Book Description
At the heart of this classic, seminal book is Julian Jaynes's still-controversial thesis that human consciousness did not begin far back in animal evolution but instead is a learned process that came about only three thousand years ago and is still developing. The implications of this revolutionary scientific paradigm extend into virtually every aspect of our psychology, our history and culture, our religion -- and indeed our future.
Customer Reviews:
New Conciousness.......2007-09-07
The author makes a daring assertion that consciousness evolved recently as part of evolution and is still evolving. This concept also tries to explain the origin of god and religion.
This is a new hypothesis similar to blackholes or dinosaur extinction. More experimental proof will determine how famous this theory become.
What I didn't like about the book is:
* Spending whole chapters and depending solely on Iliad story to make an argument.
* Too much of stress and pages devoted on language metaphor development.
* It would have been better to describe one or two major case to bolster an argument and list others in appendix.
* No mention about religion and culture of asia. Only european stories are mentioned. Vedanta (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedanta), puranas, upanishad, mahabarath are just a few examples in Indian history.
* The prose could have been simpler and number of pages less.
Other books that readers would be interested in:
Science and Meaning of Auditory Hallucination
The God Delusion
Stumbling on Happiness
Moral Minds
Fascinating, but probably wrong........2007-08-27
A few years ago I went to a conference where they had an award for the "most interesting theory most likely to be wrong". Of all the books I have read during the last few years, the late Julian Jaynes' "The origin of consciousness in the breakdown of the bicameral mind" would most likely win that honor. Coincidentally, both Jaynes' book as well as the conference contribution deal with the language and the brain; Jaynes also deals with consciousness, literature and history. In short, his theory is that up until about 3000 B.C., Homo sapiens, walked the earth without anything like the conscious, subjective experience of our surrounding and memories we currently possess. Then, agriculture, cities and the first complex societies arose. How were the masses which existed in these radically new social circumstances controlled? According to Jaynes, human beings were still not conscious, but heard voices which commanded them what to do whenever a novel and unfamiliar situation arose. Where did these voices come from? From the right cortical hemisphere, from the brain regions analogous to the language centers on the left. These voices are comparable to what schizophrenics hear today. The difference is that they were not considered something abnormal, but a command from "the gods". The underlings in these first complex civilizations heard the voices of their masters, even when they were absent, and these of their personal gods. Higher ranking members of society heard voices of higher gods, and the king/pharao heard voices of the supreme god and sometimes was considered that god himself. The art of these civilizations was set up to trigger this hallucinating. The brain's division into an obeying left and a commanding, god-like, right cortical hemisphere is what Jaynes calls the "bicameral mind". This mindset kept societies stable and growing. No one questioned what he or she had to do, as no one would ever question "the gods"!
Then, the 2nd century B.C., a time marked by natural catastrophes and societal instability, came along. The bicameral mind was no longer useful under these rapidly changing circumstances. Hearing voices was no longer encouraged societally, and children and adults showing such tendencies were possibly killed in some circumstances. The "gods" had ceased to speak to humans directly. True modern consciousness came about. Modern religions, oracles and various superstitions are the results of the human desire to relive the less uncertain times of the bicameral mind. Neurological conditions like schizophrenia and Tourette-syndrome are the neurobiological remainders of the formerly ubiquitous voices of the "gods".
Jaynes, a Princeton scholar, in his educated and quirky style, does a good job in outlining his theory and he draws support for it from a variety of sources, most notably the writings of the Iliad and Odysee and the old testament. He reconstructs a timeline, in which later literary works show support for truly conscious, subjectively experiencing characters; older ones do not. I am not competent to judge his psycho-literary criticism. I am competent to judge his arguments stemming from neuroscience; although he speculates and obviously leans out the window, he does not say anything unreasonable. He is off on some scientific issues, for instance in his statement that the neanderthals are a part of the lineage leading to us; however none of these factual mistakes seriously undermine his main thesis in my opinion. I think that he is onto something, but that in many cases goes to far in his interpretation of the evidence supporting his ideas. I also think that even though it is very valuable to think along his lines, the core of his thesis is wrong. In my opinion there are two reasons for that:
Firstly, only a part of humanity went trough a historical progression such as the one in the middle East and eastern Mediterranean in the 4th to 2nd century B.C, but all present humans appear to be conscious. I have personally talked to Australian aborigines who's grandparents were hunter-gatherers and who appeared undoubtedly conscious to me. Many peoples who had remained hunter-gatherers or in small-scale agricultural societies only came into contact with European civilization during the last 500 years, and some remain in such forms of social organization. The Kajapo in the Amazon or the New Guinea highlanders are clearly not the non-conscious robots Jaynes imagines pre-bicameral or bicameral humans to be.
