The problem with books about history is that they are almost always an interpretation: the author's. At best the author is willing to share the conflicting evidence with his reader, at worst the author omits it and pretends it doesn't even exist. But even the most faithful author can't put everything in a book so a selection has to be made. That's why the critical reader ends up reading a lot of books about the same subject. To be able to grasp most of the material, evidence and theories that are circulating. That way he/she is able to form his/her own opinion about an issue. But if the issue is Thomas Jefferson & Sally Hemings the reader will likely end up digging through tons of material and will still be very confused and very indecisive. Until recently one of the only books on the topic worth reading was Anette Gordon-Reed's "Thomas Jefferson and Sally Heming: An American Controversy". Because of it's painstakingly revealing of the mistakes, omissions and lies that previous writers had committed and for it's refusal to take a final stand.

This book however was written after the 1999 DNA tests that revealed that Thomas Jefferson very likely fathered Sally's last child Eston. And that he didn't father Thomas C. Woodson. But one has to keep in mind that the recent testing still don't prove Jefferson's paternity exclusively. Another male relative from the Jefferson line could have fathered Sally's last child, since they share the same Y chromosome. The book offers a number of refreshing essays written by scholars. Each one of them looks at the relationship from his/her own field. Trying to describe and explain what this new evidence means to themselves and their previous writings and views on TJ. Sometimes describing how they fell into the trap that so many historians fell into when dealing with TJ. They also try to describe the way the American mind thought about TJ and how this new evidence will influence peoples views and opinions.

The strength of the book is that it has been written after the revealing DNA tests. It also presents a lot of authors, each with his/her specific knowledge, views and convictions. Rather than just one author. But the really weak point is that the book fails to give a clear outline and explanation of the recent DNA test. That's the chapter that it should have started with. Since that test is the core, the very foundation upon which all these "revisionist" writings build. And also because a test like this needs explanation: not everyone is familiar with cellular biology and what it really means.

There a many texts available for 2-semester courses, but this text is one of few available for a 1-semester intermediate Spanish course. It separates the communicative activities and grammar review into different parts of the book, which is convenient and logical for students and instructors. There is a workbook and lab manual with lab cassettes as well. It does not include videos, CD-ROM's, overheads, and flamenco dancers, but in a 1-semester course, you may not have time to get all of that in anyway. It's not ground-breaking material, but at least your students aren't buying a two-semester book for a 1-semester course.

"Not for Beginners Only" would be a better subtitle. My happy aquaintance with Lewis goes back many years, but I'd not thought to dig to see what other kinds of gems there were in his writings than those I'd first stumbled upon. Mine tends to be a Some-stuff-interests-me-and- other-stuff-doesn't kind of mentality.

This book impells me to a much wider appreciation for Lewis by way of the author's logic and insightful discussions. It's a pleasurable read! In the past I've been put off by the phrase "in other words..." followed, as they tend to be, by the obvious. I'm thinking, "Yeah, yeah, let's get on with it." Not so with Peters. He says, "In other words" and offers me a truly fresh, deeper insight than was at first obvious. And I'm thinking, "Oh, yeah! Of course! Why didn't I think of that?" I so appreciated Peters' well-expressed views that I found myself thoroughly savoring his marvelous intro to the pr! evailing thoughts/ideas of the 19th century in his second chapter. ("Setting the Stage") Let's face it. Learning ought to be a joy, and Peters serves up a most palatable sociology. I came away with far more than I'd bargained for.

If you're looking for light summer reading, mindless and forgettable, a paperback you can toss without a second thought--you've got the wrong book.

If you're looking for something that catches and sticks with you, draws you into some real thought, and lifts you in the process, this is your book.

After reading Peters' "Simply C.S.Lewis: A Beginner's Guide to His Life and Works," I see the familiar in a gratifying new light, and want to reread. And it goes without saying that now I'm eager to get to treasures of Lewis's which I've overlooked in the past.

