I found the worksheets alone in this book worth the price. When you follow the step-by-step instructions, the worksheets cull out only the data you need. With all the extraneous data out of the way, it's easy to pinpoint critical problems that you might miss otherwise. And it makes developing key indicators and reports easier as well. I think any CEO who wants to keep the company's accounting and human resource managers on top of things at all times should give them this book tomorrow...if not sooner.

This book is packed with practical information and worksheets so you really get your money's worth. All points are illustrated with actual company stories and real-world experiences. The format makes it particularly easy to read and use.

I recommend this book to my coaching clients because it gives them a real system to develop strategy and then measure performance. Everyone wants a simple way to stay on track with their goals, and this book offers organizational planning advice, suggestions on how to effectively communicate the plan with employees, and then reports to make sure there is accountability for results.

This is one of the best books out there. I not only used it in my vibrations class back as an undergraduate (and I had vibrations with Magrab too!), I have continued to find new ways to use it in the work world today. Dr. Magrab and the others have written a very useful book that definitely relates engineering to this program.

This one is really for engineers, it goes over the basics first, subsequently it goes into more details. It has handy examples of mechanics, dynamics...etc. if you are a mechanical or an electrical engineer, and you are a matlab user, this book would mean a lot to you.

Many 'engineering' matlab books don't live up their titles. They are simply written as general introductions to matlab with a few useless thoughts about engineering thrown in.

In my opinion, a good matlab engineering book focuses less on general tips that you could get anywhere, and more on practical problem solving techniques and methodologies that provide insight into a paticular engineering problem and its solution.

This books succeeds in that respect. Though it gives space to the more general issues of using matlab, it gives ample room to specific engineering problems. I found its information and examples very useful. The topics are focused on mechanical engineering fields, such as vibration and control; however, the math used for such topics are used across engineering and science disciplines. Thus, any scientist or engineer will find this book useful.

The book is written so that engineers at many levels can benefit from it. For example, as a former graduate student, I found the treatments of vibration response analysis insightful. However, an undergraduate or otherwise inexperienced user would benefit from this book as well, because there is alot of general discussion of how to effectively and efficiently use matlab and write m-files.

All in all, I found this book excellent for both its treatment of high level engineering analysis issues and its more general matlab tips and discussion.

Collaboratively compiled and edited by James B. Murphy, Claudio Ciofi, Colomba de La Panouse, and Trooper Walsh, Komodo Dragons: Biology And Conservation is an impressive and informative collection of deftly presented essays by a variety of knowledgeable contributors about the evolution, population, distribution, habitat, ecology, of the great and unique carnivorous reptiles known as Komodo Dragons. A scattering of black-and-white photographs enhance these fascinating scientific analyses. Komodo Dragons is enthusiastically recommended reading and a seminal contribution to academic and professional Zoological Studies reference collections.

This book was in its fifth edition in 1980 (my copy), and obviously has been reprinted since then. There are more recent treatments of the subject, no doubt, and a lot of scholarship has taken place in medieval thought since that time. Nevertheless, I recommend that you buy this book (find a used copy if you can) because it is still one of the best places to get so many primary sources between the covers of one book. The introductory essays are very well done, but the value of this tome (761 pages) is the selection and depth of primary texts. This in no mere medieval cafeteria--the texts here are all selected for their importance to the overall content of each thinker's work. The selections are generous, too. With this book, you get Augustine, Boethius, Erigena, Anselm (with Gaunilo), Abelard, John of Salisbury, al-Farabi, Avicenna, al-Gazali, Averroes, Sa'adia, Solomon Ibn Gabirol, Maimonides, Bonaventure, Grosseteste, Bacon, Siger of Brabant, Aquinas (Spiriual Creatures, Summa Part I, II [first part], and the text of the 1277 condemnation), Scotus, William od Ockham, Nicholas of Autrecourt, Marsilius of Padua, and John Buridan (on Aristotle). Good stuff.

