History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls

Average customer rating:

Understanding a Cultural Obsession
Fabulous
Fair Attempt to Explain a Growing Problem
Why "beautiful on the inside" doesn't seem to matter anymore
Unworthy of "American" in its title

The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls
Joan Jacobs Brumberg
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679735291
Release Date: 1998-09-01

Amazon.com

Adolescent girls today face the issues girls have always faced: "Who am I?" and "Who do I want to be?" Unfortunately their answers, now more than ever before, revolve around the body rather than the mind, heart, or soul. "The body is at the heart of the crisis that [Carol] Gilligan, [Mary] Pipher, and others describe.... The fact that American girls now make the body their central project is not an accident or a curiosity," writes Brumberg, "it is a symptom of historical changes that are only now beginning to be understood." The historical photos, thorough research, and political even-handedness make this a book of worth and sincerity. The Body Project is also comforting for women, adolescents, parents, lesbians, and male lovers of women--helping us sort out the roots of female insecurities, obsessions, and angst.

Book Description

"Timely and sympathetic . . . a work of impassioned advocacy." -- People

A hundred years ago, women were lacing themselves into corsets and teaching their daughters to do the same. The ideal of the day, however, was inner beauty: a focus on good deeds and a pure heart. Today American women have more social choices and personal freedom than ever before. But fifty-three percent of our girls are dissatisfied with their bodies by the age of thirteen, and many begin a pattern of weight obsession and dieting as early as eight or nine. Why?

In The Body Project, historian Joan Jacobs Brumberg answers this question, drawing on diary excerpts and media images from 1830 to the present. Tracing girls' attitudes toward topics ranging from breast size and menstruation to hair, clothing, and cosmetics, she exposes the shift from the Victorian concern with inner beauty to our modern focus on outward appearance--in particular, the desire to be model-thin and sexy. Compassionate, insightful, and gracefully written, The Body Project explores the gains and losses adolescent girls have inherited since they shed the corset and the ideal of virginity for a new world of sexual freedom and consumerism--a world in which the body is their primary project.

"Joan Brumberg's book offers us an insightful and entertaining history behind the destructive mantra of the '90s--'I hate my body!'" --Katie Couric

Customer Reviews:

Understanding a Cultural Obsession.......2007-04-23

Topic: - The book is the author's historical perspective, suggesting there are ever increasing visual evaluations and body standards being placed on American Girls.

Commentary: - The book does an excellent job of bringing attention to the messages girls are constantly bombarded with from all forms of media, advertising and cultural rules, messages that try to persuade them their body should have certain attributes and not have other attributes. It outlines how with each new generation, new social visual ideals are added. From shaving legs, to waxing, to eyebrow control, to hairstyles, to overall weight, to muscle tone, to bad breath, to body odor, to feminine hygeine, to piercings, to tattoos, to teeth straightening, to belly button length, to breast shape, to teeth whitening, and on and on.

Writing Style: - I thought the premise and supporting facts of this book were excellent, but if I have to fault one aspect of the book, it is that the writing sometimes lost my attention - this occurred even though I greatly care about the issues discussed in the book.

What would have made this book better?: - There is an inherent conflict in these issues: How do you make "not being a pawn to these social pressures" interesting and sexually attractive? One of the main draws that advertisers and social forces use is: IF you perfectly control your body and develop these many attributes, THEN you'll be more well liked, treated better, more in control, or more sexually attractive. For the book to have been even better, it needed to spend more time promoting non-conformist beauty ideals and conceptual frameworks.

In other words, it needed to do more to show how NOT persuing a "body perfect" can lead to better social relationships, understanding, attractiveness, etc. It's not enough to tell a person, "Don't do that." It's better to show them how alternative paths can produce more fulfilling and better outcomes. This is because women are constantly bombarded with the opposing messages of: "Make your body perfect" and you will receive _____ (fill in the blank).

Why did I write this review?: - I read this book about a year ago, and I didn't feel compelled to write a review. But one of the attributes of a great idea or a great book of ideas is the longer the ideas are considered in your brain (the more evidence and scenarios you evaluate using those ideas), the more those ideas resonate with 'truth' or significance.

