriation and a misinterpretation of Korzybski's words. Korzybski would say that we not only have maps but that we also have compasses, sextants, chronometers, global-positioning satellites, and any number of other means by which we assure ourselves of their accuracy. Smith, for his part, uses the word "map" in vague and ill-defined ways. When he refers to a "cosmos," we must assume that he refers to an astrologer's hallucination rather than the careful catalogue of an astronomer.

Korzybski first enunciated his system of general semantics in 1933 with the publication of his major work, "Science and Sanity." Since then, numerous distinguished authors such as S.I. Hayakawa, Wendell Johnson, Irving J. Lee, and Anatol Rapoport--to name just a few--have developed and expanded Korzybski's principles of general semantics. They have all written clearly, forcefully, and at great length of how delusional words and maps lead people to wrap themselves in verbal cocoons from which, in Wendell Johnson's words, "they seldom hatch." Had Smith carefully studied this literature and then applied general semantics to his own efforts, he might have cleared up much of his own confused thinking. Instead, he has associated his rather nebulous conceptions of human symbol-making with a methodology, discipline, and philosophy that he does not clearly understand.

This book has nothing whatsoever to do with general semantics, Alfred Korzybski's life work, and the author's disingenuous attempt to associate himself with that work needs repudiating in the strongest terms.

Ironically, the author speaks of Melanesian "cargo cults" while apparently unaware of Richard Feynman's 1974 commencement address at Caltech, published in his autobiography, "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" in which the late physicist spoke of "Cargo Cult Science." In professor Feynman's words:

"In the South Seas there is a cargo cult of people. During the war they saw airplanes with lots of good materials, and they want the same thing to happen now. So they've arranged to make things like runways, to put fires along the sides of the runways, to make a wooden hut for a man to sit in, with two wooden pieces on his head to simulate earphones and bars of bamboo sticking out like antennas--he's the controller--and they wait for the planes to land. They're doing it all right. The form is perfect. It looks exactly the way it looked before. But it doesn't work. No airplanes land. So I call these things cargo cult science, because they follow all the apparent precepts and forms of scientific investigation, but they're missing something essential, because the planes don't land."

Given Jonathan Smith's preference for such sweeping generalizations as, "The historian's task is to complicate not to clarify" and "The historian's manner of speech is often halting and provisional" and "The historian provides us with hints that remain too fragile" (all on page 290), I have to wonder what historians he has in mind, since he doesn't say. The book may contain useful footnotes of interest to scholars of this sort of thing, but--in my humble opinion--Richard Feynman's cargo cult synopsis serves well for the last word here:

"The planes don't land."

...This book is insightful, stimulating and truly well written. JZS injects excitement, and even humor, into what many would consider a 'dry' topic.

I first read it in college over a decade ago, and I still have the original hardcover copy sitting right next to me on the shelf, even though my current studies would *appear* to have little in common :) I can only say this once: this book gets the #1 place in my list of essential reads.

This book is one of the classic texts for methodology in the history of religions. A must read for those interested in serious scholarship on the study of religion.

As a student of history, not focused on the period, I found this book a hard and annoying read. Riley-Smith focuses too much on proving his arguments through repetative evidence, and only through a close examination and arduous reading of the title from front to end does one gain a good understanding of what Riley-Smith wanted to convey. The art of story-telling does not live in this one...

Riley Smith focuses on the title of his book, that is what he wants to present and does. It is not a light read, but anyway it is very clear and dinamic; the author presents facts in an interesting and condensed way, and he does take time (we apreciate that!)to explain the sources he has used in his investigation.

This is a brilliant book by a leading historian of the crusades. It needs to be understood on its own terms: it's a detailed analysis of *why* so many Europeans set off on the 1st Crusade. Riley-Smith has produced a closely-argued analysis that places the crusade within the context of the world of eleventh-century Europe that created it. This isn't the place to go if you want accounts of the battles of the crusade, and it isn't a "light" read. But it's extremely valuable---I've assigned it several times to my classes.

The premise of the book is worthy of the "Roswell" TV theme. It is what it is and it's doing what it wants. It's science fiction set in the present with present-day characters acting and reacting to a situation. I would almost bet the book is the basis for a TV series or movies and the main character is centered around the style of acting Frakes used in STNG. Thus, you have another character Frakes can portray. (Sort of like John Wayne could only be one type of tough guy so all his successful movies were about the one type of guy.)

Aside from the above, the premise is good, the action is thin, the characters have some depth and will develop more. There could easily be a more complex plot but this one introduces the idea well enough. The book should not go down in history as a best seller but it captures the 'western' spirit of survival that exists in the Pacific Northwest. It really is a quick read and worth the time, especially if you like the Roswell TV program's base idea. It could be a good TV show but keep it out of the theaters.

As a native Oregonian and a former resident of Portland, I must add that the fictional mayor of Portland in no way resembles the current mayor. Our Eugene, Oregon ghostwriter is politically very smart.

Writing may not be Frakes' greatest talent, but he is a great storyteller. I came here looking for a sequel and am disappointed to not find one. Even though the writing is not the best, I very much enjoyed the story. As for the few mistakes in the book, well even the Great Stephen King makes them; that's why they have editors, but I guess sometimes the editor needs an editor. The book is a good read and the quotes at the beginning of each chapter are intriguing.

This was not the best book I've read, but it wasn't the worst either. I felt alot of Jonathan's personality came through in story, and that makes it attractive to fans of his. Even though the writing could have been better, the story itself was great. It was very well thought out with surprises and clues along the way. I personally would sacrifice good writing for a good story any day.

This is a good book introducing the global economics

This is a collection of messages left on a close friend's of Jonathan Winters answering Machine. All of it right off the top of Jonathan Winter's head. He would call to talk to his friend about something, get the machine, and just start up another rendition of something, that was on his mind at the moment. While the subjects may seem random to us, it was usually something his friend could relate to, and Mr. Smith gives a short preface, about the most of the messages. Some are Very funny! Jim Smith was a close friend to Jonathan & his wife, and worked with him over the years on various projects, including Hee Haw. There is a very nice introduction to the book, and many pictures throughout... It's a different kind of book, because it was all quoted from a caller, that didn't know he was building a book. I guess it made it even all the better.

In my opinion, the book was somewhat interesting, however, the content was rather general and not presented in depth. For example, one part of the book presented some "rules of thumb" for assessing reliability of information.(For example, ask yourself whether you believe it, ask yourself whether you would invest your own money based on the research, etc.) I thought this section was somewhat interesting, but it did not address issues of reliability in objective measurable terms, it did not address the various sources of information in detail, and it did not give remedies for overcoming difficulties with dubious information or synthesizing information. The treatment of market research specifically was similarly shallow and general. This was somewhat dissapointing considering the cover blurb called the book "profound". On the other hand, although the book was rather general, it was written in an engaging style and the content is certainly worth knowing. So, it may be useful for someone as a first book on how to sort through their e-mail inbox or to get a general idea of what type of research is included in "market research".Overall, the book seemed to address how to get a feel for the reliability of incoming information rather than how to "release the power" of knowledge.