Agile Web Development with Rails, 2nd Edition

Book Description

The definitive, Jolt-award winning guide to learning and using Rails is now in its Second Edition. Rails is a new approach to web-based application development that enables developers to create full-featured, sophisticated web-based applications using less code and less effort. Now programmers can get the job done right and still leave work on time.

NEW IN THE SECOND EDITION: The book has been updated to take advantage of all the new Rails 1.2 features. The sample application uses migrations, Ajax, features a REST interface, and illustrates new Rails features. There are new chapters on migrations, active support, active record, and action controller (including the new resources-based routing). The Web 2.0 and Deployment chapters have been completely rewritten to reflect the latest thinking. Now you can learn which environments are best for your style application, and see how Capistrano makes managing your site simple. All the remaining chapters have been extensively updated. Finally, hundreds of comments from readers of the first edition have been incorporated, making this book simply the best available.

Rails is a full-stack, open source web framework that enables you to create full-featured, sophisticated web-based applications with a twist...you can create a full Rails application using less code than the setup XML you'd need just to configure some other frameworks.

With this book, you'll learn how to use Rails Active Record to connect business objects and database tables. No more painful object-relational mapping. Just create your business objects and let Rails do the rest. You'll learn how to use the Action Pack framework to route incoming requests and render pages using easy-to-write templates and components. See how to exploit the Rails service frameworks to send emails, talk to web services, and interact dynamically with JavaScript applications running in the browser (the "Ajax" architecture).

You'll see how easy it is to deploy Rails. You'll be writing applications that work with your favorite database (MySQL, Oracle, Postgres, and more) in no time at all.

Customer Reviews:

Clear as water.......2007-09-27

This book is a really good inversion if you plan to start you "RoR" experience, the way the book is written is very clear and in a good order, so you can understand better what's going on as you go along.

Great book!

Agile Web Development.......2007-09-27

Great book to start off with. Has a good tutorial on building a shopping cart application. Then one can learn from that to develop a application that is unique for their business.

Beyond great: best book, best reference, best index (and funny).......2007-09-19

I am an oldster (you know, 40+) and have learned many a language. Kernigan and Ritchie wrote their "K & R" C-language book in some written language a little higher level than English. After 40 or 50 reads through, I got it. I read C++ books, SmallTalk, Delphi, Visual Basic, and many Java books, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, Awk, Emacs, REXX (!!), and just about everything O'Reily has ever published.

Now, I come to Ruby, and Ruby on Rails. Thank goodness for this book. What a relief to read a book that is 1) comprehensive, 2) practical, 3) accurate, 4) funny at times, and 5) above all, has a good index! Perhaps programming languages are (finally) getting easier to write about, but Dave Thomas is an outstanding technical writer: he knows his audience and writes for us. Look, I know a million programming languages, but I am not the kind of person who zips through a book and suddenly gets it. Most books are written by people who are experts in the nuances, but have forgotten the many steps that lead up to those nuances.

AWDWR is better. It starts with a non-trivial and complete tutorial -- the first half of the book is an application that manages to hit most of the critical aspects of actually doing the job. It is a reasonably broad application covering many points of real webapps. (I read through thinking, yeah, we managed to deal with that in our Java webapp in a month, and here it is, built in to Rails, and better ... more than once). Maybe it is Rails, which seems to be a significant step in maturity over current generations (my last was WebWork/Struts 2, which seems to be the best you can do with Java these days, but really only one part of the larger problem).

But I have to give great respect to Dave Thomas and the other great writers who all made this second edition book a great, great book. I could follow along when reading, I actually did the whole tutorial and found myself learning almost all the way through typing the examples in by hand (mostly by learning how to debug my typos and understanding how the language and framework responded). Now that we're writing our real software, we still look back at the tutorial to get a clear view of how all the parts fit together.

The second part of the book is a solid documentation of the components and APIs available. It is not complete, but nor should it be -- if you want the API, link to the Rails site API. It does cover the important points, however, and ties them back to the tutorial where appropriate. Various important aspects are covered in enough detail to get the idea across, but not so much as to be just a lexicon.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. If this is your first programming book, it will be a struggle, but less than most, and if you're a professional software engineer with one or two languages under your belt (and reasonable proficiency at the command line), you will find this a great reference for learning, and for doing.

