Experimental Books

The first third or so can be a bit tedious, but the end portion of the book is really interesting, particularly the details of the encounter with the Society of Brothers (Bruderhof) and the comparison to Macedonia.

Don't be afraid to skip chapters. Be sure you get to the end matter.

My sole interest in reading this book was to learn something of the history of the Celo Community in Yancey County, western North Carolina (more precisely, in the South Toe River Valley which is just to the east of the Black Mountains, home of Mt. Mitchell, the highest U.S. peak east of the Mississippi). Now that I've established where Celo is, what about the book? It fulfilled my purpose. Although Arthur Morgan, Celo's cofounder would deny it, author George Hicks classifies Celo as a "utopian community." Hicks was a sociologist, not a historian, and while the book is a scholarly work apparently intended primarily for the academic market, it nevertheless presents a good overview of Celo's history, beginning with a chapter on the background of Arthur Morgan (a pioneering president of Antioch College in Ohio and then one of the three original board members of the TVA), the book continues with a history of the community from the mid-1930's until around 1980 when it transformed itself (according to Hicks) from community objectives to a land management organization. I'm not qualified to comment on the quality of the work as the serious sociological study it is intended to be, but but would recommend it for the general reader with an interest in Celo and similar communities. I've given it four stars for its presentation of the history of Celo. Others will have to rate it as work of sociology.

I used this book as an introduction to non-linear dynamics. I found it easy to understand, yet at a challenging level. The treatment of the material by examples make is easy to see what is going on. The book doesn't forget the theoretical side either.

It is a shame this book hasn't got the popularity it deserves. The treatment of fundamental yet critical issues of nonlinear dynamics is very clear. The experiments he suggests are easy to carry in simple labs. His discussion of modern dynamical system theory is not exhaustive but I can safely assume it was not the purpose of this book. Very good introduction to the subject for those lacking the mathematical foundation of a physics or math major. IT is a problem that the software he provides come for mac machines only

The first time I read a book by Tabachnik & Fidell, I was struggling with Multiple Regression and a friend recommended "Using Multivariate Statistics" by the same authors and I found their book to be much easier to read than the text recommended by our statistician-geek professor. So this time around when I found myself in an ANOVA class, I did a quick search on Amazon and found this book and decided to give it a try, since I had a good experience with their other book. It's expensive even by the standards of statistics books, but I found it totally worth it.

The authors use language that is easy to understand without talking down to its readers. They use interesting everyday examples that anyone from any field can relate with to explain the concepts of experimental design. Since this book just came out (2007), the SPSS examples are not too out of date. There's something comforting too about the stats output being in SPSS, the software I'm most familiar with.

Another factor in its favor is the layout of the book. I think a lot of people underestimate good page layout when it comes to textbooks, especially graduate-level textbooks. But coming from a graphic design background before going for my PhD in instructional design, I couldn't help noticing how 'friendly' the book looks even with the formulas and diagrams.

Finally, the CD-ROM itself contains:
-ASCII, Excel, Minitab, JMP, SAS and SPSS data files for using ANOVA
-R2 program
-Programs on calculating confidence intervals around effect sizes (noncf3.sps, noncf2.sas)
-Student solutions manual

So I give this book 5 stars (sheesh, never thought I'd actually write a glowing review for a statistics book, but there you go)

I took my first grad school statistics course. We were using a Maxwell and Delaney text, Designing Experiments and Analyzing Data (an impossibly convoluted text). My instructor,also my advisor, suggested this as a good supplement. It was. Between the two texts I pulled a B for the course. The SPSS portions are out of date, but that is understandable with publishing lag and the speed with which SPSS is updated. It is an excellent reference if you need to cite why you're doing a particular statistical adjustment or technique. I'm sure that I'll be using it for the rest of grad school.

With this short and clearly written text, Ihde describes phenomenology in intelligible terms, and illustrates this approach to understanding and perceiving the world with simple examples taken from visual perception.

The reason for adopting this clear way of describing phenomenology is that he is aware that phenomenology especially that developed by Husserl, uses a daunting vocabulary that often obscures meaning and its purpose. This is the main concern of chapters 1 and 2 where phenomenology is contrasted to empirical methodology, and phenomenological notions are explained, including "epoche", "apodicticity", "noesis" and "noema" - in addition to their relations.

