This book will surprise you with its revelations, such as - what do the current and all previous UN Secretary-Generals have in common? All are/were socialists or Marxists (without exception). Here's the straight scoop folks: the UN Charter and the US Constitution are incompatible with each other. Something is going to give. The main difference, as the book points out, is the source of 'rights'. Our Constitution recognizes and protects 'God given' rights. With the UN, rights are not absolute, and subject to any number of provisos. Get this book, read it (it's not too long), and encourage your friends/family to read it too. We needed to get out of the UN 'yesterday'.

After reading this book, I have become encouraged to reach out and educate people of the dangers of the United Nations. Please do likewise!

People in USA and Europe must read this book and start a people movement to stop the madness. Luckily Norway is still out of the European Union, against the "Quisling" ,former Norwegian prime minister: Gro Harlem Brundtland. She is now head of the UN WHO ! Watch out all free and healthy people of the world!

I enjoy reading Kurzweil because he's an adventurous thinker. This book is particularly fun because some other fine minds take him to task. Ray holds up well because he's a reasonable thinker. Although some of his predicitions seem outlandish, they may not be. You can't read this book without engaging in a lot of interesting visualization about the future. Some of it is frightening, but there is hope as well. Will the future runaway on it's own or will we be in charge? I don't know, but I'm sure thinking about it, now.

This is Ray Kurzweil's third book concerning the future of reductionist artificial intelligence design and it's possible effects on us in the decades yet to come. In THE AGE OF SPIRITUAL MACHINES, Kurzweil's previous book, which I enjoyed also, and this volume, he uses technological trends, including Moore's law and other tools, to show that a desktop computer will have achieved human level computational ability around the year 2020. Also, Kurzweil envisions that we will be able, sometime in the next few decades, to scan human brains and download that 'software' into these advanced computers to give them human level reasoning abilities, with the speed of computer neural nets, leaving humans behind, so to speak. Accordingly, it may also be possible to scan individual brains and load that information into an advanced computer (attached to a body of some kind), giving that person a sort of immortality. This is the gist of Kurzweil's argument, I hope I got it essentially correct.

What Kuzweil means by computers someday becoming 'spiritual' is that they may become conscious, and 'strong A.I.' is the view that "any computational process sufficiently capable of altering or organizing itself can produce consciousness." The first part of this book is an introduction to all of the above views by Kurzweil, followed by criticisms by four authors, followed in turn by Kurzweil as he refutes these criticisms.

Personally, I found most of the views expounded by the critics here to be either non-sensical, or 'beside the point'. One critic says that the life support functions of the brain cannot be separated from it's information processing function. Of course it can be, even the effects of hormones can be programmed into a downloaded brain, as well as other chemicals used by brains. Another critic states that possibly evolution is in error, and yet another criticism is that our machines will not be able to contact a divine entity and would thus be inferior.... give me a break, well...perhaps this is all true and maybe pigs will one day fly over the moon unassisted. I could go on and on, but this is the job of Ray Kurzweil and he defends himself admirably in the final chapters of this volume. Kurzweil does mention in this book that brain scanning machines are improving their resolution with each new generation, and eventually will reach a point where they should be able to image individual neurons and synapses in large areas, and allow the brain 'software' to be transferred to a suitable non-biological computing medium, my only criticism of Kurzweil here is that I think he should discuss this technology more, and where it is headed, his next book would be a great place for this.

One final point, it seems to me that when a new idea appears to be difficult and complicated to achieve, the pessimist says: "This is difficult and complicated, and may not work", whereas the optimist says: "This is difficult and complicated, but may work". Only time will tell for sure.

The work, inventions, and opinions of Ray Kurzweil in the field of artificial intelligence have captured media attention and the attention of philosophers and researchers in artificial intelligence. But not only is Kurzweil one of the most brilliant and controversial of all the individuals working in artificial intelligence, he is also the most optimistic. This optimism holds not only for the future technology of artificial intelligence, predicted by Kurzweil to give independent thinking machines in the next three decades, but also for its social impact. Kurzweil believes that artificial intelligence will work for the benefit of humankind, but that this benefit will depend to a great degree on his belief that humans will take on technology that will effectively make them cybernetic.

The controversy behind Kurzweil stems from his recent book "The Age of Spirtual Machines", which is a detailed accounting of his predictions and beliefs regarding artificial intelligence. Many individuals objected to his visions and predictions, and he answers a few of them in this book. In particular, he attempts to counter the arguments against him by the philosopher John Searle, the molecular biologist Michael Denton, the philosopher William A. Dembski, and zoologist Thomas Ray. With only a few minor exceptions, Kurzweil is successful in his refutation of their assertions.