Great new edition of a fine book.......2007-09-06

If you have the first edition of this book, you REALLY need to get this edition, since some of the recommended ways to do things have changed. Even some of the ways to get the first sample applications up and running have changed a bit. To be sure, the changes are for the better. The first edition of this book helped me to get my first Ruby on Rails app up and running and this one makes it easier.

Excellent, Thorough and Easy.......2007-08-23

This book, for me, was fantastic! Real world examples for the win! I am still not finished with this book, only half-way through it but, I have to say I have never been as excited about a book than I am about this one.

The very beginning chapters get a functional website application up and running called Depot (an on line book store) and they do this in such a way that you don't have to know the Ruby language (no, it's not scaffolding). As long as you can understand how gears work and fit together and that one turns clockwise and another turns counter clockwise, I don't think you'll have a problem.

With that being said, without knowing Ruby, you may be able to get by on making your own application from scratch but, it will be very rough. The purpose of this book is to teach you about Rails, not Ruby.

My recommendation is, read this book first, before a Ruby book. That way, seeing the Ruby code will be much easier to take in after you see how it works in Rails and to syntax used. Do NOT skimp on learning Ruby after you read this book! You will be sorry! There are TONS more to learn just by learning the language itself. There is more than one way to skin a cat and by learning the rest of the language, you will be more empowered to figure out problems on your own.

The only problem I had with this book was that, in the middle of chapter 5, it skipped back to chapter 3 and finished out chapter 5, chapter 6 and half of chapter 7 was missing. This is the printer's fault, not Amazon's or Pragmatic Programmer's fault. If you happen to get a messed up book, don't contact Amazon, it takes forever. Instead, I contacted Pragmatic Programmer via email and let them know of the situation and to my surprise, they sent me a brand new book still in plastic, priority mail which took about 2 days to get to me! I was just expecting maybe the missing chapters in PDF format but, this shows a lot of character on the part of the company (Pragmatic Programmers). My email was responded to in less than 45 seconds after I hit the "send" button. I would like to offer much praise to the company for this!

If you are a PHP developer, there is another framework that has been modeled after Ruby on Rails called CakePHP. It is fairly new and under heavy development but, the basic principals are the same. The only reason I am plugging them here is, without having learned this framework, I don't think I would have thought about looking at Ruby on Rails. For a super quick breakdown of how MVC pattern works. Be aware that Ruby on Rails is much easier. I think this is due to the nature of PHP and not the framework itself. The devs try their hardest to make it easy for you.

I guess I don't have anything else to say about this except, if you do buy this book, you will not be disappointed.

Average customer rating:

All Time Classic
Life Lessons
Not Free SF Reader
Great Book
BOOKREADER

Charlotte's Web (Trophy Newbery)
E. B. White
Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0064400557
Release Date: 2004-12-14

Product Description

These are the words in Charlotte's web, high in the barn. Her spiderweb tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, as well as the feelings of a little girl named Fern ... who loves Wilbur, too. Their love has been shared by millions of readers.

Amazon.com

An affectionate, sometimes bashful pig named Wilbur befriends a spider named Charlotte, who lives in the rafters above his pen. A prancing, playful bloke, Wilbur is devastated when he learns of the destiny that befalls all those of porcine persuasion. Determined to save her friend, Charlotte spins a web that reads "Some Pig," convincing the farmer and surrounding community that Wilbur is no ordinary animal and should be saved. In this story of friendship, hardship, and the passing on into time, E.B. White reminds us to open our eyes to the wonder and miracle often found in the simplest of things.

Customer Reviews:

All Time Classic.......2007-10-03

This is a timeless coming of age story and an all time classic good read. Farmgirl Fern saves the pig Wilbur, the runt of the litter. She raises him like one of the family as much as possible. Wilbur is horrified, afraid and lonely when he's sold to Fern's uncle. To help him through this difficult time, Charlotte the spider becomes his friend and undertakes the writing challenges of her life when she spins words into her web to help save Wilbur's life. Meanwhile, Fern is growing up, becoming interested in boys and spending less time with Wilbur. Wilbur is taken to compete at the county fair and Charlotte goes along, even though it's the twilight of her life. She gives her all for Wilbur at the fair and in return, Wilbur saves her egg sac and takes it back to the farm with him upon her death. The next spring the little spiders hatch and begin to leave and Wilbur, who desperately misses Charlotte, believes he's destined to be alone. However, three of Charlotte's offspring decide to stay at the farm with Wilbur, insuring that he will have friends in the future. Wilbur welcomes them to the farm and tells the baby spiders about their mother and her legacy.

