Book Description
This photo of Escherichia coli being attacked by bacteriophages highlights rapidly developing technologies for using phages to treat antibiotic resistant infections without destroying normal resident bacteria, and without side effects. Phages are also being used to detect and remove pathogens from our food supplies, both plant and animal. Also exciting is the use of phages as vehicles to delivery DNA vaccines, often directly to mammalian immune system cells. Recent work also suggests possible antitumor effects of phages. We stand on the edge of a whole new world of exploration and applications of microbiology.
For over 20 years, and through five editions, Black's Microbiology: Principles and Explorations has captured students' imaginations. Her enthusiasm, passion, and knack for memorable stories and anecdotes bring the study of microbiology to life in a way few other texts can match.
Now updated to reflect the latest topics in the field (e.g., SARS, bioterrorism, GMO's, geomicrobiology) and accompanied by state-of-the-art animations of key concepts, this new edition is sure to help inspire a new generation of enthusiasts for the dynamic science of microbiology.
Critical Acclaim
"I continue to find Black's text an excellent contribution to undergraduate Microbiology education." --Karen Messley, Rock Valley College
"I like the conversational and informal style Black adopts throughout the book. This is a book, which could very well engage even the most reluctant student. It is comprehensive, nicely detailed, and incorporates many aids to teaching and learning..."--Iris Cook, Westchester CC
"[The text] is a wonderful introduction into the world of microorganisms for students from a wide variety of backgrounds."--Jeff G. Leid, Northern Arizona University
"...I have found it [the book] accurate to a fault, brilliant at getting students motivated and interested in microbiology, and a great practical training book."--Gerard O'Donovan, University of North Texas
Also available
Laboratory Exercises in Microbiology, 2nd Edition
Robert A. Pollack, et al.
ISBN: 0-471-42082-4, 264 pages, paper, (c)2005
Written specifically for allied health students, this lab manual presents a variety of highly engaging activities and experiments that convey the basic concepts of microbiology.
Customer Reviews:
It's ok.......2006-02-19
It's an okay book. I needed it for a class. There are several mistakes on the diagrams (our professor noted which ones).
Lots of typos and missing info........2006-01-07
Good study guide when the answers were in the back. Sometimes the answers were off by one or non existent. If you can get past that, it does help, but jeez don't they employ a proofreader? For thirty bucks, I was kind of disappointed. The textbook is great.
Wonderfully Informative Book!!!.......2005-12-12
WOW! I love this book. Every time I read part of it I learn so much stuff that I never knew before. It is fairly advanced information but it is written in a very understandable way. I am in high school and I like it because it teaches in the same format as my school's biology text books. I use this book because I like to read about this stuff. It is so facinating. If you are in a high school biology class, read this and you will be light years ahead of every one else!
Great book for teachers and students.......2005-09-17
This text explains some very complex information in a very reader-friendly way. The photos, charts and practical examples of how microbiology impacts everyone's life make it very readable. I would recommend it for teachers and students!
Micro Made Easy.......2005-09-14
This is one of the best text books I have ever used. The information is clear, concise, and interesting. It gives examples throughout the book of how microbiology is being used now to help us.
Book Description
At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, The River of Doubt is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth.
The River of Doubt—it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron.
After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil’s most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever.
Along the way, Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. The River of Doubt brings alive these extraordinary events in a powerful nonfiction narrative thriller that happens to feature one of the most famous Americans who ever lived.
From the soaring beauty of the Amazon rain forest to the darkest night of Theodore Roosevelt’s life, here is Candice Millard’s dazzling debut.
Customer Reviews:
What an Adventure.......2007-10-18
What a great book. It is amazing to me that in the face of all the danger and near death experiences, these men continued to behave in the most civilized manor. Very inspiring for me.
river of doubt.......2007-10-06
This book was great, if you like adventure, exploration, or teddy roosevelt this is the book for you.
not boaring at all this book is awsome
A Gripping Tale of Men of Character.......2007-09-21
Oh, for a President who had even one tenth of the character and integrity of the Teddy Roosevelt portrayed in this book. This is a real-life version of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, but the central figure never loses his sense of dedication and honor. Although there is plenty of suspense, even horror, in the story, I found it to be ultimately quite inspiring.
Awesome.......2007-09-20
This book went into so much detail about TR's expedition in Brazil that is hardly mentioned in other books on his life. And what a story it is! I heartily recommend it to anyone.
They Don't Make Presidents Like this Anymore..........2007-09-20
And that's not a statement of partisan politics, but it does say a lot about leadership. Volumes have been written about Theodore Roosevelt, the soldier, the statesman, the adventurer, and the president, but if there is a single book that captures the vitality, the determination, and the indomitable spirit of this great American, it is "The River of Doubt." Former National Geographic writer and editor Candice Miller pulls no punches and leaves no stone unturned in spinning this vibrant and suspense-packed tale of risk and discovery cutting through the heart of the Amazonian jungle on an uncharted Brazilian river. Miller brings the Amazon to life in all its bloody glory, an unfathomably dangerous place where even the frogs are deadly, where schools of piranhas can turn an ox - or a man - to a skeleton in minutes, a place where, despite caymans and poison dart-wielding natives, it is the insects - insects of all types and descriptions - that pose the greatest risk.
This is an epic journey facing not only the challenges of a wild river cascading over rapids and waterfalls through an impenetrable jungle, but also treachery and even murder. Roosevelt and expedition co-lead Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon, an officer of the Brazilian military and renowned Amazon explorer, find themselves surprisingly ill-equipped for their voyage through one of the planets most inhospitable regions, and ironically are soon near starvation in a green hell that while teaming with life, food is stubbornly unattainable. Meanwhile, it is a poignant tale of the bond between father and son, as Roosevelt and second son Kermit alternately sacrifice and suffer for each other while proudly denying emotion. This is one of those stories that, after weeks of terror, when Roosevelt and the tattered remains of his party emerge feverish from malaria and near starvation, you'll ask, "why haven't I heard about this before now."
Were this fiction, it would strain the bounds of credibility. But that this is the story of a former President of the United States is truly staggering. A remarkable achievement, "The River of Doubt" is a must read, illuminating a fascinating slice of world history in the twilight of the age of exploration while providing an intimate peak into the unparalleled character of Theodore Roosevelt. Bully!
Average customer rating:
- Great high level book
- THE Book for Oilfield Newcomers
- Excellent primer for anyone interested in the oi patch
- Oil for Dummies - Even I got it!
- Nontechnical Guide to Petroleum Geology,Exploration ,Drilling and Production (2nd Edition) by Norman J. Hyne
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Nontechnical Guide to Petroleum Geology, Exploration, Drilling and Production (2nd Edition)
Norman J. Hyne , and
Norman J. Ph.d Hyne
Manufacturer: Pennwell Books
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Customer Reviews:
Great high level book.......2007-08-28
This book is a good source of information about the oil industry if you are working in a different field, and curious to learn about the oil industry.
