Ontological Engineering: with examples from the areas of Knowledge Management, e-Commerce and the Semantic Web. First Edition (Advanced Information and Knowledge Processing)

Book Description

Ontologies provide a common vocabulary of an area and define - with different levels of formality - the meaning of the terms and the relationships between them. Ontologies may be reused and shared across applications and groups Concepts in the ontology are usually organized in taxonomies and relations between concepts, properties of concepts, and axioms are typically used for representing the knowledge contained in ontologies. With the growth of information available, e.g. on the WWW, they are popularly applied in knowledge management, semantic web, natural language generation, enterprise modelling, knowledge-based systems, ontology-based brokers, e-commerce platforms and interoperability between systems. This book looks at questions such as: * What is an ontology? * What are the uses of ontologies? * What types of ontologies exist? What are the most well-known ones? * How do I select the best ontology for my application? * What are the principles for building an ontology? * What methodologies should I use to build my own ontology? Which techniques are appropriate for each step? * How do software tools support the process of building and using ontologies? * What language can I use to implement ontologies? * How can I integrate ontologies in a given language? The book presents the theoretical foundations of ontological engineering and covers the practical aspects of selecting and applying methodologies, tools and languages for building ontologies. The applications of ontologies are also illustrated with case studies taken from the areas of knowledge management, e-commerce and the semantic web.

Customer Reviews:

how to automatically extract an ontology?.......2006-10-09

The book shows progress in how ontologies are defined from various data sets. The subject is a natural field of artificial intelligence, in attempting to automated this filling of an ontology. Various example ontologies are presented, along with the markup languages like RDF and OWL in which these are expressed. The progress is visible, inasmuch as just a few years ago, these languages were devised. Now we see non-trivial ontology constructions using them. Good.

A large portion of the book describes the acute problem of somehow extracting meaning in a programmatic manner from data. Because the manual making of an ontology simply does not seem to scale, given the realities of gigabyte databases. We see that there is a natural decomposition of the problem into a linguistic step and a conceptual step. The former is tied to a particular human language. The latter is the nut of the problem. Current methods look promising, but are certainly not the last word.

Excellent survey book on Ontology.......2006-03-09

The book is well organized in introducing the subject in a coherent manner and weaving in all important criteria of ontology together. I especially like to read the comparison of different languagees in light of knowlege represenation and knowlege reasoing. The book is great in terms of getting a broad view (survey) and is also great as a reference. In many pages, there is so much information packed in each sentences. Great book.

A good literature review of current developments.......2005-12-15

The word `ontology' is usually associated with philosophical speculation on the reality of things, and if one checks the literature on philosophy one will find a diverse number of opinions on this reality. Engineers and scientists typically view philosophical musings on any topic as being impractical, and indulging oneself in these musings will cause one to lose sight of the topic or problem at hand. Rather than simplify the problem and make it understandable, philosophy tends in most cases to complicate it by endless debate on definitions and the use of sophisticated rhetoric that seems to have no bearing on the problem at hand. The conceptual spaces generated by these debates can become gigantic and therefore unwieldy, thus making the problem appear more complex than it actually is.

In the information age however, ontology has become a word that has taken on enormous practical significance. Business and scientific research are both areas that have increasingly relied on information technology not only to organize information but also to analyze data and make accurate predictions. In addition, financial constraints have forced many businesses to automate most of their internal processes, and this automation has brought about its own unique challenges. This push to automation usually involves being able to differentiate one thing from another, or one collection of data from another, or one concept from another. Thus one needs to think about questions of ontology, and this (very practical) need has brought about the rise of the field of `ontological engineering', which is the topic of this book.

The authors have given a good general overview of the different approaches to the creation of ontologies. There are many of them, some of which seem "natural", while others seem more esoteric. The reader though will obtain an objective discussion of the ontologies that the authors chose to include in the book. Discussions of the ones that are not included can readily be found on the Internet.

Given the plethora of ontologies that have been invented, it would be of interest to the ontological engineer to find common ground between them. The re-use of a particular ontology may be stymied by the different ontological commitments it is adhering to or it's actual content. In order to use it, it must therefore be "re-engineered". The authors discuss this prospect in the book, and define `ontological re-engineering' as the process where a conceptual model of an implemented ontology is transformed into one that is more suitable. The code in which the ontology is written is first reverse engineered, and then the conceptual model is reorganized into the new one. The new conceptual model is then implemented.

