Wednesday 23 February 2011

Entrepreneurship and Its Economic Significance, Behavior and Effects



Entrepreneurship and Its Economic Significance, Behavior and Effects
Maria V. Bradshaw, Patricia T. Carrington | 2009-01-01 00:00:00 | Nova Science Publishers | 247 | Management
Entrepreneurship is the practice of starting new organisations or revitalising mature organisations, particularly new businesses generally in response to identified opportunities. Entrepreneurship is often a difficult undertaking, as a vast majority of new businesses fail. Entrepreneurial activities are substantially different depending on the type of organisation that is being started. Entrepreneurship ranges in scale from solo projects (even involving the entrepreneur only part-time) to major undertakings creating many job opportunities. Many 'high-profile' entrepreneurial ventures seek venture capital or angel funding in order to raise capital to build the business. Angel investors generally seek returns of 20-30 per cent and more extensive involvement in the business. Many kinds of organisations now exist to support would-be entrepreneurs, including specialised government agencies, business incubators, science parks, and some NGOs. This book presents the latest thinking in this vibrant and essential area.
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Creative cloth doll couture



Creative cloth doll couture
Patti Medaris Culea | 2006-01-01 00:00:00 | Quarry Books | 128 | Do It Yourself
This is the only book available on making clothing for art dolls. Moreover, it not only includes a pattern for various wardrobe staples, but the author offers basic garment making techniques, as well as information on decorative fabric treatments and embellishments. Culea provides tips and techniques for creating everything from a vintage 1940s ensemble to a 1960s type of outfit. There are techniques for dyeing, painting, and stamping to create a beautiful evening gown and how to drape a doll body to create your own pattern. Professional tips, ideas for embellishments, cutting-edge techniques, short cuts, pattern making ideas, and more are also included.
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Indian Fights: New Facts on Seven Encounters



Indian Fights: New Facts on Seven Encounters
J. W. Vaughn | 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | University of Oklahoma Press | 282 | Native American
Reviews
Vaughn's Time/Distance Analysis of the Fetterman Fight is first rate.His knowledge of battlefield terrain is superb.His analysis was one of the first to suggest that it was probably Grummond and/or Brown,and not Fetterman,who were responsible for the disaster.The cavalry,led by these two officers,fell for the decoy trap and outran their infantry support,forcing Fetterman to risk sacrificing his infantry to come to the aid of the surviving cavalrymen.
Reviews
This book by J.W. Vaughn who has authored other books covering Plains Indian, U.S.Army conflicts, brings details discovered by his own archeological work to throw fresh light on seven Indian versus Army battles. The best known of these are the Fetterman fight, the Hayfield fight, the Rosebud Campaign and Major Reno's action in the valley at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Mr. Vaughn is a serious historian who brings an analytical mind to interpreting the signifance of the battle related artefacts he unearthed at the various battle sites. His findings open up fresh ideas on how these seven engagements developed and whilst his conclusions may not receive universal approval, his views will command respect and cause all those interested in the history of the Plains Indian wars to reconsider their own beliefs on exactly what occurred during these seven actions.

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Mastering AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD LT 2007 (Mastering)



Mastering AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD LT 2007 (Mastering)
| 2006-08-07 00:00:00 | | 0 | AutoCAD


The World's Bestselling AutoCAD Resource Now Fully Updated for the 2007 Release

There's a reason why Mastering AutoCAD is so popular year after year. Loaded with concise explanations, step-by-step instructions, and hands-on projects, this comprehensive reference and tutorial from award-winning author George Omura has everything you need to become an AutoCAD expert.

If you're new to AutoCAD, the tutorials will help you build your skills right away. If you're an AutoCAD veteran, Omura's in-depth explanations of the latest and most advanced features, including all the new 3D tools, will turn you into an AutoCAD pro. Whatever your experience level and however you use AutoCAD, you'll refer to this indispensable reference again and again.

Coverage Includes Creating and developing AutoCAD drawings Drawing curves and applying solid fills Effectively using hatches, fields, and tables Manipulating dynamic blocks and attributes Linking drawings to databases and spreadsheets Keeping track of your projects with the Sheet Set Manager Creating cutaway and x-ray views to show off the interior of your 3D model Rendering realistic interior views with natural lighting Giving a hand-drawn look to 3D views Easily creating complex, free-form 3D shapes in minutes Making spiral forms with the Helix and Sweep tools Exploring your model in real time with the Walk and Fly tools Creating animated AVI files of your 3D projects Customizing AutoCAD using AutoLISP(r) Securing and authenticating your files Sharing files with non-AutoCAD users

Featured on the CD

Load the trial version of AutoCAD 2007 and get started on the lessons in the book. The CD also includes project files and finished drawings for all the book's exercises, a symbols library, a 2D and 3D parts library, and extra utilities to increase your productivity. Advance your skills even more with bonus chapters on VBA, Active X, architectural solid modeling, and working with external databases.

`Mastering AutoCAD 2007 has been fully updated to cover all of AutoCAD 2007's new or enhanced features including modeling, visual styles, lights and materials, rendering and animation, and changes users asked for in commonly used commands. This excellent revision to the bestselling Mastering AutoCAD series features concise explanations, focused examples, step-by-step instructions, and hands-on projects for both AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT.`
?Eric Stover, AutoCAD Product Manager

`Omura's explanations are concise, his graphics are excellent, and his examples are practical.`
?CADalyst

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

User review
100% Satisfactory
I am happy with buying the books from Amazon. The mail service is incredibly wonderful. I say that the price of those books is reasonably low even if new and included the tuition CDs than my developed country. Those books are for the professional. I am going to master my computer skills with those book. I enjoy slow-reading those books than it is trouble to borrow and return the due books from library.

User review
Very good!
Very good reference book for beginers and advanced users as well. It really helped on learning many of the new cool features of AutoCAD 2007.

User review
I've been reading this author' series for years
He explains very well. enough detail to be valuable to experts and simple enough for intermediate. Very Good.


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Fibrous Dysplasia - A Medical Dictionary, Bibliography, and Annotated Research Guide to Internet References



Fibrous Dysplasia - A Medical Dictionary, Bibliography, and Annotated Research Guide to Internet References
ICON Health Publications | 2004-10-01 00:00:00 | ICON Health Publications | 124 | Online Searching
In March 2001, the National Institutes of Health issued the following warning: "The number of Web sites offering health-related resources grows every day. Many sites provide valuable information, while others may have information that is unreliable or misleading." Furthermore, because of the rapid increase in Internet-based information, many hours can be wasted searching, selecting, and printing.This book was created for medical professionals, students, and members of the general public who want to conduct medical research using the most advanced tools available and spending the least amount of time doing so.

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Special Edition Using Microsoft Visual Studio



Special Edition Using Microsoft Visual Studio
Don Benage | 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | Que Pub | 840 | Development
Special Edition Using Visual Studio is a complete reference and tutorial for developers who want to learn the new tools and features of this programming suite. Shows the reader how to use the Developer Studio integrated development environment (IDE) to build Visual C++, Visual J++, Visual Basic, and Visual InterDev applications. The book contains unique coverage demonstrating cross tool development and how to build integrated programs and select the best tool for a task. An entire section is devoted to team development topics such as the new object repository, Project Modeler, and Visual SourceSafe for version control.
  • Shows the reader how to use the Developer Studio integrated development environment (IDE) to build Visual C++, Visual J++, Visual Basic, and Visual InterDev applications
  • Contains unique coverage demonstrating cross tool development and how to build integrated programs and select the best tool for a task
  • Features an entire section is devoted to team development topics such as the new object repository, Project Modeler, and Visual SourceSafe for version control
  • CD ROM contains the Developer Library with reference works, such as SE ISAPI, and extensive coverage of each of the individual programming tools in the form of Special Edition Using books. Plus, find all of the code and applications from the book


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Lies, Damned Lies, and Drug War Statistics: A Critical Analysis of Claims Made by the Office of National Drug Control Policy



Lies, Damned Lies, and Drug War Statistics: A Critical Analysis of Claims Made by the Office of National Drug Control Policy
Matthew B. Robinson,Renee G. Scherlen | 2007-01-25 00:00:00 | State University of New York Press | 268 | Criminology
Uncovers how the Office of National Drug Control Policy uses and misuses statistical evidence.
Reviews
Drug law reformers have known for years that pronouncements of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the so-called White House drug czar's office, are often less than honest, but until now their evidence has been largely anecdotal. No longer. Authors Robinson and Scherlen put a microscope to the office's official claims over several years and found it consistently lies, tells half-truths, cherry picks facts that support its conclusions, twists facts that expose its failures, withholds pertinent information if it is damaging to the office, and uses other forms of subterfuge to indicate it is winning the war on drugs when plainly it is not. To be sure this is an academic book, written for academe, but it is surprisingly well-written and powerful. The drug war has failed. This book proves it.