In order to illustrate phenomenology, in chapter 3 Ihde starts by explaining the visual field, which consists of the "core", the "field" and the "horizon", the elements of the "noema" (that which we look at) by means of the "noesis" (the process by which we look at). In chapter 4, he deals with a first visual example to mark a difference between "literal-mindedness" (describing that which is looked at in one manner only) and "polymorphic-mindedness" (describing that which is looked at in two manners). The latter is the core of the phenomenological attitude, in that it is a deliberate search for variations, cases, possibilities and choices beyond the familiar, that is, an `open possibility search' (p.78). Chapters 5, 6 and 7, which unfortunately become somewhat tedious, apply these ideas to additional visual examples that include the Necker cube. What is achieved nevertheless is a progression from `natural attitude' to `phenomenological attitude', and finally to an `eidetic attitude', when perceiving phenomena and their variations in an open manner has become familiar and second nature. Finally, in chapter 8, he gives directions to use phenomenology with objects that often compose our surrounding.

In the concluding chapter 9, Ihde argues with Schutz for phenomenology to be the science to precede any empirical science as it goes beyond the sedimentation of experience by language and therefore of social practice.

Overall, a nice and clear introduction to phenomenology especially the first 4 chapters which come in handy before tackling Husserl!

Phenomenology can strain the most robust craniums with voluminous terminology, concepts, and unfamiliar perspectives. Those new to the field can drown in abstractions and all those familiar words used in nonstandard ways. What's "intentionality," "horizon," or "epoché?" Most introductory books tend toward a historical approach. They swirl around Husserl and use him as a pedagogical focus. Though this works for those wanting a historical perspective, this somewhat distant approach may keep phenomenology a distant and nebulous topic. Since phenomenology contains elements of practice it requires action for full understanding. Similar to logic and mathematics, one must go out and actually do something with its concepts and methods and begin to "see" the world phenomenologically to get at the practice's essence.

This short book approaches phenomenology through action. Following two introductory chapters, the book dives right into examples. Though all remain highly abstract, such as geometric shapes, Necker cubes, and visual illusions, they nonetheless outline a step by step method for moving from a literal-minded perspective ("I only see a cube, nothing else!") to a polymorphic-minded perspective ("I see a cube in 2D, 3D, from the left, from the right, etc."). This method inculcates a type of seeing that reveals possibilities in items of experience. Rather than merely explaining this technique, the book asks the reader to actually look at drawings in specific ways. Activity and engagement are required. This reveals two dominant strategies for extracting possibilities or variations from things: the hermeneutic and the transcendental. The former uses "stories" or descriptions to bring out non-obvious features (e.g., "imagine that you're looking up at a vaulted ceiling"). The latter uses a more analytic literal approach (e.g., look above the line, then turn the drawing on its side"). Through these experiences the polymorphic nature of the drawings emerge. And if abstract shapes can elicit such permutations, think what variations the concrete objects of reality contain.

Following the example, the book discusses, in the final two chapters, the "existential turn" that phenomenology took following Husserl. The experiencing subject became primary. Everyday experience and language took on a central role. Philosophers began to dig into cultural sedimentation to reveal the roots and presuppositions of tradition and the taken-for-granted. This was the ground laid by Heidegger and Sartre and developed over the last century. Lastly, the book introduces "Interdisciplinary Phenomenology" through the lenses of Natural Science, the Social Sciences, and the Arts. This section glimpses the contributions phenomenology can make to other pursuits.

Though one doesn't need a background in phenomenology to follow this book, reading a more general introduction to the subject first may illuminate this text. Here terminology arises and zooms by with sometimes cursory detail. Also, context may be lost on those who plunge right into the subject with no notion of the why and what of this new way of seeing. Nonetheless, this book's central chapters provide a unique insight that no one interested in this subject should miss. Going through the examples will not only enlighten further phenomenological reading, but also hint at a new way of seeing the world, and all its marvelous polymorphicity, in a whole new way.

The 1st edition by Adrian Melissinos is a classic reference book with a wealth of practical information and data. That book was published in 1966; yet much of the theoretical treatments and methods are still applicable today. This 2nd edition either deleted or replaced some important original material. The 2nd edition did not do a good job in discussing new developments since the publication of the last edition. For instance, in the discussion of the Fabry-Perot method for high resolution spectroscopy, there was no mention of using a piezoelectric actuator which is commonly used at present and a significant development since the publication of the 1st edition. Useful data in nuclear experiments were deleted. A chapter of useful techniques in the 1st edition that deals with useful procedures such as pulse height analysis and basic vacuum technique was deleted.

I purchased this book with hopes of gaining some insight into the theoretical aspects of the modern physics experiments I was working on in a junior laboratory. I must say that this book has been invaluable. The author masterfully details the most fundamental experiments in modern physics, making the material accessible to beginning undergrad students, yet still theoretically rich enough for advanced experimental practice.

Most modern physics experiments can more than likely be referenced somewhere in this book, which serves as a lab manual complete with data samples and example analysis. For myself, the analysis techniques employed in the experiments contained within this book were the most helpful. Any physics student with experience in an advanced lab would agree that data and error analysis are the most critical part of any lab, making this book ideal as a reference.