Few people living today know that President Thomas Jefferson launched two expeditions into the Louisiana territory purchased in 1803; Lewis and Clark to the north, Freeman and Custis to the south. Lewis and Clark have been covered thoroughly, even triumphally, because they completed their task. Freeman and Curtis have been ignored because they were intercepted by Spanish soldiers after exploring hundreds of miles of the Red River. Historian Dan Flores, drawing on both American and Spanish sources, performs a real service by describing this southern expedition and placing it within the context of its time (1806). Flores reminds us that the Spanish tried to stop Lewis and Clark too, but missed them. He shows us that the scheming General Wilkinson wanted the Freeman and Custis expedition to provoke a war with Spain, and nearly succeeded. Flores provides an introduction before the expedition's own account, and an epilogue after. His annotation of the expedition's documents is exceptionally thorough and often fascinating. The book includes numerous black and white illustrations and reproductions of several old maps. A modern map of the area would have been helpful. This book is one of an excellent series published by the University of Oklahoma Press.

I thought his first volume of essays - THE LIVES OF A CELL - was more interesting, but there are still some essays here that will stimulate the reader to ponder the biology Thomas discusses.

The title of the book comes from one of the most unusual instances of symbiosis that exists in nature. A form of jellyfish accepts a snail larva, which then proceeds to feast on the jellyfish until it becomes a truncated parasite on the mouth of the snail. This remnant is capable of reproducing and the cycle begins anew. As Thomas writes so eloquently, it is a misnomer to label such examples of biological cooperation as a parasitic relationship. Both species benefit greatly, each serving to protect and nourish the other at some point in their life-cycle.
What is difficult to understand is how such a relationship could be generated. All organisms are marked by very specific molecular structures, which may be the most species-specific characteristic there is. How these two creatures could somehow forgive the presence of another until the relationship could develop is completely unknown. But any solution would have profound consequences for medicine. Any ability to turn the immune system on and off at will would allow for tremendous advances in battles against specific diseases. It would then be possible to turn on specific antibodies against whatever disease is currently a threat.
The remainder of the book is just as interesting, as Thomas continues in putting forward his philosophy of mother earth as a cooperative biological entity. While his analogy of the cellular cooperation of an organism to that of the biosphere of the earth is a stretch, there is enough truth to take it seriously. Like all his books after the original, I enjoyed it, but wish he would not recycle material used in earlier books. There is so much new biological wonder and he is so talented a writer that I would have loved to see what new material he could generate.

This is an accurate accounting of how Welch ruined the very heart and soul of a wonderful company--one which employees were proud of their association before Welch. I worked many years for GE, both before Welch was CEO and after, and the book read like "this is your life". It is so sad that other executives appear to be on the edge of their chair waiting for every word spoken by Welch and to learn from him the theme of the year or the latest corporate slogan to espouse. I do hope this book becomes a best seller as it would give me confidence that more people would understand the depth of the problems Jack has created. And lastly, I would hope that our business schools would make this required reading to best illustrate how NOT to run a business.

O"Boyle exposes an excellent example of what is wrong with the American business climate today. Corporate profiteers concerned with short term gain at the expense of everything else. Well written, easy to read, very enlightening, this book strikes out at the venerable institutions which though held in high esteem, should be looked on with contempt. Extremely well researched, the only thing missing from this book is a response from Jack Welch. Boy, I'm glad I don't work for General Electric.

