In my limited readings on desertification (about 10 books), this is the only book that covers desertification comprehensively. While other books tell you that desertification is a long-term land degradation and is caused by mismanagement of land, this book covers the climatic factor as well. How climate influences the hydrologic cycle, vegetation and soil, and how in turn these factors affected by human actions lead to qualitative changes in soil and vegetation. It also suggests a few steps towards mitigating desertification. In overall, this book deserves a 5!

The Access 2000 Tutorial is a great product which allows easy understanding of all concepts. This tutorial could allow a first-time computer student to fully complete all ideas and be able to remember concepts and procedures by memory. Easy to follow directions and color graphics provides a simple understanding of Access 2000. The Access 2000 Tutorial is highly recommended by college professors and myself.

Rather than collecting poems from a wide spectrum of poets, this volume's editors instead chose to concentrate on 17 writers, including nearly 300 poems altogether. The writers collected here are Joel Barlow, William Cullen Bryant, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, Edgar Allan Poe, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jones Very, Henry David Thoreau, James Russell Lowell, Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, Frederick Goddard Tuckerman, Emily Dickinson, Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt, Sidney Lanier, and Edwin Arlington Robinson. The most space is given to Whitman, Melville and Dickinson. While I can't fault the editors for most of their selections, I would have omitted Barlow, Holmes, Lowell and Piatt and opted instead for Christopher Pearse Cranch, Henry Timrod, Stephen Crane, and Trumbull Stickney. Those latter four certainly seem stronger than the former group.

While I can understand the inclusion of Barlow, Holmes, and Lowell, since once they were viewed as quite important poets, though no longer, the logic of including Mrs. Piatt escapes me. Her inclusion is rather meekly defended in the introduction, since she can make "the most conventional sentiments believable." So what? The finest poets say rare, unique things. They are individuals. They do not write about the superficial, but, like John Webster in T.S. Eliot's poem, (taking it slightly out of context) they see the skull beneath the skin.

As to those who were included in this volume, it is gratifying to see Melville getting so much respect as a poet in this and other recent anthologies: he was marginalized too long. Tuckerman is unknown to most people, but he could write wonderful sonnets and "The Cricket" is gold. Although Longfellow was overrated in his time, since then he has consistently been underrated. He's treated pretty decently in this book, so I hope it indicates that his reputation will finally get some balance in the near future. Bryant is a skilled poet, but not necessarily a gifted one. Still, he wrote some excellent poems. Whittier wasted most of his talents writing political propaganda, although when he got off his high horse he could really write some memorable stuff. Jones Very is quite an intense poet - too bad he burnt himself out so young. Lanier is a poet of exceptional ability, but unfortunately this anthology doesn't include his best: "The Revenge of Hamish" isn't a very good poem; but "The Marshes of Glynn," "Song of the Chattahoochee," and "A Ballad of Trees and the Master" are, only you won't find them here. Emerson, Poe, Thoreau, Whitman, Dickinson and Robinson are old favorites. All in all, it's a fine anthology.

While some art buffs may find it hard to believe that anything new could be said about the unquestionably great and unquestionably over-publicized Pablo Picasso, this Museum of Modern Art catalogue actually manages to re-invigorate the discussion of an artist whom some might say the MOMA (having held four colossal exhibitions on Picasso within 15 years) should stop shoving down the public's throat. While the paintings are, for the most part, quite familiar to Picasso enthusiasts (with some delicious exceptions), the catalogue contains several excellent essays which approach the works of art from a personal, rather than art-historical perspective. Picasso's relationships with his various women, and the effect each wife/mistress had on his vision of reality, are thoughtfully and, for the most part, intelligently explored, despite some occasional descents into blatant "National Enquirer"-type celebrity gossip on the part of these supposedly "scientific" critics. Fortunately, Picasso's art stands above the possibly-too intimate concerns of the authors (a careful perusal of the gossip-filled footnotes will amuse you for hours). Page after page of excellent reproductions stun, startle, amuse and amaze the beholder through their sheer perversity. Nearly 30 years after Picasso's death, his art still shocks and challenges the public. My personal favorites are the paintings of the sad and sensual Dora Maar, which are unmatched anywhere in Picasso's oeuvre for sheer, brutal power. Their distortions haunt the mind, although the joyous and often semi-pornographic pictures of the teenage mistress, Marie-Therese, possess an equal charge. This book is a definite must in any art library.

This is a stunning book, The photographs and details of these amazing pieces By Big Bill Morris and his incredibly talented team are breathtaking. As a glassblower myself, I can only imagine the degree of skill to fashion these pieces, let alone the colours that the team is able to achieve. (they're good!)
I found myself unable to put this book down, I have been looking at it every day now for the last two weeks.
It is a MUST have for anyone interested in Glass or fine Contemporary Art/Sculpture.

I understand that Morris is onto an entirely new series of work, I can hardly wait to see it.

Order this book Now!