Along with the main characters, there's a cast of additional farm animals that help move the story along. It's good read for kids, and I've reread it as an adult. I liked it just as much then as the first time I read it. So will you.

Life Lessons.......2007-10-01

What a great book. One of the themes of this work is the reality of death. The author approaches this topic with the delicacy required for the young audience.

Wilbur is faced with possibility of an early demise because he is the runt of his litter. His wise and caring friend, Charlotte, devises a plan to save his life and though it works, she looses her life in the end.

The book is much more than this theme alone, but it is the most salient and captivating.

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

A very good children's story that use the mechanism of talking insects,
as well as arachnids, of course, to discuss friendship, life, and
death, and the roles of things in the world.

Perhaps a little sentimental, given the amount of pig saving antics that are found within. People have to eat, after all.

Great Book.......2007-05-29

Thanks for the fast delivery and good condition of the book. Perfect satisfaction!!!!!!

BOOKREADER.......2007-05-27

THIS STORY IS A TRUE COLLECTOR. THE ANIMALS IN THE STORY IS THE BEST PART AS THE SPIDER AND OTHERS COME TO LIFE AND HAVE TRUE FEELINGS...............

Average customer rating:

Surpassed my Excpectations
Good and Informative
Great resource
yes...buy the book
The world of blogs for faith communities

The Blogging Church
Brian Bailey , and Terry Storch
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0787984876

Book Description

The Blogging Church offers church leaders a field manual for using the social phenomenon of blogs to connect people and build communities in a whole new way. Inside you will find the why, what, and how of blogging in the local church. Filled with illustrative examples and practical advice, the authors answer key questions learned on the frontlines of ministry: Is blogging a tool or a toy? What problems will blogging solve? How does it benefit ministry? How do I build a great blog? and Who am I blogging for?

The Blogging Church is a handbook that will inspire and equip you to join the conversation.

The book includes contributions from five of the most popular bloggers in the world—Robert Scoble, Dave Winer, Kathy Sierra, Guy Kawasaki, and Merlin Mann, as well as interviews with blogging pastors such as Mark Driscoll, Craig Groeschel, Tony Morgan, Perry Noble, Greg Surratt, Mark Batterson, and many more.

Customer Reviews:

Surpassed my Excpectations.......2007-07-08

I was actually pleasantly surprised with this book. I knew going into this book that I was in for a lot of great information and disciplines in creating and maintaining a blog. I did not expect how creatively it was written. I think we have certain expectations for "how-to" books and this one surpassed my expectations.

If you have started a blog or are just thinking about it, grab this book. There is a lot of focus on churches creating and using blogs, but not to the extent that it leaves the individual out. The writers took time to teach us a little history as well as give us clear detailed info on the how, why and where of the blog world. Chapter 9 & 10 focus on starting a blog and then building a blog well. I love chapter 11 titled "Build A Really Bad Blog". It's kind of the how-to in reverse.

One of the coolest things in the book was hearing from bloggers around the country about their take on blogging and how it has affected their lives or the lives of the businesses/churches they are involved with. I enjoyed hearing the real world ideas.

This book really starts from the beginning by asking 3 questions...
-Is it a tool or a toy?
-What problem are you trying to solve?
-What is the return on ministry?

The writers go on to explain that "Blogs are tools, not toys. Blogs help solve real problems. Blogs deliver a true return on ministry."

I also appreciate the hopeful message from start to finish. As churches and Christ-followers, we have an amazing opportunity to share our story with others. The blog world is open and ready for the taking. This book consistently draws you back to intent. The writers want you to be excited about who God is in your life and they want that to burst out on your blog.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone thinking of or already in the blogging world. It's very easy to read. It is not extremely technical. And when it does get technical, they have done a great job of explaining themselves so no one gets left behind. It has real life stories and history. It is a quick read.

Good and Informative.......2007-06-13

I learned a lot that I didn't know about blogging from this book. It would have saved me a lot of problems if I had had something like this when I started blogging a year ago.

Great resource.......2007-06-08

If you are looking for some help in defining and establishing a blog for yourself or your ministry you will find this book helpful. It gives some great insight in to establishing a good blog for the right reasons.

yes...buy the book.......2007-06-02

This book is awesome. it will make you think about the various was you can reach people. It will make you take a look at yourself and motivate you to reach others in ways you havent thought of before.