THE Book for Oilfield Newcomers.......2007-03-13
In attempting to get quickly up to speed on the oil business for the purpose of participating in a few wells as a (very) small investor, I bought about ten books of various sorts. This is one of them, and has turned out to be the one I refer to the most.
First, let me say that there are two different types of books on drilling for oil/gas. Broadly, they are books that concentrate mainly on the financial and legal structure of oil deals and books that concentrate on where it is and how to get it out of the ground. This book is of the second sort.
The "nontechnical" part of the title is only partly true. Some of the descriptions are sufficiently technical to impart a working understanding of the operations in the field. I, for instance, have been going to our rig (now drilling) and asking questions ("What's that blue thing?"), then coming home and reading about what I was told ("The jar is a section of pipe that either mechanically....").
Same with the drilling reports I receive.... I can look up that part of the drilling operation (ie, "sliding") and get a much better understanding of what's happening. A book comes in handy, after all, the tool pushers out on the rigs seem to be men of few words.
There is also a pretty good basic course in petroleum geology in the first thirteen chapters. And, the science (art?) of geophysics gets a good once-over, too, though I confess I've not paid much attention to it yet.
There are chapters on reservoirs, completion, offshore, production, workover, and more, all of which is written at the same level, and much of which I've not read in depth, only scanned. I'll read it as we get there out in the field.
This is a sufficiently information-dense book that actually sitting and reading it from cover to cover won't realistically happen for most folks, no matter how involved. It's more of a textbook and reference resource.
There are lots of diagrams and drawings and pictures (probably three hundred) and they help a lot. The lengthy glossary is OK, though I've not found a petroleum business glossary that seems to be truly comprehensive. (That was written before I found, and ordered, the comprehensive "Dictionary of Petroleum Exploration, Drilling & Production" by who else but Norman J. Hyne, Ph.D.,.... and nope, I have no axe to grind here; and yes, I have noticed that Norman seems to favor long titles). The folks in the oil business rely very heavily on their own language that is a combination of truly technical terminology, oilman slang and everything in between. A glossary is handy. Also be forewarned that the business uses lots of abbreviations, and they seem to change somewhat from company to company, so that a glossary won't ever have all of the abbreviations in use in the field.
There are some other books that do a pretty good job on a more basic level, including "Money In The Ground" by John Orban, III (which also includes deal structure), but, if you are looking for a book that is deep enough to give you a good understanding of the many various aspects of drilling for oil, this is the book.
Excellent primer for anyone interested in the oi patch.......2007-01-05
I am considering investing in onshore domestic oil and gas exploration, and sought a book to begin learning about the technical side of the industry. This is the book. Hyne does an excellent job reducing what is clearly a highly complex and tecnhical field down to near-layman's terms. Be forewarned; just like reading descriptions of meats, vegetables and seasonings won't make you a chef, this book won't make it any easier to make a go-no go decision regarding any particular prospect. It will, however, teach you some basic building blocks to help you understand where the risks come from, and really help you understand what a promotor or operator tells you. It is almost mandatory reading if you wish to drill down deeper into other, more technical texts. I have, and would have been lost if it had not been for Norman Hyne's book.
Oil for Dummies - Even I got it!.......2006-12-14
I work for a MAJOR oil company, but in Government Relations, not on the technical side of the house. Our company has courses such as "Refining for non refiners" and "Drilling for non drillers" meant to give an overview of the operations to people that need to be able to talk intelligently about the industry. This book gives among the finest overviews of the industry that I have seen and makes it easier to do my job. When I first joined I didn't know the difference between upstream and downstream, and the overviews offered in Mr. Hyne's book make me more able to speak intelligently to colleagues, management, customers and partners about our stake in this industry. A must read for anyone who works on the fringes of of oil production. After reading this book, I am somewhat amazed that gasoline does not cost three times its' current price considering all the work it takes to find it, drill for it, extract the stuff from rocks, and get it through a pipeline to a ship to a refinery and then to our gas tanks. This from a guy that gets dirty looks as I drive my Hybrid car into the parking lot of an oil company every morning.
Nontechnical Guide to Petroleum Geology,Exploration ,Drilling and Production (2nd Edition) by Norman J. Hyne.......2006-11-05
An outstanding , very lucid, overview of the petroleum sciences ranging from petroleum generation, migration ,and entrapment , exploration technology ,land leasing , drilling and development , to reservoir estimation and enhancement technology . This book is highly recomended for those who have little or no understanding of the field ,for students and ,perhaps ,for some non geologist ie. geophysicists .
Book Description
An incredible, true-life adventure set on the most dangerous frontier of all—outer spaceIn the nearly forty years since Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, space travel has come to be seen as a routine enterprise—at least until the shuttle Columbia disintegrated like the Challenger before it, reminding us, once again, that the dangers are all too real.
Too Far from Home vividly captures the hazardous realities of space travel. Every time an astronaut makes the trip into space, he faces the possibility of death from the slightest mechanical error or instance of bad luck: a cracked O-ring, an errant piece of space junk, an oxygen leak . . . There are a myriad of frighteningly probable events that would result in an astronaut’s death. In fact, twenty-one people who have attempted the journey have been killed.
Yet for a special breed of individual, the call of space is worth the risk. Men such as U.S. astronauts Donald Pettit and Kenneth Bowersox, and Russian flight engineer Nikolai Budarin, who in November 2002 left on what was to be a routine fourteen-week mission maintaining the International Space Station.
But then, on February 1, 2003, the Columbia exploded beneath them. Despite the numerous news reports examining the tragedy, the public remained largely unaware that three men remained orbiting the earth. With the launch program suspended indefinitely, these astronauts had suddenly lost their ride home.
Too Far from Home chronicles the efforts of the beleaguered Mission Controls in Houston and Moscow as they work frantically against the clock to bring their men safely back to Earth, ultimately settling on a plan that felt, at best, like a long shot.
Latched to the side of the space station was a Russian-built Soyuz TMA-1 capsule, whose technology dated from the late 1960s (in 1971 a malfunction in the Soyuz 11 capsule left three Russian astronauts dead.) Despite the inherent danger, the Soyuz became the only hope to return Bowersox, Budarin, and Pettit home.
Chris Jones writes beautifully of the majesty and mystique of space travel, while reminding us all how perilous it is to soar beyond the sky.
Customer Reviews:
Great for those with interest in life in space........2007-09-15
I really enjoyed this book. I have always had an interest in the space program since I grew up in Florida and would watch most launches when I was in grade school. There were just a few parts of the book that might not be totally accurate due to the writers background as a sports writer and that is why I gave 4 stars. Happy reading!
stuck in space..........2007-07-30
In February of 2003 the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere and all seven astronauts aboard were lost. The news shattered the pysche of our nation and as TOO FAR FROM HOME strongly details the last people to see them and who felt their loss so acutely were the 3 astronauts aboard the International Space Station who had just seen Columbia disenage from station. Americans Kenneth Bowersox, and Don Pettit and Russian Nikolai Budarin were left with only the outdated Soviet capsule Soyuz to get back home. With the mission estended and no end in sight the author richly details life aboard the ISS and all the inherent risks of life in space and all the spectacular reasons why men and women risk their lives to be in space.