Also discussed in the book, and of enormous practical interest, is the automation of the ontology building process. Called `ontology learning' by the authors, they discuss a few of the ways in which this could take place. One of these methods concerns ontology learning using a `corpus of texts', and involves being able to distinguish between the `linguistic' and `conceptual' levels. Knowledge at the linguistic level is described in linguistic terms, while at the conceptual level in terms of concepts and the relations between them. Ontology learning is thus dependent on how the linguistic structures are exemplified in the conceptual level. Relations at the conceptual level for example could be extracted from sequences of words in the text that conform to a certain pattern. Another method comes from data mining and involves the use of association rules to find relations between concepts. The authors discuss two well-known methods for ontology learning from texts. Both of these methods are interesting in that they can apparently learn in contexts or environments that are not domain-specific. Being able to learn over different domains is very important from the standpoint of the artificial intelligence community and these methods are a step in that direction. The processes of `alignment', `merging', and `cooperative construction' of ontologies that are discussed in the book are also of great interest in artificial intelligence, since they too will be of assistance in the attempt to design a machine that can reason over multiple domains.

The ontologies that are actually built are of course not unique. This results in a kind of semantic or cognitive relativism between the environments that might be built on different ontologies, even in the same domain. Merging and alignment both address this relativism, along with other techniques that are discussed in the book. The selection of the actual language that is used to create an ontology is also somewhat arbitrary. The authors devote a fair amount of space in the book to the different languages that have been used to build ontologies. Through an elementary example, they discuss eleven different languages, namely KIF, Ontolingua, LOOM, OCML, Flogic, SHOE, XOL, RDF(S), OIL, DAML+OIL, and OWL. The choice of a language is dictated by what one is seeking in terms of `expressiveness' and what kind of reasoning patterns are to be deployed when using the ontology. The authors point to a tradeoff between the expressive power of the language and the reasoning patterns that are attached to the language. The expressiveness of a language is directly proportional to the complexity of the reasoning patterns that are used.

Ontological engineering as it presently exists is still carried out by a human engineer. To create an ontology every time from scratch would be tedious, and so it is no surprise that tools were invented to make ontology creation more straightforward. Some of these tools are discussed in the book, such as KAON, OilEd, Ontolingua, OntoSaurus, Protege-2000, WebODE, and WebOnto, along with assessments as to their utility. The discussion is helpful for newcomers to ontological engineering who need guidance as to what direction to take. The automation of ontology building would of course be a major advance. To accomplish this however would require that the machine be able to simultaneously and recursively construct the knowledge base and reason over it effectively. This is a formidable challenge indeed.

Good overview for beginners.......2005-04-12

The subject of this book is incredibly relevant to today's world of information management. The chapters are presented in a logical and informative way, though some of the book only skims the surface or barely touches on significant developments, tools, and problems. Overall, I found the text too theoretical, with insufficient ties to messy real-world issues.

Very good.......2005-02-18

There are several chapters that I liked and found very useful. The first chapter on theoretical foundations has been well written. Parsing through the various definitions of Ontology has been an educating experience. The other chapters, especially the ones describing the methodologies and languages are very informative. It may not be exhaustive but for a beginner, these chapters give a good overview.

I was disappointed only when I learnt that the book will not cover Ontology learning tools. The author argues for limiting the scope of the book. I feel the book would have been more valuable had it contained at least an overview of the learning tools!

Average customer rating:

Mariano Fortuny, His Life and Work
Guillermo De Osma
Manufacturer: Rizzoli
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0847803279

Average customer rating:

Buena perspectiva de la Revolución Mexicana
THE personalized novel of the Mexican Revolution
review of Los de Abajo
I do not agree with Vince
My two cents

Los de abajo
Mariano Azuela
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140266216

Book Description

PUBLISHED IN SPANISH. A classic of modern Hispanic literature! In this deeply moving picture of the turmoil of the first great revolution of the twentieth century--the Mexican Revolution of 1910--Azuela depicts the anarchy and the idealism, the base human passions and the valor and nobility of the simple folk, and, most striking of all, the fascination of revolt--that peculiar love of revolution for revolution's sake that has characterized most of the social upheavals of the twentieth century. Los de Abajo is considered "the only novel of the Revolution" and, since the spring of 1925, has been published in several languages and more than twenty-seven editions. Azuela's writing is sometimes racy and virile, sometimes poetic and subdued, but always in perfect accord with the mood and character of the story. A substantial literary introduction offers a great deal of relevant background information.