The world of blogs for faith communities.......2007-05-03

The blogging church provides a clear vision and specific guidance about how the practice of blogging can have a positive impact in the life of a church. Brian Bailey and Terry Storch provide clear information for a wide range of interested readers - from someone who is curious about what a blog is to someone who is an active blogger and is looking for increased effectiveness.

After addressing the question of "why blog?" Bailey and Storch move to suggestions about how writing a blog could effectively be implemented within a congregation. Suggestions, which are addressed in respective chapters, include to: share news, cast vision, reach out, and connect your staff. In addition to announcements, Bailey and Storch recommend considering the blog as more of an open dialogue - ask and answer questions. Bailey and Storch suggest that reading as well as writing is integral to entering the world of blogs. They provide guidance for a properly balanced approach to reading blogs.

The blogging church is an excellent introduction to the practice of blogging and how it can have an impact in local congregations. I recommend this book to those exploring the possibility of beginning a blog, considering new ways of communication for a local congregation or hoping to improve a current blog.

The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems

Average customer rating:

Good introduction to systems theory and its implications to other spheres
New Ager's View of Life
Excellent book!!!
Great book! Great service!
A wealth of understanding

The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems
Fritjof Capra
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0385476760
Release Date: 1997-09-15

Book Description

The vitality and accessibility of Fritjof Capra's ideas have made him perhaps the most eloquent spokesperson of the latest findings emerging at the frontiers of scientific, social, and philosophical thought. In his international bestsellers The Tao of Physics and The Turning Point, he juxtaposed physics and mysticism to define a new vision of reality. In The Web of Life, Capra takes yet another giant step, setting forth a new scientific language to describe interrelationships and interdependence of psychological, biological, physical, social, and cultural phenomena--the "web of life."

During the past twenty-five years, scientists have challenged conventional views of evolution and the organization of living systems and have developed new theories with revolutionary philosophical and social implications. Fritjof Capra has been at the forefront of this revolution. In The Web of Life, Capra offers a brilliant synthesis of such recent scientific breakthroughs as the theory of complexity, Gaia theory, chaos theory, and other explanations of the properties of organisms, social systems, and ecosystems. Capra's surprising findings stand in stark contrast to accepted paradigms of mechanism and Darwinism and provide an extraordinary new foundation for ecological policies that will allow us to build and sustain communities without diminishing the opportunities for future generations.

Now available in paperback for the first time, The Web of Life is cutting-edge science writing in the tradition of James Gleick's Chaos, Gregory Bateson's Mind and Matter, and Ilya Prigogine's Order Out of Chaos.

Customer Reviews:

Good introduction to systems theory and its implications to other spheres.......2007-03-30

While this book isn't perfect, it is certainly a very nice introduction for the average person to systems theory and its implications to other areas.

I basically agree with some of the criticisms in the spotlight reviews about the flatland or a web of life vs. a heirarchy (or even better holarchy) both in nature and in other spheres of life. For example, in a holarchy is a heirachy of wholes that are part of larger wholes in the way that atoms make up molecules, molecules make up cells, collections of cells make up a tissue, etc. This is concept is underplayed in this book, but it seems to be true inside and outside of nature. Ken Wilber offers a more complete explanation of this concept in A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVERYTHING and many other writings.

I also think it's important to keep in mind that a systems view is an outside look of a collective. Empiricism represents an outside look of some single topic. I think it is also necessary to look at the interiority of both individuals and collectives to get a complete understanding of something as complicated as life, politics, religion, etc. I don't think system theory alone is the magic bullet.

This book is relatively short, easy to follow and provides a nice introduction to systems theories and some other important topics. It has some shortcomings, but it is basically solid although there is a bias toward a "flatland" view of nature and reality. If you supplement reading it with some other material such as the book I mentioned above, it may open up some new horizons for you.

Happy reading... I hope you found my interview helpful. Feel free to leave comments if you wish.

New Ager's View of Life.......2007-02-23

This is a superficial and flawed book. It contains some truths but it usually draws the wrong conclusions from them. "New Agers" may love discussion of such topics as "Ecofeminism" and the book will probably make them feel good but I would not recommend it for anyone else. A person with background in the physical or life sciences could probably separate the wheat from the chaff in the book but such a person may already know most of the material. Others are likely to be misled.

