The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (Oprah's Book Club)

Book Description

"I have no wish to play the pontificating fool, pretending that I've suddenly come up with the answers to all life's questions. Quite that contrary, I began this book as an exploration, an exercise in self-questing. In other words, I wanted to find out, as I looked back at a long and complicated life, with many twists and turns, how well I've done at measuring up to the values I myself have set."
âSidney Poitier

In this luminous memoir, a true American icon looks back on his celebrated life and career. His body of work is arguably the most morally significant in cinematic history, and the power and influence of that work are indicative of the character of the man behind the many storied roles. Sidney Poitier here explores these elements of character and personal values to take his own measureâas a man, as a husband and a father, and as an actor.

Poitier credits his parents and his childhood on tiny Cat Island in the Bahamas for equipping him with the unflinching sense of right and wrong and of self-worth that he has never surrendered and that have dramatically shaped his world. "In the kind of place where I grew up," recalls Poitier, "what's coming at you is the sound of the sea and the smell of the wind and momma's voice and the voice of your dad and the craziness of your brothers and sisters...and that's it." Without television, radio, and material distractions to obscure what matters most, he could enjoy the simple things, endure the long commitments, and find true meaning in his life.

Poitier was uncompromising as he pursued a personal and public life that would honor his upbringing and the invaluable legacy of his parents. Just a few years after his introduction to indoor plumbing and the automobile, Poitier broke racial barrier after racial barrier to launch a pioneering acting career. Committed to the notion that what one does for a living articulates to who one is, Poitier played only forceful and affecting characters who said something positive, useful, and lasting about the human condition.

Here is Poitier's own introspective look at what has informed his performances and his life. Poitier explores the nature of sacrifice and commitment, price and humility, rage and forgiveness, and paying the price for artistic integrity. What emerges is a picture of a man in the face of limitsâhis own and the world's. A triumph of the spirit, The Measure of a Man captures the essential Poitier.

Customer Reviews:

Nice man, wandering story..........2007-10-04

I had to force myself to finish this book, simply because I didn't want to waste my money by leaving it when I was tempted to. It was interesting to realize that an actor whose work I had appreciated came from such a spare beginning, but by halfway through the book, the continuous wandering asides and disclaimers of the author so overwhelmed the narrative that I could barely tolerate it. It seems to me that the story could have been told to greater effect with half the words!

****LOVED IT****.......2007-09-24

Kept me interested...I really enjoyed this book...I couldn't put the book down until I finished reading it!!!!

MEASURE OF A MAN does not measure up.......2007-09-21

Wow, a book about Sidney Poitier. An outstanding actor with a book that just does not give him true justice. The reading tends to be dry and lacks substance. His life struggles could have been the story of any man or woman, black or white. The writing and editing are weak in some sections.

You should rent or buy one of Poitier's movies instead. His movie roles show his true skills.

SPIRITUAL "Of, Relating to, Consisting of, or Affecting the Spirit" MERRIAM-WEBSTER.......2007-08-30

I've always been smitten with Poitier's voice--his diction and control on film, the flow of his words as they travel in and around ideas during interviews--so I read THE MEASURE OF A MAN with an ear for his voice. I wondered, Is it translatable to print? It is, but that means allowing Poitier's thoughts to meander until they find their point, and that his thoughts are less formulated (or formal) and more "in his own words," than they might be if they were written by a biographer. (I read just enough "You know?"s "You hear me when I tell you?"s and "You follow?"s to feel like he was talking to me, but not too many to be annoyed.) I read to imagine what it might be like to have a conversation with Poitier. The book reinforced what I already knew--I'd be as intimidated as heck--but it also gave me the courage to think I'd be able to speak my mind.

As an editor, I read Poitier's book because I wanted to know how he defines a "spiritual" autobiography. Is it a I-Was-A-Sinner-But-I-Found-Jesus-And-Now-I'm-Saved chronology? Is it about how Christianity or another faith influenced his life? Neither. Poitier examines the people, events, circumstances, beliefs, and so on, which have related to, consisted of, or affected his "spirit," and, in doing so, he writes about childhood experiences in the Bahamas, his changing perceptions of his parents, how he adapts to living in the United States, his approach to acting and filmmaking, and his attitude toward fatherhood. He also shares a debate a friend and he had about the Basic Truth of Nature, a debate worth every second of reading it takes to get to.