Like most people, I use the internet often. I'm just sickened by the frequency of visual beauty ads. From wrinkle creams, to Stry-Vectyn, to Bo-Tox, to acne-fighters, and every other blemish or age-fighting cream, lotion, or potion. The same messages are coming from T.V.

Dove has launched a "Real Beauty" campaign, where they show women with "non-ideal" body types and weight ranges. And while I can admire some of the premise, which is: "Beauty is broader than the narrow definitions of supemodel advertising," I am also saddened as Dove, a cosmetic company, has also introduced the suggestion: Older women and non-ideal women need to spend more money on our beauty products. Olay's campaign of "Fight crows feet . . . on your elbows and your legs" is creating additional Body Projects for women to be concerned about.

Given the constant messages and pressures American women receive, I expect most women have dealt with an eating disorder or OCD mindset about their physical appearance. After reading this book, I admire every woman who has managed to overcome our culture's body obsession and who has found a way to moderate their eating habits and perceptions of their body.

I recommend at least scanning this book to find any topics of interest. Hopefully, young women who have read this book will be more able to recognize the unnecessary demands and often unreachable standards being asked of them. Hopefully they will learn to define their beauty, and the beauty of the women around them, using more non-body-defined benchmarks.

Fabulous.......2007-04-04

This book was the best non-fiction I have ever read. It details the changing attitudes towards girls' bodies from the Victorian era to now. It's a sad, hard truth, but opens readers' eyes to the stark reality of girls' bodies going from prime real estate -joint owners being parents and the future husband- to nothing but over-sexed, under nourished, under appreciated, and under protected citizens of society.

This book is a wonderful chronicle of the changes in physical appearance, as well as mental status, in the ever-changing world of girls in society.

Fair Attempt to Explain a Growing Problem.......2006-06-10

I bought this book because I see how girls/young women stuggle to achieve a very unrealistic ideal of beauty and how middle aged women stuggle to hang on to what they had as young women. As I approach 50, I know I am expected to stay trim, fit and muscular in spite of the fact that my body struggles mightly against it, especially since pregnancy and child birth.

As for the book, it is heavily researched and some of that research does involve journals from the 19th century and beyond. The first chapter is about how girls' bodies are maturing at a much faster rate than those of their fore sisters and the implications of this. Interesting.

The second chapter covers menstruation and menarche in detail. It is really too long. The basic premise of the chapter is how menarche has become consumerized. Mothers provide their daughters with all the mass manufactured equipment and not much else. The author wants menarche to be explained to girls as the time they enter womanhood, but I have a problem with this for two reasons. #1 Most girls are entering menarche at a time when they are not even remotely ready to be women. #2 When I enter menopause, am I exiting womanhood?

The third chapter covers the quest for perfect skin. It is page after page covering the subject of acne and how it has been dealt with over the past century. This, also, the author feels has been very much consumerized, as mothers take their daughters to the doctors and buy any and every cream and potion to relieve their daughters' agony.

The fourth chapter deals with the history of girls trying to achieve the perfect body and the fifth with the disappearance of virginity and how women have gained sexual freedom, but this has also filtered down to girls in middle school and high school and most of these girls and young women are ill equipped mentally and emotionally to deal with the ramifications of their sexuality.

The overall ideals in the book are excellent. The fact that girls have lost their closeness with mothers, aunts, teachers and other female role models. The fact that most of their learning comes from the media and girls their own ages. The fact that outward beauty is what females are judged by rather than beauty that comes from inside. The fact that girls are no longer protected through the family unit. They are sexually active earlier and earlier and often with older men and not boys of their own age. They have been sold the goods of freedom and independence when they are really not ready for them, etc.

Unfortunately, the book did not so much back up these ideas, but more harped on consumerism...the buying of feminine products, make up, clothes, etc. I am pretty sure this is but I small part of the problem.

Why "beautiful on the inside" doesn't seem to matter anymore.......2006-01-19

What happened to American girls, to women, over the past hundred years, that caused a quantum shift in how they present themselves to the world?

Intelligence, spirituality, charity and volunteerism, and skills for all things domestic were once revered. The most popular girl in her class wasn't the prettiest girl. The girl considered best for marriage had the qualities desired for a wife and mother and not what she looked like on her husband's arm.

We are all victims of this shift.