Couldn't put this book down!.......2007-07-25
I really enjoyed reading this book. The writing is beautiful and very descriptive. It reads like a science fiction book. It is very fast-paced and easy reading.
In November 2002, ten astronauts left Earth aboard the space shuttle Columbia headed for the International Space Station (ISS). The mission was to depart much earlier, but problems, both technical and weather related, marred the launch. On one launch date, when the astronauts were already strapped-in in their seats aboard space shuttle Columbia, bad weather in their emergency landing site in Spain prevented the launch. The astronauts had to return home. On another occasion, a technical fault cancelled the launch. When the new launch date in November was approaching, the astronauts were wandering if more problems would suddenly appear and prevent another launch. Some astronauts believed that the mission had a bad luck aura around it, but did not discuss it openly. One astronaut had told his relatives that he was never coming back home again!
The launch did take place on November 2002, and to spectators on the ground and to the astronauts aboard Columbia the launch was routine and successful. But cameras aboard Columbia transmitted a different image to Mission Control. A piece was dislodged during the launch and hit critical heat shields located underside the shuttle. After reviewing the tape hundreds of times, Mission Control concluded that the piece must have bounced off the underside of the shuttle causing no damage.
On February 1, 2003, only seven of the ten astronauts were heading back to Earth aboard Columbia after bidding farewell to the three astronauts they left behind in the International Space Station. Sadly, they never made it back home. On re-entry, as witnessed by millions of spectators worldwide, Columbia exploded, killing all seven astronauts onboard. Contrary to what Mission Control thought at first, the heat shields were damaged during the launch. The three astronauts left behind in the International Space Station -- Donald Petit, Kenneth Bowersox, and Russian flight engineer Nikolai Budarin -- found themselves too far from home, stranded on the International Space Station!
Mission Controls in Houston and Moscow worked around the clock to bring back the astronauts safely. Launching another Space Shuttle was not an option, since further NASA space shuttle launches were suspended for months, perhaps years. There was also the problem of how to provide the stranded astronauts with enough supplies while they remained in space. Ultimately, they had to settle to a plan that, according to the author, was risky to say the least. Latched to the side of the space station was a Russian-built Soyuz TMA-1 capsule with outdated technology and, according to the Americans, a questionable safety record. In 1971 a malfunction in the Soyuz 11 capsule left three Russian cosmonauts dead (However, as one reviewer on amazon.com pointed out, all Soyuz crews since that mission have worn full pressure suits during launch and entry as a safeguard against that failure happening again). Furthermore, the Soyuz TMA-1 capsule hadn't been flight tested before (there was never a need to use it)! However, as far as the Russians were concerned, the Soyuz was safe and the only way to bring the astronauts back home.
Despite the inherent danger, the Soyuz became the only hope to return Bowersox, Budarin, and Petit home. Interestingly, though, the three astronauts had such a great time aboard the International Space Station that none of them wanted to return home when they were relieved. Aboard the Soyuz, the three astronauts eventually took "an accelerated, lung-crushing dive" back to earth. Their account aboard the Soyuz is remarkable, and will leave you gasping for air!
The author goes back to the history of the space race with Russia; with the first Russian in space; to animals sent in rockets to space; Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon; the Russian space station; and finally to the International Space Station. You will learn a lot of things about life in space that you probably did not know about, assuming you have not read such material before like me. For example, many early astronauts aboard space stations felt lonely and depressed and longed for home. All the earlier astronauts retired from NASA soon after their return from space! Two astronauts actually went on strike for a whole day while on a space station, and refused to continue their mission. They too retired from NASA on their return. However, the Russian cosmonauts fared much better. They adapted well to the loneliness and confines of space, unlike their American counterparts. According to the author, this is due to the simple life of the Russians as compared to the luxurious and comfortable life Americans lead and are used to.
You will learn a lot about the amazing beauty of a space walk, and how astronauts are so mesmerized by the beauty that they forget themselves, floating as in a trance towards Earth. One astronaut almost was lost in this way if it wasn't for another astronaut pulling him back! I actually went to my video store and bought an Imax DVD of a spacewalk! On the funny side, you'll learn how astronauts "take a crap" in zero gravity, and some quite embarrassing situations!
Here's some negative criticism from other reviewers on amazon.com:
"This author skips around with what in the movie business would be called flashbacks; a few of these are fine but I think this author over used them."
"Felt like there was a little too much effort put into making this into a Manly Tale. Everything seems a little too exaggerated -- the spicy language, the icy fear, the burning decisions. Maybe this style would have held up without question in a magazine, but at the novel's length, I kept wondering, "How do you know?" The little details started to feel like some of them were imagined or embellished; the writing was popping me out of being lost in the scene."
Overall, I highly recommend this book if you have never read non-fiction books on space before.
Too far from home: A story of Life and Death in Space.......2007-07-05
Arived quickly in time for a flight to Atlanta and back, was able to get entirely through it during both flights, However I generly like a lininar book, this author skips around with what in the movie business would be called flashbacks, a few of these are fine but I think this author over used them.
This is as good as it gets............2007-06-27
Ordinarily I wouldn't read a book on space travel because it's not something I've ever had an interest in. I picked the book up for my husband. I'm certainly glad I opened it myself. I read one of the comments where the person thought that Chris Jones should stick to what he knows, sports. I think it's obvious that Chris IS sticking to what he knows, the heart and soul that fills a person up and pushes them to go for the impossible. He understands the human spirit and writes about it beautifully. Space travel is a huge, poetic, heroic, incredible achievement that somehow I viewed with a blase' attitude -- Ho-hum, man in space.... What was I thinking! Thanks to Chris I will now always view it with a lump in my throat and gratitude to the remarkable men and women who make it happen.
Average customer rating:
- Wonderful Workbook
- "Psychology in a Nutshell" An excellent resource.
- Nice Idea, VERY Poor Execution (w/ Catholic bias)
- Good for novice
- Awesome
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I Never Knew I Had A Choice: Explorations in Personal Growth (with InfoTrac®)
Gerald Corey , and
Marianne Schneider Corey
Manufacturer: Wadsworth Publishing
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Book Description
Thousands of readers have used this honest and inspiring book to focus on their personal growth and effect personal change. Through their warm--yet thoroughly research-based--discussion of significant dimensions of life, the Coreys help students expand their awareness of the choices available to them. As students work through the text's self-inventories, exercises, and activities and read the first-person accounts of the choices real people have made in response to challenging life events, they will gain insight into their lives, beliefs, and attitudes in a personally empowering way.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful Workbook.......2007-09-01
This was a textbook assigned for an online psychology course. This was one of the best "self-help" books I have ever read. This book is easy to read, plus each chapter has a section for activities pertaining to the topics covered. I learned a lot about myself from this book. I recommend doing the activities and answering the questions from each chapter to get the most out of this book. Authors make this a very interesting and uncomplicated read.
