Michael Douglas Books

"Essentials of Stem Cell Biology belongs on the shelf of every researcher, clinician, and student who is interested in new developments in stem cell research and the related treatment options that are being developed."

The best for Stem Cell Biology for student or for someone who like to learn new things.

Well balanced, superbly written muiltiauthored textbook. Excellent discussion of basic cell biology of embryonic and adult (nonembryonic) stem cells from multiple sources, laboratory techniques and potential clinical applications and includes a chapter on ethics and national policy for stem cell research. Suitable for students, clinicians as well as experienced stem cell biologists.

Privateer Press has created an epic campaign setting which fuses low-magic (yet still present), industrial technology, and techno-magic war machines akin to unmanned battle-suits. The campaign setting spans two 400+ page hardcover books and exceeds most expectations. It also exceeds the average person's amount of available reading time. Enter Lock & Load. Initially, L&L was released to whet players' appetites for the pending release of the larger tomes. Now, however, L&L fits in nicely as a sort of Iron Kingdom's player's guide. Players new to the setting will feel much less intimidating leafing through L&L before jumping into the other books. Most of the essential information players will need to know can be found in a stripped-down yet still-informative manner. Lock & Load includes information on races, character classes, religion, and gear along with a deeply thorough three page (front and back) character sheet. In addition, this book comes with a beautiful full-color poster map of the setting featuring boundaries, cities, transportation routes, and industrial output. It looks great in a poster frame, too. Be advised, this information is selective and only represents a tiny fraction of what can be found in the two main volumes. However, I highly recommend starting off with Lock and Load before becoming inundated with the information found in the Character Guide and World Guide. Hopefully Privateer Press will see this entry level value as an asset and begin printing new copies along with a strong ad campaign, Lock & Load is worth it.

Before I begin, I should warn everyone that Lock and Load is becoming harder and harder to find. The people in charge at Privateer Press have also stated on their official message boards that once the current run of L&L sells out, then no more copies will be printed. So... if you are either a player or a DM in an Iron Kingdoms campaign, or even if you're just interested in the setting, get it while you can.

Now for the actual review.

From my perspective, Lock and Load seems to be, at least in part, a stand-in product designed to tide fans over until the long-awaited and long-delayed Iron Kingdoms Campaign Guides are eventually released. However, this is by no means a bad thing. As usual, Privateer Press have outdone the competition by releasing a superior product. Matt Wilson's stunning and drool-worthy cover art truly sets the tone for the Iron Kingdoms setting. This is a fantasy setting, but it's one powered by steam furnaces that belch smoke into the sky, where the characters wear chunky armor and big belt buckles, where everyone who can afford the 8-gp-per-charge cost carries a gun as well as a sword, and where steamjacks and the mighty Warjacks make golems look like wimps.

Lock and Load is narrated by Gavyn Kyle, professional spy, but it is organized in a fairly traditional format. After the introduction we come to the book's main topic, the Races of Western Immoren. Here are backgrounds and descriptions of no less than 12 regional human subcultures, including advantages and optional ability adjustments for each. The other major playable races also receive full attention: The Dwarves of Rhul, the Elves of Ios, Half-Elves, the Nyss, Goblins (Gobbers and Boggers), Ogrun, and Trollkin. Note that in the Iron Kingdoms, half-elves are virtually unknown, while Halflings and Gnomes don't exist at all (the latter two being replaced by the Gobbers).

Next up is a brief section on how the basic D&D character classes are modified for the IK setting. These changes are minor, and usually take the form of an extra class skill or a slightly modified class ability.

Third is a chapter on Religion. The beliefs of humanity, the dwarves, elves, gobbers, ogrun, and trollkin are all discussed.

Following this is a brief section on Equipment. There are examples of firearms, weapons, grenades, armor, and several items of miscellaneous gear. There is also an interesting explanation of how the unique firearms of the Iron Kingdoms actually function.

Finally there is an appendix detailing the languages of Immoren followed by a set of high-quality character sheets ready for copying. Throughout the book are sidebars and tables detailing anything from abbreviations, monetary units, slang, aging affects, and ranks of religious officials.

My favorite part of the book, however, was the full-color, 17" by 22" map. This alone would make Lock and Load a worthy purchase, and a DM would be at a loss not to make use of it. I had mine laminated so that my group's DM could use erasable markers on it.