Customer Reviews:

Buena perspectiva de la Revolución Mexicana.......2007-01-10

Me gustó mucho este libro. Soy estudiante estadosunidense y lo leí para entender mejor la Revolución del punto de vista del pueblo mexicano. No solamente muestra la vida diaria de los revolucionarios, sino también se escribe con imágenes bonitas y intensas. El único problema que tuve yo fue las palabras del dialecto de los campesinos.

THE personalized novel of the Mexican Revolution.......2006-03-08

Just as Los Cipreses Creen en Dios personalizes the Spanish Civil War by presenting it through the daily life of the Alvear family of Gerona, Spain, Los de Abajo intensely captures the feeling of the Mexican Revolution by letting us live it through the experiences of Demetrio Macías and his family. I have lived in Mexico, was raised in New Mexico, am very fluent in Spanish, and am part Cherokee. This helps me evaluate the degree to which Azuela grasps the sentiments of the characters he portrays. In my opinion, he does a masterful job on all levels. Even the relative simplicity with which he describes historical and social factors communicates authenticity, in that intelligent but uneducated peasants such as Demetrio did not comprehend the sociological complexity that underlay the Revolution.

This is a novel that so deeply moved me that I still recall its last sentence even though I last saw it twenty years ago: "Y Demetrio Macías, sus ojos fijos para siempre, sigue apuntando por el cañon de su fusil." This, in sum, is a very memorable novel.

review of Los de Abajo.......2005-10-02

This story about the Mexican Revolution is written in a very creative Spanish style. The theme is centered around the fights of the Revolutionaries as they travel throughout Mexico. It is very bloody, grusome, and brutal, but apparentaly very true to history in that sense. It is medium to advanced Spanish level reading but a very good piece of literature.

I do not agree with Vince.......2002-12-19

I do not agree with you teh review given by Vince Cabrera. First of all, although the Laberynth of Solitude is indeed a great book. I consider that Octavio Paz enhanced Los de Abajo. Tell me if I am wrong, but many folkloric characteristics of mexicans are brightly depicted in Los de Abajo. For instance, you may see that macho man behavior in every protagonist of the story; the fact that for many people the mexican revolution was a disoriented fight, and even the bad words that are used...
I think this is a very good book. However, I do not recommend it to everyone because understanding it, fully, requires a little bit of mexican cultural immersion to know more deeply what they are talking about. Oh yeah, and interest fact is that one of the protagonist of the story has a MANY similarities compared to Mariano Azuela, many people that this book was something lik eis autobiography. (although he does not explicitely says so)

My two cents.......2002-06-12

More than a review this is a comment to those who wrote reviews before me.
First of all, this is NOT a history book. If you're interested in learning about the Mexican Revolution pick up a history book.
Second of all, you didn't get the point. It's not about the life of rural Mexico, or how people lived, or how they lost their ideals. It's about joining "la bola" the mass of people fighting for no particular reason. The "campesinos" didn't really join the fight because they believed they were getting land and freedom, they joined because they believed in their leaders, joining the fight for the love of their "jefe" or simply to join "la bola".
I'm sure many of you will disagree with me, and I'm sure there were exceptions to what I'm saying, but I'm only commenting on what Mariano Azuela was trying to get across; don't forget, Azuela fought in the war.

Average customer rating:

Scenes from a revolution
Revolutionaries or Bandits
good book
Need to give it a chance...
Devastating and Meaningless

The Underdogs
Mariano Azuela
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0451526252

Book Description

The news spread like lightning. Villa--the magic word! The Great Man, the salient profile, the unconquerable warrior who, even at a distance, exerts the fascination of a reptile, a boa constrictor.

Download Description

The news spread like lightning. Villa--the magic word! The Great Man, the salient profile, the unconquerable warrior who, even at a distance, exerts the fascination of a reptile, a boa constrictor.

Customer Reviews:

Scenes from a revolution.......2007-05-20

This novel, although mostly a series of vignettes with only the slightet of plot and character development, never the less delivers a harrowing descripton of the Mexican Revolution.