I admit I first noticed this book on a shelf in a train-station bookstore because of the flat, tanned belly on the cover. We've become a society obsessed with pieces and parts and appearances of the pieces and parts rather than the beauty of the whole person. Our self-esteem is measured by the numbers on the scale or the size of our jeans or the clarity of our skin.

Over the past six years, I've reread this book a few times, and always find a new point that rings true.

In her revealing (yet not surprising) sociological history Blumberg uses the best and most frank sources to illustrate her case: the private diaries of young women, from the Victorian era to present day (the late 90's). Blumberg theorizes that it's the media and consumerism that are the biggest contributors to the shift and uses excerpts from the diaries to make her point.

Blumberg focuses on middle-class Caucasian girls circa 1998, and perhaps the book needs an update to focus on a broader demographic as well as address the influence of the internet which has since become an increasingly important factor in the socialization and self-awareness of young women.

I think this is a decent book for a teenage girl, but I'm not sure it will have much of a positive influence. Girls are constantly being fed about how they should look and what products they should buy to achieve beauty.

It's a better book for a woman in her 20's or 30's who might want a better understanding of why we've become the way we are.

Unworthy of "American" in its title.......2005-10-02

The Body Project provides very selective leeway into the societal effects of African-American adolescent girls and their personal body projects. The main focus of this book is on the evolution of the white middle-class adolescent girl throughout American history. African-American and Jewish girls are mentioned briefly in a few chapters, while other ethnic groups are simply never discussed. Are these other various ethnic groups not worthy of their equal place in Brumberg's book?
Brumberg focuses on the evolution of the white middle-class female adolescent starting in the early 1800s and ending in the late 1990s. An evolution of the African American adolescent also took place during these times, but differently than that of their white female counterparts.
In order to understand black American adolescents today, foundation for cultural practices must first be established. Brumberg never mentions the coexistence of enslaved blacks, in America during the 18th or 19th centuries.
Though all women have the same biological anatomy, our genes vary, our cultures vary, so we should dispel the idea that when certain groups of women who menstruate earlier than others are abnormal or inferior. Brumberg reveals that this type of thought was well circulated throughout the medical community remained true during the Victorian period. The notion that black health was considered an expendable asset in the American medical community well through the early 1970s.

One major issue that Brumberg avoids is the abuse of children and adolescents. There is probably a close connection between the body projects that adolescents undertake and their harsh self-image.

Brumberg fails to expand on the greater idea that people exist who can never truly choose their identity before it first chooses them. Many girls are intrinsically bound to a stereotype, despite self-image. Possibly everyone has small things that they would like to alter about their physical appearances; however Americans also fail to see these "body projects" as a form a western female mutilation, of which millions of women have fallen victim. Plastic surgery is an ever-growing project that young girls obsess about. This standard idea of beauty that girls manipulate themselves on must disappear, before our individuality as women disappears.

The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image

Average customer rating:

Thought provoking
Quasi-science at best
Provocative thesis, interesting facts, readable style, sensible call for balance
Pleased and surprised
Why is there no zero stars option?

The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image
Leonard Shlain
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140196013

Amazon.com

"Literacy has promoted the subjugation of women by men throughout all but the very recent history of the West," writes Leonard Shlain. "Misogyny and patriarchy rise and fall with the fortunes of the alphabetic written word."

That's a pretty audacious claim, one that The Alphabet Versus the Goddess provides extensive historical and cultural correlations to support. Shlain's thesis takes readers from the evolutionary steps that distinguish the human brain from that of the primates to the development of the Internet. The very act of learning written language, he argues, exercises the human brain's left hemisphere--the half that handles linear, abstract thought--and enforces its dominance over the right hemisphere, which thinks holistically and visually. If you accept the idea that linear abstraction is a masculine trait, and that holistic visualization is feminine, the rest of the theory falls into place. The flip side is that as visual orientation returns to prominence within society through film, television, and cyberspace, the status of women increases, soon to return to the equilibrium of the earliest human cultures. Shlain wisely presents this view of history as plausible rather than definite, but whether you agree with his wide-ranging speculations or not, he provides readers eager to "understand it all" with much to consider. --Ron Hogan

Book Description

Is it sheer coincidence that the European witch hunts quickly followed the invention of the printing press? In his groundbreaking work The Alphabet Versus the Goddess, Leonard Shlain proposes that the invention of writing, particularly alphabetic writing, rewired the human brain, causing profound cultural changes in history, religion, and gender relations. While the advent of literacy brought innumerable benefits to society, the switch to left-brain thinking upset the balance between men and women. The rise of male dominance led to a corresponding decline in goddess veneration and the status of women. Ending on a positive note, Shlain notes that the return of an image-oriented culture - through the media of photography, film, television, and the Internet - has brought about a sharp rise in the feminine values denigrated during the 5,000-year reign of patriarchy and literacy.

