The book is a nice pedagogic introduction to nonlinear elasticity. It lays out the principles clearly supported with good examples, something you won`t be able to find in many other books.
Some previous reviews criticizes the book for not covering anisotropy or plasticity, but the book is simply intended to cover the principles of large deformation elasticity. From that point of view, anisotropy is a case where you have the same formulas but more constants. And plasticity, as the name reveals, is NOT elasticity. There are plenty of plasticity models out there and interested reader should find the proper source for those. Unlike what a previous reviewer says, hyperelasticity is NOT "exceedengly simple", and is a fairly general form of elasticity. It is widely used in many engineering materials and covered in detail in this book.

Good book and gentle introduction to computational and theoretical aspects of nonlinear solid mechanics with large deformation. I downloaded also the code mentioned, and it is great fun playing with it.

Bonet and Wood have written an excellent book. I thank them for
writing such a wonderful book. Every student who wants to learn nonlinear mechanics should have this book. I am saying this because
I am also a student and I know what a student expects from a book.

This volume covers the waterfront of image processing from a reasonable introductory level. Refreshingly, it is much more than a cookbook. The authors pay attention to the physical principles that imaging and image manipulation are based on. With many quality images and examples, there is much for the less mathematically inclined to cut their teeth on while brushing up on their advanced math skills. The inclusion of many well chosen problems makes the book a valuable volume in a student's library. The book's associated web-site is a major bonus for the reader. I did find that some of the figure captions were challenging to interpret but the problem does not seem pervasive. Overall, I liked the book. It is a valuable addition to the image processing literature and to the image processing textbook selection.

I've been a senior researcher in Image Processing for more than 20 years, and my opinion of the book Digital Image Processing of Gonzalez and Woods, is that it is significantly superior to current books on image processing. The contents of the books are in the mainstream of work in this field, and the level of coverage is complete and written at a level that makes it an ideal textbook for seniors and first-year graduate students. The experience of the authors shows through in the way the material is presented and illustrated. The complementary web site is an outstanding teaching aid.

As a computer engineering senior with a strong interest in image processing and vision, I found this book very helpful.

The exemples are varied and interesting, the maths are easy to understand and the design is very clear. Obviously, it supposes the reader has some mathematical background, but nothing impossible for an undergraduate student.

It is also very complete: it goes from very basic image processing concepts (defining pixels, the RGB format) to more complex topics like pattern recognition and wavelet compression.

As a cultural anthropologist with emphasis on plains indian tribes and history and a frequent visitor to the Little Big Horn Battlefield Monument, I have read Mr. Fox's book a number of times and have gone over the ground with it in hand. I have also read many of the other accounts, both contemporary and historical to attempt an understanding of what occurred at the Little Big Horn. Fox's precise, analytical and well-reasoned account, taking into consideration the physical evidence at the site, seems irrefutable. Contrary to one reviewer, I found no evidence of "rambling" at all, but a thorough analysis of all aspects of the battle from archeological evidence, oral and written histories to US Army Calvary tacitcs in use at the time, that support Fox's thesis, which is different and original from all that have preceeded it. Congratulations to Mr. Fox for a model of historical, archeological and anthropological research. I believe he has indeed broken new ground in the field. If you have any interest at all in the plains tribes, Custer or western history you owe it to yourself to read this fine book.

While I doubt that many Custerphiles and Little Big Horn enthusiasts will agree with me, this book may well be the definitive work on the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It starts with a summary of the results of Fox's 1984 archaeological investigations conducted at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. After reviewing his methodology, Fox examines standard U.S. Cavalry tactics of the Plains Indian War period. Using tactical doctrine as the framework for his discussion, Fox examines the archaeological evidence discovered at the battlefield to arrive at some very startling and novel conclusions about the development of George Armstrong Custer's last battle. The evidence Fox musters is impressive, and his reasoning so cogent and persuasive, that it is clear that any writer attempting to explain the course of the Battle of the Little Big Horn ignores this work at his/her peril.