Revolutionaries or Bandits.......2006-09-24

Mariano Azuela's novel about a group of men fighting in the decade-long Mexican Revolution is a seminal work in Latin American literature. As the concluding essay notes, Azuela's ability to accurately depict all that is most surreal in reality was the starting point for more modern magical realist authors such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This is a stand-out novel written in a sparse, at times dreamlike style.

The Underdogs, or Los de Abajo, reveals Azuela's ambivalence about the Revolutionary movement. While it is clear that the men persecuting the hero, Demetrio Macias, are not the men one wants controlling the state, Azuela also doesn't hesitate to depict the revolutionaries themselves as bandits, stealing from the peasants they are supposed to defend. The conflict over whether the Mexican Revolutionaries were soldiers or bandits is one that may be found in history books. Azuela's semi-autobiographical novel doesn't offer an answer to that question, but it does provide what some of the most famous historical literature does not: a depiction of the hellishness of war. In that alone, it is a good companion reading to any nonfiction accounts of the Revolution.

Frederick Fornoff's translation is mostly well-done, though his decision not to keep in the dialect in which most of the characters speak is, in my opinion, a poor one. There was an enormous cultural divide between the average revolutionary and the Mexicans living in cities or haciendas. I feel that Azuela's original language reflected that divide. However, this edition is still worth buying, because the concluding essay on Azuela's place in Latin American and epic literature is both poignant and revealing. The Underdogs is a grand novel, for both literature and history buffs.

good book.......2006-03-15

book is excellente. I would recommend this acclaimed book for further study anytime. I appreciate the simplicity and outright insight in the time of a heartless revolution. Please pick this book up when you have the time.

matthew ellsworth

Need to give it a chance..........2005-08-09

The translation or something about the way it was written made it a bit confusing at first, but once you "get" the "writing style" of the book, you will be glad you kept reading.

Devastating and Meaningless.......2005-04-08

THE UNDERDOGS may well be about the spirit of the Mexican people, as some other reviews have suggested, but its conclusions are quite different. Don't think this is some inspiring story of the noble masses and their unconquerable spirit!

Azuela was writing in response to previous romantic depictions of the Mexican revolution -- you know, Pancho Villa the poor heroic figure of the countryside. Many had argued -- and still are, as you can see from some of these other reviews -- that the revolution was a turning point and created a new, more modern mexico.

In response, Azuela skewered the revolution. His story has almost no dates or locations -- you won't learn anything about the historical facts, as the encyclopedia would define them, of the revolution from this book. What Azuela does depict are the people and their spirit -- but he does this in shockingly unflattering terms.

Much of the book is a parade of violent scene after violent scene. Houses are ransacked, artwork destroyed, people casually killed, women casually raped. For U.S. audiences today, the book might remind us of the film NATURAL BORN KILLERS in terms of its consistent violence with little morality attached.

Moreover, these are not revolutionaries with much of an idea what they are doing. Yes, they are the underdogs of the title. But the underdogs do not want a better state -- a better nation. They mock Cervantes, the intellectual among them. No, the underdogs want to be top dog -- to exploit just as those they replace.

This devastating message is the one the book leaves us: the revolution meant nothing, achieved nothing, and was nothing but Mexico's underdogs lashing out savagely.

It is an easy and enjoyable read, but it can leave you with a Nietzchean feeling that none of this matters...

-- Julian Darius

Average customer rating:

Good material, but many omissions

Traditional Flamenco Guitar, Vol. 2
Mariano Cordoba
Manufacturer: Mariano Cordoba
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

ASIN: 0966413415

Book Description

Traditional Flamenco Guitar, Vol. 1, Traditional Flamenco Guitar, Vol. 2, and Traditional Flamenco Guitar, Vol. 3 are unique and authentic methods for the Flamenco guitar written in conventional musical notation and in tablature. Each volume is available through Amazon.com. The books contain the principal techniques and selections of the most popular rhythms and compositions of the flamenco art to accompany the dance and guitar solos by the famous maestro, Mariano Cordoba. Each book contains a CD of all the musical arrangements.

Customer Reviews:

Good material, but many omissions.......2007-05-01

The author, although a longtime resident of California, was born in Spain in 1924, and (judging by a very interesting biographical handout that came with the tutor) certainly paid his dues in the grinding poverty of the flamenco world before, during and after the Civil war. His big break came in 1952, when Antonio chose him for the dance company with which he toured the world. He fell in love with Carmen Ruiz, who was dancing with the company, and in '56 they returned to her native San Francisco, where they opened a flamenco nightclub called El Patio Andaluz.