"Psychology in a Nutshell" An excellent resource. .......2007-04-13
This book in its 7th edition is well written and easy to understand. "I Never Knew I Had a Choice" is yet another fine work by the educational psychology team of Gerald and Marianne Schneider Corey and one that you do not have be a psychologist to appreciate. It is written so that anyone who is on a quest to search their inner-self can benefit from it.
What I like most about this book is its structure. Prior to the beginning of each chapter is a self-inventory questioner that opens up the mind of the reader by planting seeds of thought to germinate and encourages reflection on the upcoming pages. The questions are designed to boost the reader's perception and digestion of the the material.
I feel that if there was one psychology book any person could pick up and learn how to help themselves this book would be it. It is well rounded and well written. It is the kind of text that if one wanted to know what the basic tenets of psychology are all about in a nutshell, this is the book I would recommend.
It appropriately begins with an invitation to personal growth and transitions the reader to review and to reflect; first on their childhood and then adolescence setting up an internal foundation for which the reader can build upon on before going into adulthood studies and other theoretical constructs.
Chapter 4 covers the all-important theme of maintaining sound health practices and is a miniature lesson in health psychology. In the following chapters, the Coreys deal with the subject of stress and how best to manage it. They also cover the topics of love, sexuality, and relationships in the ensuing chapters.
In addition, the Corey's addresses the all-important subjects such as our search for meaning and purpose, the foundation of meaning, and the importance of embracing diversity. They illustrate well our values in action and challenge us to self assess with a discrimination index to see where our real values lie with concern to an area that is vital to human growth and evolution.
The book in the seventh edition, not too sure of the others, is dedicated to a student of the Corey's named Jim Morelock who died at the tender age of 25 years making their chapter on death and loss even more meaningful to the reader. If you are a searcher, you will love this most excellent and basic book on psychology.
Nice Idea, VERY Poor Execution (w/ Catholic bias).......2006-06-20
This book attempts to cover most if not all the major areas of life in which we must make choices about who we are as individuals, what direction we wish to go. The title of the book suggests that the book's design is to enlighten the reader about the nature of such choices.
Unfortunately, in the my eyes and those of the other introspective members of a class just finished that required this book, the book is a failure in that it attempts to cover so very much material, is insufficiently edited, and generally fails to focus attention on the key life choices suggested by the book's title. Instead, we found the book a rather empty promise of good things to come.
Chapter one begins with some good insight into various ways we learn or relate to the world that may differ from others. That's useful information. Chapter two deals with the major issues children must deal with to mature (at least in western cultures). Chapter two is the highpoint of the book, and its rapidly downhill from there thru another 400pgs and 12 chapters.
A typical chapter will open with 2-4 pages of well conceived, well written text outlining in general terms a life issue such as sexuality or aging. But then the authors will drone on in needless and counter-productive detail without every reaching a point or conclusion, and often going into tantential personal examples that add little -- both clear signs of an absentee editor.
The chapter on sexuality has no -- repeat, no -- mention of birth control, abortion or masturbation, suggesting a Catholic bias to their approach. Does that make sense to you if this is a book about choice?
In fact, my central complaint about this book is that the title could have been a great focal point for the authors. Instead, it seems to have been a marketing afterthought and has little to do with the authors' book.
Our class of 13 had a hand in selecting this book at the beginning of our spring term. While the choice was unanimous, we were equally unanimous in our great disappointment with the book when it was all over.
Good for novice.......2003-07-31
The last Corey book which I have read is Theory and Practice of Conseling and Psychology. I was very impressed by it.
I find that this book is quite different from Theory and Practice of Conseling and Psychology. In simple terms, this book is not very technical, and is very shallow in many respect. Definitely not a book which I would recommend if you are interested in studying Counseling and Psychology, in which case I would recommend you to purchase Theory and Practice of Conseling and Psychology instead.
However if you are a teenager and would like to know more about yourslef, this book may not be a bad choice.
Awesome.......2001-11-07
This is a great book for someone trying to "find" themselves. It helps you reach inside of yourself to find the answers for questions that you have, but you don't want to ask anyone else because you're embarassed. It'll be a great book to read after five years and see how you have changed and grown. I'd suggest keeping a notebook to record your responses to the questions asked in the book and compare the answers after re-reading it a couple years later.
Amazon.com
Presence can be read as a both a guide and a challenge to leaders in business, education, and government to transform their institutions into powerful agents of change in a world increasingly out of balance. Since business is the most powerful institution in the world today, the authors argue, it must play a key role in solving global societal problems. Yet so many institutions seem to run people rather than the other way around. In this illuminating book, the authors seek to understand why people don't change systems and institutions even when they pose a threat to society, and examine why institutional change is so difficult to attain.
The authors view large institutions such as global corporations as a new species that are affecting nearly all other life forms on the planet. Rather than look at these systems as merely the extension of a few hyper-powerful individuals, they see them as a dynamic organisms with the potential to learn, grow, and evolve--but only if people exert control over them and actively eliminate their destructive aspects. "But until that potential is activated," they write, "industrial age institutions will continue to expand blindly, unaware of their part in a larger whole or of the consequences of their growth." For global institutions to be recreated in positive ways, there must be individual and collective levels of awareness, followed by direct action. Raising this awareness is what Presence seeks to achieve. Drawing on the insights gleaned from interviews with over 150 leading scientists, social leaders, and entrepreneurs, the authors emphasize what they call the "courage to see freshly"--the ability to view familiar problems from a new perspective in order to better understand how parts and wholes are interrelated.
This is not a typical business book. Mainly theoretical, it does not offer specific tips that organizational managers or directors can apply immediately; rather, it offers powerful tools and ideas for changing the mindset of leaders and unlocking the latent potential to "develop awareness commensurate with our impact, wisdom in balance with our power." --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
Presence is an intimate look at the development of a new theory about change and learning. In wide-ranging conversations held over a year and a half, organizational learning pioneers Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski, and Betty Sue Flowers explored the nature of transformational change—how it arises, and the fresh possibilities it offers a world dangerously out of balance. The book introduces the idea of “presence”—a concept borrowed from the natural world that the whole is entirely present in any of its parts—to the worlds of business, education, government, and leadership. Too often, the authors found, we remain stuck in old patterns of seeing and acting. By encouraging deeper levels of learning, we create an awareness of the larger whole, leading to actions that can help to shape its evolution and our future.
Drawing on the wisdom and experience of 150 scientists, social leaders, and entrepreneurs, including Brian Arthur, Rupert Sheldrake, Buckminster Fuller, Lao Tzu, and Carl Jung, Presence is both revolutionary in its exploration and hopeful in its message. This astonishing and completely original work goes on to define the capabilities that underlie our ability to see, sense, and realize new possibilities—in ourselves, in our institutions and organizations, and in society itself.
Customer Reviews:
Best Book on this topic.......2007-09-09
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It combines important, visionary concepts with clear illustrations and stories for a general readership. The authors present a hopeful way for humans to deal with the challenges of our time.