When GE's massive downsizing took place in Pittsfield, MA, I was a frustrrated local official trying to find out what was going on. GE officials furnished little information. Eventually it was thought the GE must have done it to simply stay competitive in the new global economy. Thomas O'Boyle furnishes the answer. The layoffs and plant closings were Jack Welch's idea of a corporate revolution. He was at the cutting edge of a major business philosophy which discarded post-WW II corporate paternalism in favor of downsizing chic. Layoffs and plant closings, formerly the last options of businesses in trouble, became fashionable fiist options in the pursuit of higher profits. Welch, according to O'Boyle, created a work place of purposeful job insecurity. The profit outcome mattered more than people. GE managers had to hit a home run to be number one in profits or they were out. This quest to be number one, wrote O'Boyle, was a major reason for GE, as one of the Pentagon's 100 largest defense contractors, to become the leading corporate criminal in cheating the government to show larger profits. GE could have remained in my city and stayed competitive in comsumer electronic products, but the profits would not have been high enough for Welch's quest to be number one. My city is a long way from recovering from the economic blow of losing about 9, 000 GE jobs. I take serious issue with such revewiers as NY Times, Roger Lowenstein that O;Boyle is wrong and that , "America has reaped a huge dividend (from the layoffs and plant closings): the added goods and services that GE's former workers contribute in other lines of work" Mr. Lwenstein should come to my city to see how wrong he is. Unfortunately GE's corporate practices are now the standard for business in this country. And so long as GE's and other stockholders are happy with their returns on a surging stock market these corporate practices will continue. However, O'Boyle has shown the bad effects of this corporate practice and one has to hope that hope that eventually some corporate leaders, and there are some according to O'Boyle, who will begin to realize they have a duty to their workers and the community and not only stockholders. O'Boyle raises the interesting question of who will follow Welch soon as the new CEO at GE and more importantly what will be his management style. GE does not have to be number one in profits. It can and should show the way in leading us back to a corporate world of responsibiltiy for its workers and the communities it does business in. I hope the next GE leader takes O'Boyle's book seriously and tries to remedy the bad employee and communtiy practices of Welch

This book permits one to quickly find a lot of usefulreferences. However it is quite misleading as all kind of heretics areincluded. The word "Christian" should have been avoided in the title. Those who are interested in Church Fathers will have to be able to sort out the Fathers from the heretics, and that means they will have to know already a lot about the issues of orthodoxy and heresy among the ancient thinkers. In this case they will already know much, and this book may not be so useful. I do not recommend this book to those conservative Christians who do not know which thinkers were heretic or not.

A few things to note in reading this book...

1. It is a resource of quotes, for the most part. So, it's not like a typical commentary, where you can read the passage of Scripture, then read the "commentary" and have an idea of what's being said. This book is full of quotes (a few lines long) related to each passage.

2. Which leads me to the second point... Usually, when you have a commentary you know the author's bias-- whether he/she is conservative, liberal, their theological leanings, etc., and you can make like adjustments when reading. Not so here. You will need to be somewhat versed in Church History (or have access to a book) in order to distinguish the sound theology of these individuals from the not-so-sound/heretical theology. And, it's possible (as was the case with Origen, for instance) that some of what they say is sound and some is way, way off... You just need to have some tool to make that distinction.

3. This book is very helpful, nonetheless, because we often forget that the ancient Christians struggled with the essentials doctrines of the faith for hundreds of years... and were versed in Scripture (although some of them get lost in allegory, etc.). It is both helpful-- and respectful-- I think, to know what these fore-runners in the faith said.

Buy the book-- but only if you already have some other commentaries (or resources) you can consult.

Any book which meets its aim to present the thoughts of the church "Fathers" (as this book does) deserves to be evaluated on its stated intentions. Does this volume do an admirable and coherent job of offering Christianity's earliest theologians' thoughts on the letters to Corinth? Absolutely. Is it reasonable to expect views from this period to be in sync with intricate theological statements written hundreds (even thousands) of years later? Of course not. Walking through these early reflections on Scripture with the Fathers creates a fresh sense that Christianity is rooted in history, and that Christianity has an observable historical development of its own. Fascinating, on its own merits. Also of merit is the opportunity to have multiple historical sources available in the same volume. Who likes to pick up and put away dozens of books at a time?

I can hardly think of a book that has been more disappointing than this one. Expecting to read a scholarly analysis of the Lewis and Clark expedition, I read instead a nit-picking critique of words used in the explorers' journals. One chapter entitled "Hunting" barely recognized that these men had to shoot animals to live in its fevered attack on the fact that the explorers and their men actually shot animals. The reek of political correctness overwhelms this book. Certainly Lewis and Clark were human and not saints as they traversed the continent, but the conclusion one would draw from Slaughter's book is that Lewis and Clark (and Columbus and James Cook along the way) never did anything right. A sadly deficient work.