After reading this book I only wish that I had read it before I visited the LBH this past September. Dr. Fox provides great detail to properly explain how the excavations and laboratory findings were done and in explaining what they mean. This detail is neccessary to understand Dr. Fox's explanation of what he thinks ocurred at Custer's battleridge. After reading the evidence first, then his well researched literary quotes, his conclusions on the Custer portion of the battle are very believable and fit well with the Indian oral histories. I found it very revealing and immensely stimulating. The early chapters may seem slow to someone who does not appreciate archaelogy but it picks up speed as Fox moves to his conclusion which is virtually a climax of the battle. I have reread several sections and it's a mainstay in my Custer library.

If this tour de force were a short story, part of a collection, I'd have liked it better. It's too light-weight to take seriously as a separate publication. Jonathan Noel, the main character, is a timid and tidy man who has lived in the same 11 x 7 room for thirty years. One morning he opens the door to his room and finds a pigeon sitting there. This leads to total disruption in his predictable life, his personal unraveling, and his decision to live elsewhere for a few days. If you can identify with this, you are a better person than I!

Located in contemporary Paris, "The Pigeon" is the story of an incident. A dull Frenchman discovers one day the unexpected presence of a pigeon in front of the small roomm he inhabits. This minuscule and seemingly irrelevant event adopts terrifying proportions in the mind of the man, becoming a grotesque nightmare.

As a master of allusion and obsession, Suskind reveals once more, in this parable of everyday life, his gift for building a metaphor of the existential background of humans. It shows that our life usually holds to rutines so fragile, that a simple disturbance may force us to rethink everything from the start. It is a short book, but an intriguing and absurd tale. The absurd, seems to say Suskind, is present in the most simple things that happen every day.

Imagine you are an old man so afraid of life that you have spent most of your years alone, living in a small room and working in an insignificant job as a security guard on the front steps of a bank, your only pleasure somehow derived from the monotony of your daily routine. Then one day a living creature, a pigeon, appears unexpectedly on your doorstep, and it shouldn't be there--it is out of place. And this frightens you like nothing has in many years. You flee your apartment (for good, you think). Because of your agitated state you break your own routines; you begin acting strangely, and your perceptions alter. This sets off a chain reaction of encounters in which you, despite your lifelong precautions to the contrary, begin interacting with a world that seems determined to drive you over the edge.

Suskind's "The Pigeon" is subtly meticulous in depicting its protagonist's complex psychological journey. The story is at once free of sentimentality, raw, honest, and yet life-affirming in the most vital sense. While it is reminiscent of Kafka and--most notably--of Knut Hamson's "Hunger," Suskind's novella also manages to glimpse something just around the corner, something almost out of sight, beyond the valley of despair.

Richard Wood has taken his considerable expereince in aviation operations and safety evaluation to provide a solid description of the most important elements of an aviation safety program. Main points in the book are illustrated with examples and additional references provided. One could design and implement a good aviation safety program using this reference alone. Well written and to the point, Mr. Wood provides needed guidance in an area that is not well documented nor understood.

The "Book Description" submitted by the publisher started: "American army troops entered Cambodia in April of 1970. President Richard Nixon could not keep ground troops there beyond June 1970 without authorization from Congress, which was not forthcoming."
This is incorrect. President Nixon chose to pull all U.S. troops out at the end of June, but that was his decision. He could have kept troops there months longer, if he had chosen to do so. There were people in Congress trying to impose limitations on the President's ability to use U.S. forces in Cambodia, but they did not manage to get such a limitation enacted into law until January of 1971. I have not yet seen the book, but this error right at the beginning of the publisher's summary of it leaves me a bit suspicious.
I don't like the idea of giving a rating (4 stars out of 5) when I have not actually read the book, but the software on this site will not permit me to post any comment without making a rating.

