For all stargazers who have university level math, and those equipped with lighter high school stuff, this book is a gem. In a few pages, and with nothing more than a pocket calculator, it allows you to explore the universe in a way which only a few hundred years ago was only possible with extensive state-support and massive buildings such as Stonehenge, state-sponsored observatories, and teams of pedantic astrologers and stargazers.

Starting from the simple building blocks (converting your local time to Universal time), it progresses to more and more complex calculations, until finally at the end, you can calculate eclipses and planetary orbits. All the formulas needed for doing this are given in the book, and explained in great detail with many diagrams. All relevant astronomical data is also given. And for every calculation, a sample example is carried out with real numbers, which you can trace along with, so by the end of it you understanding is complete, practically as well as theoretically.

A must read for any astronomy buff. I highly recommend it. It produces the information age equivalent of that feeling of satisfaction you get when you build a telescope and look out onto the heavens yourself--without any intermediaries. Astronomy and stargazing are the activities which were the genesis of the scientific revolution, more than 6000 years ago. This book shows you just how its done.

I am a Chinese from Hong Kong, China. I first read this book was on 1985 on Public Library, it the the only computational astronomy related book. At that time, I was being a secondary school student. This book I found is a very good on basic concept in positional astronomy and other fundamental knowledges concerning in basic ephemeris work. The English of this book is plain and be within the level of Hong Kong secondary school students. Starting from this book, I was being attracted on computational astronomy till now, recently I am in the way of writing of homepage of computational astronomy in Chinese, with the "practical astronomy with your calculator" as paradigm. I am so highly recommended this book.

Don't be misled by the title. The recipes supplied by Peter Duffett-Smith are aimed at making calculations easier with a hand held calculator. However they are easily adapted for creating utilities on personal computers. The material should be easily handled by anyone whose completed highschool algebra and some trigonometry.

The organization and format is well thought out. The earliest chapters deal with time and coordinates which are used in the more complex problems such as computing planet positions later in the book.

Each concept is explained in straight forward language and conventional algebraic formulas are supplied. I found this especially useful for programmers using higher languages such as C,Pascal or Java. Then a step by step practical example is provided that is suitable for a scientific hand calculator. Duffett-Smith is careful about displaying units; a mindfield for most scientific calculations.

My only minor criticism is that some of the typos errors could leave a user quite frustrated. On pp108 I found the value of Tp=0.240850 gave the correct answer while the tabulated value is 0.240852. Similarly, I on page 129, after repeated checks, I got a value of 7.08...AU for Rho compared with the value of 8.13AU in the book. The text cites a 7.2AU value from the Astronomical Almanac.

Otherwise this is one neat addition to the bookshelf of any amateur astronomer of individual interested in astromical calculations.

I keep a 30 gallon reef aquarium in my apartment and I am blessed with having a considerable amount of success for my first attempt at the hobby. I have purchased a couple of clams in the past, both of which turned out to be failures. Through word of mouth this book was recommended to me for the animals that I currently keep and the animals I would like to keep (SPS corals and clams). This book is full of information ranging from algea control to water quality to even identifying different species of SPS corals and clams. My only dissappointment was that I was hoping for a very detailed list of compatible organisms. I understand that certain corals tend to send out stinging tenticles that can harm recessive corals. Although this phenomenon is mentioned in the book it fails to give the specific list that I was hoping for. But don't let this negativity dissuade you from this purchase. There is so much other information in it I feel that it is critical for everyone who is new to the hobby to regard this book as their bible. Even the experienced may have something to learn from this literature.

This is a very good book on reef aquarium keeping, I just wish that I would have known before hand that volume one is clams and stony corals, and that volume two is soft coral. This fact alone would have been helpful in determining which volume I needed first.

