There is hardly any significant fact about viruses that missed-out in this edition of "Fields Virology". Page after page, this sound all-inclusive reference doles out authoritative information on both viruses and viral syndromes. From taxonomy to etiology, metamorphosis to replication; the analyses of this text is grand. The same applies to its attached CD-ROM. Its practical outlook was intended to benefit both microbiologists and pathologists. Bernard Fields and his colleagues made their mark with this book. It is a great effort.
However, most botanist may not be pleased to know that little attention was paid to plant viruses. Again, many potential buyers may be demoralized by the rather high price that this virology-set demands.

It covers all fields of virology. Perfect and wonderful ! Easy to understand. I really recommend this book to who is involved in biology

I just received this mornin' the fresh flash book, i already own the Flash Math Creativity book, and i have to admit that this fresh flash book is a great source of inspiration for designer, or good programmers, as the Flash Math Creativity, the authors still does not explain very well what they "paste" in the book, full pages of code with // explanation if you begin do not get this book, if you have solid knowledge of actionscript so this book is for you !!! you will scratch your head while reading the book, and that is the GAME !! Even if it is, a little bit more explanation in the book would have been a pleasure that is the reason why i would give 4 stars, because some parts of the code are very hard to understand...

Finally, this book is divided into 9 parts, one for each author, each one got his own way of coding and that is funny to see how they solve different problems, they got their touch !!

So, designers, coders get this book !!!!!!!

This is a _very_ nice book. I have recently changed my field of study at my university to design and media. Lately I've been wanting to break in Flash so that I could add motion to my art. This book was perfect. I didn't need to learn how to create a tween or any actual respect of Flash really, but instead how to explore the creative potentials that permeate from Flash. It was quite incredible.

Particularly, I found the chapters on video and 3D, runtime 3D, "bezier creatures", and the set interval enticing. You should see the chapter on runtime 3D! A _full_ library of 3d code that is extremely easy to use (including incredibly insightful comments in the code). You do not need to know much math to make some crazy effects. Also the chapter on video and Flash enlightened me as I did not know of flash's capabilities in this field.

So, in the end, get this book! It is awe inspiring.

In recent move for consilience of the sciences, I found myself in search of "A Gardener Touched with Genius: the Life of Luther Burback". He has made tremendous changes in American and international fruit and vegetable variety and acceptance. As physician I must say this improves our nutritional choices. I was thrilled to see the photograph of Luther Burbank together with Henry Ford and with Hugo de Vries in California. Hugo de Vries of the University of Leiden, in the Netherlands brought to light the writings of Gregor Mendel, furthered the genetic research, and wrote on Mutation theory in 1910. The life of Luther Burbank is good reading and will encourage future scientists to reach out and ask questions.

The "revised edition" (1985) is almost a completely new version of the first edition. Peter Dreyer has done remarkable work interviewing primary sources and unearthing new material. In Dreyer's telling of the life of Luther Burbank, the great American horticulturalist, it seems that no stone, no document, no illuminating background material is ignored. This is Luther Burbank, warts and all. The flavor and sense of this complicated man come across vividly, and the result is we see Burbank in all his paradoxical dimensions: successful plant-breeder who had two fruitless marriages; public image as sage and saint but seen close-up by some as a cold, defensive person; a man who could display profound modesty then sudden blatant self-praise. In this biography there arises a sense that he was a man way ahead of his time, Luther Burbank as the Patron Saint of the New Age.

This book is one of the few devoted to constraint programming, and does a good job of introducing the field to those interested. Optimization problems are finding use of constraint programming and there are a few commercial packages available that implement constraint programming technique in optimization. The book can be used as a textbook of an actual course, since there are many exercises included in it. The authors encourage the reader to use the CLP(R) package, which is freely available, to solve some of the practical exercises.