Customer Reviews:

Thought provoking.......2007-04-09

At first it seems like an absurd idea, that the printing press could have had a bad effect on society and culture; it becomes completely engrossing and intriquing. If you can open your mind, this book isn't negative towards women at all, it is just the opposite. Very well researched.

Quasi-science at best.......2007-02-13

This book is awful. It is full of speculations and just bad science. I am going to quote one egregious example. The comments in brackets [ ] are mine:

"Like the brain, the human eye also evolved opposite [really!] but complementary functions. Each human eye is a perfect mirror image of the other; yet within the each retina there resides two functionally different types of cells. With elegant symmetry, the contrasting functions of the rods and cones correspond to the division of tasks between the right and left brain [that is quite a comparison].
"Rods named for their cylindrical shape, are extremely light sensitive.
Distributed evenly throught the periphery of each retina, they see in dim light and appreciate [the rods have feelings??] the totality of the visual field, seeing images as gestalts. Rods share with the right brain the ability to perceive [the rods can think??] reality all-at-once [as opposed to what, a little bit at a time?].
Cones, in contrast congregate densely in a small spot in the central part of the retina...Cones have two attributes. They appreciate [there he goes again] color and intensify clarity [whatever that means]. Concentrating on one aspect of reality at a time, [huh?] cones view the visual field as if through a tunnel. [Actually cones and rods sense light together, at the same time, and your brain integrates and intreprets all that information into a perceived image. But the most fantastic statement is the last sentance of this quote:] Like rods, cones report to both hemispheres, but the left is metaphorically best suited to process their input. [That is such an absurd statement that Shlain gives a footnote, right on the same page, contradicting his non sequitor.]"

And so it goes on for page after page of drivel, I finally gave up after 6 chapters. A lot of reviewers find this book to be thought provoking. I think it is a sad state that our appreciation of science is so dim that people can actually find this nonsense to be of interest.

Provocative thesis, interesting facts, readable style, sensible call for balance.......2007-01-23

The Alphabet Versus the Goddess is a valuable work. From the depths of the human brain to ancient religions to scientific advancement to modern times, Dr. Shlain has molded a fascinating thesis, bringing together much complex human behavior in a large-scale synthesis. If you are willing to open your mind to his numerous ideas, you may find yourself convinced that the rise of the alphabet and wide-spread literacy did indeed spark humans to an imbalance between the genders and the masculine/feminine values of society. If you are willing to understand what I believe he means to teach, you will see that this reoccurring problem in human history has a cure, and it is balance.

There are many facets of his claims and research that merit thought and attention. I personally was inspired to research further into brain characteristics and examine that aspect of the book. You may disagree with which values in the mind are masculine and feminine or even anything from certain historic dates to the discussion of the Bible, but whether or not every fact is unquestionably true is not the entire point. The ancient myths are gruesome at times, the periods of madness horrifying, the suppression of women dismaying, and the final message--hopeful. Dr. Shlain loves words, and it is apparent in his writing (which is readable and flowing), so clearly this work is not an attack on literacy; it is a new and unique examination of patterns throughout history.

Pleased and surprised.......2007-01-23

I picked up this book after seeing numerous references to it on websites I was searching. As a writer and an avid reader since, well, forever, I opened this book fully prepared to completely disagree with everything it was going to present. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the author was well aware 1) the contradiction of using literary media to discuss a theory of historical social disruption based on literacy 2) that the evidence he was presenting to support his theory was highly subjective, though I must say compelling.

Rarely have I encountered such a well written work about a controversial idea. I found the writing provacative and the subject matter well handled. I have read other reviews saying this book tells the reader literacy is evil/bad..I am wondering if those reviews read the same book I did? It is clear from the first page that Mister Shlain loves reading and writing. He is aware of the power and magic of the written word and it is the historical reprecussions of that power that he is discussing. The notion of literacy as a tool of social upheaval is fascinating in and of itself even without the idea that the physiological effects of the act of reading and writing contributed to the demise of goddess worship.