Then, Jaynes basically pictures ancient Egypt as a society of constantly hallucinating citizens. Hallucinating wasn't seen as something pathological in these times, he argues, and it in fact contributed to societal functioning. Judging on the behavior of modern schizophrenics, I doubt that such a society is possible. They act too destructively and erratic. Among Jaynes' own examples is a man who was told by his voices to commit suicide by drowning himself. These are psychological forces too fiery to be channeled into avenues beneficial for an ordered, complex society.
Still, despite my disagreement with its basic take-home message, a book I consider highly worth reading. His notion of psychohistory is very, very interesting. Psychological phenomena which nowadays lead to a removal of a individual from society, such as hallucinations, were possibly considered something desirable in previous epochs. I can't picture a society completely composed of constantly hallucinating individuals; but I could see how such hallucinations by kings and priests were valued at times. Not only were technology, art and the organization of political and economic power vastly different at different times in history, but possibly also the basic mindset of humans - although in my opinion, in contrast to Jaynes', not to the degree of the absence of a true mind.
an fascinating intellectual Odyssey.......2007-07-20
Yes, Jaynes' analysis of his corroborating evidence is often highly subjective and debatable.
Jaynes' model actually requires several postulates: 1. that consciousness (a self-examing, self-judging, self-motivating analog 'I') is not employed in many of our activities; our distant ancestors would not have required consciousness in this sense to learn skills like cooperating in the hunt or fashioning simple tools; nor are we today 'conscious' of very much when we drive a car or even type words at a keyboard. (Actually, I'd say much email proves the last point!) This is accepted by many today. Once we (consciously) decide to write an essay, the words just seem to flow quite 'unconsciously'; we are not 'conscious' of grammar or even the development of our ideas; too much self-awareness (consciousness) may even slow the task. 2. that our mental process historically evolved relatively slowly to produce consciousness through some intermediary steps; this also seems reasonable, despite some AI people that believe that reaching some critical processing capability may cause a computer to suddenly become 'conscious'. 3. that a metaphorically rich language is a necessary substrate for consciousness to exist. I think he's right here, though there is disagreement. (We can now trace Indo-European languages back by linguistic analysis to perhaps 20,000 BCE, to a equally syntatically (though not necessarily metaphorically) complex parent language, though we have no written samples, of course.)
What is astonishing is Jaynes' placement of the development of full-blown consciousness only 3 thousand or so years ago. This requires that the linguistic metaphorical hypostases necessary (according to Jaynes, and here I agree) for consciousness: 'self', 'mind', 'will', 'morality', etc., are recent, something Jaynes attempts to demonstrate from the use of language in the Iliad and the Old Testament.
Jaynes' conclusion: that the high civilizations of Eqypt, Mesopotamia, Mycenean ('Homeric') Greece and MesoAmerica were developed by unconscious, un-unified beings with 'bicameral' minds: simplistically, 'man' in the left hemisphere, and 'god' (or 'authority' or 'will') in the right. Jaynes acknowledges this is an incredible concept for us to accept. Yet insects build complex structures even without a cerebrum, let alone consciousness, and natural selection supposes the development of a very complex eye through many intermediate stages. (My examples, not his.)
If Jaynes hasn't fully demonstrated his hypothesis at the end, neither is it pure 'science fiction'. In a very real sense it was a 'god' - Pharoah, or rather in Jaynes' view the 'god' half of his mind - that authorized the construction of the pyramids. We now know that this task was performed by corvee labor, rather than slaves. Jaynes would argue that his bicameral theory makes these massive projects more understandable, if the (lesser) 'god' halves of the minds of the laborers provided corroborative authority. The hypothesis also provides a reasonable analysis of the rise, development and persistence of religion. One wonders if today Jaynes would have added god-inspired suicide bombers to his examples of holdovers from 'bicameral' thinking!
If complex linguistic metaphor is required to analyze consciousness (a major concern of classical Greek and Indian philosophy), isn't it required for consciousness itself? The dating is problematic, of course, since we have no writing from before 5,000 years ago. Now, my next project is to get out my copy of the Iliad and a Greek lexicon to try to confirm Jaynes' linguistic analysis!
Mind blowing. Profound.......2007-06-18
This book instantly found itself inside my favourire top three. Challenging, compelling, entertaining, and beautifully written. It constitutes a serious challenge to human history, and more specifically the fields of psychiatry and anthroplogy. Great stuff!
Could it really be that only hundreds of years ago we lacked the same degree of self-awareness that we enjoy today, and acted at the mercy of the right side of the brain as if some form of automaton? This is no new age nonsense, and Jaynes makes a compelling case that the bicameral mind may have had evolutionary value.
Earth-shattering conclusions may change your outlook on religion.......2007-06-01
I would never have imagined a book with such a heavy-going title would have the page-turning power of a great who-done-it!
In this revolutionary, eloquent and hugely thought-provoking read, Jaynes uses, in part, the Odyssey, the Iliad, neurology and psychology to make the case that our brains made a fundamental developmental leap forward just 3000 years ago that allowed us to be truly "conscious", that is possess a clear sense of self. Before this, the two "bicameral" halves of our brains behaved differently from today and our ancestors took the hallucinated voices arising from one half of the brain (some similarities to modern schitzophrenics are made) as the commands of the gods and elders who had passed on and become gods. Essentially his conclusion is that religion is a side-effect of the brain's evolution. Really a compelling read.