After a brief introduction to constraint programming, the authors introduce three types of constraints that exist in constraint programming, namely arithmetic, tree, and finite domain. They also introduce three operations involving constraints: satisfiability, simplification, and optimization. The authors spend most of the chapter on the question of satisfiability. Constraints are defined from the standpoint of mathematical logic, along with what it means for them to be satisfiable, and a discussion on modeling with arithmetic constraints and constraint satisfaction is given with an example from electric circuits. Tree constraints are then discussed with an example of a C-language binary tree used to motivate the discussion. Boolean constraints are then discussed, along with sequence constraints, which are shown to have an interesting application to DNA mapping and decoding. An application to artificial intelligence is given, and this one involves constraints that are not taken from mathematics. The authors

finish the chapter with a discussion of constraint solving using local propagation, a technique used in graph theory.

The authors discuss the simplification and optimization of constraints in the next chapter. They show when constraints are redundant, give rules for deciding when one constraint is equivalent to another, and show how using projection can allow the simplifying of a constraint with respect to the variables of interest. When projection cannot be done, they then show how to add variables to a constraint in order to achieve simplification. The (polynomial-time) Dantzig simplex algorithm is discussed for problems with linear real arithmetic constraints. Algorithms are discussed for deciding when two constraints are equivalent or when one implies the other.

In chapter 3, the authors discuss constraint problems for the case where the constraint domain is a finite set. The arc and node consistency, bounds propagation, and integer programming techniques, familiar from AI and operations research, are discussed in detail. The famous N-queens problem is introduced as motivation for the constraint satisfaction problem. The free-ware Prolog package ECLiPSe is introduced in the practical exercises. The authors give references to an interesting application of constraint satisfaction problems to planning gene-splicing experiments (the MOLGEN system).

The next part of the book concerns the constraint logic programming (CLP) paradigm wherein the authors define constraint logic programs and programming techniques. The reader familiar with logic programming (Prolog for example), will clearly see the influence of ideas from that area, such as rules, goals, rewriting, and derivations. An interesting and useful example of applying CLP to the modeling of options trading is given. Also, the authors show how to employ some of the more common data structures, such as lists and binary trees into CLP. In addition, they show how one can measure the efficiency of a CLP program, and how to improve it using various programming techniques to reduce the search space. The authors show how CLP can be implemented for both cases of infinite and finite domain constraints.

In the last part of the book the authors discuss other ways of viewing constraint logic programs, such as thinking it in terms of a database, called a constraint database. The discussion is very interesting, for the authors show how they are generalizations of the standard databases, and they show how the usual evaluation techniques in CLP, such as backtracking, must be generalized if one is to efficiently implement constraint databases. This "bottom-up" evaluation is compared with the "top-down"; approach usually employed. They show in great detail how constraint databases are a natural generalization of relational databases. They also show how CLP can be generalized to the case of concurrent constraint programming, where agents can execute concurrently and communicate via some global constraint in memory. In addition, they give a brief overview of how CLP can be implemented into the functional and imperative programming paradigms. They mention the use of various commercial packages for doing constraint programming, such as Mathematica, Maple, Macsyma, and ILOG SOLVER. Since the time of publication a very powerful commercial package, called ILOG OPL has appeared.

The applications of constraint programming are mushrooming, and I have found it to be a very powerful tool for example in network modeling and simulation, and in mathematical portfolio analysis, although sometimes one must be patient because of performance. The programming methodologies used are different than the usual ones, but I find them to be very effective for program transparency and economy of thought. Others have also apparently found constraint programming to be useful, for example the problem of protein structure prediction has recently made heavy use of constraint programming techniques. Other recent uses of CLP include a system for transport planning and scheduling for a large food industry, a system for a TV/radio company to plan and control the assignment of journalists and technicians to different emissions, and a system to develop work plans and schedules for train drivers and conductors, optimal planning of digital cordless communication systems, and nuclear fuel transportation and scheduling.