Refactoring is another must have book for any OO developer. As with other books like the Gang of Four "Design Patterns", Mr. Fowler has compiled, structured, and systematize a set of common practices that any OO developer does in his/her day-to-day work.

Refactoring consist roughly in reshaping and evolving your code without changing its interfaces in order to improve its internal structure and functionality as well as other attributes. Every developer knows that is very difficult to hit the bull's eye at the first attempt and the code once written must be changed a number of times to accomodate new functionality or requirements or to allow the reuse.

Mr. Fowler starts explaining what refactoring is using a pretty well documented and complete example, next he describes when, why, how, and where you must refactor your code and how to locate those pieces of your code that are suitable for refactoring and how to test those changes. Finally, the bulk of the book is devoted to a catalog that identifies and classifies the different refactorings.

The book id full of code examples in Java, easy to read and right into target. From my point of view is a good investment for any developer.

I would have to give 2 thumbs up to Martin Fowler's book on Refactoring. He has addressed so many common refactorings in such a simple and elegant way that many will benefit from his work (as well as the others that helped write this book).

Martin's writing style is very relaxed and sincere. He's entertaining and doesn't complicate things as you can easily find what you need. You can tell he simply wants to make programming teams' lives easier and he has accomplished tenfold. He's not going to tell you that your an innately bad programmer or that he is a better one - he truely captivates that quality code is important and refactoring is that one big step that each organization and programmer must take to improve the quality of code.

Some of the patterns that he identifies are very common - but for completeness' sake, he includes them. Others are very insightful such as Introducing Null objects, which I've used 5 times in a single application now since I've read this book.

This is also an excellent book to accompany Design Patterns, as many of these refactorings will help you achieve design patterns in your code - it's like working them in your code in a different, systematic way.

All in all, this is a fantastic contribution to improving code and developing quality programmers in the software development industry. I would recommend this to any software professional and especially university students (where quality code is not touched on at all). It's the will of the programmer to improve their code and this is one of those books to read if you want to do that. If you want to just be an average programmer, a following in your organization and not take responsibility - then don't read this book. If you want to truely be effective in your job or entrapreneural projects, add this book to your bookshelf and read it, use it and live it.

I spent seven years in the Smalltalk environment figuring (parts) of this stuff out for myself. You don't have to - buy Martin's book and shave at least a few years off the learning curve. Refactoring is an indispensable part of software development. Like it or not, whatever you write today will be "wrong" sometime in the future. You need to have techniques for transitioning to the "right" stuff. Refactoring provides you with a wealth of small tools that can make the transition easier.

Not only that, having confidence that you can refactor your code later (supported by relentless testing) actually relieves some of the pressure you feel when you write the code the first time. Get it working, then get it right. Don't panic. Don't sweat. Enjoy your work like you did when you started (remember?). Let Refactoring guide the way.

A practical guide for any OO developer, no matter what language you are working in, though you need enough familiarity with Java to read the examples.

This is the Revised Brief Thirteenth edition, not the full edition. The paperback version comes with a plastic ring binder that is not suitable for heavy use. In short, this is not the version that a professional editor would want, although it might be fine for students.

I found this book to be a wonderful reference when writing anything from a short paper to a forty page research paper. Neither would have been possible without this text. A great buy!

The only reference you will need for everyday professional and proper usage of the English language. Very well organized and extremely easy to use. I highly recommend this book.

This book is a great reference for residents in surgery. The subject matter is relevant, easy to read, and emphasizes salient points. This is a great book when you don't have time to read!!

Excelent book. A must have for all General Surgery resident. Covers all areas of General Surgery and OB/GYN, Urology.

This book is a "must have" for all surgery resident.

"The Whiz Kids" met my expectations. It is great material for Phillies fans. Having grown up hearing the names of Ennis, Ashburn, Konstanty, Roberts and the rest, I wanted to read a good account of the first Phils pennant since 1915.

The ever humble Roberts (with the help of a professional writer) recounts his rise to the major leagues as well as the futile history of Phillies baseball. It's a nice, easy to read story that follows a tried formula: the team has a long history of losing, young players come aboard and develop into a close team, they exceed expectations and go to the World Series. There are plenty of scenes that flesh out the personalities and struggles of the team mates. Plenty of train trips and hotel stays. Tough game situations yeilding exciting victories or close defeats. Those looking for deep insights into the era should look elsewhere. In fact, I see this book aimed primarily at us Phils fans. Our banners are few, so we need to raise them high. These aren't Duke Snyder, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and the other "Boys of Summer." The Phillies of this era had one great year surrounded by several decent years. Only a couple of the names stand out these years later.

I give the book four stars because it served its purpose for me. If you are looking for light reading material about a cinderalla team, this could be for you as well.

This is a very well written account about a team that captured the hearts of an entire city. This is a great account of the surprising achievment of the 1950 Phillies. The excellent interviews of the players involved and the rehashing of the author is great. A very nostalgic and fact filled retelling of an exciting and fun filled year in baseball. A must read for all Phillie and historical baseball buffs.