If you are concerned that there is no way you could get good information on so many writers in one book, let me assure you that you can. For example, you are not going to read all of Aquinas, but you ought to be familiar with the first part of the Summa. Similarly, you are not going to read all of Augustine, but some of the best of his work is here (good sections from The Teacher, Retractions, Confessions, City of God, The Trinity, and On Free Will). The important additions of Islamic and Jewish philosophy (Christian medieval thought depends upon the Aristotelian work of Muslim thinkers to a great extent) to this work make it a very nice one to have.

The late Len Bates has culminated a life-time of research with this biography of Thomas Walsh, senator from Montana and major political player in the first third of the twentieth century. This work fills a major gap in the account of this period, and speaks most directly to Progressive period and the 1920s, as well as to the surprisingly complex political history of America's Western states. Bates has no particular axe to grin, but confines himself to a measured, factual, but entertaining account that says much about the realities of reform and politics in American society Good history, well done!

Enhanced with an extended bibliography and an exhaustive index, True Odds: How Risk Affects Your Everyday Life by James Walsh is a very straightforward and practical look of the real odds that threaten people's lives or health. Rejecting anecdotal evidence and media scare tactics for solid, statistical, reliable information on what really are the greatest threats facing life in the modern world, True Odds comes very highly recommended for the non-specialist general reader as being a realistic source of information concerning everything from crime and accident rates to having sufficient money saved upon retirement.

A truly inspiring read and insight to the Pecos. Gradys recipes will revitalize the aura in your in pots and pans as well as the entire kitchen. The book is simple yet creative and above all the recipes are great fun to eat. Set your tables in the motif, cook from the book, dress the part and you've got a great evening with good friends

Grady Spears has written a book that can teach anyone how to cook his West Texas cowboy cuisine! He puts thing in a perspective that is simple to follow. As he states in the book, he can do this because he is not really a chef, he's just a cowboy in the kitchen!

Recipes for things such as Reata grill blend, cilantro butter, sourdough biscuts, and my favorite, buttermilk biscuts with pecans are so savory you'll feel like you're in the beautiful West Texas scenery in the book.

This book is a must for any aspiring cowboy chef!

The recipes from this outstanding cookbook are always requested at my house. The Reata Blend is kept in the house all the time and used on all different types of foods. Grady did a wonderful job giving us a cookbook that is traditional Texas Cuisine and not all the low fat no-flavor recipes that are so common today. Try scorching a steak with some fresh cilantro butter the way Grady does.Mmmm good!

Julian of Norwich's Showings is yet another indispensable volume in "The Classics of Western Spirituality" series. It contains the sixteen visions given to Julian who lived alone as an Anchoress in late 14th-early 15th century England.

This volume contains both the short and long text of Julian's visions. Julian writes with a lucid depth of feeling rarely encountered in descriptions of God's love. Julian's love for Christ is clearly felt in these pages. The preface and introduction give ample justification for claiming a place of importance for Julian's writings in the pantheon of mystical and spiritual writers.

This is valuable reading for everyone who wants to know the love of God more.

Julian of Norwich is only one of the medieval mystics who attempted to record the unspeakable, that without words, the mystical experience. This book is a record of what she dictated of her experiences, her "showings" of Christ and her relationshp with Him. It gives us insight into the workings of a medieval woman's mind and soul, and into the nature of mysticism itself, something beyond what words can measure.

Unlike Aquinas and some other medievals who had one or, at most, a few mystical experiences, and unlike those who seem to have thrived on flaunting their closeness to God, such as Marjorie Kemp, Julian is a quiet soul. She herself doesn't know what to make of her experiences, doesn't feel worthy of them. Yet they are intrinsically a part of her and her religiosity.

This is a must-read for students of Western mysticism, for those who want to understand the experience of the truly religious in the Middle Ages, and those who also seek to know Christ first-hand. Not a "how to" guide -- any such would be suspect in Julian's world because she does not control her experiences -- it is more of a guide to "what happens when your soul is in this particular state". Her very inability to explain that perfectly is, I think, proof that her experience was very real.