As woman I was prepared to be disturbed by a "poor women" approach - but this book turned out to be bigger than that. Nothing I was reading felt trivialized or stereotyped.

I don't agree with every premise set forth in this book, and I don't think every example Mister Shlainuses 100% proves his theory, but this is a book about new, big and challenging ideas and it is well worth a read by anyone interested in seeing a different perspective!

Why is there no zero stars option?.......2007-01-05

As a woman (who incidentally learned to read when I was two years old), I found this book to be apalling and insulting. What the book boils down to is that we'd be better off if we didn't read, but the evil patriarchy has imposed literacy on us so we need to know how to read, but reading is against the female nature so we're even worse off.

Please don't waste your time and money on this dreck.

Readings in Information Visualization: Using Vision to Think (Interactive Technologies)

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I wish it had been available for purchase three years ago
an oxy-moron
INDISPENSIBLE SURVEY OF THE FRONTIERS OF INFOVIZ
We must learn to challenge icons.
An excellent collection with great chapter overviews

Readings in Information Visualization: Using Vision to Think (Interactive Technologies)

Manufacturer: Morgan Kaufmann
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Amazon.com

This collection of classic and ground-breaking papers explores the issues involved in information visualization--thought versus perception, mental process versus graphic representation. In Readings in Information Visualization: Using Vision to Think, visualization is defined as "the use of computer-supported, interactive, visual representations of data to amplify cognition."

The papers are organized into the categories of "Space," "Interaction," "Focus + Context," "Data Mapping: Document Visualization," "Infosphere, Workspace, Tools, and Objects," and "Using Vision to Think." Subcategories are divided into the following:

1-D, 2-D, and 3-D structures
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Information workspaces
Visually enhanced objects

Discussions of the applications for and implications of visualization processes complete the book. Readings in Information Visualization: Using Vision to Think is targeted at research professionals in academia and industry; students new to the field; and professionals in statistics, information design, and medicine. The papers should be of particular interest to specialists in any area in which discovering the relationships between data and its visual representation is critical. --Kathleen Caster

Book Description

This groundbreaking book defines the emerging field of information visualization and offers the first-ever collection of the classic papers of the discipline, with introductions and analytical discussions of each topic and paper. The authors' intention is to present papers that focus on the use of visualization to discover relationships, using interactive graphics to amplify thought. This book is intended for research professionals in academia and industry; new graduate students and professors who want to begin work in this burgeoning field; professionals involved in financial data analysis, statistics, and information design; scientific data managers; and professionals involved in medical, bioinformatics, and other areas.

* Full-color reproduction throughout
* Author power team - an exciting and timely collaboration between the field's pioneering, most-respected names
* The only book on Information Visualization with the depth necessary for use as a text or as a reference for the information professional
* Text includes the classic source papers as well as a collection of cutting edge work

Customer Reviews:

I wish it had been available for purchase three years ago.......2001-01-05

If I would have been able to buy what basically amounts to a near comprehensive gathering of exactly the kind of research I've spent the past three years trying to find....I'd be a happer man with far more hair on my head.

Caveat: you gotta be the kind of person who likes reading this sort of thing. I love reading RFC's so its way up my alley. If you are looking for a Reader's Digest version of how to develop interfaces for complex systems you won't find it here.

But if you are one who seeks to augment your own personal toolbox with the findings of those far more wise than yourself, get out your wallet and buy this book. Its great.

an oxy-moron.......2000-07-05

hey somebody ripped me off!

yes the written content is full of great information, and is highly acclaimed. However the vast majority of the images used in this book are nearly unreadable due to the extremely poor reproduction quality and low image resolution. This leads me to wonder whether the book was printed at kinkos or printed from the high school's 150 dpi printer!

i've seen photocopies that looked better than this! i'm not kidding!

come on.. black text on dark grey background?

were these conscious design decisions?

note... the 1 star is to bring down the average. i bought the book due to the perfect record of all 5 stars, however i don't believe a book on design topics should get away with such horrid imagery for the price..