But even if Kurzweil completely refutes the arguments of these individuals, and possibly many more against him, the countering of arguments will not by itself solve the problems in artificial intelligence research. The fact remains that much work still needs to be done before we are priveleged to see the rise of intelligent machines. Kurzweil is well-aware of this, for he acknowledges this many times in this book. He points to reverse engineering of the human brain as one of the most promising strategies to bring in the robotic presence. The success or failure of this strategy will take the mind-body problem out of purely academic circles and bring it to the forefront of practical research in artificial intelligence. The 21st century will thus see the rise of the "industrial philosopher", who works in the laboratory beside the programmers, cognitive scientists, robot engineers, and neurologists.

Each reader of this book will of course have their own opinions on Kurzweil's degree of success in countering the arguments of Searle, Denton, Dembski, and Ray. But one thing is very clear: Kurzweil is no arm-chair philosopher engaging in purely academic debates on the mind-body problem. He is right in the thick of the research and development of artificial intelligence, and if the future turns out as he predicts, he will certainly be one of the individuals contributing to it. He and many others currently working in artificial intelligence are responsible for major advances in this field in just the last few years. Their ingenuity and discipline is admirable in a field that has experienced a roller coaster ride of confidence and disappointment in the preceding decades. All of these individuals have proved themselves to be superb thinking machines.

A great book to keep at hand. I've had it for years and everywhere I'm at and using it, people want to know all about it. Everyone is fascinated about the abundance of information the hand sized book contains.

I have some larger books in my library but when I need information I generally find it first or quicker in Nelson's QUICK Reference Bible Dictionary.ISBN 0-8407-6906-7

Thank You

I am an internationally A+ Certified Service Technition and found that this is one of the best books regarding this subject. I just recently ventured into the "hardware" section of computers and found this very helpful an practical. A must for anyone using computers

We used this case book in our MBA course for corporate finance. The real cases are exciting. The topics are very broad and ranging from cash budgeting to financial risk management. Most of the cases are supported with good background material like charts and income statements. The book is excellent for class discussions, but not for the ambituous reader who wants to teach himself corporate finance. There are simply no right or wrong answers why there's no solution provided. It's a great book to work with, but deadly boring if you want to read it page by page.

As a student utilizing this text for class, I found it extremely insightful, as well as challenging in content. The book is subdivided in to various topib headings related to corporate finance, everything from debt and equity offerings to derivative risk management. After a chapter introduction outlining and reviewing pertinent academic information, there are several case studies on real companies. The book closes with three case studies which incorporate multiple topics highlighted in the book.

I think it will be good for me. however, there is others which is the best..

Now in a newly updated and expanded fourth edition with additional topical material and the results of current research and trends, Soil Science Simplified is an excellent guide to the basic principles of soil science. From soil physical properties, chemical equations, water, and fertility to soil conservation, surveys, and engineering, Soil Science Simplified is densely packed with so much information that it is eminently suitable as a high school or undergraduate soil science textbook. Black-and-white sketches and diagrams illustrate the scholarly, methodical, highly instructional text. Soil Science Simplified is strongly recommended for students and professionals in seeking to understand soil science principles -- especially engineers, environmentalists, landscape architects, as well as anyone with an interest or career in agriculture.

Thomas Sullivan provides a clear, consise, and easy to use reference guide for anyone to use. This book not only contains actual text of some major environmental laws, but it also sites case studies and court decisions, all in an easy to read format. This book is a must for anyone dealing in environmental matters, and is a good source of reference for anyone concerned with the environment and public policy.

Gunner With Stonewall is a typical and valuable first hand account of life in wartime. Filled with intersting atecdotes and personal details, it is closer in perspective to Henry Kyd Douglas' "I Rode With Stonewall" than Foote's or Catton's histories on the same period. This lends and air of timelessness and similarity with WWII- and Vietnam-era first -hand accounts. Written many years after the fact, the book contains some minor innaccuracies ultimately clarified by the Editor. All in all, considering the dirth of books about Confederate Army Artillery, it is a good read that diserves a place on the historian's bookshelf.

Poague reminds me of Porter Alexander in his occasionally acerbic tone and his willingness to tell it like he thinks it is with regards to generals and their foibles. Maybe it's an artillery thing. Also like Alexander, he's refreshingly bloodthirsty -- no Gordon-esque blandishments about chivalry here. His account of the death of Federal Gen. Kearny contrasts interestingly with other accounts I've read, and his description of the surrender at Appomattox is particularly evocative.

Geoffrey Matthews' and Byron Moldofsky's beautiful cartography is destroyed by the greatest error an atlas publisher can make--spreading the maps across two pages. The results are not just ugly; some information is lost in the crack.