An important book, perhaps a couple of decades ahead of its time........2007-07-31
This outstanding book has been published in several editions under the same title. It is about how to pursue group endeavors capable of changing organizations, communities and the world for the better. To that end, Senge et al explain the details of the path to be taken which they named as "The U Process". I would say that Presence's concepts pushes the envelop in organizational learning, visionary leadership and strategic thinking. I personally see the "U Process" as a set of guidelines for a "Hero's Journey" to be followed collectively by a group. Most fascinating and enlightening.
From conversations with my colleagues, this "U Process" appears to them as being so novel that it is perhaps way ahead of our times. Yet I would suggest that its far reaching implications are practical, useful and important. In my work in facilitating epic spirit workshops and strategic thinking, this "U Process" helps people get in sync with their overall environment. Furthermore, the U Process allows them to become more conscius of being a part of that same environment thus leading into a higher plateau for individual, organizational and collective learning. It is worthwhile to note that going through a Presencing experience at a personal level might be a prerequisite to fully grasp its power for organizational and or collective learning.
Just as is often the case for many new approaches, Presencing experiences will contribute to enlighten disbelievers. For those of us that are putting this book's concepts to work, the adventure has already started to bring rewards.
Brilliant.......2007-07-01
A new way of thinking and talking about change ... and I hope it will learn us a new "doing" of change ;-) I'm convinced !
Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society.......2007-05-12
I did not find this to be a very useful book for my MBA studies.
A very important book written by people that care deeply about the direction of our future, and a work in progress however..........2007-01-19
I'm not sure that the presentation given in this specific book is for everyone... and this maybe the source of the polarization of views on Amazon
The best piece of advice I could give would be first go to Otto's website (and some of the other associated websites although probably not SOL) and go through the resources there (and there's an extensive list of resources). It will provide a much better overview than I can give you here. From there you can see the model, gain some context on its origin and application. Then decide if you want to read this book, given what I discuss below.
The book is taken from transcripts of conversations the authors had in the first part of this decade. It includes personal conversations, reflections and commentary on the extensive interviews with scientists, leaders (including many spiritual leaders) and entrepreneurs they did which underpin the philosophical basis of the model they've created. It does provide a good context for the model, it's just that it's quite a long book and sometimes reading it is a little frustrating, especially if you're somewhat versed in the areas they talk about. I struggled getting through the last half for this reason. I have no doubt the other reviewer here was frustrated as well. That said, with the internet, availability of books and democratisation of information these days it can be hard going for authors as often their readers have different and sometimes more extensive experience in the field and other perspectives they've not considered. While their model is uniquely their creation, the concepts and ideas and some of the methods (eg. shamanic journey) are not. For people not well versed in these areas then I'm sure they'd pick up a few valuable new perspectives, insights and ideas they could use in their business (although that isn't the intention of this book and I would suggest that's what frustrated other reviewers who were looking in it for a source of ideas and tools).
In the book you'll find lots of references to dialogue, open space type ideas, systems theory and perspectives, natural systems and the new sciences, spirituality, shamanism, personal transformation and the importance of inner work, prototyping, suspending assumptions, storytelling, synchronicity, seeing from the whole and so on. You'll find that many of the ideas discussed have been written about in their prior individual work. Included are many examples of companies and people that illustrate these philosophies and some extracts of conversations with people like Dee Hock.
What's the difference between editions? From their website:
'The differences between the books are minor. The Doubleday/SoL edition has been revised to be slightly shorter (289 pages vs. 304), but the substance of the book is essentially the same. Changes to the jacket design and the subtitle were made by Doubleday to appeal to a wider audience.
The original SoL edition was conceived as a short-run limited edition book. It was intended for distribution only through SoL's website, and through Amazon. The goal was to get the book directly into the hands of people who were already engaged in deep learning work, and our marketing efforts were focused on that group. SoL decided to have Doubleday publish the book with a SoL imprint in order to respond to a need for wider distribution through more traditional channels.'
There's no doubting though the sincerity of the authors, their care for the planet, and their work and their genuine desire to make a difference with what they do. That can be seen through the establishment of the Global Leadership Initiative and is also deeply reflected in the conversations they've had which are included in this book. (From memory they only go up to around year 2002, so I would imagine things have evolved since then).
This is an important book, one written by people who deeply care about the direction the planet is heading in and have made a very good effort to develop a new tool for use in business and leadership. While some people will see this in a cynical way as being just another theory or another tool for the authors to line their pockets, I don't think this is the case. I love how as part of the course Otto teaches, the notes are actually available free on the internet in the MIT Open Courseware initiative whose aim is to make widely available the content of the university's courses. (Unfortunately though I don't that's going to apply to their teaching of this model!) I know others that do this as well where they generously periodically make publicly available their tools and methods, forcing themselves to constantly innovate and evolve their approach and making a contribution to the public good rather than the common separative method of labeling ideas and models (often that are well known in the public domain anyway) as private intellectual property which is then jealously protected.
For most people reading this review though I'd say looking at Otto's website should suffice to give you all the context you need about the model and then reading his new book Theory U - Leading from the Future as it Emerges due out in 2007.
Book Description
The Happiest Man in the World buoyantly describes seventy-four-year-old David Pearlman, a restless and migratory soul, a mariner, a musician, a member of the Explorers Club and a friend of the San Francisco Beats, a former preacher and sign painter, a polymath, a pauper, and a football strategist for the Red Mesa Redskins of the Navajo Nation. When Pearlman was fifty, he was bitten on the hand by a dog in Mexico and for two years got so sick that he thought he would die. When he recovered, he felt so different that he decided he needed a new name. He began calling himself Poppa Neutrino, after the itinerant particle that is so small it can hardly be detected. To Neutrino, the particle represents the elements of the hidden life that assert themselves discreetly.
Inspired by Thor Heyerdahl and Kon-Tiki, Neutrino is the only man ever to build a raft from garbage he found on the streets of New York and sail it across the North Atlantic.
The New York Daily News described the accomplishment as “the sail of the century.” National Geographic broadcast an account of the trip as part of its series on extreme adventures. And now he is on a quest to cross the Pacific on a raft. If he makes it, he plans to continue around the world. No one has ever sailed around the world on a raft. Meanwhile, he has invented the Neutrino Clock Offense, an unstoppable football play, which a former coach of the New York Jets describes as being as innovative as the forward pass.
The philosophical underpinnings of Neutrino’s existence are what he calls Triads, a concept worked out after years of reading and reflection. He believes that each person, to be truly happy, must define his or her three deepest desires and pursue them remorselessly. Freedom, Joy, and Art are Neutrino’s three.
The Happiest Man in the World is a lavish, exotic, funny, and deeply serious book about a man who has led a life of profound engagement and ceaseless adventure.