Jaynes is sadly no longer around to write the next book on this subject, but I would be very interested in someone tackling the issue based on Chinese research: written language seems to have developed there even earlier that the 5000 years we have come to know and is a key catalyst for modern consciousness, at least as Jaynes saw it.
If you have read it and liked the book, you might also like to read the slightly heavier-going THE MIND IN THE CAVE by David Lewis-Williams which looks at the notion of higher consciousness from the perspective of western European paleolithic cave art and its origins in shamanistic hallucinations. Both books are based mainly on European source material, although the latter goes to some pains to anchor the debate in the experience of existing shamanistic tradition from around the world.
Book Description
From sources inside the Pentagon and the CIA, Bill Gertz tracks the path of terrorists and terrorism in the United States. He uncovers information that could have prevented 9/11.
Customer Reviews:
Reads like a novel - Well done........2007-09-10
From the opening to the very end, this author writes in a novel-like style that makes this book so very readable.
There is no doubt that the author lays 9/11 at the feet of Bill Clinton - and, a LOT of the blame belongs there. Even more than I thought before reading this.
I do think that much of it lies in the bureaucracy that the FBI, CIA, and military intelligence had to deal with. And will the views of some bureaucrats.
Gertz does a great job of drilling down into some of these organizations and peeling the scab off of some of the intelligence wounds. As I read it, I kept thinking this guy must have INCREDIBLE access to sources and/or his research is just impeccable.
Bottom line - very well written and an easy read. Thank you!
Government Bungling - Again!.......2005-12-24
Gertz begins by relating how, prior to 9/11, the CIA failed to help an Afghan leader trying to rally forces against the pro bin Laden Taliban. As a result, he was captured and executed.
Lack of Coordination: In '95, Philippine police investigating a fire and explosion learned the details of plans to blow up 11 airliners over the Pacific, as well as to fly a plane into CIA headquarters. The individual involved also admitted having attended several U.S. flight schools. This information was not combined with Phoenix FBI findings that a number of Middle-East men with a hatred of America - one had bin Laden photo on his wall. another made calls to a Palestinian terrorist, still another was asking about airport security, and they had a "fatwah" that commericial airplanes were legitimate targets. Nor was it combined with the Minneapolis' finding that Moussaoui was similarly trying to learn to fly large jets, nor a like finding in Oklahoma City. The CIA did track two 9/11 terrorists to the U.S. (who had taken U.S. flight training) - but failed to even notify the FBI. Worse yet, when Minneapolis FBI agents were frustrated in their efforts to have Moussaoui's computer searched (refused because "no crime had been committed") and tried to notify the CIA - they were reprimanded.
The CIA attempted to prosecute Robert Baer (one of its top operatives) for supposedly trying to assassinate Sadam Hussein, per Iranian intelligence. It then claimed credit for stopping several Millenium attacks (actually accomplished via alert Custom's official), and for "thwarting" terrorist attacks after simply nabbing individuals entering with false documents. Also determined that a small boat attack against a U.S. warship was not possible, prior to the U.S.S. Cole bombing.
Lack of Capable Staff: In the early 1990s, the CIA had nobody in Iraq. Subsequent intelligence buildup involved adding staff attached to embassies who largely stayed inside and filed reports. Prior "housecleanings" had moved away from rewarding staff for recruiting spies, and instead focused on diversity, and avoiding recruitment of those with prior criminal or terrorist backgrounds. Clinton administration further weakened efforts by refocusing counter-intelligence on antii-abortion bombings - despite the FBI believing that Islamic terrorism was a much greater problem.
Sudan offered intelligence on bin Laden, and even to arrest him. Clinton administration did not follow-up, and the offer evaporated upon the erroneous bombing of a Sudanese pharmaceutical plant.
Former CIA Director Woolsey: Prior to 9/11, several times each year some crazy person would get into a cockpit, and the call would go out to strengthen the doors. NOTHING HAPPENED! (Was the ONE simple action that likely prevented 9/11.)
A little right biased.......2005-09-09
This was a informative book that outlined what Gertz thought was the reason Sept 11th happened. Though these were problems left over from countless decades of neglect to the intellgence community Gertz seems to protray this as the cause of failure. It is a combination af manyy things and to point your finger at one aspect of the pie is ludicris. The book does make a good point on how politics get in the way of policy. "It is what you do and not what you say, if your not part of the future than get out of the way." Stop pissing around and playing favorites and get the job done!
