Finally a book that approaches science scientifically! I hated biology when I was a kid because it always presupposed evolution into every single facet of biological studies. Then when we learned evolution I learned it was just a theory, and a very sketchy theory at best. As a result, science lost a lot of credibility with me. I hated the subject because it was bias, tainted with sketchy presuppositions, and ruthlessly demanding that we all believe it or else.

Ian has done a very fair and balanced study of evolution in this book and using true scientific approaches.I finally learned some science, 33 years later than I was supposed too, but hey maybe we can get an education in America after all!

This was truly a delight to read. It was Insightful and well reasoned throughout. An excellent creationist apologetic that asks the right questions about history and humanity thereby setting the right course for the objective viewing of the subjects involved. I really enjoyed the depth and quantity of insightful information the author used to draw out his conclusions. He was addressing questions that not everyone would think to ask. Also, it had the feel of a historical expose with its bits and pieces so tightly knit together into a singular focus, defining the issue and arriving at the Truth.

Used in a class I took on origins, this book is an excellent foundational book to present the creationist side of the evolution-creation debate. It outlines the history of thought relating to evolution starting before Darwin and continuing to present day with speculation on future implications. Intertwined with the history of evolution is a history of ideas which contridict evolution, and various scientific facts and discoveries along those lines. Some generally little known facts about deceptions and misrepresentations by various early evolutionists, and shifts in evolutionary thought since Darwin's time are also mentioned. Many of the typical evolutionary arguments are discussed in detail, including the origin and problem of the arguments.

The book itself is very well organized, with a detailed table of contents which includes chapter titles and subheadings. Subheadings are in italics in the text, and chapter headings appear at the top of the right hand pages. Notes and a bibliography appear at the end, as well as a detailed index. Illustrations and poitraits appear throughout the book. I have found the organization of the book handy for looking up facts I have wanted to refresh my memory on.

This book is well written and well organized. I highly recommend it for both evolutionists and creationists, as it will provide good reference material for those in either camp of the evolution-creation debate. Even those who find they disagree with the author's premise will find many points to ponder.

FILM FACTORY is a thoughtfully selected collection of primary documents relating to events in Russian and Soviet film. Brightly translated and well-annotated, it is both an ideal introduction to the period for advanced students--and a gold mine for the researcher.

As a guide to Gnu autoconf, automake and libtool, this book is quite useless. It is utterly and totally disorganized, and much essential information is just not there at all. So don't bother with it if you want to learn about any of those subjects. The book is not entirely without merit, however. Its redeeming features are scattered sensible comments about software portability and software architecture.

The authors are obviously very knowledgable and experienced about software. I encourage them to "throw this one away" and try a rewrite from scratch. Short of that, they could provide a road map through their book; first read this chapter, then skip to the second half of that one, etc.

The sad news is that there may not be any good guide to autoconf etc anywhere yet. Like the DNA in your body, all autoconf files are very likely descended by an evolutionary process from a few original specimens.

I had originally bought this book so that I could maintain a GNU autotools based build system for a company I was doing CM for at the time. I was basically a kid, and didn't have any professional C development background, and after reading the first several chapters, I was thinking to myself "This book is unnecessairly hard to understand, I just want to know how to use autoconf, show me a listing of the macros, etc, not this other, preipheral sic shell stuff!"

Months later, and after doing some actual Linux C development myself (a command interpreter, no less), I came back to this book, and was able to get a lot more out of it. Just be aware that it is geared toward someone doing really involved open-source/GPL'd C development.

This book may have been better if each feature of the autotools were discussed in a more abstract way, without following the development of this sic shell. It is interesting, but that kind of orginisation forces you to read it from front to end to effectively understand it, which of course you SHOULD do, but it's at the expense of being a solid reference. It's no biggie, though, because the free GNU documentation fills that gap.

... this is your lifeline.