Several earlier reviewers (such as "radtrad", J. Floyd, "doomsdayer520", and others) have made specific criticisms that I find valid, so I do not want to repeat them here. If anything, they have been too kind to the book.

Excellent book!!!.......2007-02-05

I can't attest to the science, so this review is about "The Web of Life" as literature. The Web of Life is a highly articulate and worthy piece of literature. Even at it's most scientific, it reads like the friendly voice of a wise Indian Chief. It begins with a quote inspired by Chief Seattle, and proceeds to frame the cultural context of various theories. The science gives a foundation to a conscientious way for institutions to view the world, which I honestly believe is the only solution to the greed driven decline of values in modern institutions. Conscience in institutions begins with what people believe to be true...and modern culture has some fixed ideas with probably no basis in fact except as dictated by greed. Conscience in institutions is a topic that sprouts in various forms in books related to Systems Thinking, etc.

It takes a highly articulate book to step over the communication "land mines" inherant in old ways of thinking and justifications. Systems Thinking by itself in an institutional setting would have a difficult time bringing about one drop of conscience. "Systems Thinking" will rarely work well in institutions simply because as a language, it is too closely related to the type of "business thinking" that has evolved for years (Old thinking = get as much for as little as possible, grow financially at the expense of everything else, etc.)

And I think the science in The Web of Life is sound. My quantum physisist friend seemed to like it...

I just watched another popular video called "What the Bleep"....about how thoughts effect your reality..which after watching it made me pause to think about how what we're thinking is important...but that's kind of similar to the Web of Life in the sense that it's entertaining AND it's educational and raises some questions about ethical considerations.

Of course, scientists DO sometimes perceive things in overly codified ways....and the average person may not think that conscience and science should be mixed. But the world DOES have issues, and those issues are real...and unfortunately, science has both fixed things AND at times made things worse. So we have pennisiln AND we have atom bombs, both from science. So, religion is important, BUT science...or at least GOOD science is a necessary investment...and this book details a direction for Science that gives a foundation to new ways of seeing matters of genuine concerns for humanity and life on the planet in this crazy era we're living now.

Great book! Great service!.......2006-11-10

No complaints! Everything timely, in good condition and exactly as I expected.

A wealth of understanding.......2006-08-28

having read Capra's book hidden connections I really appreciated going back and reading the web of life (as i should have). the book is an all around treatise of the shift of paradigm in science, examples of how this new scientific understanding is found in every discipline and where does all this take us (or should). anyone with an interest in networks, systems thinking, ecology should at least look briefly through the book.

Food Webs and Container Habitats: The Natural History and Ecology of Phytotelmata

Average customer rating:

Community Ecology

Food Webs and Container Habitats: The Natural History and Ecology of Phytotelmata
R. L. Kitching
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0521773164

Book Description

The animal communities in plant-held water bodies, such as tree holes and pitcher plants, are models for food web studies. In this book, Professor Kitching introduces us to these fascinating miniature worlds and demonstrates how they can be used to tackle some of the major questions in community ecology. Based on his thirty years of research around the world, he presents much previously unpublished information, as well as summarizing over a hundred years of natural history observations made by others. The book covers many aspects of the theory of food web formation and maintenance presented with field-collected information on tree holes, bromeliads, pitcher plants, bamboo containers, and the axils of fleshy plants.

Download Description

The animal communities in plant-held water bodies, such as tree-holes and pitcher plants, have become models for food-web studies. In this book, Professor Kitching introduces us to these fascinating miniature worlds and demonstrates how they can be used to tackle some of the major questions in community ecology. Based on thirty years research in many parts of the world, this work presents much previously unpublished information, in addition to summarising over a hundred years of natural history observations by others. The book covers many aspects of the theory of food-web formation and maintenance presented with field-collected information on tree-holes, bromeliads, pitcher plants, bamboo containers and the axils of fleshy plants. It is a unique introduction to the field naturalist, and a stimulating source treatment for graduate students and professionals working in the fields of tropical and other forest ecology, as well as entomology.

Customer Reviews:

Community Ecology.......2007-08-15

Kitching breaks down community ecology into its components using container habitats to demonstrate the underlying principles. A must for those who seek to understand the complexities of ecosystems and life on earth.

