Let me first tell you that I am an undergraduate in mathematics, having read a couple of courses in algebra, and one course in analysis (Rudin). I took this (for me) more advanced algebra course in rings and modules, covering what I believe is standard stuff on modules presented with functors and so on, Noetherian modules, Semisimple modules and Semisimple rings, tensorproduct, flat modules, exterior algebra. Now, we had a fine compendium but I felt I needed something with a tensy bit of exemples, you know more like what the moronic undergraduate is used to! So I bought this book by Adkins & Weintraub and was at first a bit disappointed, as you can well imagine. But after a while I discovered that it did meet my needs after a certain weening period. Especially chapter 7. Topics in module theory with a clear presentation of semisimple modules and rings served me well in supporting the rather terse compendium. As you can tell I don't have that much experience of mathematics so I won't try to judge this book in other ways than to tell you that I found it quite readably despite my poor background. There are very good examples and not just one or two. The notation was forbidding at first but after a while I learned to trust it. There are many examples and computations of normal form. E.g. for Jordan normal form.

Well I found it good fun and it was surely worth the money for me!

I'm a licensed massage therapist (3 years) and massage instructor at a local school. When I bought this book, I thought I'd come away with some practical information that I could apply to my practice immediately. Well, after reading it I don't feel that at all. In fact, I feel that it may be another 10 years before I can become proficient in all the modalities that Weintraub combines to achieve his reported results. Among the courses I'll need to certify in are Acupressure, myofascial release, Body-Mind Centering and visceral manipulation. He's been doing this for 30+ years and I don't feel he has been able to write a book that can teach this method, though he successfully describes the myriad skills needed to practice it. ...

Weintraub certainly knows his way around the body. I am moderately well versed in medical terminology and anatomically I am fairly astute having studied both in college and independently. I work in a medical laboratory. The man (or woman) on the street will be quickly left in the wake of unfamiliar terms. Further, his knowlege does not translate well if you're looking for a way to heal yourself... The chapter titled "Self Help Strategies" runs to all of seven pages. Neither, does the book offer any clues as to how to contact a practitioner versed in his methods (he seems to be the only one), nor does it contain any contact information for the author.

The citations are numerous and the book is well referenced: something that is often lacking in similar books. He has definitely done his homework. Unfortunately, the unique array of talents which he purports to bring to his method, would be unlikely to occur with any regularity in the general population of manual therapists. I am skeptical of his claim to be able to palpate electrical and magnetic fields. Possible, I suppose, but I remain unconvinced.

In all a well written and documented study. Hopefully, it will lead others in this direction. A lot more work needs to be done, and a modality developed which is widely accessible

Weintraub's book provides unprecedented help and hope for people who suffer from sports, overuse, or accident injuries. It is extremely informative in its clear accessible descriptions of the cellular, neural, electrical, and biomechanical levels of injury and healing and how manual therapy can assist complete recovery. I am a 20 year practitioner and teacher of hands-on modalities. My interventions are more effective because of his specific explanations of how to work precisely with the microstructure of the tissue. I highly recommend this book to health professionals, sports and movement trainers, and everyone interested in an innovative method of enhancing recovery from serious injury.

Outrageous as the Belle Ville that it portrays, City Unique is much more than a thoroughly-researched and extremely well-written account of two of the most exciting decades ever lived by Montreal: it is also a literary testimony that brings to life the past behind the city's present and future. Weintraub's book flows just like the Saint-Lawrence - you glance at its troubled-though-delightful waters and wonder what you'd find at the bottom... Well, here's your chance to take that to shore, from the accounts of characters as memorable as Lili St. Cyr to the unravelling of a city torn in half by a street called The Main, whose every corner tells a million stories, with anglos on one side, francos on the other, and everything else in between. By one of Montreal's finest journalists, City Unique is an absolute must in our quest to understanding what lies underneath the city's cosmopolitan and multi-cultural enchantment today, as belle now as it was then.

Being a boomer from the West Island, I appreciated this book for the glimpse it afforded me into the "downtown" world of my parents, and a better appreciation for names which exist for me only as streets (Camilien Houde) or Metro stops (the infamous Lionel Groulx). The paperback version of this book did not contain a map, which would have been a helpful asset to a non-Montrealer reader.

Weintraub has painted a wonderful portrait of what life was like in Montreal back in the days before the separatists wreaked havoc on the fabric of the city with their language police and sign laws. Daily life in Montreal during the 1940s and 1950s is vividly portrayed in all its variety, from the infamous Padlock Laws of Premier Maurice Duplessis, to the padlock that held stripper Lili St. Cyr's chastity belt in place. The style is journalistic rather than scholarly, and breezy but informative. Weintraub (who is a Montrealer himself) interviewed dozens of people, and their stories are neatly integrated into his historical account of the major events and figures that shaped the era. Highly recommended for anyone who loves Canada's most flamboyant and fascinating city.