Excellent reminder of how 9.11 was a complete failure for .......2005-05-12
both the CIA and FBI. Mr. Gertz, the excellent correspondent for the excellent (meaning not anti-Bush/republican NY Times/Wash. Post/CNN/CBS/ABC,etc.) Washington Times does an excellent job in explaining how 9.11 could have been prevented. Examples include the lack of adequately trained translators, CIA apprehension in "penetrating" al-Qaeda, and the 1970 era of anti-CIA political machinatiions that decimated the US intelligence. Also, Mr. Gertz details the lack of attention paid to the intelligence community during eight years of Bill/Hillary/Madeline/fat Al Gore/Sandy stolen documents Berger/et al. Binny struck in 93, 95, 96, 98, and 2000 (and many aborted/thwarted attacks) and all we got from that administration was some cruise missiles and an exploded milk factory in Sudan (while cowardly running from Somalia). This all led to the tragedy of 9.11 (and now the madman Kim Jong-il.)
Mr. Gertz does offer many solutions to the problems with many quote from senior intelligence officials (thank you, James Woolsey).
Thank you for the great work Mr. Gertz.
"Breakdown" Wears Blinders.......2005-03-04
"Breakdown: How America's Intelligence Failures Led to September 11" by Bill Gertz provides an operational history of America's spy community.
While his credentials and writing ability are beyond reproach, Gertz fails miserably by simplistically concluding that politics ruined our intelligence gathering system. Without mentioning the bloody, destabilizing covert actions that compelled legislative intervention, Gertz blames congressional panels "packed with liberal Democrats who assumed that U. S. intelligence agencies posed a threat to American democracy and engaged in wide criminal activity."
To agree with Gertz, one must ignore scores of corporate-friendly coups supported by the CIA in the last half century. For a more complete examination of intelligence misdeeds, read "Endless Enemies: The Making of an Unfriendly World" by Jonathan Kwitny.
By taking a partisan stance to draw a political conclusion, Gertz fails to put the blame where it belongs; on the hubris ridden, bureaucratic Boys Club that the intelligence service has become. Sycophancy and conformity cross party lines, and smother the creative thinkers in our nation's intelligence community.
Book Description
The commanding study of Marxism, now in one masterful volume with a new preface and epilogue by the author.
From philosopher Leszek Kolakowski, one of the giants of twentieth-century intellectual history, comes this highly influential study of Marxism. Written in exile, this "prophetic work" presents, according to the Library of Congress, "the most lucid and comprehensive history of the origins, structure, and posthumous development of the system of thought that had the greatest impact on the twentieth century." Kolakowski traces the intellectual foundations of Marxist thought from Plotonius through Lenin, Lukacs, Sartre, and Mao. He reveals Marxism to be "the greatest fantasy of our century...an idea that began in Promethean humanism and culminated in the monstrous tyranny of Stalinism." In a brilliant coda, he examines the collapse of international Communism in light of the last tumultuous decades. Main Currents of Marxism remains the indispensable book in its field.
Customer Reviews:
A Monumental work.......2007-02-21
This compilation is a monumental work of research, an ecnyclopedic description of Marxist thought from the beggining to the 1970s. It begins before Marx, going back to ancient Greece and early Christianity in exmaining the dialectic that led to Hegel and thence to Marx. The first book is devoted to this discussion and Marx. The second and third volume examines other thinkers such as Bakunin, Gramsci and Lukacs. This is truly a masterwork, one to wade through at your own pace. Great excerpts highlight Proudhoun, Stalinism and Leninism and even Maoism.
A fascinating book of great depth and understanding, hefty.
Seth J. Frantzman
Read it and weep!.......2007-01-12
This one-volume edition of Kolakowski's three-volume demolition of Marxism is superb. As a friend once remarked, "More than this, one cannot do."
There are still Marxists and pseudo-Marxists among us, but one doubts that they have the candlepower or integrity to sit down and read through this masterpiece.
A High Point of Intellectual History.......2006-12-11
This is an outstanding description and analysis of the history of Marxism as a philosophic enterprise and doctrine. Kolakowski's goal is a fair and lucid history of Marxism as an intellectual enterprise. This is a highly ambitious undertaking requiring familiarity with a huge range of writers and thinkers, ranging from famous figures like Marx and Hegel to obscure 19th and 20th century ideologues. Kolakowski also appears to be remarkably well versed in the secondary literature on Marxism as well. The breadth and depth of scholarship is remarkable and is matched by Kolakowski's lucid exposition. Considerably credit has to be given to the translator, PS Falla, for the fluent English. Main Currents is divided into 3 volumes, the first covering the origins of Marxism and Marx himself, the second devoted to the apogee of Marxist thought, and the last to history of Marxism since the Russian revolution.