So simple, straight forward, highly comprehensive but elegant bok on this subject is rarely available. Most topics covered in the book are readable with almost no effort. This is due to the authors' inherent capability of presentation. The foundation of the book rests on constraint simplification and optimization(chapter 2). Definitions are clear with adequate examples. Chapter 4 to 10 deal with Constraint Logic Programming. Here the authors focuss various important issues that are needed to researchers in this domain.Many applications in these chapters are highlighted to introduce the concepts. The last 2 chapters deal with constraint databases and concurrent constraint programming languages. Though it is a monograph readers of general interest in AI will find the chapters 1-4 useful and highly readable for knowing the state-of-the-art of this subject.

This story is about a mothers struggle to deal with her son's disease. This isn't some fluff story with a happy ending but rather a true depiction of what this mother struggled with during her son's battle with a heinous disease. She walks you through a very tough journey while keeping the reader fully informed of every emotion and thought that she has. She has opened up her journal to us in order that we may truly understand what a parent goes through when they find that thier child is stricken with AIDS.

The reader will understand that this was written quite some time ago and will see how far we have come in treating the disease and the many side effects that AIDS causes, but still connects with the writer and her son as they wage war against the deadly disease.

Make sure you have plenty of tissues on hand as you will step into thier world and feel every ounce of emotion on every page.

This story of from a mother's point of view of her son dying of AIDS is painful to read. You can feel his pain and her grief. Even worse is knowing before you pick it up that there will be no happy ending. This book gives a little hope, but more than that it gives a face to the disease. Read it you'll love it and I'm sure you'll cry too.

The author has done a marvellous job in presenting the fundamentals of economics. The author explains the material in a clear and concise manner and uses real-world examples to further enhance the understanding of the reader. Problem sets presented at the end of each chapter are exhaustive and rigorous.

There is no doubt that its a great book. The difficult concpets are explained in a easy way. However, you can definitely use some extra exercises.

A book of love verses as they should be written - through good and bad. It is so exquisitely written that it'll give you that floating-on-clouds feeling and move you tears. An excellent read.

A work that manages to evoke just about every known human emotion, as it traces the arc of a relationship from the early joy:

for i locked a yellowdoor
and i threw away the key
and i spent summer with monika
and monika spent summer with me
...
somedays we thought about the seaside
and built sandcastles on the blankets
and paddled in the pillows
or swam in the sink
and played with the shoals of dishes

Through conflict:

your finger
sadly
has a familiar ring
about it

Through resignation:

we nolonger stroll along the beaches of the bed
or snuggle in the longgrass of the carpets
the room nolonger a world
for makebelieving in
but a ceiling and four walls
that are for living in
--------------------------
roger mcgough
sadly
is discounted
because realpoems
can't be
funny

Talking With Artists volume.3

This book is pretty interesting. It is about artists who share what they like to draw and about their lives. They are asked questions such as, "Do you have any kids or pets?" The illustrators show some of pictures that they drew when they were children. They also show how the children illustrators got their inspiration to draw.

I liked this book because it was neat to see how good some of the kids are at drawing and then to see them draw as they are older. Also that was cool it showed how to draw pictures in the back of the book. I recommend this book to people who are just stating to draw and people that want to read an interesting book.

I got this book at the library for my children, but I think I enjoyed it as much as they did! (I plan to buy a copy of my own!) Instead of a cool, impersonal presentation of artists and their work, this book provides a refreshingly personal view. The artists talk about their childhoods, how they spend their days (the answers are fun & honest!), their families, and best of all, they give us peeks inside their studios. I don't know about you, but I love seeing inside of an artist's private workspace! It's like a glimpse inside his/her mind.
The styles of the artists are very diverse and they use many different techniques that kids and adults alike would like to try out. I highly recommend this book!

This is a very poignant and informative book for anyone in ministry (especially in the Catholic Church). Fr. Liuzzi is compassionate and creative in his approach, but clear and firm about the Catholic Church's position and limits. I don't agree with the church, but I certainly understand it better now.