Customer Reviews:
A Portrait of a Hero and Nut.......2007-07-17
Alec Wilkinson has written for _The New Yorker_ for years, and has ideas about who makes a good subject for his prose. "I do not believe that someone is a proper subject, or a laudable figure, only if he has made a lot of money or been a politician, an actor, a freakish public figure, or a criminal," he writes in _The Happiest Man in the World: An Account of the Life of Poppa Neutrino_ (Random House). Indeed, Poppa Neutrino is none of these. He is a rafter, a football strategist, a street musician, and most of all an independent being who in his seventy-odd years has relentlessly done things his own way. This makes him a real hero, but it also makes him a nut; there is no reason the two cannot be conjoined, but his way of living his life is not one readers can expect to be completely comfortable with. "I wouldn't suggest that anyone regard Neutrino as a model," Wilkinson confesses. "It wouldn't be sensible. I don't even myself regard him entirely as one." Model or not, Neutrino is unique, and he is happy, and if you jettison materialistic standards (as Neutrino surely has) he is a success, and Wilkinson's delightful, amused, and affectionate portrait lets us in on the life of an eccentric who is as worth knowing in his way as any tycoon or president.
Neutrino's mother was an incorrigible gambler, and his father was a sailor who wasn't around. He flunked school and was thrown out of the Army because he enlisted at fifteen. He attended seminary and was thrown out, and then headed a group called the Salvation Navy, which traveled on waterways and made money by painting signs. He formed a ragtag musical group and got some money by it, but money wasn't important, just getting by was: "His poverty had exposed him again and again to the harshest torments, and yet he behaved as if no one could be as fortunate as he was to wake up with the whole day long to invent." He invented a football tactic by which a quarterback can send signals to a receiver after a play is underway, and part of the book is devoted to Neutrino's traveling to different schools to interest them in his revolutionary tactic, which seems to work but is just too different for the teams to incorporate (so far). The main arena for his invention, however, is that of rafting. "Neutrino was not the first man to build a raft and sail it across the Atlantic," writes Wilkinson. "He was the first to cross the Atlantic on a raft built from garbage." Neutrino may have spent his life as a drifter, but he did so literally, and made an adventure and an art form of it.
He also made it a spiritual quest. He created the Church of the Seven Levels, which incorporates his metaphysics based on triads. "There's only one thing in my soul," Neutrino says. "It's attack. Whether it's musical, spiritual, emotional, it's a multileveled attack. If you don't attack, you're just receiving all the blows of life." And yet paradoxically, he is on a non-offensive and introspective quest: "I am always asking myself, How can I become more involved, more passionate, and less vulnerable?" If Neutrino had taken his philosophy and energy and expended it in business, he would have been a millionaire many times over, but then he would just be one of millions of millionaires, and he would not have been the fascinating character profiled here. At the end of the book, Neutrino, elderly but hanging on after heart attacks, is still making rafts, perhaps one to go across the Pacific. Few who read this intimate and absorbing book will want to imitate his particular style of life, but there is much to admire about Neutrino's eccentricity. "I'm going out of this life as what I have worked and striven my whole life to be, a free man - free of possessions, free of greed, free of worry and strife. Free of anything superfluous."
The Happiest Man in the World: An Account of the Life of Poppa Neutrino.......2007-07-17
I question the title. There are certainly happier people than Poppa Neutrino. However, Poppa Neutrino is an interesing character for a well written book. After reading the latest books on major polical figures, it is a pleasure to read a book about someone who "marches to his own drummer" and is not at least concerned with his image. I don't think many people will like this man, but it is inspiring to read about someone who is truly an individual in the age of conformity.
That being said, by the end of the book, I find myself disappointed. I ended the book feeling sad for Poppa Neutrino, although, the author clearly admires him. I found myself feeling that Neutrino wasted much of his opportunites to leave the world a better place.
Great Book.......2007-05-12
Great reading, seemed to remind me of On The Road. Highly recommended.
The Freedom of Movement.......2007-04-05
Alec Wilkinson's book has one big thing going for it: Poppa Neutrino, aka David Pearlman. Even a hack writer couldn't ruin this story.
Wilkinson begins with a 3-pronged hook - (1) Neutrino has just created a football play that will revolutionize the game; (2) he is planning to build a raft from scraps and sail across the Pacific; and (3) he's so eccentric that he changed his name after a dog bite in Mexico.
The first part of the book, in my opinion, is the best. It's a history Poppa Neutrino from birth to age 70. Peppered throughout are his philosophical musings. We learn of his childhood in San Francisco as the son of a Gambling mother, memories of falling asleep under card tables and living on the road, joining the army at 15, fights, love affairs; other highlights include Neutrino and others starting a religion, creating a band, sailing across the Atlantic in a raft. At first, I thought I was reading the greatest put-on ever written; the book seemed to be pretending to be non-fiction, and yet had to be totally, outrageously, fabricated. There are many elements of tall-tale here, and since Neutrino is the one retelling his story, one has to believe he is stretching the truth a little. Getting his teeth punched out, and then sticking them back in his gums backwards, where they remained for 30 years, is one example. Nevertheless, fact or fiction, the history of this itinerant man, his adventures, his outlook on life, are golden. Wilkinson sticks well to the meat of the narrative; but at times he treats major events too brusquely. Some of Neutrino's adventures need more space - they are that compelling. I think an extra 100 pages to the man's history would have benefited the book.
The last 2 sections of the book settle into the present, with Neutrino a 70 year-old man recovered from several heart attacks, trying to pursue 2 more ideas/adventures. The football play ends up being merely an interesting idea, although not so revolutionary - but reading how Neutrino follows his ideas through to the end, and his time on an Indian reservation in NM with a high school team is compelling. The final 1/3 of the book is the weakest, I feel, as we spend far too many pages with Neutrino as he prepares to sail a raft across the pacific. For a book that has such punch, such an engaging pace, much of this section feels redundant and at times page-filler. The interesting parts are the adventures, not the mundane details of a man procrastinating.
Neutrino's rafts are unbelievable looking - I suggest going online to see them - as there are no pictures in the book, and they defy description.
Overall, I can't help but regaling my friends and neighbors with the details of this man's life. On another level, one has to feel that Wilkinson's book could have been at least 1/3 better. I await the documentary - Random Lunacy: Videos from the World Less Traveled.
Book Description
On March 8, 1421, the largest fleet the world had ever seen set sail from China. Its mission was "to proceed all the way to the ends of the earth to collect tribute from the barbarians beyond the seas" and unite the whole world in Confucian harmony.
When it returned in October 1423, the emperor had fallen, leaving China in political and economic chaos. The great ships were left to rot at their moorings and the records of their journeys were destroyed. Lost in China's long, self-imposed isolation that followed was the knowledge that Chinese ships had reached America seventy years before Columbus and had circumnavigated the globe a century before Magellan. Also concealed was how the Chinese colonized America before the Europeans and transplanted in America and other countries the principal economic crops that have fed and clothed the world.
Unveiling incontrovertible evidence of these astonishing voyages, 1421 rewrites our understanding of history. Our knowledge of world exploration as it has been commonly accepted for centuries must now be reconceived due to this landmark work of historical investigation.
Customer Reviews:
1421 .......2007-09-29
1421 is a book that should be required reading from high school to the board room.