Kolokowski begins in an apparently surprising place; the Neoplatonism of the Classical world. He points out that some of of the themes implicit in Marx have very deep roots. The ideas of man alienating aspects of his essence and then being restored to completion in a dramatic and catastrophic event are ancient. Kolakowski traces these ideas and the accompanying aspects of eschatology and soteriology through major philosophers and theologians of both the Classical and Medieval period into the end of the 18th century. He then moves to a brilliant description of the Hegelian - Idealist tradition that forms the immediate background of Marx's work. Kolakowski's analysis of Marx's wholesale modification of Hegel's concepts and his synthesis of Hegelian thought with the Romantic ideals of early 19th century socialism and economic ideas is simply the best description of this difficult subject I have ever encountered. He then moves through a careful chronological reconstruction of Marx's thought, emphasizing the continuity from Marx's earliest substantial work to the last completed parts of Capital. Kolakowski particularly highlights the key role of the concept of alienation in Marx's thought. The description of Marx is lucid and evenhanded. Kolakowski is very respectful of Marx's brilliance as a thinker and provides outstanding discussions of difficult concepts like Marx's concept of surplus value and his concept of history. Kolakowski's exposition gives a very strong sense of why Marx's system was so attractive to generations of intellectuals. This is not to suggest that Kolakowski is uncritical. Quite the opposite. Kolakowski's critique of key issues in Marx such as the concept of surplus value or the claims of historical materialism are ruthlessly effective.
The second volume covers the period from death of Engels to the Bolshevik Revolution. This is also approximately the period of the Second International. Kolakowski describes this as the "Golden Age" of Marxist thought, a period characterized by a diversity of Marxist thinkers and continued interaction of Marxists with other intellectual traditions. This volume has all the virtues of Vol. 1., exhibiting Kolakowski's remarkable command of Marxist and general philosophical history, his solid knowledge of European history, a fluid writing style, and his incisive judgement about the subjects under discussion. In the the first half of this volume, Kolakowski shows the interesting diversity of the Marxist tradition during this period. This includes both a variety of interpretations of Marx and also the interaction of Marxism with other philosophical traditions, such as the Kantian revival of the late 19th century. Kolakowski covers some figures not thought of usually as part of the Marxist mainstream, such as Sorel and Jean Jaures, as well as illuminating discussions of the Revisionist and Austro-Marxist movements.
The second half of this volume is devoted to the pregnant subject of Russian Marxism. Kolakowski provides a very nice overview of the relevant Russian intellectual history leading up to a detailed discussion of various Russian Marxists. This concludes with an intensive examination of the work and career of Lenin, who is presented as a mediocre thinker but essentially as a successful leader of the cult that founded the Soviet state.
The third volume covers the decline of Marxism as a viable intellectual enterprise. Kolakowski presents the decline as occurring in two different ways. The first and most important is the development of Marxism in its Leninist-Stalinist form in which certain aspects of Marxism were emphasized by Lenin to develop the ideology that came to underpin the Soviet State and its Eastern European conquests. Kolakowski argues convincingly that the resulting ideology was not a "deformation" or distortion of Marx but rather a logical though far from inevitable interpretation of Marx's doctrines. With the articulation of the Soviet state and the cult of Stalin, this process involved the impoverishment of Marxist thinking, disconnection from other philosophical traditions, and ultimate evolution into a sterile ideology used solely to justify totalitarianism. Providing an accurate historical analysis of this phenomenon required Kolakowski to read not only figures of real importance like Lenin and Stalin but also the painful but necessary task of thoroughly reading a number of minor Stalinist ideologues.
The second aspect of the Breakdown is Kolakowski's analysis of post-Stalinist Marxism including such varied figures as Gramsci, the School of Frankfort, and others. By and large, this is a depiction of an essentially decadent intellectual tradition though Kolakowski writes relatively sympathetically of figures for whom he has some respect such as Habermas and Gramsci. Kolakowski has a very evenhanded writing style but his treatment of some of these individuals is harshly critical without using hyperbolic language. His chapter on Marcuse is a textbook example of intellectual demolition without name calling. One of the most interesting treatments in the book is that of Gyorgy Lukacs. Kolakowski presents Lukacs as someone melding both aspects of the breakdown. Kolakowski clearly respects Lukacs as man of considerable intellect. Lukacs' judgements on Marx, notably his analysis of the role of Marx's Hegelianism, his emphasis on alienation, the need to interpret history as a teleological process, and others, mirror Kolakowski's own analysis and may well have influenced the younger Kolakowski. Kolakowski also demonstrates as well that the essential thrust of Lukacs' work was to provide a sophisticated defense of Stalinism, a morally and intellectually bankrupt undertaking.
Marxism as a vital intellectual tradition is probably, as Kolakowski argues, at a dead end. Still, achieving an understanding of the history of the last century is impossible without understanding the history and role of Marxism. The superb book is an invaluable resource in any effort to understand the events of the last century.
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Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
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Handbook of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
ASIN: 0521852749 |
Book Description
Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is an emerging technique for determining elemental composition. With the ability to analyse solids, liquids and gases with little or no sample preparation, it is more versatile than conventional methods and is ideal for on-site analysis. This is the first comprehensive reference explaining the fundamentals of the LIBS phenomenon, its history and its fascinating applications across eighteen chapters written by recognized leaders in the field. Over 300 illustrations aid understanding. This book will be of significant interest to researchers in chemical and materials analysis within academia and industry.