Gifted: 1,000 Gift Ideas for Everyone in Your Life

Average customer rating:

great gift ideas
I never knew he/she needed that!!
Worth buying when out of ideas!
Excellent!
Very useful book

Gifted: 1,000 Gift Ideas for Everyone in Your Life
Sarah Weidman
Manufacturer: Perigee Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0399532994

Book Description

1,000 gift ideas for everyone in your life-no matter what their type!

From a self-proclaimed shopaholic, Gifted identifies more than 20 different personalities-from The Curious Kid and The Sporty Adventurer to The Big Boss, The Quirky Pal, and The Sweet 16-and provides specific and original ideas for each one. The first gift guide to organize gift recipients according to personality type, Gifted:

- Provides essential shopping info, such as where to buy each gift online and how much they cost
- Inspires out-of-the-box thinking when it comes to gift ideas
- Presents unique services, stores, and products
- Introduces new and creative occasions for giftgiving, such as the Nouveau Divorcé, The Mommy-Any-Minute, and the Gay Hooray

Customer Reviews:

great gift ideas.......2007-06-29

This has some great gift ideas for everyone on your list. It lists web addresses, phone numbers and great contacts.

I never knew he/she needed that!!.......2007-03-25

Gifted is a list of "1,000 Gift Ideas for Everyone in Your Life." The book is not a list of ideas or inspiration; rather, it contains specific product descriptions and websites where such items can be purchased. For anyone looking for a "unique" or offbeat gift idea, and directions on how to obtain it, this book is invaluable. Dozens of chapters focus on parents, siblings, children of different ages, gay men, co-workers, professional relationships, religious gifts, gifts for life events, and more.

The book is overly large for the amount of text--with some better formatting and paper, it could have been half the thickness. Since it contains webstore products, there is a risk of items (or entire stores) being discontinued. The information presented herein, in fact, would be better suited to an electronic document with hyperlinks, but I'm not sure I would have paid the cover charge (book price) to get to a list of gift ideas on the web. As it is, this book is a perfect item to check out from the library at the holiday time or when you are in a pinch for good ideas.

Worth buying when out of ideas!.......2007-01-10

I found the book to be generous with ideas for many categories of people. Some were as stated pricey but the ideas were good and if the mind wanders led to other things. I think it will keep for a number of years with updates in the future. I used it for Christmas but will retain and refer to it throughout the year for different occassions. Worth buying.

Excellent!.......2007-01-05

This is a great book full of ideas for gifts. It's also a huge source for where to purchase the items.

Very useful book.......2006-12-11

I live outside the US and am frequently at a loss about what to send friends and relatives in North America as gifts. This really solved the problem for me - I can order a huge variety of gifts over the internet - including many bright ideas I'd never have thought of. Highly recommended.

Average customer rating:

Truly Amazing!
Remarkable.
The Web of Life
A Disorganized Jumble Of Disconnected Thoughts.
It is obne of the best ones

The Web of Life
Fritjof Capra
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385476752
Release Date: 1996-09-01

Book Description

Customer Reviews:

Truly Amazing!.......2007-09-22

Dr. Capra has created here a masterpiece! I have read this book cover-to-cover at least three times and am still absorbing new things with each reading. Taking from fields as varied as physics and biology ( in each of which Dr. Capra holds a Ph.D. ), he has created a pardigm shift in the minds of his readers.

This book is not easy going for those of us schooled in the humanities, but is well worth the cost. I give it my highest recommendation!

Remarkable........2007-06-01

This is a wonderful book. In his recent books Capra has marvelously introduced us to thought, and work, that are generally disparate in the public mind. His narrative, while addressing complex material, is exceedingly easy to read and to grasp. All of us "bring forth" broader personal horizons from engaging his books. Thanks Professor Capra.

In his own book Leon Lederman---who won a Nobel Prize in physics---rebuked Capra for having the temerity to suggest a connection between physics and eastern mysticism-----an amazing arrogance in view of Lederman's book title: "The God Particle". Anyone who has read both authors will recall Lederman's flashing egotism, as against the virtual absence of ego in Capra's writing. Clearly Capra's mind has ventured into realms that Lederman has yet to even imagine.

If you are curious about the nature, mechanisms, and "reach" of life, and about those who endeavor in this search, THE WEB OF LIFE (and THE TAO OF PHYSICS) will fascinate you.

The Web of Life.......2007-01-15

I bought this book for my husband. He loves this book. He has loaned it to several people to read.