2 of the 3 authors for this book are from xerox... i wouldn't doubt they used thier own xerox machine to reproduce the graphic designs found within the pages inside the cover.

INDISPENSIBLE SURVEY OF THE FRONTIERS OF INFOVIZ.......2000-01-11

Stuart Card, Jock Mackinlay, and Ben Shneiderman, all extraordinary leaders in creating and researching the field on human-computer interface design, have pooled their editorial judgment to create a comprehensive, and much-needed collection of pioneering articles on information visualization. They have produced remarkable survey of such topics as context, mapping, spatial metaphors, interaction, navigation, and visual tools.

680 pages! 47 articles! Filled with excellent choices of research and invention woven together with incisive summaries of the widely disparate, individual software accomplishments of the leaders of the field from around the world. This indispensable collection not only provides in-depth solutions to specific problems but also shows the explorer where the current frontiers are.

A rich, solid, impressive, and welcome contribution to a field that affects all of our lives now that the interactive graphic computer has made all of us users of visual language. Altogether indispensable for the researcher and innovator who will return to this remarkable collection again and again.

--Robert E. Horn, author, "Visual Language: Global Communication for the 21st Century" and visiting scholar, Program on People, Computers and Design, The Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University.

We must learn to challenge icons........1999-02-27

This book enters our sensibilites.

We must learn to challenge our vulnerability toward icons. In order to take our place in the upcoming era, we must recognize how many burdens we have carried because we have reacted to iconography --a phenomena far deeper than mere affection toward slogans and images. A healthy human intelligence is adaptive not reactive. We must recognize the terrible demand upon us to develop a serious forethought.

The approach and language of this book stimulates our desire to develop appropriate tools and poo-poos the fashions of populism --a phenomena at its worst in current computing circles!

We're being drawn into using the computer for JUNK. This book asks us to grow up. Great idea!

An excellent collection with great chapter overviews.......1999-02-18

This is an excellent reference to the field. It brings together many of the classic papers published over the last 10 years or so. The editors provide a terrific overview and introduction to each of the chapters. These overviews alone would make a good book. Together with the collected papers, it is a welcome addition to my library.

Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design

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Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design
Gunther Kress
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Communication | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books

Grammar | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication
Literacy in the New Media Age (Literacies)
Handbook of Visual Analysis
Introducing Social Semiotics
Visual Rhetoric in a Digital World: A Critical Sourcebook

ASIN: 0415319153

Book Description

This second edition of the landmark book Reading Images builds on its reputation as the first systematic and comprehensive account of the grammar of visual design. Drawing on an enormous range of examples from children's drawings to textbook illustrations, photo-journalism to fine art, as well as three-dimensional forms such as sculpture and toys, the authors examine the ways in which images communicate meaning.

Features of this fully updated second edition include: new material on moving images and on color, a discussion of how images and their uses have changed through time, websites and web-based images, and ideas on the future of visual communication.

Reading Images' focus on the structures or "grammar" of visual design: color, perspective, framing and composition, provides the reader with an invaluable "tool-kit" for reading images and makes it a must for anyone interested in communication, the media and the arts.

Average customer rating:

Redding (CA) (Images of America)
Shasta Historical Society , and Al Rocca
Manufacturer: Arcadia Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Shasta County (CA) (Images of America)
Old Shasta (CA) (Images of America)
Shasta Lake: Boomtowns and the Building of Shasta Dam (CA) (Images of America)

ASIN: 0738529346
Release Date: 2004-10-20

Book Description

Pierson B. Reading settled on a large land grant in Shasta County in the 1840s, planting California's first cotton and northern California's first grapevines on his Rancho Buena Ventura, which included the current town of Redding. Although first nicknamed Poverty Flats by the early settlers, the Southern Pacific Railroad chose this spot for its turnaround roundhouse in 1872, ignoring the neighboring mining boomtown of Shasta. To honor a powerful Sacramento politician who acted as their general land agent, the railroad named the new town Redding.