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The God of Hope and the End of the World



The God of Hope and the End of the World
John Polkinghorne F.R.S. K.B.E. | 2003-09-01 00:00:00 | Yale University Press | 192 | Theology
Do we live in a world that makes sense, not just now but forever? If the universe is going to end in collapse or decay, can it really be a divine creation? Is there a credible hope of a destiny beyond death? In this engaging book, a leading scientist-theologian draws on ideas from science, scripture, and theology to address these and other important questions.
Reviews
For such a simple book, this is one of the more profound books I have read in recent years (I have an MA in Theology) in any realm of Christian Theology and particularly in the area of Eschatology.
Reviews
Polkinghorne's book is a summary for the general reader of the discussions on eschatology by several scientists and theologians found in the earlier work, The End of the World and the Ends of God. However, as Polkinghorne alone wrote the latter work, it bears his mark as a well-known former scientist and current Anglican priest and writer on religious topics for the general public. The ideas he expresses would not be well-received either by doctrinaire fundamentalists, or by committed atheists. However, for the reader with an open mind, it presents a thought-provoking inquiry and meditation on the questions dealing with, to put it concisely, the meaning of it all. Does existence have a point, and if so, what is it?

Of course, as mentioned before, the author in an Anglican priest, so he writes from the Christian perspective. But there is no hint of dogmatism in what he has to say; and no apologies or lack of conviction either. Whether one agrees or disagrees with his ideas, they are stimulating. For example, in contast to most earlier theologians who speculated that any future existence must be beyond time, and thus an eternal Now, Polkinghorne points out that human beings are creatures of space and time, that cherished art-forms such as music require time, and proposes that any redeemed universe would contain some type of both space and time. Although he does not, of course, claim to know what a redeemed time would be like, he envisions the new creation as having its own history. Though it would be a history of fulfilment rather than becoming. And it would be based on the template set by the old universe, tho the new would have God as the direct underlying basis of it, rather than the laws of physics as now, based as they are on death and decay, as well as on life and creation.

To the sceptics who bemoan the seemingly inevitable boredom of an eternal existence, Polkinghorne agrees that from our current perspective, even the most fanatical golf enthusiast might begin to tire of it after his millionth game. But the new creation he looks for would be one in which everyone could explore the endless beauties, interests, and possibilities of God's truly infinite, endless nature. In such a state, there would be a tension between continuity and discontinuity: for both the universe as a whole and the resurrected beings within it,the new life would have to be substantially different from the old. At the same time, the redeemed would truly have to be continuations of what they were in this existence, not just copies. Only in this way can redemption really be redemption. All in all, this is a book that should be read by anyone curious about a modern Christian perspective on eschatological questions.
Reviews
The author is an intellectual thinker and speaks that language well. It's no surprise then that his audience will be other intellectuals. While the author talks over my head, there are many who can appreciate his writing. Afterall, it's not a sin to have an extensive vocabulary or high I.Q.!!! Only God can speak the language of 'all' people.
Reviews
I had to use my dictionary many times, and found myself rereading whole sections over, sometimes more than once. But I found the scope of Polkinghorne's book wonderful and challenging, from the physics of the Big Bang and the eschatological challenge of infinite expansion (vs. the Big Crunch) to pastoral implications for Anglican priests. This book is a condensation of a series of academic papers, certainly more dense and obscure, but it does a remarkable job of stretching our minds and perspective while still being inspriational. One of the most meaningful books of my spritual journey.
Reviews
An author is supposed to communicate with the reading audience. This book greatly misses the mark, unless of course you are a top intellectual professor. And even then you might have difficulty. The author's sentence structure is needlessly complex, and his vocabulary is filled with obscure words, rarely used in normal communication. The words are not there for any purpose other than to impress the reader with the author's intellect. I had to reread passages of the book numerous times in an attempt to comprehend what he was saying. I have two college graduate degrees, so I am no dummy. This book made my head hurt and I eventually stopped reading it.

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Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization



Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization
Akbar Ahmed | 2007-05-07 00:00:00 | Brookings Institution Press | 300 | World
"Why?" Years after September 11, we are still looking for answers. Internationally renowned Islamic scholar Akbar Ahmed knew that this question could not be answered until Islam and the West found a way past the hatred and mistrust intensified by the war on terror and the forces of globalization. Seeking to establish dialogue and understanding between these cultures, Ahmed led a team of dedicated young Americans on a daring and unprecedented tour of the Muslim world. Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization is the riveting story of their search for common ground.

From the mosques of Damascus to the madrassahs of Karachi to the homes of Jakarta, Ahmed and his companions met with Muslims from all walks of life. They listened to students and professors, presidents and prime ministers, sheikhs and cab drivers, revealing Muslim hopes and frustrations as the West has never heard before. They returned from their groundbreaking journey with both cause for concern and occasion for hope.

Rejecting stereotypes and "conventional wisdom" about Islam and its encounter with globalization, this important book offers a new framework for understanding the Muslim world. As Western leaders wage a war on terrorism, Ahmed offers insightful suggestions on how the United States can improve relations with Islamic nations and peoples. Written with equal parts compassion and urgency, Journey into Islam makes a powerful case for forming bonds across religion, race, and tradition to create lasting harmony between Islam and the West. It is essential reading for anyone concerned with the future survival of the United States as a world leader, for the individual who faces the painful changes of globalization, and for the very future of our planet.
Reviews
Feeling totally ignorant about the Muslim world, I decided to read this book which was recommended by some magazine or TV interview...don't know which. I challenge you to read it. Reading it in its entirety is the best but if you read only two chapters, let them be Chapters One and Five: An Anthropological Excursion into the Muslim World and The Clash of Civilizations?



I came away with a new enlightment of the complex relationship between our culture and theirs.
Reviews
This is book is the result of a tedious journey undertaken by Dr.Ahmed's team to get a pulse of the current Muslim reaction to globalization.

The author discusses the elements that contitute Muslim culture, tradition and pride. And then goes on to discuss how those elements have been impacted by the current crisis of globalization.



Once we understand the muslim culture and the way they think, we begin to understand why they act the way they do. Their actions have been mostly shaped by US foreign policies towards their country. The US policies shaped by the thoughts of neocons and other opportunists has led to the current state of affairs. The worst part is that it doesnt seem to be getting any better.



The book highlights the changes that could be adopted by the US government to ease tension with the middle-east. Surprsingly all that we need to do is to extend a hand of support and not be judgemental; that we be willing to keep our minds open to their cultural ideas and their way of life. It was interesting to see the author quote some of America's founding fathers and deriving inspiration from that. He is not biased in his views either. The mistakes made by the muslim nations have also been pointed out. This unbiased analysis of the situation makes for a very interesting read.



"Anything started in anger ends in shame" quotes the author. He stresses the need for all of us to shed our anger and misconception and the start process of dialogue with muslim countries so that we may all be spared of the bloody fights.

A very interesting read that I will recommend for anyone wishing to know to the other side of the story. The American media has been portraying the whole situation exactly the way politicians want it to be seen.