A Disorganized Jumble Of Disconnected Thoughts........2003-07-25

Please, please, do yourself a favor and don't buy this book. I was so excited to read it, then after 50 pages, I was so excited to throw it away. I just threw it in the trash.
The book is just a bunch of disconnected thoughts with no organization, no style, no interesting revelations, no coherent,readable paragraphs. The fact that this book's editor let it get published means the editor needs to be replaced. - You want to read a good book you can't put down, read 'Complexity'.

It is obne of the best ones.......1999-07-04

I need to find this book of Capra in spanish. Would you please help me? Thanks,

Web of Life: Weaving the Values That Sustain Us

Average customer rating:

Poetical and Thoughtful
a gem
chaski
SHOULD BE ISSUED AS A HANDBOOK FOR THOSE STARTING A FAMILY
A MUST READ -- HIGHLY MOTIVATING

Web of Life: Weaving the Values That Sustain Us
Richard Louv
Manufacturer: Conari Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1573241407

Customer Reviews:

Poetical and Thoughtful.......2007-09-11

I picked up this copy the same time as I picked up his "Last Child in the Woods" ~~ and I took it along on a camping trip recently. It is a neat little compilation of essays regarding making time for family, having meaningful conversations and keeping friends, keeping the communication channels open with your kids and spouses, brothers/sisters/parents, and other topics.

It is definitely a keeper in any family's library ~~ but if you have read the book, "Last Child in the Woods" ~~ you will find the same themes and same stories touched upon in this book as well. That is why I gave it a four stars because it is tedious reading to read the same thing over and over again. Yes, this book is the original since it was published in 1996 but when you have two books by the same author telling you pretty much the same thing, it makes you wonder if he needs more fresh stories to share or if he is running out of ideas. It'll be interesting to see what his next book will touch upon.

Just because re-reading the same thing is tedious for me, it doesn't have to be for other readers. If you like essays and essays about family, nature, communication and so forth, you will like this little book. It is lyrical and thoughtful. It is inspiring. It will make you look at life a little bit differently and perhaps, instead of having imaginary conversations with your spouse in your head, you will talk to him/her and rediscover the reasons why you fell in love with him/her in the first place. This book is just not about stories, it is about people reconnecting to humanity again in spite of the highly technogical age we live in today. It is about people reconnecting to nature and family and friends ~~ the little things that make our lives go round.

It is definitely a gem of a book.

9-11-07

a gem.......2007-07-25

I read a section from the book each night and feel warmed and inspired by it. Also, more and more I'm coming across this image of a web in life and understanding and appreciating the interconnectedness of things as described in the book.

chaski.......2005-09-19

Richard Louv has a great philosophy toward life. This book illustrates his desire for all of us to include more nature in our existence. The book is a gentle reminder of our wilder selves.

SHOULD BE ISSUED AS A HANDBOOK FOR THOSE STARTING A FAMILY.......2004-11-25

This is a wonderful collection of essays/short stories which drive home the importance of family, family connections and the importance of our past. Each essay is worth mulling over thoughtfully. You will find youself being able to relate to most of the author's words. We need works such as this at a time when so many of our families and communities seem to be bent on distruction, and more importantly, we need to read these works and ponder them. All in all quite thought provoking and quite inspirational. Would recommend this to anyone. Would recommend you purchase it and give it a reread now and then.

A MUST READ -- HIGHLY MOTIVATING.......1999-03-16

"The Web of Life: Weaving the Values that Sustain Us," is an incredibly powerful work connecting the present with the past, eloquently capturing the basic values which bring strength to individuals, families, schools, and communities. Through a story-telling approach which immediately connects author with reader, Richard Louv plants the seeds of possibility in the reader's mind, offering simple and do-able approaches to integrating more of the sustaining values into our busy lives.

I used Louv's book in my thesis on Amish culture, as I immediately found threads of commonality between Louv's observations and my personal experiences among the Old Order Amish. In this work, Louv unknowingly, perhaps, touched upon sustaining human values that transcend culture and generational boundaries. In the Web of Life, Louv emphasizes what we can do individually and collectively to begin creating a world of compassion, sensitivity, fulfillment, and joy.

Book Description

Éstas son las palabras que se encuentran en la telaraña de Carlota, en lo alto del establo. Su telaraña expresa lo que ella siente por un cerdito llamado Wilbur, así como los sentimientos de una niñallamada Fern ... quien también quiere a Wilbur. El amor de ambas ha sido compartido por millones de lectores.