Delbeek and Sprung's knowledge and experience is evident in this up to date guide to mini reef keeping. The basics of reef keeping are explained, as well as coral biology and aquarium nutrient regulation. They describe various methods of filtration and lighting and their benefits/drawbacks. They explain how to construct and attach live rock and coral aquascapes in the aquarium. The text is also beautifully produced with many color photographs. Volume 1 focuses on stony corals and clams. There are many pictures of the different species, and they describe each species natural environment and needs. The book also covers coral disease, how to collect and transport corals, and several pictures of outstanding reef tanks are shown to give you something to shoot for. This book is the best I have seen for reef aquariums, and I have seen just about all of them. Volume 2, still in the works, will cover soft corals and gorgonians, from what I hear

My main objections to this field guide were the illustrations. Artistic renderings are often beautiful, but fail to portray the animal in question with accuracy. Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius)is a case in point. Although I have not observed this animal at sea myself, I spoke with a number of fellow fishery biologists who have spent time at sea as marine mammal observers and no one has ever observed a bright yellow Ziphius in the field. All observed a base color of grey with this genus, at least in the northeastern Pacific. The Tasmacetus rendering is most likely based on the J. Mammalogy (1976) paper by Watkins wherein an unidentified ziphiid whale (probable Tasmacetus) was observed from a bluff overlooking the sea in New Zealand. Useful plates were those showing all similar cetaceans together; eg. all oceanic dolphins without prominent beaks, all oceanic dolphins WITH prominent beaks etc. The ziphidae plates show male Mesoplodon characteristics, but that is to be expected since solitary female ziphiid whales, especially Mesoplodon sp., could be virtually impossible to identify. My own field guide preferences use photographs rather than artistic renderings. Other problems: The distribution maps to not reflect the full distribution (extralimital observations/strandings) of many species. An example: Psuedorca is shown as a species with a distribution much further south than observations/stranding records indicate. The text does suggest that 'numerous records' exist outside of the more tropical distribution shown in the map. Note also that many of the dolphin renderings are positioned so that the dorsal fin is right where the pages meet. We did get a chuckle over the photograph showing what you should wear when watching whales, but that can be explained by our 'silly scientist' bias. One note for potential whale-watchers: do not allow your binocular strap to lie right on the skin of your neck while at sea as you can wear painful wounds into your neck through a day of whale-watching. Make sure your shirt collar or other clothing lies under that silly strap! Voice of experience!

This is a great book if you want just a field guide with information on the different species of cetaceans. This would be a great book to take "whale watching".

This Eyewitness Handbook on whales, dolphins, and porpoises was extremely valuable during my recent trip to Baja Mexico to whale watch in the Sea of Cortez. The book provides a wealth of information on each species with specific descriptions and illustrations that are right on. We had two naturalists on board and they love the book too, so it's worthwhile no matter what your level of cetacean knowledge.

If you enjoyed Management Challenges for the 21st Century as much as I did, read this book! If you have never read Drucker before, read this book!

Drucker's work has influenced my consulting work and writing for years. I invoke his concepts frequently in my recent book, Work Naked: Eight Essential Principles for Peak Performance in the Virtual Workplace, so I am pleased that he has produced another important reference for business leaders.

This new book provides an excellent sense of the evolution of his point-of-view and of the very nature of work over several decades. He is one of the few authorities with a broad, deep perspective and that is even more valuable in less than optimal economic conditions. As always, it is refreshing and rewarding to read his clear, insightful ideas -- a true master at work!

Before going further, let me note that this book is mislabeled. The excerpts in this book are from only ten of Professor Drucker's more than 30 management books. Although there is some reference to nonprofit management (where he spent half of his time), this volume does not encapsulate all of his ideas in that sphere. Many of his early ideas about society are also missing.

As great as his ideas about management are, his observations about how to think are even more valuable. The book contains no material from his autobiography, Adventures of a Bystander. You cannot hope to fully appreciate this material until you read that book.

What the book does contain is a fairly easy to follow series of 26 excerpts from the ten books, organized into three sections: Management, Individual, and Society. These books date back to 1954, so you get an overview of part of his work over the last 47 years. This overview will mainly be valuable to managers who have read very little Drucker, since there is essentially no new material in the book. The excerpts are also not connected by any transitions, so there is no additional perspective available from the book's organization.

Here are the sources of the chapters:

The New Realities, Chapters 1 and 26;

Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices, Chapters 2, 3, 5, and 18;

Managing for the Future, Chapters 4 and 19;

Management Challenges for the 21st Century, Chapters 6, 15, 21;

Managing in a Time of Great Change, Chapters 7 and 23;

Practice of Management, Chapter 8;

Frontiers of Management, Chapter 9;

Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Chapters 10-12, 20, and 24;

The Effective Executive, Chapters 13, 14, 16, and 17; and

Post-Capitalist Society, Chapters 22 and 25.