Is THE MEASURE OF A MAN going to satisfy readers interested only in Poitier's film career? No, but I urge them to read it anyway, if for no other reason than to find out how his "spirit" influenced the films he starred in.

Books.......2007-08-21

I purchased this book for my daughter and she loved it!
She is a teacher and plans to teach this story in her English class fall 2007.
A great story with a great moral.

The Measure of Man and Woman: Human Factors in Design

Average customer rating:

not the best reference for interior designers
Awesome reference
Good reference book
Interesting...
HUMAN FACTORS

The Measure of Man and Woman: Human Factors in Design
Alvin R. Tilley , and Henry Dreyfuss Associates
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Reference | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Business Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Home & Garden Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Business & Investing | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Engineering | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Home & Garden | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Business & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Home & Garden | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0471099554

Book Description

Human factors research impacts everything from the height of kitchen counters to the placement of automobile pedals to a book's type size. And in this updated and expanded version of the original landmark work, you'll find the research information necessary to create designs that better accommodate human need. Featuring more than 200 anthropometric drawings, this handbook is filled with all of the essential measurements of the human body and its relationship to the designed environment. You'll also discover guidelines for designing for children and the elderly, for the digital workplace, and for ADA compliance. Measurements are in both English and metric units.

Customer Reviews:

not the best reference for interior designers.......2007-08-17

I found a handful of pages out of this book useful for space planning. Not worth fifty bucks unless you are designing equipment and products.

Awesome reference.......2006-11-05

There's minimal reading in this book, which is nice since it's good for reference. The reading that it does have is very simple with bulleted paragraphs full of information that you can't get from looking at the diagrams.
Great diagrams for industrial design students (I got this for one of my classes), gives you the measurements, reach, sight and motion range, pretty much any numeric info you need to know for the 1 percentile, 99 percentile, and 50 percentile man/woman.
Also has nice chart of child development w/descriptions of what the ave. child can do at each age, as well as diagrams for the elderly (and in wheelchair). This book is essential if you are going for product design or interior design.

Good reference book.......2006-10-31

This was purchased to be a reference book for human sizes and I am very happy with it.

Interesting..........2006-02-13

This book arrived in good condition from the sender and before time. The book inself is very interesting and will serve its purpose.

HUMAN FACTORS.......2005-09-05

I AM A BIG FAN OF THE AUTHOR, AND HAVE USED HIS WORKS IN THE PRACTICE OF MY WORK MANY TIMES, THE BOOK, IS GOOD WITH MANY PRACTICAL EXAMPLES, BUT SADLY DOES NOT SEEM TO TELL ME ANYMORE THAN I ALREADY KNEW. ....I WAS HOPING FOR MORE.

THE BOOKLET NEEDS UPDATING.

SUPERB THOUGH AS A REFERENCE BOOK.

The Measure Of A Man - A Spiritual Autobiography

Average customer rating:

profound
An Insightful Autobiography
A True and Honest Measure of Oneself
A story well told
Insightful into a surprisingly diverse number of areas

The Measure Of A Man - A Spiritual Autobiography
Sidney Poitier
Manufacturer: Harper-san Francisco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Actors & Actresses | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Entertainers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Reference Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0062516078

Amazon.com

Sidney Poitier wrote The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography because he "felt called to write about certain values, such as integrity and commitment, faith and forgiveness, about the virtues of simplicity, about the difference between 'amusing ourselves to death' and finding meaningful pleasures--even joy." Yet Poitier's book does not speak from on high; its tone is conversational and endearingly self-critical. He begins the first chapter by recounting an evening spent channel-surfing and wondering, as most of us do at one time or another, "What am I doing with my time?" The spiritual reflections in The Measure of a Man are nonsectarian; Poitier's faith is clearly influenced by his experience in Christian churches, but he is not, strictly, Christian. Though idiosyncratic, his faith is disciplined and rigorous, informed by leaders as diverse as Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. Poitier's love--for himself, his family, and the world--infuses his recollections of his early life on Cat Island in the Bahamas and his memories of his stage and film career (including his Oscar-winning role in Lilies of the Field). Poitier has been rich and poor; he has been popular and despised; and his extremely varied experiences have made him a wise man, as he demonstrates with statements like this one: "[W]hat we do is stay within the context of what's practical, what's real, what dreams can be fashioned into reality, what values can send us to bed comfortably and make us courageous enough to face our end with character."