Anyone wishing peace and quite in the world will love this book and its ideas. Kudos to the author.
Reviews
An intelligent look at the different souls of contemporary Islam, or rather, at the different attitudes towards globalization within the muslim world. A great starting point to understand the 'other', for muslims and non-muslims alike, and a book that challenges the reader. Dr. Ahmed is especially skilled at pointing out the misunderstandings that feed the current atmosphere of hostility, and to tease out provocation from substantive message on both sides. In the end, if each side was really true to its values, there would not even be an opportunity for conflict. Will his message be loud enough to diffuse the 'conflict of civilizations'?
Reviews
Very well done and comprehensive but it would be better if you took Islam 101 and 102 first.
Reviews
This book was much needed. Unfortunately it is only a book, a drop of water in the desert, although we should never forget that single drops added up to dig the desert canyons. Much more must be done, and this requires confronting a problem not addressed by the Author.

Why are we, people of the western countries, making such a confusion between politics and religion and why, anyhow, religion appears to be the key to peace within the people referring to the three Abrahamic religions?

As modern people, living in a western democracy, we should be bound to separate Church and State. Which is not exactly achieved in too many of the western countries, USA included, and surely, despite the presence of Ahmed's Aligarh model, is not the case in the Islamic countries. Thus it appears that using a language to be appreciated by our Islamic travel mates means speaking a language that is not properly our own, although it is becoming increasingly popular in some countries having a Christian tradition.

There is a contradiction that needs been solved. I hope that our Author and other serious scholars show us how.

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Republic P-47 Thunderbolt: The Final Chapter. Latin American Air Forces Service



Republic P-47 Thunderbolt: The Final Chapter. Latin American Air Forces Service
Dan Hagedorn | 1991-01-01 00:00:00 | Phalanx Publishing | 68 | Military Science
This book encloses a whole lot of historical data, photographs and images about the service of P-47 Thunderbolts in Latin America. Although technically and historically detailed, the book is very readable. A must for Latin American aviation historians and modelers.
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Organosphophorus Chemistry (Specialist Periodical Reports) (v. 4)



Organosphophorus Chemistry (Specialist Periodical Reports) (v. 4)
S. Trippett,etc. | 1989-05-31 00:00:00 | CRC Press | 317 | Organic
Organophosphorus Chemistry provides a comprehensive annual review of the literature. Coverage includes phosphines and their chalcogenides, phosphonium salts, low coordination number phosphorus compounds, penta- and hexa-coordinated compounds, tervalent phosphorus acids, nucleotides and nucleic acids, ylides and related compounds, and phosphazenes. The series will be of value to research workers in universities, government and industrial research organisations, whose work involves the use of organophosphorus compounds. It provides a concise but comprehensive survey of a vast field of study with a wide variety of applications, enabling the reader to rapidly keep abreast of the latest developments in their specialist areas. Specialist Periodical Reports provide systematic and detailed review coverage of progress in the major areas of chemical research. Written by experts in their specialist fields the series creates a unique service for the active research chemist, supplying regular critical in-depth accounts of progress in particular areas of chemistry. For over 80 years the Royal Society of Chemistry and its predecessor, the Chemical Society, have been publishing reports charting developments in chemistry, which originally took the form of Annual Reports. However, by 1967 the whole spectrum of chemistry could no longer be contained within one volume and the series Specialist Periodical Reports was born. The Annual Reports themselves still existed but were divided into two, and subsequently three, volumes covering Inorganic, Organic and Physical Chemistry. For more general coverage of the highlights in chemistry they remain a 'must'. Since that time the SPR series has altered according to the fluctuating degree of activity in various fields of chemistry. Some titles have remained unchanged, while others have altered their emphasis along with their titles; some have been combined under a new name whereas others have had to be discontinued. The current list of Specialist Periodical Reports can be seen on the inside flap of this volume.

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Smith's Anesthesia for Infants and Children



Smith's Anesthesia for Infants and Children
Etsuro Motoyama,Peter Davis | 2005-10-28 00:00:00 | Mosby | 1120 | Surgery
The gold standard in pediatric anesthesia references is back in a thoroughly revised and updated New Edition. Once again, renowned contributors offer exhaustive discussions of basic science and clinical practice for every aspect of the specialty. A wealth of new chapters, new content, and a new DVD-ROM featuring video and color-slide presenta-tions make this resource a must-have. Anesthesia & Analgesia called the previous edition "a modern classic" and noted that "each chapter is well written, clear, and concise." * Examines nearly every area of pediatric surgery, from cardiac operations through oral procedures. * Integrates the latest practice guidelines throughout the text. * Features useful appendices that detail drug dosages, growth curves, normal values for pulmonary function tests, and a listing of common and uncommon syndromes. * Includes a DVD-ROM containing video and color-slide presentations on airway management, cardiac anesthesia, single-lung ventilation, regional anesthesia, neonatal surgery, and fetal surgery.
Reviews
The format of this book is not user friendly. I am an SRNA and I often have to refer to other texts because Smith's does not have the information that I need to prepare for a case.

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Fundamentals of the Finite Element Method for Heat and Fluid Flow



Fundamentals of the Finite Element Method for Heat and Fluid Flow
R. W. Lewis,Perumal Nithiarasu,Kankanhalli Seetharamu | 2004-05-28 00:00:00 | Wiley | 356 | Engineering
Heat transfer is the area of engineering science which describes the energy transport between material bodies due to a difference in temperature. The three different modes of heat transport are conduction, convection and radiation. In most problems, these three modes exist simultaneously. However, the significance of these modes depends on the problems studied and often, insignificant modes are neglected.

Very often books published on Computational Fluid Dynamics using the Finite Element Method give very little or no significance to thermal or heat transfer problems. From the research point of view, it is important to explain the handling of various types of heat transfer problems with different types of complex boundary conditions. Problems with slow fluid motion and heat transfer can be difficult problems to handle. Therefore, the complexity of combined fluid flow and heat transfer problems should not be underestimated and should be dealt with carefully.

This book:

  • Is ideal for teaching senior undergraduates the fundamentals of how to use the Finite Element Method to solve heat transfer and fluid dynamics problems
  • Explains how to solve various heat transfer problems with different types of boundary conditions
  • Uses recent computational methods and codes to handle complex fluid motion and heat transfer problems
  • Includes a large number of examples and exercises on heat transfer problems

In an era of large-scale computing, computational efficiency and easy to handle codes play a major part. Bearing all these points in mind, the topics covered on combined flow and heat transfer in this book will be an asset for practising engineers and postgraduate students. Other topics of interest for the heat transfer community, such as heat exchangers, are also included.
Reviews
Simply excellent! I didn't have any experience with heat transfer or finite elements and this book(alone) managed to give me all the necessary information very quickly. It's simple and easy to follow in contrary to many other books that have difficult maths and strange notations. It has many worked out examples and you can see how the FEM method works and understand it fully , although sometimes the implementation is done quite automatically!. In order to benefit the most from this book, you shouldn't skip anything because you'd be wondering later. The main drawback of this book is the explanation for the assembly of the total stiffness matrix.Basically there isn't any, apart from a simple a simple case and not the general case. But as i said before the other books are far more difficult, so this one is here to fill the gap for the first-timers. And it does a great job!