I sit here, staring at a messy Makefile.am and let me tell you, the future is looking pretty bleak. Imagine the rainiest day, the most miserably cold weather, the most awful meal you've had to eat and say tasted great: for some, the pain of dealing with cross platform Makefiles is exponentially worse.

I thank all the authors of this book every time I try to do something impossible within the constraints of GNU make syntax.

This book clearly explains Makefile syntax. Then, it explains how to automate it all with GNU autotools. Then, it provides a bunch more information. I think this book is clear and well-informed, and I find myself turning to it instead of the on-line manuals. (Note, this book is available on line as well, for free. Buy it anyway.) Some of the details may be lost on people not doing serious, cross platform Unix development, but the read is still highly recommended.

For those still think mulletts are cool, writing Z80 asm is "fun," that women and cooties are inseperable, and that real programmers write their own damn Makefiles, I offer my sincerest sympathies. The first step is admitting you have a problem. The second step is getting this book.

Godspeed.

I am a big fan of James Taylor, own over a dozen of his CDs, have seen him in concert numerous times, and had the pleasure of meeting him on Martha's Vineyard. I looked forward to Halperin's unauthorized biography of JT, but was ultimately disappointed. It is poorly written, poorly organized, and unbalanced. Halperin writes more about Mr. Taylor's sex life than he does his music. An entire chapter is devoted to his relationship with Joni Mitchell, and over a third discusses in boring detail his marriage to Carly Simon. Three quarters of the book covers Mr. Taylor's life from the age of 18 to 30 with little on the last 20 years of his life!

I give Mr. Halperin one star for the obvious work he put into the book and another star for the little bit of insight I gained into Mr. Taylor's life. For true JT fans who want to learn more about him, I would recommend sticking to the numerous interviews he has given over the years, or better yet, just listen to his music.

This book has been long awaited and for this reason was a little disappointing. Halperin's journalistic techniques do not provide enough depth for a subject like Taylor. I was looking for more reliable information and found that the author,obviously short of sources, interviewed James Taylor fans who provide information that I already know ie. "He's great, he's a legend, he's open, he's inspirational and I love him" - for that and concert experiences, Halperin could have interviewed me! Secondly, Halperin spends a lot of time talking not just to journalists but to gossip writers (eg, from magazines like the Enquirer) who neither know Taylor nor have any respect for him. Most of these interviews are repetitive and if they have a place in this book at all should have been kept to a minimum so I could have been spared reading and re-reading how at first people were only interested in talking to James about his drug habits and not his music and how difficult it was to get information out of Taylor or Simon about their divorce (as it should have been!!). It was painful for me to read shallow rumours about someone I really respect. Also, some extra proof reading should have been done on this book, there were way too many typing errors and missing words which made the book look cheap.

The good side is that alot of the gaps in what I knew about Taylor were somehow filled and now my view of his life has some kind of continuum. Particularly details about his musical "training" and his point of view about it. I was interested to find out about all the people who have helped Taylor build his career and their first impressions of him and his music.

If you are a serious JT fan, this book is for you. It is protective of Taylor to the point that in some places it makes excuses for some of his past personal inadequacies and even attacks some women for being bitter when he hurt them. As I have admired him,I hate to think anything bad about him, these excuses suited me and allowed my to keep my illusions intact.

I was thankful, nonetheless that this book was released but would feel more comfortable reading something that not only is approved by Taylor, but provides better research and more real insight into a very brilliant and complex man.

The negative reviews written here sound remarkably familiar. Must be from the same twisted person, who has nothing better to do with his life. Jealousy!! This book offers everything for all JT fans. If anything, it is very well written and balanced. My wife has followed JT's career for more than three decades. She said that for a first biography of JT it "encapsulated, entertained and hit home". The forward by Joel Risberg, the James Taylor Online webmaster, was a great added addition. Congratulations to Mr. Halperin for making a courageous attempt to give us insight into an artist, who for some strange reason, has not had a book written about him. It was long overdue!