John Hughes Books

Author Barry Hughes sets the tone for his book early on. It starts by asking a number of questions, such as "[i]s global population growing faster than our ability to feed it? Should we expect economic growth to characterize the rest of the century?" These questions are seen with frequency in the field of future studies. But the author lets the reader know that he will not offer any definitive answers to these questions, as he does not claim to have abilities in interpreting a crystal ball. Instead, he honors the book's title by framing within a single structure different, and often opposing, points of view on a number of issues. Avoiding determinism, the author notes that "the arguments for forecasting are strong, we still must be very careful not to take our forecasts too seriously." The accuracy of the forecasts presented varied. Population estimates presented in the book were within range. The book did seem to avoid some areas altogether, especially in the political field. The fate of the Soviet Union, which collapsed four years later, was not only not anticipated, but also it was not addressed. The emergence of China was also ignored. When it came to energy use, the experts showed too much faith in the promise of emerging technologies, as we have repeatedly done throughout history.

The cautious and informative approach taken by the author will fit well the critical reader, as the book does not attempt to offer simplistic answers to complicated questions. It is easy to dismiss books dealing with future studies that were published long ago. But reading such books, armed with today's precious retrospective, allow us to evaluate our own ability to look into the future. Reading this book was an interesting experience. The reader cannot help to realize that having a critical perspective proved to be more valuable than any crystal ball. Amazing how some things have not changed at all.

Author Barry Hughes sets the tone for his book early on. It starts by asking a number of questions, such as "[i]s global population growing faster than our ability to feed it? Should we expect economic growth to characterize the rest of the century?" These questions are seen with frequency in the field of future studies. But the author lets the reader know that he will not offer any definitive answers to these questions, as he does not claim to have abilities in interpreting a crystal ball. Instead, he honors the book's title by framing within a single structure different, and often opposing, points of view on a number of issues. Avoiding determinism, the author notes that "the arguments for forecasting are strong, we still must be very careful not to take our forecasts too seriously." The accuracy of the forecasts presented varied. Population estimates presented in the book were within range. The book did seem to avoid some areas altogether, especially in the political field. The fate of the Soviet Union, which collapsed four years later, was not only not anticipated, but also it was not addressed. The emergence of China was also ignored. When it came to energy use, the experts showed too much faith in the promise of emerging technologies, as we have repeatedly done throughout history.

The cautious and informative approach taken by the author will fit well the critical reader, as the book does not attempt to offer simplistic answers to complicated questions. It is easy to dismiss books dealing with future studies that were published long ago. But reading such books, armed with today's precious retrospective, allow us to evaluate our own ability to look into the future. Reading this book was an interesting experience. The reader cannot help to realize that having a critical perspective proved to be more valuable than any crystal ball. Amazing how some things have not changed at all.

Sometimes, very high quality source code is dumped onto the Internet just because it is old. For FORTRAN 77/90+ programmers that occasionally use or otherwise maintain legacy FORTRAN IV (a.k.a. FORTRAN 66) source code, this textbook provides valuable continuity back to the older standard. This title was published while the FORTRAN 77 standard was being finalized, so it still largely reflects the FORTRAN 66 standard - at the same time, it further discusses the up and coming FORTRAN 77 standard and the relationships between the two.

The preliminary chapter (Chapter 0) is most valuable as it provides a concise overview of FORTRAN 66 in about 40 pages. Later chapters instruct on some of the long forgotten FORTRAN 66 tricks that sometimes cause the eyebrows of modern programmers to furrow when trying to understand inherited code. I also found this book to be very helpful in understanding the use of characters variables in FORTRAN 66, which may be foreign to the FORTRAN 77/90+ programmer use to explicitly declared characters variables. I regret that the book did not acknowledge some of the antiquated non-standard features such as ENCODE and DECODE commonly seen in old source code.

Understandably, the actual presentation of FORTRAN 77 is less than complete, and the book is a self-proclaimed "advanced" book, so this is certainly not the best book from which to learn modern FORTRAN. And while there are other older books that can help one's understanding of FORTRAN 66, this hardback just also happens to be a fine tutorial on the subject on programming. Apparently, this title was quite popular and in print for many years.

This oversized coffee-table style book is filled with large color photos of all the major teams and drivers for the Cart 1991-92 season. It includes a foreward by 1991 Indy Car Series Champion Michael Andretti, and includes several special sections about his family and their history in the racing industry.

There are many interesting articles about the different criminolgical perspectives. Some of them are quite hard to find.

This is an excellent book in EEG. Concise, practical and easy to carry and read. Author is EEG authority.