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Nuclear Models



Nuclear Models
Walter Greiner | 1996-01-01 00:00:00 | Springer | 399 | Physics
Nuclear Models is a thorough introduction to the most important concepts and methods in this field. It is for students of theoretical and experimental physics, and scientists needing a reference and exercise book for this subject. The book presents the necessary mathematical tools along with many examples and worked problems. Rather than the presentation of a large number of results, the emphasis is on a discussion of the physical ideas underlying the models and the mathematical techniques employed. Readers with a background in quantum mechanics will thus become acquainted with the necessary advanced methods from group theory and many-body physics. In addition to the standard collective and single-particle models, a number of current topics are discussed.
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Creating a Database in FileMaker Pro : Visual QuickProject Guide



Creating a Database in FileMaker Pro : Visual QuickProject Guide
| 2005-01-27 00:00:00 | | 160 | FileMaker


The problem: Your boss has demanded a database, and you don't know how to create one. It doesn't matter that it's just a simple one (for tracking invoices, inventory, and contacts), or that flexible, powerful software (FileMaker Pro 7) has already been purchased. If you've never created a database before, the task can be daunting. The solution: This low-priced, compact guide! Recognizing that you don't necessarily want or need to know about every FileMaker Pro 7 feature, this focused, four-color volume demonstrates the quickest route to creating a functional, organized database-nothing more and certainly nothing less. Using large color illustrations and a minimum of verbiage, it provides the basics you need to get going without bogging you down with detailed explanations of all of FileMaker's intricacies. It also serves as the perfect jumping-off point for more extensive database exploration-for example, through FileMaker Pro 7: Visual QuickStart Guide.



User review
Not all that useful
For such a deep program like FileMaker Pro, this is a relatively thin book. What looks to be a QuickStart Guide is actually a QuickStart Project. The project is creating a mileage tracker,,.Not exactly something everyone needs. Why not lead us through something like a contact list, which everyone needs,,.I digress. This book has large pictures and an even larger typeface to get the novice FileMaker user their first project. Like most tutorials these days, it leads you through by the nose and doesn't really explain how this could apply to other projects,,.

User review
Wow! A How-To That Actually Works,,.
This book walks the beginner and the pro through a practical FileMaker Pro project. Beginners learn relevant development techniques. Pros review processes they may have forgotten.


As with all good software programs there are a number of ways of performing tasks. FileMaker Pro is one of those good programs. The author has done a fine job of choosing a project that is well thought out and executed on a task by task basis.


There are only 6 (extremely minor), errors in this book. None of which prevent the project from being completed successfully. As a matter of fact, the author fully supports his work on an eratta page (,,.) of his Web site.


Not everything has to be done thoroughly, perfectly, completely. Unless you are writing a reference in creative computing. Many thanks to Steve Schwartz and the fine folks at Peachpit Press for this complete working document. Keep up the good work.

User review
An early work-in-progress review
(This review is a work in progress, now in its second revision. When I've finished the book, this review will be revised again. The current 3 star rating--given because Amazon requires you to assign a star rating to post a review--should be considered temporary.)


At first glance, this book looks intriguing, even if the font is so big it makes the book look more like a grade school primer. But, hey, large print is accommodating to the visually impaired, so I'll go with it. I do like the much larger and full color screen shots as compared to the tiny black and white shots in the previously established series of Visual QuickStart Guides.


OTOH, it seems like the book's designer, thrilled with finally having a full-color budget, has gone a bit overboard, colorizing a wee bit too many text words and actually ever so slightly inhibiting understanding. (And, the designer himself/herself must have been confused a little as well. For example, on page 11, the words `Destination` and `Business Purpose`, which as words you are instructed to type out and which therefore are supposed to be in color, are not.)


So, overall, I'd say the book's design is a wash. Maybe Peachpit will refine the layout/color choices in future QuickProject titles. Where the real problem lies with this book is with its content. So far I'm on page 58 (out of a purposely scant 141) and I've already come across several mistakes big enough to impair learning. For example, on page 20 the author says to `click the USE GLOBAL STORAGE (ONE VALUE FOR ALL RECORDS) check box`. Yet, even though I've followed his instructions exactly as he says--three times now--that check box CANNOT be clicked on as it is grayed out. Apparently, an important step is missing. (?)


The author lists a companion Web site, so I went there to see if there was an errata listing. Sure enough, I found a chart acknowledging several known mistakes--and NONE of them are the ones I found. (In fact, the very first listed error is in itself an apparent mistake--it references a formula on Page 3 which, unless I'm blind, isn't even in the book.)


And the section on creating calculation fields,,.hoo boy! Let's see,,.it says, I quote:


`In the Specify Calculation dialog box, create the following formula: If (not (IsEmpty (End Yr)); End Yr - Start Yr; ``)`


Huh? What the heck did I just type? While a token explanation is offered, as a non-programmer, I'm left having little idea what it is I typed by rote or why. And I certainly would not be able to construct any such formula on my own. Would a few explanatory sentences talking about general programming concepts and structure been out of line here?


Moving on to the chapters on designing a layout, things seem to improve, at least a little as far as mistakes go. One very minor mistake on page 42 regarding available formatting options for a date entry could be attributed to a glitch in FileMaker itself, perhaps. But designing a layout,,.if the way this book shows you how to design a layout is the normal FileMaker approach, then FileMaker is truly a designer-hostile program.


I come from a background as a graphic artist (23 years). QuarkXPress. PageMaker. Illustrator. You get the idea. I had made the assumption that a professional program with a pedigree as long as FileMaker's would of course provide common design tools, like user-defined guidelines and/or master pages. Well, if the chapters in this book on layout design in this book are accurate, then no such tools exist. This book has you creating and sizing boxes and then aligning them simply by typing seemingly arbitrary numbers. Example, quote:


`To align the bar with the top of the large data block, set the left edge distance to 0.333 inches and the top edge to 1.542 inches.`


OK. So, I need to be Nostradamus to determine how to size and align my items? I can't simply make some guidelines on a master layout and have everything snap to those? Well, until I finish the book and then poke around FileMaker on my own, the jury is out on whether or not the author's paint by numbers approach is valid. But, all I can say for now is, if you are a graphic artist of any type, be prepared to run in horror from how layouts are made.


--Terry Hansen


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Excel 2002 from A to Z: A Quick Reference of More Than 300 Microsoft Excel Tasks, Terms and Tricks



Excel 2002 from A to Z: A Quick Reference of More Than 300 Microsoft Excel Tasks, Terms and Tricks
| 2001-06-15 00:00:00 | | 0 | Microsoft Excel


A handy listing of entries that define important Excel 2002 terms and describe key functions, this book organizes its data alphabetically by task. With this logical organization of information, even new Excel users can get answers quickly and easily. Topics such as how to calculate a financial function, create a chart, or set up a database list are simple to access even without prior knowledge of Excel menu commands. Also provided is information on preparing for and passing the MOUS certification and descriptions of how to troubleshoot problems the new Excel user might encounter.

User review
Professional Certification Magazine Review
Perhaps the most handy reference collection we have seen come through our ProCert Labs, Stephen L. Nelson's From A To Z collection of quick reference guides really hits the spot. If you are using a Microsoft Office product (and if you are not: its time you bought yourself a computer), this handy reference guide will prove indispensable.

Stephen L. Nelson has been writing quick reference guides for some time now, and it shows in this series. Organized alphabetically, each guide excludes an index because, after all, it is one. The navigation is easy and gets right to the point. I looked up `Selecting Text` and learned that there are six different ways to do so. I discovered each of the six ways in less than half a page; a testament to the concise and straightforward instruction in store for every reader.

And don't let me fool you; the information available in each guide addresses the complex as well as the mundane. You will find quick reference tidbits on everything from Autoformatting (a bane to every Word user) to managing Text Formulas in Excel (which most of us would use if we knew they existed.)

For you Access jockeys, having the Access 2002 From A To Z quick reference at hand will make Applying Filters as easy as cooking with Ron Popeil. The finer points of PowerPoint are described in understandable detail, and if you are looking to quell your questions about Outlook, you will find them the fastest in this quick reference.

Bonus Situation: MOUS

Aside from being a valuable desktop reference, each quick reference guide includes information about passing the Microsoft Office User Specialist exam, and promises that the guide includes all the information you will need to pass the test. Our quick review confirmed this, making these books an excellent choice for those of you who are working toward MOUS certification.