Sr. Córdoba's credentials are thus impeccable, and this tutor is obviously a labour of love. The three hefty volumes are 150-200 pages each, but as the text is presented in both Spanish and English, and the music in both staff notation and tablature (cifra), the content is only half what it might appear to be. Furthermore, 24 pages are repeated at the start of each volume. The author's remarks on the tape are likewise given in both languages.

There is a lot of good material in this tutor, much of it original, and I know people who are successfully teaching out of it; but there are many glaring omissions. There is nothing on holding the guitar, nails, hand position, tuning, golpeadores, or putting strings on properly.

But most alarming of all, *nowhere* is there any explanation of compás or its importance, the most fundamental concept in all of Flamenco. The Fandangos de Huelva commence, incomprehensibly, on beat 10. The Serranas, instead of being written in the usual 3/4 + 6/8, are written (admittedly accurately but still confusingly) in 2/4 + 3/8 + 3/8 + 1/4. The playing on the cassette is no better than adequate. The books are well produced, presented and printed, and spiral-bound to open flat. The English is good.

Because of the omissions cited above, this would not be my first choice for a tutor. It *does* contain a lot of accurate, useful and attractive material (and exercises), and in this sense it can be recommended.

General Vallejo and the Advent of the Americans

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General Vallejo and the Advent of the Americans
Alan Rosenus
Manufacturer: Heyday Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 189077121X

Book Description

General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo was one of California's most distinguished citizens in the mid-nineteenth century. A frontier cosmopolitan and visionary, Vallejo owned vast ranchos in northern California and wielded enormous political power throughout the province. While serving as military governor during Mexican rule, he established an open immigration policy that encouraged and facilitated the American entrada to northern California. Dissatisfied with the remoteness of Mexican sovereignty, Vallejo believed that only the United States and "American Democracy" could unleash California's untapped economic potential.

Book Description

Luego del singular éxito de ventas del "Manual de Visual Basic 6.0", presentamos la nueva versión del más famoso de los lenguajes de programación de Microsoft: Visual Basic .net.

Esta obra recorre todos sus aspectos de manera práctica y a la vez profunda, y abarca todos los temas que serán del interés tanto de quienes ya son programadores y quieren profundizar sus conocimientos, como de aquellos que deseen ingresar en el fascinante mundo de la programación. Comenzando desde un nivel básico, una breve reseña sobre el lenguaje y el primer contacto con Visual Basic .net, el autor va profundizando los temas hasta llegar a conceptos tales como el framework de .net, los Web Services y el trabajo con bases de datos. Sin dudas, entonces, por la cantidad y la calidad de su contenido, se trata de una guía imprescindible.

Customer Reviews:

No esta mal, pero pobre en informacion.......2007-08-12

El libro contiene informacion fundamental sobre Visual Basic pero en cada capitulo solo hace mencion a los temas, la explicacion es muy pobre en cuanto a contenido se refiere. Los ejemplos no son amigables para entender.

Visual Basic .NET Manual del Programador.......2004-02-05

Es muy bueno. Sobre todo para el que inicia en esta nueva
plataforma de Microsoft .Net

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A Great Demonstration of the Power of Economics

The New Economics of Human Behaviour

Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521479495

Book Description

This volume views important social and political issues through the eyes of economists. Pioneered by Gary Becker, this approach asserts that all actions, whether working, playing, dating, or mating, have economic motivations and consequences, and can be analyzed using economic reasoning. Intended as an introduction to the current state of the field, the essays are informal and nontechnical, while still using up-to-date economic reasoning to illuminate such topics as crime, marriage, discrimination, immigration, fads and fashions.

Customer Reviews:

A Great Demonstration of the Power of Economics.......1998-03-06

This tribute to the work of Gary Becker by his students is a great example of how economics can be used to explain areas of social and human behavior outside the traditional purview of substantive economics. I use this book in my introductory political economy class, and although the chapters are sometimes difficult to read, this has become one of my students favorite books.

