This work has fully lifted the veil on AIDS. It has focused on the various dimensions in which mankind has had to cope with a disease whose method of transmission transcends cultural barriers. The addition of a Resource Directory highlights the need for networking in today's global environment.

In this meticulously researched book, first-time author Jessica Wang sheds new light on the tempestuous relationship between scientists and the US government during the Cold War period. Wang's access to previously classified documents, coupled with first-hand interviews with the scientists involved, support fresh thinking on the causes and costs of anticommunist paranoia. Readers will appreciate the tensions that existed during the post-war years and understand why compromise between scientists and political leaders was often elusive. The lessons learned are as applicable today as they were half a century ago. "American Science in an Age of Anxiety" is valuable reading for students of 20th century history, or anyone interested in learning how America dealt with internal challenges during contentious times.

I think this part is excellent. Actuallly,this job often rises ambiguity only to be found when implementing the project.So a well-done analysis is critical in the stages of a information system project.

Ann Majchrzak is Professor of Information Systems at the University of Southern California Gordon S. Marshall School of Business, while Qianwei Wang was a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Southern California when this article was published in the September-October 1996-issue of the Harvard Business Review.

"Thousands of businesses have endured the trauma of reengineering only to discover that their performance in is no no better - and in some cases even worse than before. So, what caused things to go wrong?" In this article the authors report on their study of US electronics manufacturers. Their study suggests that the success of business-process reengineering depends on how well managers create a collective sense of responsibility. It indicates that companies are better off leaving their functional departments intact and can reap greater benefits by strengthening the ties among their functions than by creating process-complete departments that lacks a collaborative culture. The authors focus on the impact of the four critical means of building a collaborative culture: (1) Make responsibilities overlap; (2) Base rewards on unit performance; (3) Change the physical layout; and (4) Redesign work procedures. But they stress than there is no single cookie-cutter design for achieving a collective sense of responsibility. Managers should be asking their own employees what they would need in order to work well together. In addition, managers should consider the constraints and possibilities provided by technology, the work process, the existing organizational culture, and the organisation's strategic mission. The authors conclude restructuring by process can have positive effects, but only if the organisation has a collaborative culture.

Nice article on the results of study into reengineering at various US electronics manufacturers. This study showed some shocking results, whereby some foregone conclusions are proven wrong. There are some more up-to-date articles on this subject available, such as Michael Hammer ('How Process Enterprise Really Work', 1999). Recommended to people in management positions and thinking about an improvement project. The authors use simple business US-English.

This book is an excellant reference and guide for the beginner and advanced artist alike. Several attractive subjects are demonstrated with step by step examples of the tradiitional brush strokes used in this ancient art form.

This book is a well-chosen cross-section of Chinese Zen poetry. It also supplies one of my favorite items in translations of foreign poetry - the original text. The strength of this book is the broad stretch of time covered, as indicated by the organization of the index: pre-T'ang dynasty, T'ang, Sun, Yuan, Ming, Ch'ing. This breadth also means, however, that not all the poetry is of the quality one find's in more focused collections ephasizing the masters Wang Wei, Han Shan, Li Po... Several of these collections appear as "selected sources" in this book.

My favorite in this volume is The Flow and Seed Sequence, a series seven poems written by the Zen Patriarchs beginning with Bodhidharma (d. 536) with poems added to the series nearly 2 centuries later. The translations do an excellent job of retaining the concrete imagery typical of Zen poetry e.g. from Liu Chang Ching "All along the trail of moss, / I follower your wooden shoeprints". We find inventive descriptions of concret images in Liu Fang-Ping "The Big Dipper slopes; / the Great Bear bends down". There are also unusual mentions of doubt from Wang An Shih "Often I doubt the Buddhist way, / that nothing truly exists".

Despite its many good attributes, this collection failed my ultimate test: rarely was I enticed to read and reread a poem. I would still recommend A Drifting Boat or Cold Mountain first. But to even be worthy of comparison to those volumes is strong praise.

This thorough book will help anyone concerned with CAD/CAM related technology stay in touch with a fast changing world. It covers a wide range of topics from product design to manufacturing control. All of the major CAD/CAM topics are included as well as chapters on automation, numerical control and robotics. This is a serious tool for the dedicated engineering professional.

This slim volume allows readers to understand the events and context of the Dutch possession, settlement and colonisation of Mauritius. It is clear, simply written and perceptive. It contains many new, previously unpublished facts about the colonisation, including the records of living dodos decades after they were thought to already to be extinct. A good read. Essential reading for anyone with more than a passing interest in the first century of Mauritius' history.

I have read many books on fuzzy control, I found this is the most logical and comprehensive. The most important feature of the book is the formulation of diverse varieties of fuzzy control methods. It presents the fuzzy control in a progressive and logical way. However,its mathematical notations and proof of theorems block up many readers'learning. It is easy to be lost in struggling with the mathematics, without knowing the rationale behind theorems. Intutitive explanations for formulas and notations are required. It would be perfect if it includes programming examples to show how to implement fuzzy controllers with popular computer languages, also, drill problems with solutions at the end of each chapter will benefit to readers.

Enter,at last, Data Mining in the field of process control. This book by Prof.Wang although considers data mining- its utility and issues at length, stops short of giving insight into the implementation details. No doubt, the author has cited instances to put through the basic ideas, but is not able to generate the kind of enthusiasm that will see process engineers(or any enthusiast) advocate for and apply data mining in their capacities. The academia will be very pleased, the consultants will appreciate the application, but process enginneers- who comprise a big chunk of the target audience, will unfortunately remain confused on the efficiency of the tool on hand! Nevertheless, the author gives a comprehensive coverage of data mining techniques. However, in the current scenario, where it's the implementation of ideas, not just the ideas, that sell, I would believe this monograph comes out as a very well compiled book in terms of theoretical knowledge, but will appear like a collage to the practitioners-punters in the industry! Sorry Prof.Wang, but congratulations all the same!