The current series of quick reference guides includes:

Word 2002 From A To Z
Excel 2002 From A To Z
PowerPoint 2002 From A To Z
Access 2002 From A To Z
Outlook 2002 From A To Z
Windows 2002 From A To Z
Each quick reference is about 200 pages, with the exception of the Windows XP quick reference, which tops out at 250. Under twelve bucks apiece, you can't miss with any one of the From A To Z quick references from Redmond Technologies Press. Each book individually provides excellent coverage of every function of its technology, and the entire collection represents a comprehensive must have for anyone who relies on the MS Office suite for advanced productivity.

User review
The Author Comments
I got the idea to do this book (and the other `From A to Z` guides) when my longtime publisher Microsoft Press decided not to continue publishing my Field Guides and Pocket Guides series. Those books, which sold more than 1.5 million copies, were really popular,,. but didn't make the publisher as much money as other more expensive books. Redmond Technology Press, fortunately, was happy to publish new, updated, improved A to Z style references,,. and that's how the `From A to Z` series and the Excel 2002 From A to Z book come to be.
I should explain a couple of important points about the Excel A to Z book. First, it uses an alphabetical organization so you would not sit down and read this book like you might read a novel or a regular computer book. Rather, you look up an Excel task or term in the same way that you might look up a word's definition in a dictionary or an article in an encyclopedia. Second, these books are really targeted at the beginning and intermediate user. An A to Z guide, like the Excel From A to Z book, probably covers much of the same ground, for example, as a Dummies book, a Complete Idiots Guide, or a Step by Step book (except in that alphabetical format of course). But an A to Z guide can't cover as much information, obviously, as a 1000-page computer book. (Okay, you'll be surprised by how much ground I do cover in this book, but there is a limit as to what you can do in a 200pp book--even if one is extremely efficient.)

P.S. Amazon.com requires that I post a `star` rating of this book. I feel kind of sheepish about giving my own book a five-star review, but it really is a good book-better even than all those Field Guides and Pocket Guides I did for Microsoft Press for all those years.


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Photoshop for the Web: Covers Photoshop 5.5 and ImageReady 2.0



Photoshop for the Web: Covers Photoshop 5.5 and ImageReady 2.0
Mikkel Aaland | 1999-11-01 00:00:00 | O'Reilly Media | 244 | How-to
In this second edition, author Mikkel Aaland updatesPhotoshop for the Web to include important new techniques and workarounds for the latest release of Photoshop--version 5.5. The first edition was loaded with step-by-step examples and real-world solutions from some of the world's hottest Web sites. The second edition adds coverage of Photoshop 5.5's newest features, including a compression tool that ultimately leads to faster download times and higher quality Web graphics. This edition also details features new to version 5.0, including the changeable type tool, color profiling, and the history palette. If that's not enough, Photoshop for the Web, 2nd Edition also covers Adobe's ImageReady 2.0 Web graphics production software, and includes 64 pages of color inserts. Photoshop for the Web, 2nd Edition shows you how to use the latest version of Photoshop to create Web graphics that look great and download blazingly fast.
Photoshop for the Web is the second edition of Mikkel Aaland's excellent instructional text on Adobe's powerful image manipulation program. This time, the book focuses on version 5.5, as well as ImageReady 2, which accompanies it. Aaland's 10 years in new media production, combined with the book's added contributions from different Web designers, results in confident and clear guidance on topics ranging from how to configure Photoshop's preferences specifically for the Web to using ImageReady to create quick rollover buttons.

The opening chapters deal with tuning Photoshop appropriately for Web production (for example, optioning out of image previews for JPEG images) and adjusting photos for the Web (including using the new Web Photo Gallery feature). The middle chapters detail working with GIF and JPEG images. The last section of the book helps resolve specific problems like creating tiled and nontiled background images and navigational icons (for example, beveled buttons and bullet balls with light effects). And there is an excellent chapter on using ImageReady to create GIF animations and rollovers. Black-and-white screen shots and illustrations appear on every page, not to mention 160 color illustrations throughout the text. Appendices discuss the PNG file format and complementary third-party software.

This would be an excellent choice for beginners; a lot of the instruction is very basic. But intermediate-level users and anyone just upgrading to version 5.5 will also find that hopping around within the book can be a fast way to get acquainted with the new features of both applications. --Angelynn Grant

Topics covered: Instruction on using Adobe Photoshop 5.5 and ImageReady 2 for Web image production, including adjusting preferences appropriately, preparing photos for viewing on the Web, saving images as GIFs or JPEGs, creating background images, working with type as image, creating navigational icons, GIF animations, rollovers importing vector files into Photoshop, and using Photoshop to design Web pages.
Reviews
I noticed that this book was on the Bargain book page. Obviously with the release and already widespread acceptance of Photoshop 7, buying this book which focusses on version 4 is completely out of date. Now that Photoshop has ImageReady, using Photoshop to develop web graphics is easy and intuitive. If you are new to the graphics world, don't let the bargain price trick you.
Reviews
Simple and Short!

Buy it! Why?

The techniques showed inside will save you tremendous time developing and will help you design better websites and graphics.

I've been doing websites for 5 years, and I found some really nice tricks inside.
Reviews
Photoshop for the Web is not 'just another Photoshop book of shortcut commands and tool tips. It IS an invaluable collection of insider techniques that the experts use everyday in their combined art and occupation to exploit the usefulness of this truly amazing program. I love how this software has been so widely adopted and used in ways never imagined in its conception. The question rapidly becomes what can't Photoshop do? Mikkel does a great job of showing you this tool's versatility in an easy to follow text.
Reviews
First of all, this is not a book for beginners. I had to buy a more basic instruction manual to cover the details that this one takes for granted. But once you get past that, there's some great material here. The attention here is not on the mechanics of graphics creation (hence the need for prior knowledge), but on how to make graphics look good. As such, the author uses extensive examples from his own and others' experience. The 160 full-color glossy illustrations are nice, too. And if you don't like the examples themselves, they do provide plenty of ideas for things you can do on your own. There's also a lot of material on how to use graphics to improve Web sites, which was useful as well. My main problem was that it could have been a bit longer.
Reviews
This book has great real world examples. It has easy to follow examples and case studies from real web preofessionals. I found it easy to follow and very helpful in day to day production. I would recommend this book to anybody interested in producing images for the web.

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Computational Methods for Matrix Eigenproblems



Computational Methods for Matrix Eigenproblems
A.R. Gourlay,G.A. Watson | 1973-01-01 00:00:00 | John Wiley & Sons Ltd | 144 | Mathematics

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Electromagnetic Waves and Antennas



Electromagnetic Waves and Antennas
| 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | | 0 | Others
Sophocles J. Orfanidis, Electromagnetic Waves and Antennas
Rutgers University | 2002 | ISBN: 0130938556 | Pages: 785 | PDF | 11.5MB
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The Paleo Diet Cookbook: More than 150 recipes for Paleo Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners, Snacks, and Beverages



The Paleo Diet Cookbook: More than 150 recipes for Paleo Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners, Snacks, and Beverages
Loren Cordain | 2010-12-07 00:00:00 | Wiley | 256 | Special Diet
At last! The cookbook based on the bestselling The Paleo Diet

Dr. Loren Cordain's The Paleo Diet has helped thousands of people lose weight, keep it off, and learn how to eat for good health by following the diet of our Paleolithic ancestors and eating the foods we were genetically designed to eat. Now this revolutionary cookbook gives you more than 150 satisfying recipes packed with great flavors, variety, and nutrition to help you enjoy the benefits of eating the Paleo way every day.

  • Based on the breakthrough diet book that has sold more than 100,000 copies to date
  • Includes 150 simple, all-new recipes for delicious and Paleo-friendly breakfasts, brunches, lunches, dinners, snacks, and beverages
  • Contains 2 weeks of meal plans and shopping and pantry tips
  • Features 16 pages of Paleo color photographs
  • Helps you lose weight and boost your health and energy by focusing on lean protein and non-starchy vegetables and fruits
  • From bestselling author Dr. Loren Cordain, the world's leading expert on Paleolithic eating styles

Put The Paleo Diet into action with The Paleo Diet Cookbook and eat your way to weight loss, weight control maintenance, increased energy, and lifelong health-while enjoying delicious meals you and your family will love.