If you are not familiar with Professor Drucker, he is generally considered to be the first person to think systematically about what management is and needs to become. He was also the first to identify that we were moving into a knowledge-based society where the focus of work and the ways that work is organized would have to be totally transformed. His definition of what a business must do is the most often quoted one around: "The purpose of a business is to create a customer." Innovation and marketing are the prime tasks. The book is especially deep in references to his seminal thinking on how to innovate and to operate entrepreneurial businesses. He was also the first twentieth century thinker to see the connection between management of for profit and nonprofit organizations, and that both types of organizations are needed in growing numbers for a sound society. This book is also deeply presents his thinking about the social responsibility of business.

I am still impressed by how substantial his imprint is on all management books that I read. Whether or not Professor Drucker is cited, credited, or admired in these books, almost all of them are simply restatements or elaborations on his fundamental concepts. I hope this edition of his work will help extend his influence further into the future with new generations of executives and managers.

After you finish reading these landmark ideas, I suggest that you think about one element of the book from the individual section. What values do you want to bring to your work? Are you succeeding? If yes, congratulations! How can you accomplish more? If not, what can you change to make those values come to life?

Use your work as a canvas upon which to paint a better world, as Professor Drucker has!

This is the first book of Drucker that I had read. This is the book for all those people out there who have heard, read or come across Drucker's work in their professional life , but didn't know where to start . It takes you through almost all of Drucker's works on management right from the Management's tasks and responsibilities to the currently very popular but least understood concept of knowledge worker and their productivity. It can serve as the ideal reference book for going into depth on any of the topics discussed. Speaking for myself after reading this book I have read 3 more Drucker's books and crave for more of his works.

This excellent book is divided into 2 parts: The disease and the cure, and the latter consists of 3 sections: Accentuate the positive, Eliminate the negative and Latch onto the affirmative. It explains the fight or flight response, the effect thoughts have on the body, and the question of death. It also deals with mourning, how to focus on the positive and has a useful section on depression. Suitable quotes by inter alia Freud, Santayana, Voltaire, Emerson, Russell, Shaw, Anais Nin, Epicurus, Whitman, Keller, Hippocrates, Oscar Wilde and Maria Montessori enhance the text and help to explain things. I would not say that it is absolutely the best self-help book I've ever read ( a little more emphasis on how to influence the subconscious mind would have been valuable), but it casts welcome new light on this thing called "common sense." It is a pleasure to read and I highly recommend it.

I have battled depression on and off for much of my life, and I have to say that this is the best self-help book I have ever read. It is absolutely wonderful. It makes you want to memorize every quote and every precious, uplifting word of wisdom. Some people might say that the things in this book are common sense, but if that's the case, when I look around I see that common sense isn't so common! This book really is a must have for anyone who wants to improve their disposition and feel better emotionally.

McWilliams explains and delivers comprehensive and understandable principles of positive-focus. This is absolutely the greatest self-help book for positive thinking that I've read yet. He addresses issues from relationship to life-threatening illness. He doesn't just blab on about the issues, he details and outlines specific strategies for dealing with crisis in a positive, effective manner. I recommend it to everyone, illness or not...this is very empowering.

I grew up reading this book, the illustrations are wonderful and are so detailed. The best pictures are at the beginning of the book, with a map of the area, which details the cold winter land to the north and the warm summer land of the trumpets to the south. The pictures use real wildlife and down the side of each page their is a numbered key, which relates to the specific item on the picture. Such as Ladybirds, Robins and Blackberries. The story is marvellous, as the trumpets hibernate through the winter, and have to take a underground train to their lair. But trouble is in store for them when the enemies of the north advance. But with the help of the animals, the trumpets save the day.

I have had this book for something close to ten years. I'm seventeen, and I still count this as one of my favorite books (right up there on my list with Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis and If On A Winter's Night A Traveler by Italo Calvino). I used to spend hours with this book, loving the detail of the illustrations and the creativity of the story. The illustrations alone are worth the purchase! Find it, get it, and you'll love it!

For 3rd grade, I brought this book for show and tell. My classmates were ooed and awweed by the amazing details and pictures that were included on every page. The puzzles that were hidden within the binding and other areas of this wonderful book brought my imagination to life. I'm well too old to be reading books like this anymore. But I sure wish I could buy this book once again and put it on my shelves. Along with two other favorites...."Anamalia" and the "11th Hour" these books are definetely classics.

