As the title shows, this book is real simple and easy to read and practice. Does not require any prior knowledge about programming or computer.

It covers almost all basic concepts and skills for programming but is still very thin--only 219 pages. It also shows good summary, problem shooting guide, and debugging tips for each chapter and is real helpful for practicing.

Problems with this books are too simple and compiler independence. Sometimes meanings are not clear because of its simplicity. (Especially for the syntax) Nowadays programming involves delicate compiler and development environment but was not discussed at all in this book. This book teaches you only basic skills and syntax of C--not all of them.

Overall, it is real good start for everyone--even for the people have never programmed before. But still you need another books to be a real programmer. Way to go!

This is a classic misuse of college textbook pricing. This book should normally sell for $... or so but the price is inflated because Addison-Wesley had a specific use already in mind.

Otherwise it's a good book. It presents C in a clear, concise format for the beginner.

This is a very little book, about enough for one chapter in a normal book. It's pleasant reading, unchallenging, accurate and interesting enough, with a few insights here or there, but there's not much to it. The material is mined posthumously from tapes of Watt's talks and from his apparently very extensive work on Taoism, but one wonders why the editors have come up with so little. The first two-thirds of the book might be useful to someone almost totally unacquainted with eastern thought. The last third gets into a demonstration of how to consult the I Ching and tries in a muddled sort of way to defend such consultation by contrasting western linear thought with the eastern organic approach. This tactic seems to me to confuse the issue rather than clarify. I've appreciated other works of Watts, but got nothing out of this one.

I picked this book up at the library this afternoon because I wanted to read something simple over dinner. The dinner and the book complemented each other suitably: both were light and not filling. If one wants a treatise, look elsewhere. If one wants a very brief reminder of (or introduction to) eastern philosophy as presented by Alan Watts--someone who knows about eastern philosophy--this covers the plate nicely.

The book is ok if all you want to learn is theory. If you really want something that shows you the ins-and-outs of realtime 3d processing, this book isn't for you. I felt like there were too many topics covered and the important ones were skimmed over. There is a total lack of practical example code as well - don't bother looking at the FlySDK either - it's a waste of time.

The final straw was when I had to learn BSP techniques. This book had maybe 10 pages on the topic, no real code, only a sample formula that made no sense. I did some research on the Internet and found supporting information and better formulas (for free, mind you) that helped me to understand and formulate my own BSP algorithm. I went back and looked at the section in the text again and found how much was really left out of the BSP section and it was shameful.

This is 800 pages of concentrated goodness, bringing together a whole package of technology needed for computer games and putting it in one place. The authors have the courtesy to give you the full story, instead of expecting you to buy their other books (which contain lots of material you probably won't need for games). There is also a peek at the emerging image-based techniques which are likely to play a part in some new games. It is a great source of teaching material, for VR as well as games material.

Criticisms? I didn't try the Fly SDK disk, which some have reported negatively on. There were some places where I had to work to get from the description to the practicalities of an implementation. But given the scope and length of this book this is only to be expected, here and there. Overall, this is an excellent addition to a sparse literature.

Some of the criticisms are valid, but lets get it straight right here. This is simply the best 3D book out there from all I've seen. In fact, from what I've seen, its the only 3D book worth buying right now for the intermediate<->advanced programmer. You'll have to do a lot of reading with the source code though--but all good info.

The good

1.) No API's are covered. Anyone can learn OpenGL/DirectX, and many tutorials cover those topics quite well. However, this covers the math, algorithms, and 3D side of things (for most part). Some code snippets are included, though--but its not a teach yourself OpenGL in 21 days book (thank god). It also has the best coverage of BSP tree's I've seen aside from dedicated algorithm books. And the coverage on PVS seems a tad brief, but the SDK src code makes up for it.

2.) The src code on the CD is great-- its a load of code to sift through-- not the best code, not the most bug-free--indeed, but good code to learn from. OpenGL stuff is in there, stuff that uses STL and modern C++ techniques, and BSP and PVS code. What more can you ask for in a book? This book comes with a working 3d engine and its source code. I can't think of any book that covers the topics well because the guy implemented what he was writing about. Thats why the book is above average, you get the juicy details along with theory.

3.) Has some cool pictures and visuals of varying effects. Not exactly needed for the professional 3d coder, but sometimes a little eyecandy and visuals doesnt hurt in an otherwise intense book.

The ugly

1.) The last 190 pages cover the SDK he wrote. This could have been better left offline, I think - on a CD-ROM. It gives you some insight on how a 3d API *might* look, or how file formats might look, but who cares. I want more 3d stuff in there, next time fool.

2.) The PVS section could have had a tad more detail. I want the most detail on the hardest topics, and the most briviety on the eastest topics.

3.) The collision detection could have had a more detail. I think the coverage was average, and by finding a few references in the back that should complete it. But, I'm willing to bet if you can implement BSP trees, then collision detection should be easy, I mean as far as math goes. Therefore, the higher level overview is sufficient probably for the coder to get the rest working on his own. But still Watts, its important and you should know it gets neglated way too much. Stop negletating the essentials people!