Book Description

"I have no wish to play the pontificating fool, pretending that I've suddenly come up with the answers to all life's questions. Quite the contrary, I began this book as an exploration, an exercise in selfquestioning. In other words, I wanted to find out, as I looked back at a long and complicated life, with many twists and turns, how well I've done at measuring up to the values I myself have set."

In this luminous memoir, a true American icon looks back on his celebrated life and career. His body of work is arguably the most morally significant in cinematic history, and the power and influence of that work are indicative of the character of the man behind the many storied roles. Sidney Poitier here explores these elements of character and personal values to take his own measure--as a man, as a husband and father, and as an actor.

Poitier credits his parents and his childhood on tiny Cat Island in the Bahamas for equipping him with the unflinching sense of right and wrong and of selfworth that he has never surrendered and that have dramatically shaped his world. "In the kind of place where I grew up," recalls Poitier, "what's coming at you is the sound of the sea and the smell of the wind and momma's voice and the voice of your dad and the craziness of your brothers and sisters ... and that's it." Without television, radio, and material distractions to obscure what matters most, he could enjoy the simple things, endure the long commitments, and find true meaning in his life.

Poitier was uncompromising as he pursued a personal and public life that would honor his upbringing and the invaluable legacy of his parents just a few years after his introduction to indoor plumbing and the automobile, Poitier broke racial barrier after racial barrier to launch a pioneering acting career. Committed to the notion that what one does for a living articulates who one is, Poitier played only forceful and affecting characters who said something positive, useful, and lasting about the human condition.

Here, finally, is Poitier's own introspective look at what has informed his performances and his life. Poitier explores the nature of sacrifice and commitment, pride and humility, rage and forgiveness, and paying the price for artistic integrity, What emerges is a picture of a man seeking truth, passion, and balance in the face of limits--his own and the world's. A triumph of the spirit, The Measure of a Man captures the essential Poitier.

Customer Reviews:

profound.......2007-08-13

An humbling read in deed...this is a man with a profound sense of self,I'll come back to this book often in the years to come.

An Insightful Autobiography.......2007-05-07

Learn about the man behind the great actor and storyteller who captivates audiences on the big screen.

A True and Honest Measure of Oneself.......2006-03-18

Sidney Poitier has always been one of my favorite actors and he has meant so much to me personally as a lover of the cinema. He is one out of a handful I can say that about. His autobiography is impressive and he is ever so modest about many of his accomplishments.

Sidney Poitier is one of America's greatest screen actors, a multi facetted practitioner of the performing arts and a true humanitarian. Not only did he portray men of humanity with a sense of dignified morality but his own career as a black actor broke racial barriers that ran parallel with the perception and acceptance of blacks in American films.

The beginnings of Sidney Poitier's big break into theatre and films have always seemed sketchy and are slightly different depending on what sources are available. However several events do seem to stand out and these lend credence to Poitier's place as a humanitarian because the poverty, the racial prejudices and the people that helped start his career were never forgotten. Sidney Poitier was understudying Harry Belefonte in the play "Days of our Youth" while working at the American Negro Theater. It does seem likely that he filled in for Belefonte for several performances at which he gained experience and proficiency through Belefonte's assistance. After several more productions and a national tour of "Days of Our Youth" Poitier got his first staring film role two years later in 1950's NO WAY OUT with Richard Widmark and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. This is a role that his good friend Harry Belafonte said put the truth about black people on the screen for millions to see due to Poitier's brilliant performance as a young good natured yet morally strong doctor pitted against bigoted Widmark.