Images of Organization: The Executive Edition

Average customer rating:

Morgan Images of Organization
Most valuable read of my MBA
This book can profoundly change your thinking about orgs
Too esoteric...hard to follow.
Terrific Find

Images of Organization: The Executive Edition
Gareth Morgan
Manufacturer: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Leadership | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Organizational Change | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Business & Professional | Book Clubs | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Classics of Organization Theory (with InfoTrac )
Organizational Culture and Leadership (The Jossey-Bass Business & Management Series)
Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership
Creative Organization Theory: A Resourcebook
Leadership: Theory and Practice

ASIN: 1576750388

Book Description

Images of Organization shows managers how to break free of management fads by understanding the strengths and weaknesses of management metaphors and applying them to organizational life. Instead of looking for the "best theory" or the "best model", managers learn how to mobilize the insights of all dominant metaphors -- of the machine, the living organism, the learning organization, complexity, chaos, and flux -- as a creative force.

Customer Reviews:

Morgan Images of Organization.......2007-01-04

great metaphors from author to help understand organizational thinking but read slowly if you are a concrete thinker. Easy reading really if you think metaphorically. Had to write a paper on psychic prisons, uncanny how true Morgan's analogy is to real workplace environment. This book was better than our required text. Hated the Organizational Behavior instructor I had but loved the book and the subject matter.

Most valuable read of my MBA.......2003-02-15

Gareth Morgan's book provides an antidote to the finance, marketing and HR texts that are required reading for an MBA student. The clever use of metaphor allows the reader to absorb the huge anount of information contained within the book (check out the bibliography!) - you don't even realise how much you are learning until you start relating concepts to others around you. My fellow students, colleagues and even my parents had to listen ...

I found it a very easy to read book, if you are willing to put aside your existing ideas (psychic prison) about the way the organisation works(?) If you prefer big words, read Morgan and Burrell's Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis - essential reading, but even more brilliant as a companion to Images.

Learn the stuff you are expected to know from your finance, marketing, statistics, strategy and HR texts, but understand the stuff that will change your world from Images of Organisation.

This book can profoundly change your thinking about orgs.......2003-02-14

This is not a "three steps to understanding organizations" type book. The people posting negative reviews for this were looking for something simple and digestable - this book is not that. However, if you take the time, you will find it profoundly alters your thinking about understanding organizations.

This book provides solid theoretical models for understanding what is occuring in organizations. I read this book over 10 years ago and STILL find it the second best and most enlightening thing I have ever read on organizations. This has dramatically aided me in being a very successful business consultant.

The foundation of this book is the notion that you cannot understand complex organizations in any meaningful way through a single perspective. People in the organizations operate on many different perspectives. Each view of the world creates its own understanding of the organizational problems, solutions and daily pattern of interaction. This book provides you the tools for understanding organizations through a number of key perspectives or metaphors, and gives you indications on how to perform a multi-perspective systems analysis.

If you spend the time with this book, you will find yourself able to understand your surroundings FAR better than your peers.

Too esoteric...hard to follow........2003-01-08

I am a graduate student in organizational development. Although this book has some good underlying concepts, I found most of the book hard to follow and not very engaging. It was often difficult to see how many of the concepts actually apply to organizations. There may be good ideas, but they often get lost in the rambling chapters.

Terrific Find.......2001-07-28

I found this book to be insightful and very useful in administrative organization analysis. It was a useful tool in developing a change management program for a public organization.

Images of Color, Images of Crime: Readings

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Images of Color, Images of Crime: Readings

Manufacturer: Roxbury Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Discrimination & Racism | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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

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Similar Items:

The Color of Crime: Racial Hoaxes, White Fear, Black Protectionism, Police Harassment, and Other Macroaggressions (Critical America Series)
The Color of Justice: Race, Ethnicity, and Crime in America
Underground Codes: Race, Crime and Related Fires
Media, Crime, and Criminal Justice: Images, Realities and Policies (Wadsworth Contemporary Issues in Crime and Justice)
Voices from the Field: Readings in Criminal Justice Research (Criminal Justice Series)

ASIN: 1931719659

Book Description

The Second Edition of Images of Color, Images of Crime, a reader of 22 original essays edited by eminent criminologists Coramae Richey Mann and Marjorie S. Zatz, has been updated and improved from the previous edition.

This volume explores the dynamics of race, crime, and the criminal justice system in the United States today, giving equal attention to the linkages between images of color and images of crime. In their essays, the contributors stress the diversity of experiences within racial/ethnic groups based on gender, class, and national origin/heritage. Many books about crime and the criminal justice system ignore race when it comes to crimes by whites, much as they ignore gender when discussing crimes by men. In contrast, Mann and Zatz present a critical analysis of white privilege as a central feature.