Average customer rating:
- Good book for beginners in LIBS
- An excellent sourcebook!
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Handbook of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
David A. Cremers , and
Leon J. Radziemski
Manufacturer: Wiley
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Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
ASIN: 0470092998 |
Book Description
Starting from fundamentals and moving through a thorough discussion of equipment, methods, and techniques, this text provides a unique reference source for this important new analysis method. The authors use a combination of tutorial discussions ranging from basic principles up to more advanced descriptions along with extensive figures and photographs to clearly explain topics addressed in the text. It is intended that the data tables will be located within the Education section of SpectroscopyNOW.com
Provides a thorough but understandable discussion of the basic principles, instrumentation, methodology, and sampling procedures of the method based on atomic emission spectroscopy.
- Presents a discussion of the many advantages of the method along with limitations, to provide the reader a balanced overview of capabilities of the method
- Presents an overview of some real-world applications of the method
- Provides an up-to-date list of references to LIBS literature and a unique list of element detection limits using a uniform analysis method
Customer Reviews:
Good book for beginners in LIBS.......2007-08-29
I also happened to read the entire book in one sitting :) Being relatively new to LIBS, I found the book very interesting and helpful in understanding its various facets, more importantly the potential developments in the field of LIBS.
An excellent sourcebook!.......2006-12-22
I just read The Handbook of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy straight through in one sitting - it is a wonderful book that will be useful for those just starting in LIBS or those specialists needing a concise summary of a particular area with a current set of references.
As a LIBS researcher (U.C. San Diego) and practitioner (Photon Machines, Inc.), my hat is off to Dave Cremers and Lee Radziemski for a terrific contribution. If you're interested in LIBS, I recommend this book!
Book Description
Get off your skateboard and pick up that guitar! This book/CD pack teaches the unforgettable riffs and licks of the kings of modern punk/pop! Includes thorough analysis of a dozen tunes: Adam's Song * All the Small Things * Anthem Part II * Dammit * Don't Leave Me * Dumpweed * First Date * Man Overboard * Pathetic * The Rock Show * Stay Together for the Kids * What's My Age Again?, plus an introduction and info on Tom's gear.
Customer Reviews:
incredibly flawed.......2005-09-24
its odd because the writing itself in the book is very good. The Introduction is surprisingly entertaining to read. But after that the book falls short
Pros:
Good Writing
Cons:
Where is the bridge to "Dammit"?
What is up with the interlude for "Stay Together for the kids"?
Where is the second half of the main riff for "adams song"
Where is the second guitar part on the end of "dammit"
Its called a "tabliture" book for a reason. dont write how the music is played in scentences and paragraphs.
Its funny because, whats there is good.
Theres just not enough there
Great for beginning guitarists, or any for that matter.......2005-03-23
This book is the tablature for most of Blink 182's singles throughout the years. I will tell you that this book is very very fun to play, even if you don't like Blink 182's music. It is quite simple, and it has that catchy sound to it. When I got this book I was quite amateur on guitar (pretty much still am), but it didn't take long to master all of these songs. Basically, all the songs contained in the book are jam-packed with easy-to-play power chords and any intros involving picking are for the most part simple.
I also enjoy the fact that as you go through a song, there will be a paragraph labeled "Performance Tip" and it will give you a hint on the fingering for a certain part of a song which is so helpful and makes things so easy. This book really advanced my skill on guitar by that one feature alone because when I try to play a lot of other songs I will remember the fingering on a Blink song and it helps with it. It's a good thing.
Another great thing about this book is that it comes with a CD featuring a breakdown of each song in the book. Most of the tracks played on the CD have a faster version and they slow it down so you can catch everything that goes on. This is also a very helpful feature. It is nice to be able to hear it slowed down because on the tabs some things look kind of confusing or don't sound right the way you try to play it and then you just pop in the CD and away you go, and if that still doesn't help, you can slow it down and take it all in.
One other neato thing about this book is that it has some background info on the songs. I learned some interesting stuff about the band and the writing of a few of the songs. It is always fun to learn trivial things.
So, in all, if you are beginning at the guitar and would like to learn some simple "punk", get this book. If you'd like to learn some classic Blink 182 songs, perfect. If you'd like to impress your friends with all those songs they used to sing along with on the radio, there you go.
Most of all, if you want to have some good old fun, get this book, I hope you aren't disappointed.
Book Description
Managing Projects Large and Small: The Fundamental Skills for Delivering on Cost and On Time
When it comes to project management, success lies in the details. This book walks managers through every step of project oversight from start to finish. Thanks to the book's comprehensive information on everything from planning and budgeting to team building and after-project reviews, managers will master the discipline and skills they need to achieve stellar results without wasting time and money.