Interesting, hard to put down, true?.......2007-09-23
I found the book fascinating and easy to read. While the claims made by the author are stunning, he presents a plausible case for their authenticity. If true, the thesis of 1421 turns history upside down. If even partly true, the book sheds light on a part of history often ignored by American schools, 15th century China. I personally find it hard to digest all the claims made by Menzies, however, some of the evidence is tremendously compelling. As a history teacher I will be reading other articles and books related to this topic to gain a more comprehensive view from all sides of the issue.
Little research, lots of conjecture.......2007-09-20
This is a terrible book that is supposed to be based on credible research but which is mainly filled with guessing and conjecture. The book revolves around a map that could describe, with proper stretching, changing of markings and such, the New World, reminding me of the "science" that is the translation of Nostradamus' prophecies. Menzies links any unexplained artifacts around the world that may date to the early 1400s to this particular expedition, and repeatedly discounts without argument other logical explanations that would likely have created these artifacts.
The likelihood of this story being true is further degraded by fact that the Chinese, a civilization known for keeping detailed records of its history, have never, before or after the publication of this book, attempted to claim any role in the discovery of the Americas.
Placed in the fiction section I would give it two stars. Promoted as a serious piece of research and historical fact, it deserves zero.
1421.......2007-09-15
Absolutely fascinating read. Winds, current, stars, latitude, longitude, ship design, historical maps all play a part in the supposition that the Chinese were the first to discover the western hemisphere and to have had the most efficient trading empire in their own hemisphere years before the Italian, Portuguese, Spaish and English captains made their historic voyages. The author makes a believable statement that the Chinese got to the western hemisphere first. His suppositions and conclusions come after careful and complicated studies which at times cause the reader to take a jump of faith. Now looking at Latin American pottery, Inuit faces, etc., you see Chinese eyes, art designs and wonder. And the crossing of fruits, vegetables, trees, flowers, horses, etc. between east and west is amazing and convincing. The book highly recommended.
lost history.......2007-09-06
Gavin has spent years chaseing leads that suggest america was populated by chinese peoples.With Mertz and Vinning as backup not to mention Hendon Harris Gaven has pin pointed the physical landmarks through his journeys.As a best seller it is a long and fast read.
Amazon.com
Some stories are so enthralling they deserve to be retold generation after generation. The wreck in 1815 of the Connecticut merchant ship, Commerce, and the subsequent ordeal of its crew in the Sahara Desert, is one such story. With Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival, Dean King refreshes the popular nineteenth-century narrative once read and admired by Henry David Thoreau, James Fenimore Cooper, and Abraham Lincoln. King's version, which actually draws from two separate first person accounts of the Commerce's crew, offers a page-turning blend of science, history, and classic adventure. The book begins with a seeming false start: tracing the lives of two merchants from North Africa, Seid and Sidi Hamet, who lose their fortunes—and almost their lives—when their massive camel caravan arrives at a desiccated oasis. King then jumps to the voyage of the Commerce under Captain Riley and his 11-man crew. After stops in New Orleans and Gibraltar, the ship falls off course en route to the Canary Islands and ultimately wrecks at the infamous Cape Bojador. After the men survive the first predations of the nomads on the shore, they meander along the coast looking for a way inland as their supplies dwindle. They subsist for days by drinking their own urine. Eventually, to their horror, they discover that they have come aground on the edge of the Sahara Desert. They submit themselves, with hopes of getting food and water, as slaves to the Oulad Bou Sbaa. After days of abuse, they are bought by Hamet, who, after his own experiences with his failed caravan (described at the novels opening), sympathizes with the plight of the crew. Together, they set off on a hellish journey across the desert to collect a bounty for Hamet in Swearah. King embellishes this compelling narrative throughout with scientific and historical material explaining the origins of the camel, the market for English and American slaves, and the stages of dehydration. He also humanizes the Sahrawi with background on the tribes and on the lives of Hamet and Seid. This material, doled out in sufficient amounts to enrich the story without derailing it makes Skeletons on the Zahara a perfectly entertaining bit of history that feels like a guilty pleasure. --Patrick O'Kelley
Book Description
Some stories are so enthralling they deserve to be retold generation after generation. The wreck in 1815 of the Connecticut merchant ship, Commerce, and the subsequent ordeal of its crew in the Sahara Desert, is one such story. With Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival, Dean King refreshes the popular nineteenth-century narrative once read and admired by Henry David Thoreau, James Fenimore Cooper, and Abraham Lincoln. King's version, which actually draws from two separate first person accounts of the Commerce's crew, offers a page-turning blend of science, history, and classic adventure. The book begins with a seeming false start: tracing the lives of two merchants from North Africa, Seid and Sidi Hamet, who lose their fortunes#151;and almost their lives#151;when their massive camel caravan arrives at a desiccated oasis. King then jumps to the voyage of the Commerce under Captain Riley and his 11-man crew. After stops in New Orleans and Gibraltar, the ship falls off course en route to the Canary Islands and ultimately wrecks at the infamous Cape Bojador. After the men survive the first predations of the nomads on the shore, they meander along the coast looking for a way inland as their supplies dwindle. They subsist for days by drinking their own urine. Eventually, to their horror, they discover that they have come aground on the edge of the Sahara Desert. They submit themselves, with hopes of getting food and water, as slaves to the Oulad Bou Sbaa. After days of abuse, they are bought by Hamet, who, after his own experiences with his failed caravan (described at the novels opening), sympathizes with the plight of the crew. Together, they set off on a hellish journey across the desert to collect a bounty for Hamet in Swearah.King embellishes this compelling narrative throughout with scientific and historical material explaining the origins of the camel, the market for English and American slaves, and the stages of dehydration. He also humanizes the Sahrawi with background on the tribes and on the lives of Hamet and Seid. This material, doled out in sufficient amounts to enrich the story without derailing it makes Skeletons on the Zahara a perfectly entertaining bit of history that feels like a guilty pleasure.--Patrick O'Kelley
Download Description
An incredible story of shipwrecked American sailors sold into slavery in North Africa and dragged through the hellish interior of the Sahara.
Customer Reviews:
A modern retelling of one of the most influential books in U.S. history.......2007-10-09
We read this book for our book club and had the honor of discussing it with the author, Dean King. As someone without any sort of nautical background, I was a bit worried as I started reading that the book was going to be too technical for me, but I quickly got to the point where I didn't want to put it down. The story, which is true and yet reads like a novel, had a certain "Apollo 13" feel to it...it is hard to fathom that so much could go wrong and yet be overcome. Dean King really did his research and was able to verify seemingly unverifiable elements of the story through his own trek on camel - and in some cases on foot - through the Sahara (such as the branding treatment used for illness and the belief that one cannot be hurt if fallen from a camel).
The original manuscript of Captain Riley's has been documented as being one of a handful of books that was influential to Abraham Lincoln. After his own stint as a slave, Riley - a white man - was able to give voice to the inhumanity of slavery here in the U.S. in a way that, at that time, no black man or woman could. Captain Riley's experiences and the telling of his story certainly had an impact on the consciousness of the American people and its leaders. This book brings history alive in a truly thrilling way. I highly recommend reading the footnotes for each chapter and the extra features (like an excerpted interview with the author) included in the paperback version of this book.