As an entry point for the Iron Kingdoms setting, Lock and Load succeeds in covering all the basics and even goes beyond that to provide a great deal of background information and oddball tidbits (like the section on slang) that really help to add some flavor. Players have all the information they need to create a memorable character, and DMs have a lot of new background material that up to the release of this book had been sorely needed. I'd also like to note that the interior artwork is quite good, definitely above the standard of most D20 products.

However, I felt that a more detailed explanation of how to create the more powerful Ogrun and Trollkin characters was badly needed. Only a few examples of weapons and firearms were provided, and the list of equipment, while useful, was entirely too short. The most obvious omission, however, was the lack of any Prestige Classes at all. Apparently the authors were saving these for the Campaign Guide.

Despite these minor faults, overall I have found Lock and Load to be an invaluable resource. I would recommend it to any player or GM in an Iron Kingdoms campaign, and due to its modest price there really isn't any reason not to consider having your own copy. When the Campaign Guides are finally released some of the information in Lock and Load will probably be superceded, but even then it will still be completely capable of standing on its own. It's a fun and useful book that won't disappoint.

Lock and Load uses the D&D 3.0 rules, but very few changes to 3.5 are needed. There is also an errata at the Privateer Press website.

This resource makes a great addition to the rest of the Privateer Press books, discussing the different races, national politics, and alternative rules for this highly innovative world. The pictures are well done, as well, which (for me) is one of the reasons I buy these books! You can't go wrong with this one!

A book that is truly relevant in today's world. Provides real solutions that will work in the real world.

Kevin Blair
www.philanthroproductions.org
Party for a Better Future

Mr. Carlin has written a modern approach to an issue as old as the scriptures: peace. What kind of peace do we seek? Are we waiting for governments, foundations, organized religions to inspire peace? Or should we be more practical and let us citizens start the drive that will conduct us to a more stable and harmonious society. By demonstrating his own personal experience, the author leads us to believe that peace is achievable among all nations and societies. This book is a must read for anyone concerned about the future of man and how to end war.

It's a life changing book about the things that truly matter in life. A Prescription for Peace: A Practical Guide

I read this book when I was a year two social work student. This book provides us a detailed examples and explanation for each type of mental disorders.

I liked all the case studies, it makes it easier to learn. Also it was interesting to read and

well writen.

Good book. It goes into different trends and contemporary issues when it comes to missions. Some of the subjects covered are globalization, postmodernism, contextualization, majority world christianity, etc...It is written by evangelical missiologists from the west. This is an awesome book. Get it.

If you think you're fairly well informed re: church and mission issues, think again. The authors of this book cover the mega issues of our time and the challenges we face as Christians in addressing them. I'll read this book again before I'm ready to talk about it, there's so much here.

Most of my students have purchased the 7th Edition. They say, this Dictionary is very good and comes in handy for class and homework assignments.
The definitions used are clear enough for new computer enthusiasts; as well as the more advanced student. I like it.

A wonderful reference book as you muddle through the jorgon of the computer world. This book offers short and concise explainations needed to understand the growing technology surrounding computers. A must for any home or business computer.

Essential Medical genetics is a must for anyone studying medical genetics. The book presents complex areas of genetics in a very clear and concise fashion with excellent supporting clinical information and pictures. I would recommend it to anyone studying, or working within the field of Medical genetics.

Medical genetics is a difficult discipline in medicine. So many factuals, rules, syndromes and malformations which will make you dizzy. Professor Connor transforms all these difficulties into a concise textbook suitable for both study and reference. Medical graduates can find medical genetics a more approachable science. Strongly recommend for all medical graduates in addition to specialists.

I am currently treating someone with trichotillomania and had nothing to fall back upon but this book. Training in psychiatry does not necessarily include training in acceptance and commitment therapy, nor in habit reversal training which are the two methods used in this book to break a seemingly unbreakable habit. My supervisors also couldn't figure out what to do. Enter Treatments That Work! I love this series for the simple language, for the reduction in anxiety both for me and for my patients that a manualized session-by-session guideline can provide, and basically for the mastery that, after reading this book, I can possess. Check out their other titles - they have books for treating OCD, social phobia, panic disorder, GAD, and specific phobias. All are concise, informative, and incredibly useful, especially when one does not have patients with a lifetime of psychoanalytic therapy covered by insurance. Of note, behavioral approach to treatment of trichotillomania has been found to be most productive when comparison of all available literature had been done in meta-analysis review; be assured this will likely be much more productive, therefore, than psychodynamic approach to treatment of this illness (though it would be my own preference if I had any choice in the matter).