The Harvard Business Essentials series is for managers at all levels but is especially relevant for new managers. It offers on-the-spot guidance, coaching, and tools on the most relevant topics in business. Each book includes the critical information that managers need on a given topic-from budgeting to hiring to communication to strategy-and offers interactive tools and worksheets that translate advice into action. Providing ready answers to day-to-day issues, these guides make sound, trusted mentoring advice available whenever managers need it.
Other Books in the HBE Series:
Managing Change and Transition
Hiring and Keeping the Best People
Finance for Managers
Business Communications
Innovation
Negotiation
Customer Reviews:
Simple and useful.......2007-02-09
This book is authored very readably. The anecdotes support and reinforce the solid content and advice presented. It is based in reality and offers best practices rather than just offering theory. I don't find myself getting bogged down in terminology as I have with some other books.
Essential to any executive's "tool box".......2006-08-29
This is one of the volumes in the Harvard Business Essentials Series. Each offers authoritative answers to the most important questions concerning its specific subject. The material in this book is drawn from a variety of sources which include the Harvard Business School Press and the Harvard Business Review as well as Harvard ManageMentor_, an online service. I strongly recommend the official Harvard Business Essentials Web site (www.elearning.hbsp.org/businesstools) which offers free interactive versions of tools, checklists, and worksheets cited in this book and other books in the Essentials series. Each volume is indeed "a highly practical resource for readers with all levels of experience." And each is by intent and in execution solution-oriented. Although I think those who have only recently embarked on a business career will derive the greatest benefit, the material is well-worth a periodic review by senior-level executives.
Credit Richard Luecke with pulling together a wealth of information and counsel from various sources. He is also the author of several other books in the Essentials series. In this instance, he was assisted by a subject advisor, Richard D. Austin, a member of the Technology and Operations Management faculty at the Harvard Business School. Together, they have carefully organized the material within 12 chapters.
1. Project Management as a Process (four phases)
2. The Cast of Characters (i.e. who's who in project management)
3. A Written Charter ("your marching orders")
4. A Framework for Action (i.e. important first steps)
5. Work Breakdown (i.e. from huge job to manageable tasks)
6. Scheduling the Work ("put the horse before the cart")
7. Adjustments and Trade-Offs (i.e. more fine-tuning)
8. Managing Risk ("scanning the hazy horizon")
9. Project Adaptation (i.e. dealing with what you could not or did not anticipate)
10. Getting Off on the Right Foot (i.e., project needs to keep in mind)
11. Keeping on Track (i.e. maintaing control)
12. The Closedown Phase (i.e. wrapping up)
I especially appreciate the provision of a "Summing Up" section at the conclusion of each chapter, and, the provision also of two appendices: "Useful Implementation Tools" and "A Guide to Effective Meetings." Re the appendices, all executives should possess and continuously upgrade a "tool kit" even if what is needed this week or this month requires entirely different "tools" later. One of the most important value-added benefits of the "Essentials" series is that each of its volumes includes a number of "tools" relevant to the given subject and an explanation of how to use them effectively.
With regard to the advice provided on meetings (probably the single greatest time-waster), it is sensible but sparse. Years ago, I became convinced that most meetings are convened to discuss what needs to be discussed rather than to discuss what needs to be done. And even when the latter, more often than not, the "PTD Principle" is ignored (i.e. P = person, T = task, and D = deadline). I now presume to share my own advice.
1. Schedule a meeting only when it is absolutely necessary.
2. Include only those who must be present.
3. In advance, inform everyone involved what the meeting's specific objectives are.
NOTE: No more than three objectives per meeting.
4. Limit the discussion entirely to achieving the specified objective(s).
5. Encourage dissent.
NOTE: If two people in the group agree on everything, one of them is useless.
6. Have zero tolerance of gabbers.
7. Strictly follow the "PTD Principle."
8. Follow-up with everyone re who must do what and by when.
9. Have zero tolerance of slackers.
10. If someone suggests another meeting, see Point #1.
Other than Appendix B, the material which Luecke and Austin provide is first-rate. I highly recommend it to decision-makers in all organizations (regardless of size or nature) and especially to those who are now preparing for a business career or have recently embarked on one. Effective and efficient management of work at all levels and within all areas of any organization is absolutely essential. However, what Peter Drucker suggested more than 40 years ago is even more relevant now than ever before: "There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all."
Book Description
For generations, influential thinkers--often citing the tragic polarization that took place during Germany's Great Depression--have suspected that people's loyalty to democratic institutions erodes under pressure and that citizens gravitate toward antidemocratic extremes in times of political and economic crisis. But do people really defect from democracy when times get tough? Do ordinary people play a leading role in the collapse of popular government?
Based on extensive research, this book overturns the common wisdom. It shows that the German experience was exceptional, that people's affinity for particular political positions are surprisingly stable, and that what is often labeled polarization is the result not of vote switching but of such factors as expansion of the franchise, elite defections, and the mobilization of new voters. Democratic collapses are caused less by changes in popular preferences than by the actions of political elites who polarize themselves and mistake the actions of a few for the preferences of the many. These conclusions are drawn from the study of twenty cases, including every democracy that collapsed in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in interwar Europe, every South American democracy that fell to the Right after the Cuban Revolution, and three democracies that avoided breakdown despite serious economic and political challenges.