This book was printed in 1963, so the interpretations provided are mostly from the *first* part of the 20th century and are almost exclusively from male writers. Still, there are some interesting criticisms and assessments voiced here. Don't expect a chapter-by-chapter Cliffs Notes analysis, but rather several opinions on the whole work or on specific themes. The editor himself advises us "to recognize that _Walden_ is a carefully articulated, full-length book." So often we hear or read only snippets or key quotes, and we lose Thoreau's flavor and his descriptions that build up to his points. Most of the selections in this book are positive, and some are absolutely glowing. E. B. White says that "Thoreau, very likely without knowing quite what he was up to, took man's relation to nature and man's dilemma in society and man's capacity for elevating his spirit and he beat all these matters together, in a wild free interval of self-justification and delight, and produced an original omelette from which people can draw nourishment in a hungry day." Wow! John C. Broderick claims that "_Walden_ itself might be regarded as a year-long walk, for as in his daily walk Thoreau moved away from the mundane world of the village toward one of heightened awareness and potentiality, only to return spiritually reinvigorated, so _Walden_ records an adventuring on life which structurally starts from and returns to the world of quiet desperation." Of course this is true; why haven't the rest of us thought of this? Leo Marx focuses in on Thoreau's words about the railroad and the workers (and the riders) on it: "The episode demonstrates that the Walden site cannot provide a refuge, in any literal sense, from the forces of change." Wow, again.

This piece of literary criticism contains 8 major essays and 25 pages of random thoughts from others. It can be enlightening to students of Thoreau and of the transcendentalist movement, though high schoolers may stumble over some of the vocabulary used.

Having been 'soaked' in boring aviation reference (i.e. Jane's) for years, it was great to discover this book. You won't find to much dry technical specs, or second hand descriptions of flight from authors who've never been close to a cockpit. "Wildcats to Tomcats" is authored by three who have been there, and have had every title worth having in Naval Aviation. Wally Shirra, Zeke Cormier, and Phil Wood are three of the finest aviators ever to take flight...and all three share their experiences in this amazing book. Every aspect of their glorious and dynamic lives they share! And they don't attempt to paint a rosy picture of the U.S. Navy. All three describe their feats with absolute honesty, no gripes held back. If you're buying only one aviation book this year, this is the one! If you're in love with anything "FLY NAVY", let these TOPGUNS tell it to you. GET THIS BOOK!

I enjoyed the book a great deal and gave a copy to my uncle this christmas. He also gives it a thumbs up. Rick does a great job at giving detailed instructions and the photos are excellent as well. The material covered ranges from beginning whittler to well seasoned carver levels. Whether you choose to carve with just a knife or you carve with a thousand chisels and goudges, you can find a great little project in Rick's book. I really enjoyed carving the wood spirit and merganser. Great idea book.

The book was highly recommended to my twelve year old daughter. Because Annie dislike fantasy and science fiction, I purchased the trilogy based on a brief overview. Annie likes adventure, problem solving, and "chick flicks" She adored Legally Blonde and I hoped that

Not the best in the Trilogy....

After reading the reviews on all three books in this series I bought all three. The Train to Estelline is a bit chopped up and doesn't really flow very well. Not my favorite type of read. They story is an enjoyable one with many things to learn about life on a ranch in West Texas. A very hard life, and strong people. I can only tell you to read this but don't stop here.... the best is yet to come. A Place Called Sweet Shrub is the best in the series.

The Train to Estelline

TRAIN TO ESTELLINE is the second Jane Roberts Wood book I read, after A PLACE CALLED SWEET SHRUB. Both are delightful. The letter/diary style of TRAIN chronicles the life of a young woman leaving home to begin her teaching career at the turn of the century. The reader feels like something of a voyeur following events while being privy to the private thoughts of the young woman. It is a charming book which leaves one a little envious of the innocence, the naiveté of Americans living in that period.