Spirit of the Shuar: Wisdom from the Last Unconquered People of the Amazon

Average customer rating:

Interesting and knowledgeable.......but?
THE "INSIDER" VIEW OF A REMARKABLE AMAZONIAN TRIBE
Boring
Spirit of the Shuar: An Incredible Read!
Ancient wisdom that can be applied to our lives today

Spirit of the Shuar: Wisdom from the Last Unconquered People of the Amazon
John Perkins , Shakaim Mariano Shakai Ijisam Chumpi , Ehud C. Sperling , and Mariano Shakai Ijisam Chumpi
Manufacturer: Destiny Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0892818654
Release Date: 2001-07-01

Amazon.com

What can we learn from a people who can't read, have no laws to speak of, who make a practice of shrinking the heads of their enemies, and let their children run around naked? In John Perkins's eyes, plenty. The Shuar of the Amazon rainforest have lived in harmony with their surroundings for countless ages. Perkins came into contact with them while on a Peace Corps stint in the 1960s, and has sought to spread their philosophy of simplicity and balance ever since. Spirit of the Shuar intertwines transcribed tape recordings of Shuar voices with Perkins's experiences. Unlike anthropological accounts, such as Philippe Descola's more eloquent but detached Spears of Twilight, Perkins's book is conversational and enthusiastic. He teaches us about a spirituality that arises from a deep connection with nature, one in which shamans use hallucinogens to go on spiritual journeys; the spirits of nature yield hidden knowledge about plants; and dreams can always be fulfilled. --Brian Bruya

Book Description

• Discover the thoughts, history, and customs of the Shuar of the Amazon, as told in their own words.

• Tribe members explain their practices of shapeshifting and headhunting; the interdependence of humans and the environment; the role of ecstatic sex; their belief in war as a path to peace; and their faith in arutam, the life spirit.

The indomitable Shuar of the Amazon--reputed to be the only tribe in the Americas that has never been conquered--have lived as warriors, hunters, cultivators, and healers for generations. Even in today's acquisitive, often wasteful world they defend their rainforests and sustainable ways of life and offer their philosophy of love, joy, and hope.

More than three decades after first befriending members of the Shuar, author and environmentalist John Perkins and his publisher, Ehud Sperling, inspired Shakaim Mariano Chumpi-a young Shuar warrior who has fought in the jungle war between his native Ecuador and Peru-to travel among his people and record their thoughts, history, and customs. The result is Spirit of the Shuar.

Here, in their own words, the Shuar share their practices of shapeshifting, "dreaming the world," and ecstatic sex, including the role older women play in teaching uninitiated men how to please. They explain the interdependence of humans and the environment, their formula for peace and balance, and their faith in arutam, the life-giving spirit of nature that allows each of us to transform ourselves. And they describe how their ancient-and current-practice of shrinking heads fits into their cultural philosophy.

Whether exploring the mystery of shamanic shapeshifting, delving deeper into the powers of healing herbs and psychotropic plants, or finding new ways to live sustainably and sensitively in the face of encroaching development and environmental destruction, the Shuar have emerged as a strong people determined to preserve their identity and beliefs and share their teachings with a world in dire need of their wisdom.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to the Ayumpum Foundation to help the Shuar conserve their forests and spread their message.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting and knowledgeable.......but?.......2007-08-23

I feel I have learned a lot from this book. However the repeated comments that making love more frequently will increase your energy and well being just doesn't seem correct. If frequent love making (sex) was strengthening wouldn't prostitutes be the strongest and happiest of people?

THE "INSIDER" VIEW OF A REMARKABLE AMAZONIAN TRIBE.......2002-03-26

Just finished Spirit of the Shuar--- what a ripping good read! There are lots of books about the Amazon and indigenous peoples from anthropologists and scientists who describe the situation but rarely ( ever?) do you hear the voices themselves. What you get with Spirit of the Shuar is real, unromanticized people ( the Shuar) leading lives challenged by the onslaught of the industrial/technocratic juggernaut telling their story. How are they surviving? What do they believe in? How do they make a difference, especially with wise gringo help? One wise gringo is co-author John Perkins. Read this and the rest of his books. Heed his message.... while we have time!

Bill Pfeiffer

Boring.......2001-12-18

This book purpose is more to entertain than to make some deep impressions. What can I learn from a tribe which kills man when found in bed (jungle) with another woman, shrink heads of their enemies and similar. To me this book is more a commercialization of the Shuars then wisdom shearing. Maybe author is not in power to ask them real questions?
If you want to read a good book on amazon shamans (Shuars and others) and Ayahuasca (vine of the spirits) then rather try 'Cosmic Serpent : DNA and the Origins of Knowledge' by Jeremy Narby.