Throughout the fifties, Sidney Poitier made some very important films in the history of cinema and some that were controversial during their time. BLACKBOARD JUNGLE made in 1955 was a realistic look at adolescence contempt for society at an inner city trade school for delinquent boys. Glenn Ford played a new teacher who decides that his only chance of teaching the boys anything is to reach the roughest boy of the bunch played by Sidney Poitier. Poitier gave a brilliant performance as the one youth that new true right from wrong and only used his tough facade to survive in a world of his peers where he would otherwise have been the low man on the rung. 1958's THE DEFIANT ONES directed by the progressive filmmaker Stanley Kramer was an engrossing story of two escaped prisoners, Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis, who must overcome issues of race in their struggle for freedom from police in the deep South. Sidney Poitier was nominated for an Academy Award.

In 1961 Sidney Poitier starred in A RAISIN IN THE SUN from Lorraine Hansberry's play, the first by a black playwright to show on Broadway. It was about a black Chicago family's attempts to make a better life against the many problems they faced both from within and from outside their household. In 1962 Sidney Poitier won the Academy Award for Best Actor for director Ralph Nelson's LILIES OF THE FIELD. Poitier played the handyman stranger who helps build a chapel for German-speaking nuns in the American southwest. Just prior to LILIES OF THE FIELD Poitier made PRESSURE POINT produced by Stanley Kramer. It was an intelligent drama based on a true case, with Poitier playing a prison psychiatrist trying to search out the problems of his deranged Nazi patient played by Bobby Darin. This was one of Poitier's best performances but the film has been long forgotten.

By 1965 Sidney Poitier was truly becoming a mainstream actor and his race seemed to play a minor factor in the characters he was portraying. In 1965 he made THE BEDFORD INCIDENT, THE SLENDER THREAD, A PATCH OF BLUE and appeared in George Stevens' THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD. In 1966 he starred in Ralph Nelson's DUEL AT DIABLO a violent tale about bigotry between whites and Indians out west. However, 1967's GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER directed by Stanley Kramer involved the first interracial kiss in screen history. Some reviewers criticized the film's story of interracial romance, as being unrealistic since Poitier played a black man who had such impeccable credentials race was hardly a factor. Kramer pointed out that that was his point. He wanted to put Poitier and his fiancée on an even playing field where their only differences could only be the color of their skin. Therefore, was there really a difference?

In 1967 Norman Jewison's IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT Poitier plays a black big-city black detective who assists redneck Southern sheriff Rod Steiger solve a murder. This is an excellent film and makes a great social commentary on color, respect and friendship. It also contains an innovative score by Quincy Jones. This film is a modern classic and is still powerful today. In 1967's TO SIR WITH LOVE, written and directed in Britain by James Clavell, Poitier plays a West Indian teacher to a bunch of tough East End teenagers who becomes successful and reaches them by teaching the class about survival in the real world. Poitier was and remains a force to be reckoned with.

Sidney Poitier helped change many persistent racial attitudes that had persisted in this country for centuries by the image he projected on and off the screen and the very life that he has lived. He has opened the doors for countless artists in succeeding generations. He is an actor who stood and still stands for hope, for excellence, and who has given happiness and the will to persevere in questionable times to millions of people around the world.

A story well told.......2006-01-15

Sidney Poitier's autobiography illuminates not only why he is true hollywood royalty, but why he is also to be considered a royal man. There is nothing pompous or egotistical about his journey from the island to Hollywood, but rather it is a very human story told with humility and grace.

Insightful into a surprisingly diverse number of areas.......2005-07-09

Poitier recounts his very humble childhood on Cat Island in the Bahamas. He then tells us stories about coming to the USA, making it into Hollywood, his experience with racism and civil rights, his reflections on life and spirituality, and the making of his movies. The book is a little uneven: I loved his stories about getting started in acting and making his films, while I got impatient with some of his thoughts on the nature of the world. But overall, this memoir is insightful and entertaining.