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Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally



Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally
John A. Van de Walle | 2006-01-01 00:00:00 | Allyn & Bacon | 576 | Mathematics
This leading K-8 math methods text has the most coverage of the NCTM standards, the strongest coverage of middle school mathematics, and the highest student approval of any text currently available. Elementary and Middle School Mathematics provides an unparalleled depth of ideas and discussion to help students develop a real understanding of the mathematics they will teach. John Van de Walle, one of the foremost experts on how children learn mathematics, finds that 80 percent of the students who purchase this book keep it for reference when they begin their professional teaching careers. This text reflects the NCTM Principles and Standards and the benefits of constructivist-or student-centered-mathematics instruction. Moreover, it is structured for maximum flexibility, offering 24 brief, compartmentalized chapters that may be mixed and matched to fit any course or teaching approach.
Research in mathematics education has consistently found that understanding and skills are best developed when students are allowed to wrestle with new ideas, to create and defend solutions to problems, and to participate in a mathematical community of learners.
This student-centered, problem-based approach to learning is a central theme of this book. Learning how best to help children believe that mathematics makes sense and that they themselves can make sense of mathematics is an exciting endeavor and a lifelong process.
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The Intelligibility of Nature: How Science Makes Sense of the World



The Intelligibility of Nature: How Science Makes Sense of the World
Peter Dear | 2008-01-01 00:00:00 | University Of Chicago Press | 254 | Popular
The Intelligibility of Nature: How Science Makes Sense of the World focuses on science's role as applied knowledge, which moves from theory to applications in daily life, and provides a history of the ongoing conflicts between theory development and applications. Historical references are used to examine how the differing processes of knowing and doing come together - or not - and document key episodes from Darwin to Einstein. The Intelligibility of Nature is especially recommended for the non-specialist general reader with an interest in nature and science.
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Lord Acton



Lord Acton
Mr. Roland Hill,Roland Hill | 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | Yale University Press | 576 | British
This is the first full-length biography of this remarkable man, making full use of archival and published materials about him. Placing Acton in the context of Catholic politics in Britain (which made him something of an outsider), it offers a wonderful life-and-times picture. Acton was born at Naples in 1834 and died at Tegernsee in Germany in 1902. Roland Hill's book covers Acton's upbringing and education in Italy, France, England, and Germany, his activities as Member of Parliament, his work as editor and owner of Liberal Catholic journals, his opposition to the doctrine of papal infallibility at the Vatican Council of 1869 to 1870, and his lifelong preoccupation with the history of freedom. Through his friendship with Prime Minister Gladstone, Acton was appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge, where he transformed historical study and planned the Cambridge Modern History series. The enigmatic Acton was of course held in the highest esteem for his great learning and ideas on politics, religion, and the development of institutions and views fostering human freedom. Knocking Acton as a pompous Victorian has been a pastime of a new generation of young British historians. This approach is to try and understand the enigmatic personality in its personal, emotional, and intellectual pre-occupations and to get thus at the man and his ideas.
Reviews
Most of us are somewhat familiar with Acton - by reputation if not through his writings. This biography, though a tad on the "academic" side, reveals many facets of the man. I was particularly engrossed by his involvement in the doctrinal politics of the Roman Catholic Church, in Victorian politics, and also by his associations within the European aristocracy. Acton was obviously not a man cut from the common cloth, either socially or intellectually. One thing this biography clearly demonstrates is that an important figure in 19th century liberalism (classical) was strongly religious, and not under the sway of the strict secularism of the old liberal school of the Enlightenment. Even though his loyalty to the Church was sometimes questioned, Acton followed where his conscience led and opposed unwarranted authority wherever he thought it existed. Roland Hill has given us an informative, if somewhat bloodless, picture of a figure who deserves to be better known today.
Reviews
For the great British historian, Lord Acton (1834-1902), study of the great books of the ages was essential in bringing a person to full intellectual and spiritual maturity. Such study was good for a man because it functioned..."to open windows in every direction, to raise him to the level of his age, so that he may know the twenty or thirty forces that have made our world what it is, and still reign over it; to guard him against surprises, and against the constant sources of error within; to supply him both with the strongest stimulants and the surest guides; to give force and fullness and clearness and sincerity and independence and elevation and generosity and serenity to his mind, that he may know the method and law of the process by which error is conquered and truth is won: discerning knowledge from probability and prejudice from belief; that he may learn to master what he rejects as fully as what he adopts; that he may understand the origin as well as the strength and vitality of systems and the better motives of men who are wrong; to steel him against the charm of literary ability and talent, so that each book, thoroughly taken in shall be the beginning of a new life and shall make a new man of him". Lord Acton; quoted in Hill, p 285-286.



This man, John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton -- Lord Acton of Aldenham - amassed a library at his Aldenham estate of well over 60,000 books and manuscripts! He also had many tens of thousands of other books at his other homes scattered across England and the continent. And he had read and studied many and perhaps most of them! This was a man who read, and read, as they say, voraciously! He was interested primarily in one big question: What was the relation of political order to religiousness and religion? He is worth reading (though he wrote few books himself) because he grappled so honestly with this huge question and because he came to solid insights that might yet help us today.

Acton was born in Naples, Italy on January 10, 1834. His grandfather, served as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Naples while his father Sir Richard Acton, died when Acton was only three years old. His mother, Countess Marie Louise de Dalberg (from an ancient and distinguished Catholic family of Bavaria), remarried later to Lord Granville, William Gladstone's Foreign Secretary, and then moved the family to Britain. Thus Acton received his early schooling in Britain and grew up fluent in English, German, French, and Italian.



Barred from attending Cambridge University because of his Catholicism, his devout (Catholic) mother sent him to study at the University of Munich under the famous church historian, Ignaz von Döllinger. The close mentoring he received from Dollinger was a decisive experience for the young Acton. Through Döllinger's mentorship Acton discovered his own vocation to become a historian of church and state and to study the more fundamental link between liberty and religiousness.



As he neared the end of his university studies, his stepfather Lord Granville cajoled and sponsored him to stand for Parliament. He did so and won election in 1859 to the House of Commons representing the Irish constituency of Carlow. He did much like politics and did not distinguish himself in any particular way while in Parliament. On the other hand he met and became a lifelong friend of William Ewart Gladstone: the Liberal politician (thrice Prime Minister of England) who dominated Victorian politics for almost a half century. Thus Acton via his 40+ years of close friendship with Gladstone was never far from questions of practical politics. In 1869, Gladstone rewarded Acton for his efforts on behalf of Liberal political causes by offering him a peerage and a seat in the House of Lords. As we will see below Gladstone did this favor for Acton for other reasons as well...in particular to strengthen Acton's hand in his struggles at the First Vatican Council.