The Second Edition has been reorganized, centering on substantive areas. Within each of the four substantive sections, readers will find essays describing and analyzing the experiences of American Indians, African Americans, Latinos and Latinas, Asian Americans, and Euro-Americans. New transitional pieces have been added that tie each section together, and the contributors have updated their essays with current information.

The book opens with a general discussion of race and racism as social constructions, clarifying how images of color are structurally linked to systems of oppression and domination and are reinforced by the media and politicians. Then there is a section on personal narratives from each major color category, followed by sections on stereotyping by politicians, stereotyping by the media, and crime and punishment on color lines.

Book Description

For almost eight hundred years (100 BC–AD 650) Nasca artists modeled and painted the plants, animals, birds, and fish of their homeland on Peru’s south coast as well as numerous abstract anthropomorphic creatures whose form and meaning are sometimes incomprehensible today. In this first book-length treatment of Nasca ceramic iconography to appear in English, drawing upon an archive of more than eight thousand Nasca vessels from over 150 public and private collections, Donald Proulx systematically describes the major artistic motifs of this stunning polychrome pottery, interprets the major themes displayed on this pottery, and then uses these descriptions and his stimulating interpretations to analyze Nasca society. After beginning with an overview of Nasca culture and an explanation of the style and chronology of Nasca pottery, Proulx moves to the heart of his book: a detailed classification and description of the entire range of supernatural and secular themes in Nasca iconography along with a fresh and distinctive interpretation of these themes. Linking the pots and their iconography to the archaeologically known Nasca society, he ends with a thorough and accessible examination of this ancient culture viewed through the lens of ceramic iconography. Although these static images can never be fully understood, by animating their themes and meanings Proulx reconstructs the lifeways of this complex society.

Customer Reviews:

Must Have Source.......2007-02-25

For those captivated by ancient Andean imagery Don Proulx's A Sourcebook of Nasca Ceramic Iconography provides an indispensable guide to the colourful world of the Nasca. Located on Peru's south coast in the first centuries A.D., Nasca potters left a visual account of their world view in an astounding array of depictive designs. Drawing on forty years of study, Proulx offers the first comprehensive catalogue of Nasca motifs, along with his own identifications and interpretations. In addition to the motif catalogue, Proulx provides the most extensive description of the nine-phase Nasca pottery sequence ever published in one place. This contribution alone makes this book a "must have" reference. The Sourcebook also contains Proulx's own overview of Nasca culture, covering special topics such as religion, subsistence, daily life, material culture, and dwellings. A Sourcebook of Nasca Ceramic Iconography is destined to be a standard reference for generations to come. It represents the crowning achievement of Proulx's long and distinguished career, though not, we hope, the last we hear from Don Proulx.

Who Are You, My Daughter: Reading Ruth Through Image and Text

Average customer rating:

This is not a really a commentary in the traditional sense.
Wonderful Translation and Commentary

Who Are You, My Daughter: Reading Ruth Through Image and Text
Ellen F. Davis
Manufacturer: Westminster John Knox Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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The Bible and the Comic Vision: Exploring the Depths of a Seldom-Noticed Aspect of Biblical Literature
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Getting Involved with God: Rediscovering the Old Testament

ASIN: 0664223745

Customer Reviews:

This is not a really a commentary in the traditional sense........2007-01-11

This book is good. My problem was that I thought it was going to be an indepth commentary on Ruth. Instead it is the book of Ruth with Davis illustrating the key words and concepts page by page. It also has some really nice pictures. I think it would be great for use in children's ministry.

Wonderful Translation and Commentary.......2005-06-22

This book is a must read for anyone interested in the book of Ruth. Ellen Davis does a wonderful job of translating and commenting on the passages. She explains Hebrew words and lets you know when a passage is ambiguous. She will offer other possible ways to translate a passage and gives clear explanations. I love when she reflects on the use of the same Hebrew word or phrase in other places in Ruth or elsewhere in Scripture. It totally absorbed me, and I am looking forward to reading it again--I want to remember every gem. I have now put all her writings on my wish list, and I hope she will translate more books of Scripture!

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