He provides an engaging narrative of the Civil Rights Movement from the perspective of black artists in show business. He gives a powerful example as he tells the story of refusing a film because it would have betrayed the values that his father taught him, and of how that refusal ultimately led to his Hollywood career taking off. He also entertains with anecdotes about his experiences with Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Harry Belafonte, Carl Sagan, and many others. Shortly after watching his film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, I read the story of how that film got made and enjoyed the insight that story provided.

Along the way, Poitier shares some wonderful insights about life and culture, progress and overconsumption.

If you have any opportunity to listen to this book on tape, I recommend it. Poitier reads the entire book himself, and his voice and intonation would make this worth listening to even if the memoir were less good than it is.

Average customer rating:

Great Buy!
Put this one in your tool box
This is a must reading for every Christian man.
A book all men should read to become a better husband.

The Measure of a Man
Gene A. Getz
Manufacturer: Regal Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0830734953

Book Description

In this revised edition of the best-selling book The Measure of a Man, Gene Getz delivers the newly enhanced message of what it takes to be a man of God. Men will gain encouragement for what they can be in Christ-as fathers, husbands, and mentors to other men. Since 1974, The Measure of a Man has taught hundreds of thousands of men around the world how to live according to God's direction-faithfully, lovingly and spiritually. True masculinity is not measured by a man's strength, but by these 20 biblical guidelines. With life applications and words of inspiration, here is Gene's greatest work-fully rewritten and updated to reach the new generation of modern men.

Customer Reviews:

Great Buy! .......2005-10-22

This is a great book for a great price, and was shipped fairly fast. I would purchase more again... which i probably will have to because i have given out all of my copies!

Put this one in your tool box.......2003-05-09

This Christian classic is essential reading for every man, particularly those who want to become the kind of men God has called them to be. This versatile book is great for individual reading or group study. Men, put this one in your godly man tool box!

This is a must reading for every Christian man........1999-01-24

This book is one of the best books concerning Christian men that I've ever read. It outlines the attributes necessary for us as men required to be all the Lord requires of us. A must reading for all Christian men.

A book all men should read to become a better husband........1998-12-12

This was one of the best books I have read in a long time. It was very refreshing and uplifting. This book will make you a better man if you take to heart the writing in it.

Richter's Scale: Measure of an Earthquake, Measure of a Man

Average customer rating:

A difficult read about a difficult subject
Stirred, not shaken

Richter's Scale: Measure of an Earthquake, Measure of a Man
Susan Elizabeth Hough
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Scientists | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Earthquakes & Volcanoes | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Seismology | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0691128073

Book Description

By developing the scale that bears his name, Charles Richter not only invented the concept of magnitude as a measure of earthquake size, he turned himself into nothing less than a household word. He remains the only seismologist whose name anyone outside of narrow scientific circles would likely recognize. Yet few understand the Richter scale itself, and even fewer have ever understood the man.

Drawing on the wealth of papers Richter left behind, as well as dozens of interviews with his family and colleagues, Susan Hough takes the reader deep into Richter's complex life story, setting it in the context of his family and interpersonal attachments, his academic career, and the history of seismology.

Among his colleagues Richter was known as intensely private, passionately interested in earthquakes, and iconoclastic. He was an avid nudist, seismologists tell each other with a grin; he dabbled in poetry. He was a publicity hound, some suggest, and more famous than he deserved to be. But even his closest associates were unaware that he struggled to reconcile an intense and abiding need for artistic expression with his scientific interests, or that his apparently strained relationship with his wife was more unconventional but also stronger than they knew. Moreover, they never realized that his well-known foibles might even have been the consequence of a profound neurological disorder.

In this biography, Susan Hough artfully interweaves the stories of Richter's life with the history of earthquake exploration and seismology. In doing so, she illuminates the world of earth science for the lay reader, much as Sylvia Nasar brought the world of mathematics alive in A Beautiful Mind.