Elise Lufkin has managed, in her book Found Dogs, to move without cloying, to educate without preaching and to make us laugh. This book is a compilation of photos and stories of dogs who have been rescued by caring people and many of who have in turn "rescued" their new owners. These stories range from the amazing; the dog who can detect her owner's oncoming seizure, to the heartwarming; the dog who has they same big brown eyes as his owner's late husband. Diana Walker's photographs capture the connection between each "found dog" and his savior. She shows not only the uniqueness of the dogs but also the varied roles they play in their owner's lives. Useful information on adopting and adapting to a pet is provided. This book is a must for all the animal lovers on your Holiday gift list.

This is an incredible book. I have owned it for several years and each time you pick it up to revisit its pages it makes your feel wonderful all over again. If you aren't a dog lover, you will be after you read this book. It stays on my coffee table in the den and has been the topic of many interesting conversations with fellow dog lovers. I guess this book is so close to my heart because we are fortunate enough to have a "found dog". I am looking forward to Ms Lufkin doing a second book and perhaps including our "Found" dog in it. Buy the book - you'll be glad you did.

This is a wonderful book, buy one as a gift and one to keep for yourself. I bought it as a gift for a friend who volunteered at our local shelter. The volunteers are true heroes, and so are the ordinary people highlighted in this book. After reading this book, I knew it was a keepsake I could not part with. One page stories of extraordinary bonds between owners and the homeless dog they took the risk to adopt make for easy reading that you can pick up, put down, and walk away feeling better about the world. This book is the finest gift for the dogs lover in your life as well as the volunteers at the shelter, your beloved veterinarian, the Dog Control Officer that saves the dog lost in traffic, for your favorite dogsitter, and for anyone who understands there are wonderful dogs out there in need of a home and a person to love. The best part is, profits from the book benefit animal related organizations and shelters. You will feel better having read this book, and a homeless dog somewhere will benefit.

I liked reading through "Mastering 3D Animation" very much. In the first few sections the author Peter Ratner describes the basic need to know stuff of 3D computer graphics in an easy to understand way. Even though I knew most of it already I found parts of it quite interesting. Starting with the section about special effects it becomes helpful even for advanced users. I especially liked the advanced modeling and character modeling part. There are examples and howtos on modeling, animating, shading and lightning for the reader to explore. As an autodidact I buy nearly every 3d book I can lay my hands on and my collection has grown noticeably. This book is definitely one of the better ones!

Jörg Flügge, Munich, Germany 02/25/2001

Mastering 3D Animation is a wonderful training manual for beginners and advanced animators alike. It is chock full of clever methods and techniques for modelling with polygons and nurbs, as well as creating atmospheric FX, effective lighting, efficient character modeling, setup and animating. Most lessons are software independent and are conceptually generic enough to be helpful to any practitioner using any software. My compliments to Peter Ratner for conveying many complicated techniques in an understandable way.

Franklin Londin CG Supervisor Digital Domain

Mastering 3D Animation is a very useful and clear book. It is a goldmine for beginners and a bag of tricks for advanced users. Peter Ratner does an excellent job at explaining 3D human modeling and animation and also gives a good overview of special effects, lighting and surfacing. The book is mostly software independent and all the lessons are presented in a simple way. The man gives you the fundamentals and possibilities and I thank him for that. --Henri Kuuste, 3D Artist, Tartu, Estonia

Hans Peter Brondmo's "The Engaged Customer" is a must for Internet marketers. Whether you're an experienced Internet marketer or a novice, this book will be prove to be of enormous value.

It is extremely thorough in its coverage of e-mail marketing from planning to vendor selection to analysis, and this book goes deeper into exploring customer relationships.

Buy it.

Given the highest rating in its December 2000 MarketingToday.com review.

Many books' subtitles are misleading. Not so with this book: "The New Rules of Internet Direct Marketing" and "Email Strategies for Creating Profitable Customer Relationships." Brondmo does indeed deliver in abundance what these subtitles promise. He suggests that, "After reading this book, you will gain insight into powerful strategies and hands-on tactics for turning...initial buyers into profitable, loyal, and engaged customers." He then observes that his reader is provided with two books in one: "A guide to thinking and a guide to doing. It's organized into four parts."