4.) What the heck is that image analysis, DCT and FFT thing about? Seems like a waste of space, doesnt cover it in enough detail dude. Come on, FFT's are discussed in a digital signal processing book. You cant do it justice there, I dont think.

5.) Networking code, umm, waste of space. People can buy a seperate book for that, or leave articles on CD-ROM.

Summary 1.) More coverage on PVS and collision detection

2.) More coverage on modern games and the techniques they use

3.) No references or crap on FlySDK, who cares? Leave it on CD-ROM

4.) More math, use extra space to discuss the various 3d topics in detail, and how about some stuff that 3d level editors need? More coverage on CSG, for example. And polygon tesselation, and maybe algorithms necessary to convert models to various formats.

This books probably isn't the best place to start for someone just becoming interested in either Alan Watts or in Eastern thought in general. However, for osmeone who is interested in Alan Watts, it is invaluable. It shows him just coming into his own as a writer - most of them were written when he was in his late teens and early twneties, and shows him strruggling to devlop his style and the finer points of his philosophy. THe introductory material is especially helpful

Talking Zen is not a book written by Alan Watts. It is a book which was pieced together out of lectures and talks Watts gave at various times in his life ranging from the age of eighteen to the age of fifty-six, a span of thirty-eight years. Therefore, dear prospective reader, do not expect it to be as disciplined and tightly woven as his written pieces.

As a writer, Watts can be devastatingly perceptive and magical. He can dazzle a reader out of his usual ruts of thinking and suggest a previously unimagined through virtually inspired way to look at a mundane fact of life. When he is writing at his best, he is writing with a passion - or as much passion as a transplanted Englishman can - and a fervor to communicate an insight he has discovered. And he writes in such a way as to attempt to communicate the same feeling of epiphany he had when he first realized the insight he's writing about. So that the reader can experience, in his own time, the same feeling of joyous discovery as Watts first did.

All this is by way of saying that if you are expecting the present book to dazzle you, you may be in for a big surprise. This is not to say that Talking Zen is without its moments. There some brilliant moments in it. But you have to be prepared to search them out and to wade through a lot of dross before finding them.

Talking Zen is not the same as writing Zen, and therein lies the difference. Because the medium of speech is different from the medium of the written word the element of discipline is sometimes discarded in favor of flowing with the moment. This is to say that in writing one can more fully focus on developing an idea to its fullest potential, whereas in speaking one is "playing to the crowd," and some of the development can be left by the wayside.

Of the nine pieces on display in the present book, the ones which come off the best in written form are the ones which were prepared ahead of time and were given as structured lectures rather than as extemporaneous talks. Of these there are three, which comprise the first three chapters of the book.

The first of these, entitled "Picture Without a Frame," was crafted by an eighteen year old Watts. When one reads it, it is difficult to imagine its author was only eighteen when it was composed because it reads like the composition of a much older, and wiser, person. Without going into too much detail, "Picture..." can be summed up by the following sentence: "To know the universe in terms of nothing but frames is almost exactly what Indian philosophy means by maya, the idea that all such knowledge is in some sense an illusion." There is more to be culled from this piece than just this sentence, and those who are interested will be certain to dig deeper in order to uncover the other nuggets of value which make up this essay.

The second piece, entitled "The Psychology of Acceptance: The Reconciliation of the Opposites in Eastern Thought and in Analytical Psychology," was composed in 1939 by a slightly more mature twenty-four year old Alan Watts, and was delivered before the Analytical Psychology Club in New York. Quite a daunting undertaking for a 24 year old, but Watts was up for the challenge. The piece is about creating a state of mind or attitude of acceptance regarding the darker side of reality, or rather those events which cause us psychological pain, and a method for conquering such pain in our lives. It is extremely insightful and, as with the previous piece, it also is a joy and a revelation to read.

The third piece, with the improbably title "Mythological Motifs in Modern Science," is another lecture text probably given in the early 1940s. In it Watts examines how science is "Western man's attempt to liberate himself from myth, from the so-called 'pathetic fallacy' of constructing the world in his own unconscious image." He spends the rest of the piece suggesting "that this attempt [at liberation from myth] is impossible and absurd." And ends up by demonstrating that "Western [scientists'] concern for the control of nature is slipping over into Eastern man's concern for controlling the mind. We are now beginning to attack maya in both directions, and for this reason books on the philosophy of science become more and more reminiscent of Indian metaphysics." There is more, but you'll just have to read it, and enjoy it, for yourselves.

For the reader who is discovering Watts for the first time I cannot recommend this book. You would be better served by picking up The Wisdom of Insecurity or The Way of Zen or Psychotherapy East & West or even The Meaning of Happiness. These are works which were composed and thought out as books in the first instance, and therefore are more fully explanatory of their subject matter as well as a better introduction to Watts' unique description of the indescribable.