Customer Reviews:

A difficult read about a difficult subject.......2007-09-06

In "Richter's Scale" seismologist and author Susan Hough presents the first comprehensive biography of Charles Richter, famous for developing the earthquake scale that bears his name. Hough's scholarship is thorough and well-documented, and it seems she has carefully waded through every scrap of paper Richter ever wrote (and he was a compulsive diarist). Richter was a pivotal figure at a pivotal time in the science of seismology, and no historian of 20th century science can afford to ignore this book.

For the general reader, however, "Richter's Scale" may prove tough going. Like Richter himself, the book suffers from a split personality. In part it's a straightforward biography of Richter, and in part a history of the development of major ideas in seismology (at least those that touched on Richter's career). Hough presents extensive evidence to suggest that Richter suffered from some sort of neurological disorder, possibly Asperger's Syndrome (a mild form of autism), and that his interests swung back and forth from science to poetry with manic instensity. If you're primarily interested in the science, be warned that there is an awful lot of poetry in this book!

On the flip side, the book comes up short on some technical background information. Although the book includes numerous photographs, there are no illustrations of seismograms (the squiggles that record earth movements following an earthquake). Chapter nine in particular attempts to describe the importance of the development of a consistent system for measuring earthquakes without maps, seismograms or even data tables. Unless you already have a basic understanding of earthquake science, this chapter might stop you dead in your tracks.

Most of the science in the book is centered around the seismology lab at Cal Tech where Richter spent his entire scientific career. Hough considers at length (although somewhat circumspectly) the jealousy surrounding Richter and his extensive public name recognition. Although Hough provides personal background information about several of Richter's colleagues (particularly Beno Gutenberg), more general descriptions of their scientific contributions could have provided better context. Beno Gutenberg may not be a household name like Charles Richter, but the core-mantle boundary is called the Gutenberg Discontinuity by seismologists. Hugo Benioff is immortalized by Wadati-Benioff Zones, the descending seismic belts that mark subduction zones, and even make their way into freshman textbooks! These guys were hardly obscure.

Books on the history of science that make a great read are either driven by a central idea (Dava Sobel's "Longitude," or David Lindley's "Uncertainty") or by a strong and colorful personality ("Degrees Kelvin", also by David Lindley). In terms of style, Hough has fallen between these two stools. It's as if Richter's intense and divided personality imposed itself on the book.

You won't regret having "Richter's Scale" on your bookshelf, but you may not read the whole thing.

Stirred, not shaken.......2007-03-19

Charles Richter is virtually the only seismologist that most of us have heard of, but almost all of us know the name. What, however, was it he did, exactly? And even if it was important, why should we care about his personal life?

Well, his personal life was strange, so the idly curious might be titillated by it. The first question, though, is more directly relevant: Until somebody devised a method of quantifying earthquakes, there was no way to approach any estimate of danger.

Buildings (including not just houses and schools but bridges, highways, dams and power plants) could have been designed to be earthquake-safe without Richter. But the cost can be high, so it would be wasteful to overbuild where the hazard is slight. Underbuilding can be catastrophic. The Tangshan earthquake, as recent as 1976, may have killed 750,000 people. The Chinese government has suppressed the real cost. The 2004 Sumatran quake, on the other hand, which killed close to 200,000, was not so much a matter of building design as of monitoring and evacuation warnings.

So Richter's Scale is a fundamental tool by which to manage our lives. He announced it in 1935. Amazingly, according to geologist turned biographer Susan Elizabeth Hough, many people think it is a machine, like a butcher's scale. It is not a thing but a concept to organize a database.

It took an unusual sort of mind to work out the scale, one capable of holding vast amounts of (at the time) diffuse data, while also having the insight to pick out the relevant relationships among the facts and the application to grind out the numbers. The last was no easy task before the digital computer.

Hough speculates, at great length, that the kind of mind needed is the sort of oddly-wired mechanism found in persons born with Asperger's syndrome. This is speculative, but Richter left all his personal papers to his alma mater, California Institute of Technology, so a great more about Richter's personal demons is known than for most famous people.

Much of it is in the form of poetry -- real poems, with rhymes, regular meter and punctuation. Hough finds his poems somewhat lacking in artistry. That's a matter of taste. I would rate his poetry above almost any winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in the past generation.