Part I Using Email to Engage Your Customers

Part II Taking a Strategic Approach

Part III Implementing Customer Dialogue

Part IV Looking Ahead

"If you are an executive looking for an overview of how email marketing will impact your business, you'll want to read Parts I and IV carefully and skim Parts II and III. If you are a manager responsible for implementing and operating email marketing programs, you'll probably want to read the entire book, focusing especially on Parts II and III." He then offers a brief description of each part. Later, Brondmo offers several key points re customer orientation: data drives relevance, relevance drives engagement, relationships are at the core of customer sustainable commerce, and building trust is an imperative. He concludes the book with an assertion that "Profitability and sustainability of all Internet business hinges on engaged customers, and there couldn't be a more perfect time to get engaged with them than today.? How? You'll find the answer in this book, one of the very few published thus far which suggest the best strategies and tactics to create profitable customer relationships with Internet direct marketing.

The authors have put together perhaps one of the best and most complete books on marketing via e-mail on the market today. Note that I said "marketing via e-mail" and not spamming via e-mail. The authors actually address this issue and how to use e-mail marketing in a positive manner where it will be welcomed by the recipient and not instantly deleted. Hans Peter Brondmo is an authority on this issue and is one of the owners of Post Communications, which uses e-mail marketing extensively.

The book details how to move from traditional marketing methods to an Internet based marketing system that concentrates on the efficient and positive use of e-mail. It not only covers how to use it to obtain new customers but guides the reader step by step in how to effectively use e-mail to create and maintain customer loyalty and positive relationships.

With a mingling of joy and sorrow, I have completed the gift of Brendan O'Carroll's trilogy of the Agnes Browne family. I wish these books could go on forever, they are that lovely.

"The Granny" is steeped in beautiful sentiment that is this family. The lives of the Browne brood as adults are examined, winding the reader down many streets of promises, with painful detours along the journey. The telling of their tales is vintage O'Carroll, rich with humor, drama, and the fragile aspects of life that makes it honest.

Give yourself a wonderous treat and buy the trilogy. Like me, you will become enthralled with this family, marred by flaws, detoured by mistakes, but enduringly loving. I adored these books, and can only hope Brendan O'Carroll will take pity on his fans and write more sequels!!!

The Granny was great. It wasn't overdone and had just th right mixture to finish off this great trilogy without letting you down.

Brendan O'Carroll did a spectaular job, again. He giave us just the right mixture of laughter and tears. Again you were on the edge of your seat wondering what would be next. There were a few items that he illuded to but you knew the out come of each illusion before he let on and you were ok with that it make you feel smarter and like a member of the family.

As with the other book the ending was perfect, simple, sweet and honest. There are no Hollywood endings here and not everything happens the way you think it should.

Buy all the books at the same time and become a member of the Browne clan. It's worth the trip.

Mr. Brendan O'Carroll has created with, "The Mammy", "The Chisellers", and, "The Granny", a trilogy that is exceptionally well written, a joy to read, and an alternative Irish Tale. I differentiate this work from the more familiar read about an Irish Family, for while the life of this Family is far from perfect, it is not extreme in its portrayal of the darker sides of people, be they Irish, or in the case of this book, French or Jewish as well. Of the three books this could be noted as the one that brings events together too neatly, especially when a given outcome is positive. I believe this appraisal would be unfair, as the Author balances the experiences of his characters, and even if he had favored the positive, why would that be deserving of scorn?

This book does bring certain threads of the story to a conclusion. The Author could easily continue the stories of this Family, or a given member, but the trilogy; I believe should stand by itself.

Once again the third book takes place when additional time has passed. The Browne Children are children no longer, and with offspring of their own the cycle begins again with the newest of the Brownes. Agnes transitions from Mammy to Granny, as her children take their place as Mammies and Dads to children of there own. Some of the new Families are traditional, some less so, however as in the previous two books while ignorance and the ugly behavior it breeds is not hidden, overall acceptance and tolerance are great virtues of this man's work.

The three works are as close to faultless storytelling as I have read, and I hope I can look forward to many more books by this Author. He will have a tremendous challenge to repeat this success, but as he has done it three times in succession, waiting for additional novels should not be a wait in vain.

If you come to the end of this book and your eyes are not at least full, see your Doctor. Your tear ducts are clogged.

Mr. O'Carroll my sincere thanks.