As a young man however Acton was more interested in editing a journal of ideas than in distinguishing himself as a parliamentarian. He left parliament and subsequently launched a series of journals (such as the "The Rambler", and the Historical Review...) giving them each a distinctly Catholic character and dedicating each to an analysis of social, political, and theological issues from a Catholic point of view. He became acquainted with the great convert John Henry Newman who supported Acton's journalistic efforts and contributed to some of these journalistic efforts. Around this time he made a trip to America and met among others the great Catholic convert and philosopher Orestes Brownson. On his return to Britain he soon evidenced a profound admiration for the American revolution; seeing in it a great advance for liberty; praising in particular the Federalist papers, the balanced Constitution and the overall federal arrangement of power. Although he opposed slavery his sympathies ran more powerfully with the South as the South's cause was bound up with the preservation of states rights in opposition to a centralizing Federal government. He apparently believed that slavery could be ended (as it had in Brazil) by the North offering to Southern slaves a sanctuary of freedom. The slaves would then simply desert to the North and all would be well! In this Acton was naïve as conditions in America were fundamentally different than in Brazil...(as Acton the historian and the Catholic should have realized). In Brazil there was a Catholic (missionary) legacy of defense of native's and slaves rights while in the British-American colonies there was no strong missionizing tradition-no particular interest in the souls of slaves or Indians (they were not considered rational human beings by most protestant divines) except as labor to be exploited in the case of Black slaves or or as enemies to be displaced from their lands in the case of the Indians. The Quakers (and Eliot in Massachusetts) were the exception that proved the rule and except in Pennsylvannia were not in any case a strong national political force. Abolitionism in America achieved no political prominence until the 1840s. Thus the Slave power in the South was politically strong and able to get Congress to pass the Fugitive Slave act which required Northern states to return fugitive slaves to the South and their `owners' thereby precluding a `Barzilian solution' to the slavery problem. Acton also underestimated the almost limitless stupidity of the Southern slaveowners-they intransigently refused to limit the growth of slavery in any wise and in any of the new terroritories thus pushing the Northerners into increasingly extreme positions themselves. All this despite the original Constitutional compromise among the Northern and Southern Founding fathers which put a limit to slavery's growth in the new Republic. On the other hand Acton was right to point out that the North's aggressiveness centered around its attempts to build up the federal power in order to eliminate southern economic competition and to dominate international trade. Acton also rightly saw the genius, the nobility and the tragedy of the figure of Robert E. Lee. He wrote to him a letter of sympathy and praise (after the surrender at Appomotax) that Lee apparently treasured till the end of his days.



By the time of the American Civil War, Acton began to arrive at positions increasingly at odds with the Church hierarchy-in particular on the question of the temporal power of the papacy (which was in process of losing the territories called the papal states to Italian nationalism) and then with respect to the question of papal infallibility. Seeing the inevitability of being silenced by the hierarchy he chose to fold his journalistic operations. When the First Vatican Council was called (1869-1870) to discuss the issues of the Immaculate Conception of Mary and of Papal Infallability Acton moved himself and his new family (he had married and started to have children) to Rome where he became one of the leaders (along with Cardinals/Bishops Strossmayer, Darboy and Dupanloup) of the opposition (to infallibility). Interestingly, as mentioned above Gladstone made him at this time a Peer of the Realm (conferring on Acton a semi-official diplomatic status) in order to strengthen his hand in dealing with the Cardinals and Bishops. He regularly sent long letters on debates of the Council to Dollinger who then forwarded them to the World Press. These letters later became priceless documents for historians of the Council.



Through his principled, diplomatic and passionate opposition to Papal infallability Acton became known in Britain as one of the most articulate defenders of religious and political freedom. He saw no inherent contradiction between religion and political liberty. He also argued forcefully in essays and lectures that freedom of conscience was the bedrock of political liberty and that conscience had to be understood in the Catholic sense as not truly free until it was informed by revelation as embodied in holy writ, religious tradition and in the sacraments.



In the 1880s and 90s he began to develop what can only be described as a philosophy of history. Religion and liberty were at the core of the historical process with the gradual realization of individual and political liberty constituting the meaning and purpose of history. Given that political liberty depended on the vigilance and participation of free individuals who could and did consult their conscience on matters political, liberty itself depended on religiosity. Acton was fiercely critical of any historian who tended to whitewash the crimes of the church. There could be no excuses for St Bartolomew's massacre or for the persecution or the Jews or Muslims or for the tortures perpetrated by the Inquistion. He believed that there had been a plot sanctioned by the Pope to murder Elizabeth I and he excorciated any historian who questioned the historicity of the charges. At one point he was asked to review a three volume history of the Popes and when he absolutely panned the book he penned a letter to the author that contained the now famous line: that "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."



Despite his run-ins with the hierarchy Acton apparently was a devout man. He recited the Jesus Psalter every Friday night all his life. The Jesus Psalter was, like the rosary, made up of 150 repetitive petitions/prayers in 15 groupings -except the petitions were to the Holy Name of Jesus. It was a staple of English Catholic piety throughout the years of protestant persecution. The great Catholic aristocratic families preserved it for hundreds of years despite fierce persecution by the fanatics in charge of England. Acton was also devoted to Thomas a Kempis' `Imitation of Christ' calling it the `most perfect expression of Catholic thought" (quoted in Hill, p. 405). In 1895, Lord Acton was appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University. He lectured on the French Revolution (apparently some survivors of the carnage attended these lectures and listened in tears to Acton's vivid descriptions of the terror) and talked of writing his universal history of development of Liberty and freedom. He argued that the historian had an obligation to make moral judgments on history, -that morality was central to understanding the significance of historical events. After the Gulag and the Holocaust few modern historians would dispute Acton's position here. Acton died in 1902, never finishing his universal history.



Hill's biography of this extraordinary man draws extensively on Acton's letter to various correspondents (he was an inveterate letter writer) is filled with interesting anecdotes about Acton and his family while simultaneously giving us a portrait of Acton's intellectual development across a whole lifetime. We also get an in-depth view of Acton's long friendships with Gladstone and with Dollinger...all in all a great biography.






Reviews
Lord Acton (1834-1902), usually regarded as one of the most eminent Victorians, has largely eluded thorough analysis because of the formidable problems facing the biographer. Any definitive study must involve examination of the vast pile of Acton miscellany gathered at the Cambridge University Library, travel to several European archives (and concomitant facility in French, German and Italian) and an understanding of some fairly arcane problems of 19th century Catholic dogma. Roland Hill contends successfully with all these factors in this excellent study.

Still, students of Church history, or of 19th century Britain may well wonder if Hill's efforts were justified. Acton was born into the English Catholic aristocracy; he had all the advantages of social standing, money (for most of his life), connections and education. Yet, he failed to capitalize on any of these factors to leave a lasting mark on his age.

As a Catholic polemicist, Acton mounted campaigns against the temporal power of the Pope and the doctrine of Papal Infallibility, topics of little interest during the last 150 years. A man of undeniable erudition and learning, Acton assembled an immense private library and conducted research in dozens of Continental archives, but never published a book. A member of Parliament, Acton spoke only three times in the House in more than six years. Although appointed Regius Professor of History at Cambridge (1895), he neither started nor influenced any school of historians and his participation in the "Cambridge Modern History" was too short-lived to have had any effect. As a fairly close friend of Gladstone, Acton might have had some influence on the policies of the great Prime Minister, but if he did, even Hill's assiduous research has failed to disclose any direct link between Acton's ideas and Gladstone's actions.

Even after a careful and charitable reading, it is difficult to agree with Hill's assessment that "it is not paradoxical to admire [Acton] for books he never wrote or for what he tried to do rather than for what he succeeded in achieving." (p. 410). One can, though, admire Hill's thorough, careful and thoughtful study, and still conclude that his talents as a biographer would have been better expended on a more suitable subject.
Reviews
This is the first major biography of Lord Acton since mid-century. This remarkable historian, Catholic dissident, and philosopher of freedom was in many ways the very epitome of the erudite Victorian scholar. That is, he was _so_ learned, that the present-day reader should distrust any reviewer, including the present one, who presumes to encapsulate and classify him in a few easy paragraphs.

There's little danger of that from me. This book tells the story of Acton's life and career, and I must admit that, so far as judging the work of author and subject, my hat's simply off to them. It is interesting reading about things like Acton's near-excommunication from the Catholic Church, because of his opposition in 1870 to the new doctrine of papal infallibility, and then his continued devotion to the Church. His private correspondence with contemporaries, debating the great issues of the day, particulary freedom, make for bracing reading.

His ideas in private circulation, rather than his parliamentary career or written output, carry his fame today. His magnum opus, _History of Liberty_, was never written. The only bits of it that made it to completion were two lectures, "The History of Freedom in Antiquity", and "The History of Freedom in Christianity." Disappointingly, these and a couple of other short writings are only excerpted here--they are brief enough to have been put in an appendix of this big book. Fortunately, they can be read at the Acton Institute's website.