Spirit of the Shuar: An Incredible Read!.......2001-10-31

Deep within the mountainous rainforest of Ecuador, many days walk from the nearest road, lives a tribe that call themselves Shuar ("the people"). Their homeland is a place of wondrous beauty and yet great danger, where anaconda lurk in the rivers and jaguar prowl at night. Spirit of the Shuar is a book that tells their story, in their own words. After you have read it, you will know why Spirit of the Shuar has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

The Shuar are proud people who are perhaps the only tribe remaining in all of the Americas who have never surrendered to any would-be conquerors. Until recently, the Shuar lived in a shroud of secrecy, fiercely protecting their lands and privacy. Twenty years ago it would have been unimaginable that Shuar warriors, women, elders, and uwishin ("the ones who know") would willingly and openly share their traditions, mysteries, and life stories with outsiders. But these are new and challenging times for the Shuar. They are struggling to retain their traditions as well as their right to survive in the face of the insatiable hunger of oil companies and lumber conglomerates for their lands. And missionaries who seek to save their souls and rescue them from ways deemed uncivilized. Too many outsiders have in recent years come to them with the intent to teach and reform, but not to learn. And, as you will learn from reading Spirit of the Shuar, the Shuar have much wisdom to convey.

In this spirit Mariano Chumpi, a Shuar warrior and co-author of Spirit of the Shuar, agreed to record on cassette tape the stories and wisdom, the feelings and impressions, of his people. The resulting transcripts were put in book form by Mariano's long-time friend, John Perkins. This collaboration resulted in a masterpiece! Spirit of the Shuar combines the colorful spoken language of a peoples reliant upon oral tradition with the skilled written craftsmanship of author John Perkins who first became acquainted with the Shuar as a Peace Corps volunteer over 30 years ago. It is a sensitive and revealing portrayal of the traditions, way of life, and spiritual practices of a people who proudly stand against the pressures of modernism.

The tales contained within Spirit of the Shuar are told in a direct and elegantly simple style. The pages come alive as the reader is given a glimpse into what it might feel like to live among the Shuar. Warriors share their experiences of participating in head-hunting wars. Shamans speak of all-night healing ceremonies during which both the uwishin and his patient typically consume a powerful medicine plant, ayahuasca. Later, the uwishin blows tsentsak, invisible darts, into the heart of his patient to aid him in seeing where the problem originates and how it must be healed. Women discuss how they prepare chicha, a fermented manioc beverage which serves as a primary food for the Shuar, which men are only permitted to touch with their lips. Intimacies about family living, courtship and sexual practices are openly discussed; such details are a natural part of living to the Shuar and there is no hint of embarrassment or withholding. Rosa Shakai, Mariano's mother, even explains how Shuar women "rein in their men" when they cut down too many trees or hunt more than need dictates.

Spirit of the Shuar also contains 12 pages of color photos of the peoples and places you read about. You will see people like Tukupi, the most famous of living Shuar warriors, who as a young man defeated and killed thirty-three enemies - mostly Achuar - in hand-to-hand combat. But now, as an elder, he is regarded as a great healer for Shuar and Achuar alike. You will see the Shuar dressed in their traditional clothes and in their missionary-approved attire. The intimacy of the words and pictures will make you will feel as if you have been invited into a Shuar home to share in a cup of chicha and animated conversation. I found delight as I was permitted a rare glimpse into the thinking and lifestyle of people who continue to live in much the same manner as did their ancestors hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years before. I think you will too.

But Spirit of the Shuar is so much more than a well-told rendition and exposé of a culture and peoples different from our own. It is an appeal by the Shuar for our help...not in monetary terms, but in attitude. These proud, formerly secluded people opened their hearts and lives because it is their belief that when their ways are understood, and their humanity is accepted as equal yet different from our own, that their traditions and right-to-exist unmolested will be acknowledged and supported. For make no mistake about it...the jungles are shrinking and indigenous peoples such as the Shuar are fast disappearing from the face of the planet. If these peoples are to survive, if the very lands upon which they live are to remain pristine and a haven for a multitude of species (many of which are not even yet known to scientists), as a culture we must "change our dream".