On the other hand, if you, as a reader, have been around the block once or twice before with Watts and are familiar with his main thematical interests, Talking Zen may contain some additional insights not touched on in some of his more familiar published works. But be prepared to do some slogging through the muck - through his extamporaneous meanderings, expecially in the latter two thirds of the book - to get at these newly offered gems.

The Essential Alan Watts is really not essential reading forany Watts enthusiast who is genuinely interested in getting at the meat of this man's philosophy. It is not even recommended as a good introduction to Watts, even though it manages to gloss over many of his most important themes. In other words, why settle for a Volkswagen Beetle when you can get a Mercedes Benz.

The genuine fake at play refers to the casual and breezy way the majority of this book is presented to the reader, and in truth it was not written perse as a book in the first instance. As the editor suggests in his introduction, the pieces here masquerading as essays were, in the most part, derived from talks or lectures.

Five of the ten pieces were reworked from a video series recorded by Watts in 1971. Three others began their life as "public lectures delivered to general and professional audiences." Only the first two pieces were originally concieved of and written as essays, and of these two only the first, "The Trickster Guru," is worth reading in any serious way.

What is objectionable here is the intermingling of the spoken format with the written format. When one speaks, and especially when one speaks extemporaneously as Watts was abundantly want to do in his latter years, one can lose, by the very nature of the format, a modicum of focus and development of the material at hand. In the case of a speech or talk having been transcribed to the written page, it is like trying to bring living fish out of a stream and attempting to have them survive on dry land. It just doesn't always work, especially when you don't have an aquarium to put them in. And even then they're out of their natural element.

This having been said, there are some interesting moments in the book, just as there are with anything Watts was involved with. The pieces that work the best as written pieces, out of which some bright pebbles can be plucked, are the three public lectures: "The Individual as Man/World," "Oriental 'Omnipotence,'" and "Psychotherapy and Eastern Religion." A hearty runners up award goes to "The Trickster Guru" which may save a few unwary spiritual seekers from becoming involved with the wrong kind of spritual teacher.

In "The Individual as Man/World" Watts explores the eastern concept of man, the individual, as being part and parcel with his environment. This is more than just a concept about interdependence, it involves a oneness of action and outcome as when Watts states: "...it is quite impossible to describe the movement of my arm except in relation to the rest of my body and to the background against which you perceive it."

The piece ends with an introduction of the idea of "reciprocal interaction" which he describes as an "interaction between everything inside the skin and everything outside it, neither one being prior to the other, but equals, like the front and back of a coin." What he doesn't say, but which is implied, is that within a situation of reciprocal interaction is where all true living, the feeling of aliveness, takes place. We only experience this feeling when we are interacting with another living entity such as a dog, another human being or even a plant. Or it could even be a landscape which stretches out before us by whose beauty we are taken in.

The next piece, "Oriental 'Omnipotence,'" provides Watts with a platform on which he distinguishes the difference between the Eastern idea of omnipotence and the Western, primarily the Christian theological, idea of omnipotence. Of the Western idea of omniscience he says "we tend to think of a knowledge which is infinitely encyclopedic and of power which is infinitely magical or 'technological.' We think of God as being...in conscious and voluntary control of absolutely everything which happens."

Whereas in the East a Chinese Buddhist poem expresses in a succinct manner the Oriental take on omniscience:

You may wish to ask where the flower comes from, But even the God of Spring does not know.

Watts comments: "A Westerner would expect that, of all people, the God of Spring would know exactly how flowers are made. But if he doesn't know, how can he possibly make them? A Buddhist would answer that the question itself is misleading since flowers are grown, not made. Things which are made are either assemblages of formerly separated parts (like houses) or constructed by cutting and shaping from without inwards (like pots of clay or images). But things which are grown formulate their own structure and differentiate their own parts from within outwards."

And therein lies the difference, in its essence.

In the final piece, "Psychotherapy and Eastern Religion," Watts delves into what he calls "a lack of metaphysical depth, a certain shallowness which results from having a philosophical unconsciousness which has not been examined," concerning what at the time consisted of being the present state of all schools of psychotherapy.

What he was trying to get at was that psychotherapy, at that moment, was "based on the world view of nineteenth-century scientific naturalism, which has as its fundamental assumption that the energy which we express is basically stupid - blind energy, libido - and it's called the unconscious. The assumption of this philosophy of nature was that the psychobiology of human nature was a stupid mechanism, a fluke that had arisen in a mechanical universe, and that if we were to maintain this fluke and its values, it would be necessary for us to enter into a serious fight with nature...

A basic physics approach to low speed impact of automobiles. Author uses a strange definition of coefficient of restitution which is negative instead of positive. Little experimental data is offerred and there is no review of the current low speed impact volunteer data which is the current basis for much opinion. The free video is some graphic computer artist's crude representation of a rear end collision and depicts unrealistic vehicle, seat and occupant kinematics. However, for a rank beginner you will be exposed to the basic physics of this type of collision. For a followup you will need to read various SAE papers to really understand the practical realities of the relationship between such a collision and the outcomes.