Customer Reviews:

Excelente libro.......2007-03-26

Justo el libro que le quieres leer a tu hija por las noches.

La telarana de Carlota.......2006-05-30

Yo le recomiendo este libro a todos que quieren regresar a su infancia. Yo estoy muy encantada con este libro. La historia de Carlota es mejor. También intentar Los Reinos Y Los Elfos De Las Quimeras.

The Web of Life Imperative: Regenerative Ecopsychology Techniques That Help People Think in Balance With Natural Systems

Average customer rating:

Re-education of Western Perspectives on the human place in Nature
Allowing yourself to Be with Nature
Disappointed.

The Web of Life Imperative: Regenerative Ecopsychology Techniques That Help People Think in Balance With Natural Systems
Michael J. Cohen
Manufacturer: Not Avail
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1412001854

Book Description

A book and course that teaches you the Natural Systems Thinking Process

A nature connected learning tool enables our psyche to genuinely tap the healing powers of nature and regenerate 48 peaceful natural intelligences in our awareness and thinking.

Backyard or backcountry, this practical, multiple-sense, book empowers you to improve your health, relationships and happiness by replacing destructive omissions in how we learn to think with rejuvenated natural sensitivities.

Learn how to reconnect your psyche to its nurturing origins in the restorative vigor, sustainability and peace of nature.

Help yourself and your community benefit from the profound renewal that lies in the magnificence of a beautiful day, the wisdom of an ancient tree and the fortitude of a weed.

Let nature's invincible healing energies help your thinking transform your stress, disorders and harmful bonds into constructive personal, social and environmental rewards.

Grow from hands-on, accredited, Applied Biophilia classes, essays, activities, research, internships, ethics, counseling and healing.

Strengthen your inborn natural genius. Enjoy an Earth-friendly job, career, internship or teaching certification. Take advantage of subsidized, online courses and degree programs.

Customer Reviews:

Re-education of Western Perspectives on the human place in Nature.......2007-03-08

After having involved myself in the reading of this book, perhaps it might seem repetetive in concept and theory. The reading of this book is not where it garners its importance.
The importance of this text lies in its practices of each connecting activity that reweaves the web of nature into the human psyche.
If these practices were woven throughout our Western education system, from prenatal classes to graduate study, our earth would not be in
the crisis it is today and the human populations of earth would not be so entrenched in their suicidal mission
to consume nature so voraciously that there will be nothing left for us and for other beings to thrive upon.
The activities of this book are a reprogramming of the psyche that allows us to come back to our roots as natural beings and parts of this earth, if
delved into deeply and with abandon, each exercise re-educates, re-connects, and re-members us into the natural community of being.
What human progress and Cartesian principles of philosophy have created is a suicide machine in which each human
is a pilot of self destruction, this book re-awakens the desire to live in harmony with all that is. It is my belief
that these concepts should be instituted at the very least into K-12 public education as a way of beginning to turn
the tides of the ravaging of the earth and all of nature to the end of life for us all.

The concepts herein are basic, anyone can do them if they allow themselves to be open to them and to practice
them with authenticity and sincerety. This is not a book for philosophical debate, or intellectual discourse, but one of
experiential learning at the deepest level, that of human origin and development from our most primal roots in nature.
I suggest this book for families concerned with educating each member with an environmental, ecological ethic, respect for
the greater world of natural beings, and for esteem building in a positive and connected way.

Allowing yourself to Be with Nature.......2007-01-25

The wonder of this book is in following the directions in each chapter. Each chapter takes you out into nature to do an activity of getting in touch with nature a little closer each time. This is not something to think lightly of and can be one of the most life changing experiences we can have. It is not a thinking book. It is a doing book. It is a letting nature back into our life book for all who clearly see our tendency to disconnect from nature. So much care and nature intelligence has been taken into account here in this book that I encourage all to partake of it.

Disappointed........2006-08-17

For that kind of money I expected to be taught something. I bought the book because I already agreed with the concepts. I didn't need to be told over and over again the same exact thing page after boring page- all the reasons WHY those concepts should be agreed with. Very little real substance, very little real lessons. Cohen might be great at many different things,but writing is not his strong point. If you have read his website, you've read his book. Don't waste your money.

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