Too Much Camel Urine.......2007-09-20
Skeletons of the Zahara certainly has moments of high drama, and the fact that the story is (mostly) true, adds to the sense of adventure and disbelief. And the poor sailors stranded on the Western Shore of Africa could not have been treated much worse than they were. But for me, the retelling of this story suffered from the same monotony as the sailors themselves must have felt. There are lengthy passages of their travels through the desert that are too similar to other lengthy passages of their travels through the desert. This was interspersed occasionally with the graphic depiction of the devouring of an entire camel. I don't really have a weak stomach, but the numerous references to the green goo inside the camel stomach which became the main entree on the menu was a little too much even for me. Then there was the camel urine, which one and all slurped down like a nice chardonnay. Maybe I need to spend more time with the Touareg to get a better feel for things.
One Heck of a Ride.......2007-07-23
This book rips your throat out and stuffs it up your nose!!!!!!!!!
If you think you are tough.....or if you waste your time watching the goofy fake Survival Reality TV shows.......then you need to cleanse your brain with this book......It will show you what a wimp you really are...I do not know anyone who could take for 24 hours what these human beings endured for the extraordinary amount of time they were subject to these conditions from hell......... Dean King did his homework ...from the library to the turf...He actually ventured into this region and DID SOME REAL HOMEWORK
It'll take your breath away.......2007-06-25
Americans shipwrecked in 1815 and held captive by Muslim slavers in the Sahara.
I was considering ordering Sufferings in Africa by James Riley and Robbins' journal: by Archibald Robbins, the two books King based his book on, but after reading this I didn't think I could stomach anymore of their suffering.
The cruelty and ignorance of the arabs/islamist/muslims is stunning. How could and why would anyone be so cruel? If you don't take care of your servants how are they going to be able to continue to serve you?. These arabs were either too dumb to logic that out or just inherently vicious.
Devoured by the Desert.......2007-05-13
This incredible tale captures the true recollections of survivors of shipwreck and enslavement by nomadic Arabs in the western Sahara in 1815. It's a time when the US is striving to assert itself on the world stage. American men seeking to provide for their families willingly take great risk and leave their homeland and find themselves in the Islamic world, stranded and forced to pay a high price to escape. Survival in this world requires enduring constant threat to life and limb. While some of the Arabs are worthy of respect and admirable in their bravery, even the best examples have a moral code that is hard to reconcile with Western values. Equally true is how Islamic values mirror some of the best and worst of Western values (slavery, cruelty for economic profit, strong familial bonds, communal coherance in a time of threat, and dissonance in a time of abundance). While the story of Captain Riley and his fellow American sailors may stand as one of the world's great survival tales, it is enriched by moral themes relevant to today's world experience.
Book Description
Beautiful, intricate, flowing, mysterious, iconic—cable knit sweaters are all that and more. They are classic, stylish wardrobe staples. For many of us, cables are the main reason we were compelled to learn to knit in the first place. But it’s necessary to be an ultra-advanced knitter to even think about knitting cables, right?
Not really. In Cables Untangled, widely published author, knitwear designer, and teacher Melissa Leapman demystifies this perennially popular technique, guiding the reader through the process step by step. Even if you’ve mastered just a few basic knitting techniques, you can turn out beautiful cables too!
A comprehensive resource book for knitters of all levels, Cables Untangled features over twenty cabled projects, from simple household items to clothing, fashion accessories, and gifts for virtually everyone on your list. Every project is beautifully photographed and includes useful detail shots of every piece of cabled fabric.
In addition to the projects, Cables Untangled includes an invaluable Cable Stitch Dictionary, giving you the tools to be a skilled and creative cable-knitter. Extra resources include:
• A guide to using knitting charts and understanding their symbols
• A comprehensive stitch library of both traditional and unusual rib, panel, and allover cable stitches, all clearly photographed and accompanied by easy-to-use charts
• Tips for designing your own projects
Throughout the book, Leapman relies on the techniques she has developed teaching her popular workshops—making the process easy and fun for anyone.
Here’s the book that will bring your knitting to a whole new level, help you impress family and friends with your beautiful creations, and open up a new world of creative opportunities. Without a doubt, Cables Untangled is an indispensable resource in helping you conquer—and enjoy!—cables. It’s the ultimate guide for beginners and seasoned knitters alike.
Cable knitting at its best : over 20 designs and more than 100 cable stitches
Widely published author, designer, and teacher Melissa Leapman includes over twenty beautiful sweater and accessory designs—plus more than 100 cable-stitch patterns—in the definitive cable resource book for beginners and experts alike.
With Cables Untangled, even beginning knitters can learn to cable like pros, and those who already consider themselves seasoned cablers will find new avenues for their creativity and skill as they expand their repertoire and learn to design their own cabled creations.
Customer Reviews:
A definite must!.......2007-10-16
I've been looking at this book for ages and when I finally got the chance to meet the author in person and have her sign a copy I couldn't resist any longer. Ms. Leapmen makes the whole cable process easy, from chart reading to making the garment. As for those disappointed with not having reversible cables or a cardigan, stop and think about the fact that this book is rather large does contain tons of information. You can only put so much in at one time. Thanks Ms. Leapemn for a wonderful addition to my library!
Fun, beautiful projects, Beautiful book!.......2007-09-26
I love this book. I didn't purchase it on Amazon, however, I plan on purchasing more Melissa Leapman book immediately! I made the pink scarf/hat set as my first project, continued with the easy cable sweater. I also made the afghan with squares (still working on it, I made squares in between projects), the Harvest Tweed Afghan, and the multi-colored pillow. Everything has turned out beautifully. However, one complaint - unless I am reading something wrong, the reversible cable scarf pattern is incorrect. I figured it out and mine looks exactly like the book, but just a warning!
I love this book!!!
lovely projects, a bit simple.......2007-06-28
This is a book that I'd seen and wanted, but as usual hated paying full price for. When it went on sale on here, I snapped it up. The pictures are pretty, the projects are a bit simple for my tastes but I've already made a full size sweater coat that was the most intricate cabled picture I've seen yet. This is great for beginners or more advanced knitters that just want to relax a bit and still have a nice finished project.
Beautifully done - great resource.......2007-06-18
Lovely book. Well presented collection of the variety of cable patterns and techniques with good explanations. A little piece on the history of Aran knitting and perhaps on the supposed meaning of some of the cables might have added to the charm of the book. But for a terrific history and explanation of the technique see Starmore's classic work 'Aran Knitting".
The patterns in the book are refreshingly contemporary without being boring or just too funky. There is a timeless style to the patterns unlike many of the knitting books out today whose patterns will be outmoded in no time at all. The explanations and charts are clear and easy to follow.
Definately an Knitting Library Essential!.......2007-04-30
I'm still a relatively new knitter, but I've been eyeing this book for months. I finally received it as a gift and I could not be more thrilled. It is a pattern book and a stitch dictionary all in one!! I think any knitter who enjoys cables should own this book.
The only dissappointment was there was not a pattern for a cardigan. Small price to pay for such a great book though.
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