Unique in its historical and regional scope, this book offers unsettling but important lessons about civil society and regime change--and about the paths to democratic consolidation today.
Book Description
Insider tips and advice for men on the roller-coaster ride called pregnancy and childbirth--the ideal gift for any expectant Father's Day
James Barron, two-time dad, has written a funny, down-to-earth, and practical book that every man needs when his wife is expecting a baby. He offers suggestions on what to do (and how to act!) from those first moments of anticipation to the main event, including:
- Helping her deal with her physical and emotional changes
- Early pregnancy sex (getting used to the new constraints)
- Keeping up with insurance papers and other forms
- Dealing with your fears that something will go wrong
- Middle pregnancy sex (enjoyable surprise!)
- The top ten things never to say to a pregnant woman
- Questions you should ask the obstetrician
- Late pregnancy sex (challenging, but possible)
- Starting out--the first six weeks of fatherhood
This unique book will bring a smile or two to the men--and to the women who love them--while providing precious assistance to make pregnancy the experience of a lifetime.
Customer Reviews:
Must have, must have, must have.......2007-04-28
I bought this book for my husband for my first pregnancy and it presented us with plenty of opportunity for discussion and oh, heavens above, more laughs than I could count. Barron's frank (some would say blunt) look at pregnancy through a man's eyes was soooooo refreshing. I was so happy to have found a book that would clue my hubby into what was going on without being preachy or boring. Sure, there are "woman generalizations," but it's lets the reader in on an honest look at pregancy, which was a welcome change from other books geared toward daddy to be's. I have just learned I am about to become an aunt and I am ordering this book for my brother - if I remember correctly, anyone who's living with a hormonal pregnant woman deserves a little laughter in their lives :)!
I can't believe some of the things he says.......2006-12-27
My husband and I read this book and were amazed at how he generalizes all women to have the same thoughts and feelings as his wife, and their pregnancies to occur just like hers did. Not only that, but he gives incredibly inane advice. For instance, he highly recommends that men carry plastic cups with them wherever they go so their wives can use them when a bathroom isn't available. Maybe it's just me, but as a woman, I can't pee in a cup over a toilet, much less in a car or on a plane, like he suggests. Another beauty is when he tells guys to give their wives a massage and, just before she falls into a pleasant sleep, to ask her to return the favor in hopes of getting her "in the mood". This sounds like something that would start an argument instead.
He also advises men to be dishonest with their wives when asked dangerous questions about how they look, etc. He claims that it is a man's job to make his wife feel sexy, no matter what. I guess this is true if your wife can't handle the honesty like his probably doesn't, but I'm a grown up and simply don't ask questions I don't want to know the true answers to. But if I do ask a question like that, I'm really hoping for honesty from the one person I trust to give it to me.
I say don't buy this book. My friend recommends "The Birth Partner" which we just purchased and hope is better.
humourous read.......2006-10-14
For our second time around, I wanted to see what my husband could learn and now that I have read it, I will definitely tell him it's a "must read".
Made me laugh, made me think.......2006-03-18
So many books on the market about pregnancy focus on the medical aspect of what is growing in your wife's little belly, and not how that little thing is changing your wife and life forever! This book describes to a 'T' how this life changing event reeks havoc on everyone involved in the process, and it does it in a way that is bust-a-gut funny. Before I read this book, I was like "what the heck is wrong with my wife?" After reading this book, I was more like "Ohhh, I know why she just ripped my head off... she hates the smell of carrots!" Great book, fast and fun read, a must read for a new dad. I've bought it for every father to be, and they in turn have done the same.
Very funny, very helpful father book.......2006-01-31
I bought my husband this book and he barely put it down. What was more fun is that he read it to me and we both laughed together. Yes at times it was a bit much but the overall ideas and understandings were quite helpful for both of us, but really it gave my husband a male take on things. I looked through other books but they seemed so long and not as reader friendly as this book is. This book is easy to pick up and put down whenever you want. I highly recommend it.
This is our first baby and it gave him a great idea of what to expect.
Books:
- The Road (Oprah's Book Club)
- The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero
- The Stand: Expanded Edition: For the First Time Complete and Uncut (Signet)
- Unto the Breach (Paladin of Shadows, Book 4)
- USS Los Angeles: The Navy's Venerable Airship and Aviation Technology
- Waterloo: New Perspectives: The Great Battle Reappraised
- Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives
- Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life
- Wisdom of the Mystic Masters
- World of Warcraft Dungeon Companion
Books Index
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![How to Make a Pregnant Woman Happy [Bargain Price] [Paperback] by Reiss, Uzzi](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0007M2K8G.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