If Richter had Asperger's, and if it helped him to do significant science, it also caused him lifelong misery in his personal relationships. Although he wrote much, what he meant was not transparent. Hough has to make many speculative judgments, which she does with skill. Still, it is kind of creepy to probe that deeply into anybody else's mind -- if that, in fact, is what we're doing.

Hough speculates that Richter wanted it done, otherwise he would not have left such intimate data in a public archive. Along with a collection of science fiction magazines going back to earliest days of "Amazing Stories."

"Richter's Scale" is definitely what we stupidly call an "adult" book, but Richter himself, despite an "adult" lifestyle, was in some ways a Peter Pan of seismology.

Average customer rating:

Small and Handy
To give this as a gift to every young man...
must read
a bit too short
King the Theologian

The Measure of a Man (Facets)
Martin Luther, Jr. King
Manufacturer: Augsburg Fortress Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Ethics & Morality | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

African American | Other Practices | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0800634497

Book Description

Why nonviolence matters

Eloquent and passionate, reasoned and sensitive, this pair of meditations by the revered civil-rights leader contains the theological roots of his political and social philosophy of nonviolent activism.

Customer Reviews:

Small and Handy.......2007-08-08

Small and slim, fits in the back of pants pockets just fine.

About 50-pages, with 10 or so pages in the middle solely having various photographs of King and followers.

I read it in about 15mins, taking my time.

Buy it used for the best deal. Paying full price for something so small that could probably be downloaded off the internet seems a bit much.

It is very thought-provoking, as all of King's work, and is worth reading. Would make a great gift for anyone.

I recommend "A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr." for a more complete work of Dr. King.

To give this as a gift to every young man..........2007-04-07

This is an excellent and treasurable little gift book to give to young people. While simple and humble at first glance, it gives some deep truths about life and how we can live responsibly. I've given copies of this to others, hoping that somewhere along their path in life they might open it and find just what they need to make good and true decisions in their lives and dealings with others. I hope it will never go out of print!

must read.......2006-08-18

This is a small and excellent book. The second half is outstanding.

a bit too short.......2006-02-22

King is as eloquent as always, and I knew this was a short book, but it was filled with a lot more pictures than I expected and it was more purely theological than connecting theology with his nonviolent philosophy. I'd go for something else if you want to read King.

King the Theologian.......2006-01-11

Before reading this short book I had a limited appretiation for Martin Luther King Jr. I only revered him for his social action and not for his theology. Now I realize his elequance as a theologian. This quick-read is life changing and is an amazing perspective on humanity and the nature of his exsistence

Average customer rating:

The Measure of Man
Sidney Poitier
Manufacturer: Harper Audio Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: B000H95CLG

Average customer rating:

The Measure of a Man
Sidney Poitier
Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography

ASIN: 074340386X

Sagebrush Brides: Journey Toward Home/The Measure of a Man/Season of Hope/Cross My Heart (Heartsong Novella Collection)

Average customer rating:

Sagebrush Brides
A great read for a day to be spent by the fire

Sagebrush Brides: Journey Toward Home/The Measure of a Man/Season of Hope/Cross My Heart (Heartsong Novella Collection)
Carol Cox
Manufacturer: Barbour Publishing, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

General | Historical | Romance | Subjects | Books

General | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1593104359

Customer Reviews:

Sagebrush Brides.......2007-03-10

I truly enjoyed this book. The charactors were fascinating and it made you wish that you lived in that era

A great read for a day to be spent by the fire.......2005-12-27

My friend gave me this book for Christmas and after my family had opened all of their presents, I sat down and began to read this book of 4 stories; 3 hours later, when I finished the book, I was glad I had gotten the book. I totally recommend this story by Carol Cox.

It is actually 4 stories together in one book. It is based on two families: The Bradleys and The Canfields.
1st Story: This is called Journey Toward Home; the main character is Judith Alder-she travels out west and meets up with the Bradleys and says at their ranch where she tries to discover what she should do next in her life.

2nd Story: This is called The Measure of a Man; this story follows Lizzie Bradley (she was also in the first story as a little girl) as a grown woman growing up and experiencing love and trying to find true love. (This story was my favorite.)