By the way, it was Acton who coined the phrase, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

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Superfoods For Dummies



Superfoods For Dummies
Brent Agin MD, Shereen Jegtvig | 2009-01-01 00:00:00 | For Dummies | 360 | Health and Care
"It will give you a great foundation to make healthy choices for your body" (BeebleBlog.com, May 28th 2009)

Product Description
Transform your diet and reap the extraordinary benefits of superfoods

Want to eat healthier, lose weight, and fight off disease? You can do it with superfoods! This friendly guide explains everything you need to know — why you need superfoods, the science behind them, and how to prepare and enjoy them. From bananas and carrots to oatmeal and salmon, you'll gain a healthy attitude toward eating right!

* Get the skinny on superfoods — know the basics of a balanced, nutritional diet, and why superfoods are so powerful
*

Take a closer look — examine the unique properties of superfoods and the best ways to store and prepare them
*

Explore exotic flavors — discover Asia's goji berries, Mexico's chia, Indonesia's mangosteen, and other unusual superfoods
*

Launch your superfoods lifestyle — plan healthy meals you and your family will enjoy

Open the book and find:

* A nuts-and-bolts breakdown of each superfood
*

Ways to incorporate superfoods into your everyday diet
*

Tips for saving money on superfoods
*

The healthiest cooking methods
*

More than 50 easy-to-prepare, tasty recipes — from breakfast to dessert
*

The top dietary supplements
*

How to grow your own superfoods garden
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Permanent Exiles



Permanent Exiles
Martin Jay | 1985-04-15 00:00:00 | Columbia University Press | 328 | United States
Charts the flight of some of this century´s most important thinkers from Nazi Germany to the United States. Jay explores the theories of The Frankfurt School -among them, the work of Theodor Adorno, Leo Lowenthal and Herbert Marcuse -as well, such as George Lichtheim, Hannah Arendt, and Henry Pachter.

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Research Handbook on Corporate Legal Responsibility (Elgar Original Reference)



Research Handbook on Corporate Legal Responsibility (Elgar Original Reference)
Stephen Tully | 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | Edward Elgar Publishing | 430 | Management
The ever-important topic of corporate legal responsibility is deconstructed into many multifaceted components in this fascinating Handbook, which systematically examines each in turn and describes the contemporary legal position.

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Computability, Complexity, and Languages, Second Edition: Fundamentals of Theoretical Computer Science (Computer Science and Scientific Computing)



Computability, Complexity, and Languages, Second Edition: Fundamentals of Theoretical Computer Science (Computer Science and Scientific Computing)
Martin Davis,Ron Sigal,Elaine J. Weyuker | 1994-02-17 00:00:00 | Morgan Kaufmann | 609 | Information Theory
This introductory text covers the key areas of computer science, including recursive function theory, formal languages, and automata. It assumes a minimal background in formal mathematics. The book is divided into five parts: Computability, Grammars and Automata, Logic, Complexity, and Unsolvability.

* Computability theory is introduced in a manner that makes maximum use of previous programming experience, including a "universal" program that takes up less than a page.
* The number of exercises included has more than tripled.
* Automata theory, computational logic, and complexity theory are presented in a flexible manner, and can be covered in a variety of different arrangements.

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The Power That Preserves



The Power That Preserves
Stephen R. Donaldson | 1987-01-01 00:00:00 | Del Rey | 512 | Fiction Other
Any lesser author would have devoted an entire book just to that. For Donaldson, however, it's just the prelude to the main event. The main event, it's no spoiler to say, is the final showdown between Thomas Covenant and Lord Foul. And what a showdown it is. When Donaldson started writing this trilogy, the most important decision he made was that his main character would not be a standard fantasy hero. Thomas Covenant, of course, is the most deeply sympathetic and real character ever to appear in any fantasy novel. Having created a person as amazing as this one, of course, poses the problem of how to provide a satisfying conclusion while still remaining true to the character. Probably nobody alive could have pulled it off as well as Donaldson, but then again no one other than Donaldson would ever have attempted a fantasy series this ambitious anyway.

So in conclusion, read it, love it, be amazed by it.
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Problem Solving in Diabetes



Problem Solving in Diabetes
Lee Kennedy,Iskandar Idris,Anastasios Gazis | 2006-08-30 00:00:00 | Clinical Publishing | 248 | Internal Medicine

The evidence base in diabetes is accumulating rapidly. There has also been a boom in both the primary and secondary literature of diabetes - textbooks and monographs abound which summarize the classic characteristics of the 'typical' diabetes patient. Meanwhile doctors treating individuals need to keep up to date with recent developments, and must have current information to enable them to solve real life and everyday problems in the field - this book has been written to meet their needs.

The authors have drawn on their clinical experience backed up by wide critical reading in the current primary literature to identify 50 real problems and their solutions. Each case covers presentation, options, and an evidence-based management plan.

This book will be a valuable reference source for internal medicine physicians and diabetes and cardiology specialists, and its problem-based learning approach will make it especially suitable for trainees.

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Studying English Literature: A Practical Guide



Studying English Literature: A Practical Guide
Tory Young | 2008-06-09 00:00:00 | Cambridge University Press | 184 | British
Studying English Literature is a unique guide for undergraduates beginning to study the discipline of literature and those who are thinking of doing so. Unlike books that provide a survey of literary history or non-subject specific manuals that offer rigid guidelines on how to write essays, Studying English Literature invites students to engage with the subject's history and theory whilst at the same time offering information about reading, researching and writing about literature within the context of a university. The book is practical yet not patronizing: for example, whilst the discussion of plagiarism provides clear guidelines on how not to commit this offence, it also considers the difficulties students experience finding their own 'voice' when writing and provokes reflection on the value of originality and the concepts of adaptation, appropriation and intertextuality in literature. Above all, the book prizes the idea of argument rather than insisting upon formulaic essay plans, and gives many ways of finding something to say as you read and when you write, in chapters on Reading, Argument, Essays, Sentences and References.

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Jazz LTD 500 tunes The Real Book Missed


Jazz LTD 500 tunes The Real Book Missed
| 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | | 402 | Music
Jazz LTD 500 tunes The Real Book Missed
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Language, Sexuality, Narrative: The Oresteia



Language, Sexuality, Narrative: The Oresteia
Simon Goldhill | 2004-05-20 00:00:00 | Cambridge University Press | 328 | Classics
This book is concerned with the complexity and difficulty of reading the Oresteia. It is not a traditional commentary, although it is often concerned with problems of interpretation and language, nor is it simply what is generally understood by a literary study, although it often discusses the wider themes of the narrative. It is a close reading of the text concentrating on the developing meanings of words within the structuring of the play. In particular, Simon Goldhill focuses on the text's interests in language and its control, in sexuality and sexual difference, and in the progression and description of events. Dr Goldhill links a sound philological knowledge with material drawn widely from modem literary theory and anthropological studies. The result is a challenging and provocative book, which offers for the serious student of Greek drama an exciting range of insights into one of the most important texts of the ancient world.
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Goldhill's study of Aeschylus' Oresteia, arguably one of the world's great masterpieces of dramatic art, was a landmark in its time (1984), and the proof of its durability is the fact that it has been reissued (2004) and remains in print these many years later. It is not an easy read; it aims to get to the heart of the difficult and complex language of Aeschylus and the problems of reading and interpretation through a series of different lenses, including deconstruction and psychoanalysis. But throughout it remains a work of impeccable scholarship and brilliant vision. The previous reviewer was obviously not up to the challenge. Disregard his invidious remarks.
Reviews
Nobody bought this book because it was panned by the acdemic press. It is dire. If you should stumble caross a second-hand copy, do the world a favour. Burn it.

I will never forgive Goldhill for the hours of my life that I wasted reading this tripe.

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