Those individuals who contributed their thoughts and intimacies in the Spirit of the Shuar are explicit in their hope that those of us from industrialized nations who participate in the dominion and exploitation of nature and resources will come to replace this value by more earth-friendly dreams. The Shuar - who have never known defeat and who live in harmony with the dangers inherent in jungle life - do not give up, they adapt. Proud warriors who in earlier times would have fought to the death to repel an outsider are now revealing their secrets, willingly and freely. In reading their words you will fall in love with the beauty of the jungle and perhaps come to feel, as I do, that the peoples and the land in which they live hold a beauty that is worthy of our respect and protection.

Ancient wisdom that can be applied to our lives today.......2001-10-26

The "Spirit of the Shuar's" powerful messages are most welcome at a time when we all need to feel a sense of strength, courage, healing, and love. While the book's vivid imagery invites us to experience the lush, tropical splendor of the Amazon Rain Forest, the real value lies in the rich wisdom imparted by the Shuar people.

We are taken on a magic carpet ride through the jungle, across the rivers, and into the heartbeat of Mother Earth, as members of the Shuar community introduce us to their fascinating beliefs, customs, and healing practices.

What is most striking is that we have the ability to apply the wisdom of the Shuar to our lives at a time when we need it most by simply "changing the dream."

Book Description

The newest edition brings the VELAZQUEZ dictionary into the 21st century. For almost 150 years this dictionary has been recognized throughout the world as the preeminent authority in bilingual Spanish/English dictionaries. More than 250,000 self-pronouncing entries make the VELAZQUEZ the most advanced reference book in its field. In addition to its modern scientific, technical, commercial, cultural, and political terms, it will now include new words related to the information and business industries. All entries are revised according to modern American standard usage (for English) and Latin American standard usage (for Spanish). The English-Spanish section will include a simulated pronunciation and also include a simulated international pronunciation. The Spanish-English section will include the Spanish pronunciation as it applied to the English language. All entries will begin with small case lettering and irregular verbs will be included and their tenses will have appropriate entries in the main text of the dictionary.--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent source book.......2007-07-25

Other than not caring for the Castillian pronunciation, this is an excellent source book for my studies! It should help me master my Spanish because of having such a wellspring of words.

Good support website.......2006-07-30

Nowadays I find myself look up words online more often then checking my hardcover dictionary. It is fast and costs me nothing. Buying a dictionary seems less important.

Velazquez Spanish and English Dictionary have a support website called AskVelazquez.com. It is free, and I can ask questions, either for the new words that I can't find in the dictionary or grammar issues when I do the translation. I find this site very useful, and it makes my Velazquez Dictionary even more useful.

Velazquez Spanish and English Dictionary also contain words from not just Spain and Mexico, but usages from Puerto Rico, Peru or Argentina. It is a very complete reference dictionary. I only wish there is an electronic version.

I LOVE this Dictionary!.......2006-06-29

I'd consider it to be the best Spanish/ English dictionary there is. It's the best because it's very comprehensive and has a wealth of knowledge in translating both languages. It has SO MANY words, which is like over 250,000 entries. What I also love about it is that it's been updated for the 21st century and also includes different types of Spanish words from different kinds of Spanish-speaking countries, not just Spain. I think it's perfect for Spanish teachers and for those students who are taking advanced Spanish courses. The color-coded thumb-indexes make it easy to flip through as well.

Velazquez Spanish and English Dictionary.......2006-06-10

I have never found a more comprehensive dictionary in my experience with the English and Spanish Languages. Aside from being very helpful because of its guide to Spanish pronunciation, it includes useful color coded tabs, and even a list of currencies from Spain and Latin America. I would recommend this dictionary to anyone who needs the tools for everyday as well as academic bilingualism. It is a very impressive dictionary and I will never buy another one (unless this one is revised again).

A solid choice for Spanish literature.......2006-03-13

I have been using this dictionary to help with Spanish poetry and literature this semester, and it has been extremely helpful. I have been able to find all but a few words in here. Good multiple definitions provided to cover the various usages of each word; even subtle distinctions noted. Pages clearly marked and easy to use.

My only complaints are: several typographical errors that I have noticed, and does not explicitly indicate el/la or masc/fem for nouns (must determine from example sentences).

This dictionary was originally published in Spain, so all the pronunciation guides are for a generalized Spanish dialact--I wouldn't recommend it for beginning speakers of Latin-American Spanish, as it may be confusing (or simply overwhelming in its sheer size!). For intermediate to advanced speakers on either side of the Atlantic, though, I feel this would be a solid choice.

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