Authors Paul Rogers and former Whiz Kid pitcher Robin Roberts have done a great job in bringing a memorable team back to life. Baseball books on teams usually involve New York teams and it is refreshing to read a book about a team that will always be remembered, not just by Phillies' fans, but by baseball fans across the country. Many of the names I came across in this book were merely pictures on baseball cards I started buying in the early '50's and this book provided me with some insight into their accomplishments on the ball diamond. There is a story behind each of those players' names I have in my mind, and the authors brought them to life in this book. If there was one drawback, if I may call it that, I found an excessive amount of play-by-play among the pages. However, I can live with that. The names of Robin Roberts, Curt Simmons, and Richie Ashburn are household baseball names, but I was also happy to read about lesser lights like Bubba Church, Mike Goliat, and Stan Lopata who were only pictures on baseball cards to me. Phillies' fan or not, if you like baseball history, you will enjoy this book.

this is a comedy only in the sense that the play ends well - ie, noone dies, most everyone is happy. else, there's little humor in this comedy, save for the knave, lucio. like others here have pointed out, this is actually a pretty serious play that takes a pretty hard look at human weakness, particularly lust. there are some fine, impassioned speeches by claudio and his sister, who pleads for his life. worth a read. but don't expect any laughs.

One of Shakespeare's lesser read and lesser performed plays, Measure for Measure profoundly explores the themes of justice and mercy. This exploration compensates for the defects of the play: the unbelievable resolution, the Duke's refusal to interfere early on (which causes pain to the characters), the inconsistency in the application of morality (Isabella considers it wrong for the betrothed Claudio and Juliet to have sex but justifies--and even helps to arrange--it between Angelo and Mariana), and the unexpected suddenness of the Duke's proposal to Isabella. The play seriously weighs the concerns of justice and mercy, and although it ultimately favors mercy, it recognizes the complexity of the issue. How can one practice mercy and yet restrain vice? How can one "hate the sin" yet "love the sinner?" Mercy seems to be the necessary choice over justice because man is too fallen to bear the brunt of justice. "Judge not lest ye be judged. For with what measure you mete," said Christ, "it shall be measured unto you." If you hold a high standard for others (as does Angelo for Claudio) and yet fall short of it yourself, you will be judged by the same standard. Since we seem destined to fall short of righteousness, it is best to practice forgiveness, so that we too may be judged lightly. And yet there is a concern that such practice of forgiveness will lead to a laxity that permits vice to flourish (which is the reason the Duke leaves Angelo in charge in the first place). Though mercy and forgiveness are favored, the arguments in favor of justice are not simply dismissed.

Quote: "Condemn the fault, and not the actor of it?
Why, every fault's condemned ere it be done.
Mine were the very cipher of a function,
To fine the faults whose fine stands in record,
And let go by the actor." (II.ii.38-42)

Measure for Measure is seldom read, and not often performed in the United States. Why? Although many of Shakespeare's plays deal bluntly with sexual issues, Measure for Measure does so in an unusually ugly and disgusting way for Shakespeare. This play is probably best suited for adults, as a result.

I see Measure for Measure as closest to The Merchant of Venice in its themes. Of the two plays, I prefer Measure for Measure for its unremitting look at the arbitrariness of laws, public hypocrisy and private venality, support for virtue, and encouragement of tempering public justice with common sense and mercy.

The play opens with Duke Vincentio turning over his authority to his deputy, Angelo. But while the duke says he is leaving for Poland, he in fact remains in Vienna posing as a friar. Angelo begins meting out justice according to the letter of the law. His first act is to condemn Claudio to death for impregnating Juliet. The two are willing to marry, but Angelo is not interested in finding a solution. In despair, Claudio gets word to his sister, the beautiful Isabella, that he is to be executed and prays that she will beg for mercy. Despite knowing that Isabella is a virgin novice who is about to take her vows, Angelo cruelly offers to release Claudio of Isabella will make herself sexually available to Angelo. The Duke works his influence behind the scenes to help create justice.

Although this play is a "comedy" in Shakespearean terms, the tension throughout is much more like a tragedy. In fact, there are powerful scenes where Shakespeare draws on foolish servants of the law to make his points clear. These serve a similar role of lessening the darkness to that of the gravediggers in Hamlet.

One of the things I like best about Measure for Measure is that the resolution is kept hidden better than in most of the comedies. As a result, the heavy and rising tension is only relieved right at the end. The relief you will feel at the end of act five will be very great, if you are like me.

After you read this play, I suggest that you compare Isabella and Portia. Why did Shakespeare choose two such strong women to be placed at the center of establishing justice? Could it have anything to do with wanting to establish the rightness of the heart? If you think so, reflect that both Isabella and Portia are tough in demanding that what is right be done. After you finish thinking about those two characters, you may also enjoy comparing King Lear and Claudio. What was their fault? What was their salvation? Why? What point is Shakespeare making? Finally, think about Angelo. Is he the norm or the exception in society? What makes someone act like Angelo does here? What is a person naturally going to do in his situation?

Look for fairness in all that you say and do!