I give this book five stars, but I must admit only one disappointment with its binding. I read a review, prior to buying this text, stating that the hardcover binding is somewhat prone to wearing out quickly, and indeed I think I have seen the beginning of this demise. However, I have made extensive use of the book, which has undoubtedly contributed to this problem.

Otherwise, I have gotten every cent's worth out of this book!

This book is Clarke's first, and is a neat little book.
It's not up to his later standards, but for me, was fun reading.
It shows the start of early radar and some interpersonal conflicts/relationships at his 1st RAF posting.

Glide Path is a historical novel, describing WW2 radar technology to help land aircraft. Sir Arthur was there, and it shows, both the historical atmosphere and the technology. It's a good read.

This edition is seriously compromised by a bad OCR job and no apparent proofreading beyond a mechanized spell check. The novel itself is an easy 5 stars. As presented here it's three, at best.

I borrowed this book from my University Library, but after reading it I feel I must buy a copy. It has a lot of great advice on really practical issues, that are a concern to a beginner teachers:what to do on Day 1, organizing lessons, motivation, and classroom managment. I especially liked Chapter 1, on having a realistic view of teaching, this should be compulsory for anyone even contemplating a career in teaching. I feel this book will also be a good on-going reference when times get tough in the first few years, simply to give a fresh perspective, and to let you know that you are not alone, and that God teaching goes beyond straight rows and quiet kids.

It's a very concise yet comprehensive book about the world of teaching. I wish I had read it when I was started teaching. It's a nice way to prepare someone for the shock of the job and how to handle the challenges in a sane way. The book is clearly organized into sections for easy flipping and unit reading, as well as having some questions at the end of each chapter for further thought. I didn't give it 5 stars, because I kinda feel it's a bit overpriced.

This is not an introduction to, or textbook on, hypnosis. Knowledge of hypnosis and its clinical uses is assumed. The book is for those who are already familiar with clinical hypnosis and who -- like the vast majority of those -- are unaware of the potentially happy marriage between clinical hypnosis and fundamental ideas and treatment practices from Jungian psychology. It contains enough clearly stated information about the relevant Jungian ideas and treatment practices to make a good case for such a potential marriage. Jungian psychologists and their offspring have for too long avoided hypnosis, in part because Jung himself, like Freud, turned away from it early on his career. However, today's clinical hypnosis is neither Jung's nor your grandfather's hypnosis anymore. The time has come for Jungians to take another look at hypnosis, and for clinical hypnotists to take a look at Jung. Even though I am no Jungian I dare predict that there is a bright future ahead for this marriage of Jung and hypnosis, and for anyone who dares to look a bit further than both Jungians and well informed hypnosis theorists and practitioners have been looking so far. The time for that is ripe, and James Hall's book has done a very fine job at pointing in the right direction. I think this book deserves much more attention than I suspect it has received. And even though, considering the book's publication date, the present review may seem late in coming, I think that the book's own day is still young.

This book is probably a great book if you view life from the Jungian perspective, and is as much a book about the Jungian approach as it is about hypnosis. It is not a how to do it book by any means, but designed to allow those with Jung's leanings to make use of hypnosis. Very few Jungian hypnotherapists exist, and in that sense the book is great as it opens up a new avenue for those with a mindset that didn't allow for use of hypnosis. But for others it may be a disappointment. Not an easy read, it requires a basic knowledge of the Jungian perspective to understand. If you don't have that, read some Jung first, and then the book will be more meaningful and useful.

I'm doing an Engr. Experimentation course and I found this to be extremely helpful. Helps you understand the basics and the concepts, so much so that I was surprised how much more I understood in terms of technical esoterica.

This book is a great resource for experimentation and tables for and type of statistcs class.

Stapleton and Gonzales have done an excellent job crafting an anthology that is both eclectic and coherent; these stories feel like they belong together, and yet each story seems surprising and highly individual. I was eager to read ahead, to see what unexpected turn the collection would take next. The anthology as a whole feels vital and risky--these writers are nothing if not linguistic virtuosos, and like the jazz riffs and subversive dance beats on the CD that was cut to accompany this book, these stories pulse with immediacy, a sense of urgency that is all too often lacking in contemporary short fiction.

It's possible to feel one is wandering in a cold, mathematical wasteland when reading stories by contemporary writers. How nice to find an anthology of stories that are engaging, provocative, and not completely self-absorbed. Ok, a couple of the writers in the book are self-absorbed, but there are stories by all sorts of other authors, some I'd heard of, some I hadn't, that made me laugh, worry, think about the world, and want to pass the book on. In a literary world where either sullen math or indulgent memoir (or a combination of the two) seems to rule, Juncture is a welcome oddity - you'll think about some of the stories for days and days afterwards and not be pissed off as I usually am.