This book is one of the very few books currently in market, written for those therapists,providers, residents and fellows in the field of Psychiatry or Psychology, who are interested in treating Trichotillomania. The book is very nicely categorized into describing different strategies of acceptance and committment therapy, with multiple tables and case vignettes. The workbook associated with this book is also very user friendly for therapists and patients alike. I would highly recommend this book and the associated workbook for every practitioner who wants to learn the basics of acceptance and committment therapy in the treatment of trichotillomania.

Of course everyone else knows what an ampersand is but me. Right? Well I know now. & for the first time it is clear to me what a nonrestrictive clause is. It seems I've learned from this great book that, as important as a nonrestrictive clause is, it is not essential to the sentence.

Oh--commas! Where do you put the blasted things? The world would be better off if we had less of them and could just concentrate on more important things like how to spell such words as superkalafragilisticexpalidoshious--did I spell that correctly?

As my friends at Amazon Books will attest(comma) I am not the best when it comes to punctuation. I'm becoming confident, however, in my abilites to put such things as commas in their place. My confidence didn't come from a school teacher. How many teachers do you know that tell you what the name, pro-noun, means? I did not honestly know that (pro) meant for the noun. Oh, I knew what pronouns were; I just didn't know where they were coming from.

I'll tell you something else (as long as my wife doesn't read this). I am an indefinite pronoun to her. In our house it's always, "Somebody didn't hang up their towel." Or, "I could sure use someones help with these dishes. Now I have a new name, it's called: Indefinite Pronoun. "SOMEBODY GET THE PHONE!" "Yes dear."

My apologies to my wife, she really is an angel.

So, why did I give this book a five-star rating? I think it was because of what is written at the top of page 29. If you have problems with punctuation like I do, or you realize your new name is, Indefinite Pronoun. You need a book like this one so at least you can say, "Hey, somebody left thier pantyhose hanging on the shower rod again."

There are larger punctuation guides but this one has all the rules you will ever need. Why spend more?

An excellent reference book that I have used countless times to quickly find information, which would have otherwise taken me a very long time to find. The book is very well organized into helpful sections. A must have for anyone interested in WWII

At last! A reference that includes all the major topics relating to World War II and not just the military and political history. I was 10 when Germany entered Poland and 16 when the war ended. Yet, at that young age, I followed the war assiduously. I listened to nightly newscasts and read the local newspaper accounts, even making scrapbooks of the war's progress. The Desk Reference of World War II recently published by Harper Collins is the best single reference to that epochal struggle. There have been many books published on the years 1939 to 1945, many dealing with the military campaigns and other with the causes or other specific aspects of the war. This book is not a narrative,although some chapters chronicle the material in story form. Rather, it is a reference; and what a reference it is. The 33 maps are excellent and easily followed. Numerous tables detail a wealth of information. Whatever topic of the war interests you, you will probably find it here. Timelines outline the major events from 1918 to 1950, the political history from 1918 to 1945, and the holocaust. The causes of the war are discussed. Other chapters relate how the countries -- allies and axis -- paid for the war. Treaties, pacts, alliances, charters, and conferences describe how the countries of europe made decisions relating to peace and war, land and aid from Versailles at the end of world War I to the end of the second World War.
Brief accounts sketch the politicians, dictators, military personnel, spies, and propagandists on both sides of the war. Maps, tables, and narrative provide an excellent overview of the military campaigns in Europe, Africa, and Asia. It's all here: military arms and eqjuipment, how the home front in the major participating countries of the war coped and maintained morale. This book even deals with the arts: books, films, songs, visual art, and entertainers.
Perhaps the most enlightening feature of this volume is its equal treatment of both protagonists and antagonists. Anyone interested in World War II will want to add this volume to their library and refer to it frequently.