This is a wonderful book for anyone who has a friend or family member struggling with the reality of a homosexual orientation within the context of a Catholic spirituality and identity. It is very readable--you don't have to speak "vaticanese" to understand the theology explained. It is practical, it is affirming, and it gives insights into the stories of real people and their experiences. Books like this give me great hope.

A joyous exploration & celebration of the infinite gastronomic pleasures of France. Ranging far from his adopted Provence, Peter Mayle now travels to every corner of the country, armed with knife, fork, & corkscrew. He takes us to tiny, out-of-the-way restaurants, three-star Michelin wonders, local village markets, annual festivals, & blessed vineyards. We visit the Foire aux Escargots at Martigny-les-Bains--a whole weekend devoted to the lowly but revered snail. We observe the Medoc Marathon, where runners refresh themselves en route with tastings of red wine (including Chateau Lafite-Rothschild!). There is bouill-abaisse in a beachside restaurant in St.-Tropez. A search for the perfect chicken that takes us to a fair in Bourg-en-Bresse. There is even a Catholic mass in the village of Richerenches, a sacred event at which thanks is given for the aromatic, mysterious, & breath-takingly expensive black truffle. We learn which is the most pungent cheese in France (it's in Normandy), witness a debate on the secret of the perfect omelet, & pick up a few luscious recipes along the way. All the glory & pleasure of the French table in the most satisfying book yet from the toujours delightfully entertaining Peter Mayle.

Last year I was lucky enough to take a month long holiday in the south of France. Naturally, "French Lessons" is one of the books I chose to take with me.

"French Lessons" is vintage Peter Mayle. While I enjoy Mayle's fiction as a light and fun change of pace, I really think he is at the top of his form when writing non-fiction. "French Lessons," like the classic, "A Year in Provence," is simply charming. There is just no other way to describe it. The book charms and beguiles you; you lose yourself in it and time just flies. No one seems better able to describe the "real" France than Peter Mayle. And it shows. Most definitely.

Just as with Mayle's previous non-fiction books, I found I could relate to just about everything he wrote in "French Lessons." I had had similar experiences in Provence, in Paris, in the Loire, in Burgundy. One can learn about more than food in this book; Mayle also details the social customs of the areas and the idiosyncrasies of the people. I learned there are people who attend Mass to give thanks for the truffle, a festival where snails are eaten by the dozen and washed down with Gewurztraminer, and an actual "cheese hall of fame" in the town of Livarot. The person honored with the award from this particular hall of fame is expected to eat as much livarot cheese as possible. In another such festival, frogs' legs are the celebrated foodstuff. The annual celebration of the bleu footed poulet in Bourg-en-Bresse and the Marathon du Medoc made for especially hilarious reading.

Mayle takes us from region to region and from town to town...all in the name of great food. We visit festivals, restaurants, chateaux and so many town squares, I lost count. Mayle's descriptions of the festivals and his historical notes are particularly interesting, especially to anyone who is planning to visit France. After reading this book, he or she will surely come away knowing what is, and what isn't, authentic French food.

Throughout this book, Mayle writes in his characteristically charming, witty and urbane manner. His is a style that suits the subject matter of this book perfectly.

I do think that those readers who have actually traveled to the south of France at least once, will find more to love in this book than those readers who are unfamiliar with the area. But familiar or not, Mayle and this book will certainly charm. "French Lessons" is a witty, and sometimes hilarious book that is guaranteed to ensure an enjoyable afternoon in the sun.

I read this book by Peter Mayle before I discovered any of his previous writings and was hooked immediately! French Lessons is the latest by this engaging author on his life and experiences in the South of France and is necessary reading for anyone interested in French fare, life in France or just an incredible experience (vicarious or literal) in International travel. I love this book, as I did all others by the same author, bought many copies this last holiday season for all of my friends and family and Everyone felt the same way as I! You really need to read this book, as well as "A Year in Provence" and all the other wonderful editions by Peter Mayle. The only complaint I can voice is that there are not enough other volumes available today, as this is one of those books that you do not wish to ever end and you just can't get enough of Peter Mayle!