"Exploring Lewis and Clark" makes some interesting points about Lewis & Clark, somewhat in the spirit of being the devil's advocate.

Slaughter is clearly trying to draw a contrast between the worshipful view of L&C popularized by Stephen Ambrose and Ken Burns and what Slaughter views as the reality. Slaughter notes, for instance, that L&C hunted excessively, repeatedly stole from Indians, and generally exaggerated their historical importance. Slaughter also has a very interesting discussion of the life of Sacajawea and the possibility she lived longer than is conventionally acknowledged.

All this said, this is very much a niche product. One has to know a great deal about the L&C journey prior to reading this book. I would also suggest that it's a relatively thin book. I think Slaughter's interesting points probably could have been presented in 30 or 40 pages, but he has puffed it up to somewhat get to a book length.

Exploring Lewis and Clark constitues Corps of Discovery #202. First complete course#101 by reading Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose or the Lewis and Clark Journals and then you are ready to delve into the incisive and provocative critique of the Corps of Discovery by this author. As a Native American and the author of Yazoo Mingo - The Journeys of Moncacht-Apé Across North America 1687-1700, I appreciated slaughter's informative and thoughtful chapter on Porvio, also known as Sacagawea. The(rest of the) story regarding York was also of great interest.

Whether or not you agree with all of the author's conclusions this book will increase your knowledge and understanding of the Courageous Captains and their Corps of Discovery.

In creating this book of maps, the authors have not merely stepped on one of my pet peeves. They have kicked it, stomped it, gouged it, whipped it, and beaten it with a stick. My pet peeve is maps that have no mileage scale. I see it all too often in newspapers and magazines. Maybe ignorant reporters and editors can be excused. But how can these scholars give us an entire book of maps without a single mileage scale? Besides knowing the routes of the explorers, we want to know how far was their journey from one point to another.

I would like to know why mileage scales were omitted. Did the editor think people would use the maps for navigation and sue the publisher for any errors? If this omission was just an accidental oversight, then it should have been corrected before the book was published. Please explain.

But, that said, this is a beautiful and interesting book. Most of the maps are a full page, and each map is accompanied by a page summarizing the accomplishments of each journey and its importance. Also, many of the maps are accompanied by a contemporary drawing, painting, litho, etc. that illustrates the journey. Students of early North American explorations will enjoy this book. If the authors will revise it and add mileage scales to the maps, then I'll raise my rating to a 5.

This atlas serves a real need for any serious student of North American history. The alternative is to chase down many sources that have individualized map information for individual explorers.

In some cases, however, the colors are difficult to actually discern. There is so many route information, with so many colors that are similar, that it is difficult to distinguish one route from another.

Also, a stated map scale of both miles and kilometers for each map would be helpful.

Otherwise great! -- in my opinion.

Why is the atlas no longer in print, at least at present?

Are the authors planning a revised copy?

I'd like the authors to know about this, and receive a big pat on the back from this old history student and high school history teacher.

Les Falk, Kelowna, BC, Canada

This book was assigned to me as part of a college mechanical engineering course. This book was hard to follow and strayed from the course description. It contains aspects of electronics and mechanical design where the math problems are not fully explained and worked out and the machine descriptions are extremely brief. It is possible to get an education out this book, but a person would really have to strain. If you buy this book, I recommend that you get a generic study guide to accompany it.

This text provides a good, basic overview of methods for measuring several physical phenomena. The treatment of most of these is average. However, thermal measurement is given an improved, more thorough coverage. Personally, I have primarily used this text as a reference and guide for Chapter 3: Assessing and Presenting Experimental Data. I have found the sections on Error and, especially, Uncertainty to be very instructive and practical for use during college and post-graduation (as a mechanical engineer in research and development).