3rd Story: This story features the Canfields and is called Season of Hope; Rachel is the oldest Canfield sister and when Ike Canfield, her father, the weight of running their farm turns to her and it is up to her to try and keep the farm running and pay off soem debts her father left unpaid and take care of her younger sister Rachel. Along the way, she accepts help from one of her father's friends, and, well...just read it to find out what happens.

4th Story: This story is called Cross my Heart; this story is the final story and ends up drawing the two families together. Willie Bradley was unwilling been volunteered to take three orphaned children to their guadian after their parents have died. He, because of the children, ends up meeting Violet Canfield and they expereince many different trials together.

All of these stories are placed in the New Mexico/Arizona area; I found the characters relateable and nothing of the story seemed too far fetched-well perhaps some of what the three orphaned children did in the last story-to tell the truth, I didn't like those kids at all. But this was a very enjoyable read.

Average customer rating:

Decent SURVEY, but...
Anthropocentrism without the hubris.
Summary
Philosophy for the Amateur Thinker

Man is the Measure
Reuben Abel
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Modern | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Religion & Spirituality | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 068483636X

Customer Reviews:

Decent SURVEY, but..........2005-03-10

one would be far better served just reading the originals. My major complaints with this book can be summed up by the fact that I nowhere remember him seriously discussing, or even mentioning, Kierkegaard's teleological suspension of the ethical. The book also has a rather pompous, self-assured tone. Overall, though, I'm not minding using it in my TOK class this year. It's certainly better written than 'The American Pageant'.

He also never once mentions Dante.

Anthropocentrism without the hubris........2004-12-14

Mr. Abel was a humanist that traced his lineage of thought from the English pragmatic humanist F.C.S. Schiller to the Greek Sophist Protagoras (420-490 BCE) and beyond. "Man is the measure of all things: of those that are, that they are; and of those that are not, that they are not." Protagoras' notion that judgements and knowledge are in some way relative to the individual. This is a line of agnostic thinkers that put man at the center of the stage. They claim no absolute knowledge. This last claim Socrates did one better by not claiming any knowledge at all. Socrates is the first of the great Humanists in the West, and Confucius was the first great Humanist in the East. Humanists are proud to be human beings. Humanists' two fundamental tenets are that a man should learn to think for himself, and values are uniquely human--man is the measure. Though a little too manthropocentric an approach to our specie's place in the Cosmos for my liking Abel nevertheless does manage to make me feel good about being human. I matter. Abel's pride does not seem to me to be the false pride of hubris. Rather he seems a very dignified human being that represents us well. I am sorry ladies, but you will just have to keep being patient with us men. I assure you when Abel says man he means mankind, men and women.

With the above said Abel's "Man is the Measure" is a cordial invitation from a humanist perspective addressed to all human beings in regards to the central problems of philosophy. He believes in humanity, in our capacity to grow. The one and the many are invited to join in the philosophical debates. "Man is the Measure" is written with a friendly tone and in an elegantly simple manner. It is a very thorough outline of philosophical history, and you may join in if you like. Abel is to be congratulated for his ecumenical approach to truth. This is a very good place for those with a curious mind to begin or continue their examined life.

Summary.......2002-01-22

The book is ok, has many examples but it is repetative, boring, and does not always answer what it asks.

Philosophy for the Amateur Thinker.......2001-01-29

Abel has created a superb introduction to the often esoteric topic of Philosophy in "Man is the Measure". I am a student in the International Baccalaureate Program at a high school in Arizona where this is the core book for our learning the Theory of Knowledge. After reading this book I can seriously say that my grasp of the "Central Problems of Philosophy" has been broadened to actual understanding and appreciation. The author is able to convey his message in a conversational way that doesn't come across as overly instructional. The main points are set off from the prose of the text and are thoroughly outlined which allow the reader to comprehend what is being said. Reoccurring concepts are tied in throughout the book as well. This book is recommended for any student of philosophy or anyone who has always pondered the questions of the universe. Abel has truly made Philosophy inviting.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books