All that's known about Julian of Norwich was that in 1373 a woman lay, at age 30, on her deathbed. The woman did not die, but instead received a series of visions of Christ's passion. These visions are what is recorded in this book in both short (written more closely after the incident) and long (written much later, after more contemplation) versions. She then became an anchoress living as a recluse in a cell attached to the churchyard of St. Julian in Norwich.

Julian's visions, even in translation, are luminous and joyful. She received the assurance that God will, in the end, make all well. The meaning of it all, as she says, is Love. This is one of the most vivid constructions of the medieval image of Christ as mother and is (justly) famous as such. The showings are moving and beautiful.

The Paulist Press/Colledge translation is almost comical in its padding. Featuring a preface, forward, and introduction, the actual short text does not begin until page 125.

If you've ever wondered how pyramid schemes get started and how they unravel, this book makes an interesting read. You will be both amazed and appalled at the mass stupidity involved in getting these schemes off the ground. However, you might feel a little foolish yourself when the author points out that our very own Social Security System is a textbook Ponzi scheme.

This book explains ponzi scheme after ponzi scheme, in an interesting, informative way. The people who run these schemes (called "perps") use seemingly endless variations but it all comes down to the same thing: robbing peter to pay paul. The perp offers a guaranteed return on investment, usually an outrageous amount, usually in a short period of time. The explanation for why the perp can give this huge return is basically a varation on the same theme: he has an investment vehicle that will return him even bigger profits then what he's giving you but he needs your money to expand his operation.

Just a few problems with this. First of all, the activity that the perp claims to me making these huge profits from are usually just a cover to take people's money. If the perp actually does use the money for some kind of trade or investments, he typically looses in much of his trading or, even if he is good at it, he has too much money flowing in from the "investors" to keep up. The money just comes too fast even if he has good intentions so...

Here comes robbing peter to pay paul, in other words, paying early investors with later investors money. Its always doomed to fail because it is based on continual growth that cannot possibly be maintained. Ponzi scemes can still last for years however, depending on many factors. This book beautifully explains these things in example after example.

This book also talks about multi-level marketing and pyramid schemes in depth. Also, what should you do if you have been taken by a ponzi scheme? This book offers a number of chapters of advice.

One of the most important points this book makes is that the biggest ponzi scheme of them all is run by our own government. This is the politically untouchable program of Social Security!

This book, by the editors of the Washington Post, does a good job of describing the events which led to the deadlocked 2000 Presidential election. In addition to detailing the paths which led to the deadlock, the book discusses all the post-election issues in a very readable format. Surprisingly, the books editors seem only slightly tilted towards Gore (especially considering it is the Washington Post, which is noted for its liberal bias), so no matter who you voted for, there is much to be found here for anyone with an interest in contemporary politics.

Two things struck me while reading this book, the first is that I doubt there is a book out there that is truly balanced and not somewhat biased. The second thing was that Gore really got the shaft, not so much by the recount wars, but by the election official that came up with the Butterfly Ballot. In the history of the USA this decision ranks up there with new Coke and the XFL, what a mistake. As far as the reporting in the book it was not bad for a review of all the articles they had in the paper, but it did not really dig into the particular issues very deeply. I wanted more detail and behind the scenes with both the candidates. I also wanted more details on the court cases; I felt like the sky-high overview of the issues of the cases did not do such an important issue justice.

In reading the book I think a little bit of a democratic bias comes out, just a little, but enough to notice. I also thought it interesting that they had far more details of the Gore group then the Bush camp, it follows the perception that the Post is somewhat liberal in its views. The book is an overview that came out almost 10 minutes after Gore hung up the phone on the second concession call so there are a few more details out now that they did not get in the book. Overall it is a good effort and a readable book, but not the end all be all on the subject.

This book recounts the nation's closest election with fascinating detail. The authors' genuine style of storyweaving lends the impression that the fly on the wall must have had a Washington Post tape-recorder implanted in it's wing. Deadlock was not at all like re-reading the same old newspaper articles again; this book casts a fresh look at the dramatic strategy game that took place in Florida. I enjoyed it as a self-professed political junkie and my husband found it equally readable as a historical account of remarkable events.