This is the story of Elmer Sperry, inventor and engineer, who created the company which eventually included such famous names as Sperry Gyroscope, Sperry New Holland, Sperry Vickers, Sperry Marine, Remington and Sperry Rand and the technologically advanced makers of the first commercial computer, Sperry Univac.

For students interested in the historical backgrounds of some of the most influential hi tech companies of the 50s to the late 80's then this book is almost required reading.

Elmer Sperry was a quiet, understated and insightful genius and inventor whose influence has been felt by all who passed through the Univac school with their eyes wide open.

Regards,

Martyn R Jones

You know you've found a piece of social history when you open the pages of this vintage book and read these lines: "Dating, and perhaps wwinning, a lovely and spunky miss is an adventure having all the thrill of juggling dynamite, plus the excitment of keeping at bay, singlehanded, a ravening pack of stag-line wolves" Unopionionated, this author is not. Here's another sample: "Falling for a lovely female creature is something like casually stepping off a safety island and being hit by a ten-ton truck.....you probably know it all too well."
There are dates and dates and dates. Blind dates. Sport dates. First dates. Movie dates. Party dates...first dates are the most exciting"
The section on "Pitching the Woo" is truly riveting. It concludes with these lines "The right girl kissed at the wrong moment often means the right girl lost." Think about it.
And NO review can possibly describe the very vintage and lovely illustrations.

General St. John Richardson Liddell was a biased, cantankerous, violent man devoted to the Confederacy yet doubtful of its ultimate success. This is history with the varnish off; Liddell wrote this record immediately after the war and never expected it to be published in his lifetime. It's one of the essential texts for understanding the Confederate Army of Tennessee and provides great insight into the personalities of its commander. More importantly, it reveals in great detail the mind of one former Confederate.

This one is just an average issue, with a story average of 3.40. Di Filippo's Feynman bit is interesting, as far as the rest goes, with the usual book and movie stuff, the latter related to graphic from derived movies, the reviewer admitting she is rather wobbly on the source material.

FSF658 : Brain Raid - Alexander Jablokov
FSF658 : Stone and the Librarian - William Browning Spencer
FSF658 : The Helper and His Hero Part 1 - Matthew Hughes
FSF658 : Red Card - S. L. Gilbow
FSF658 : Fool - John Morressy


D-level intelligence problems.

4 out of 5


Knowledge Based reality.

3 out of 5


Dreams come to nonaut.

3 out of 5


Her assignment shot through.

3.5 out of 5


Hitperson choices, occult or not.

3.5 out of 5




3.5 out of 5

Armstrong and his thirteen contributors endeavored to produce a book designed to enumerate the problems of modern pastoral ministry. Each of the fourteen writers dealt with a different issue in the practice of pastoral ministry which he considers broken. In so doing, they hoped to provide what each of them views as a necessary corrective to restore pastoral ministry to its biblical and historical roots. Some of the contributors provide helpful reflections. Others used their respective missives as an opportunity to ride gallantly upon their theological hobbyhorses intending to find brokenness where perhaps none exists, or at least not to the extent they believe exists.

Helpful Reflections

Joel Beeke's chapter, "The Utter Necessity of a Godly Life," gives a pointed reminder to pastors that their lives must be lived above reproach. Much of the chapter seems elementary at its best and patronizing at its worst; but it does serve as a not-so-subtle rebuke to the minister whose life reflects more of this world than of the next world. Beeke reminds pastors that their congregations can never rise above the depth of their own spirituality. Pastors must always be one step ahead in the never-ending quest for godliness. It is easy for the busy pastor to substitute the duties of the job for devotion to the Savior, such as using sermon preparation as a substitute for devotional meditation. I have fallen into this trap, especially while under the time pressures common to many bi-vocational pastors. Now as a "fully supported," pastor, I realize that the giftedness of my ministry must be authenticated by the fruitfulness of my character and conduct borne out of a passionate love relationship with Jesus. My people will never see Jesus reflected in my life if I neglect spending time in the Tent of Meeting.
Thomas Smith's chapter entitled, "Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing," is a wonderful polemic for the centrality of Christ in preaching. Just as the apostolic kerygma maintained the centrality of Christ and the cross, all modern preaching must strive to bring people to Christ. Without Jesus, there is no good news. Without the preaching of the cross, there is no hope for spiritual health and wholeness. All our exegesis must pass through a Christological filter to ensure sound hermeneutics. The apex of Christian preaching must remain the glory of God through the exaltation of Christ.
Jerry Marcellino deals with the important issue of the glory of God in worship. One must not design a worship services for the pleasure of the people. Worship belongs to God. The object of worship is never the feelings of the worshipper, but the exaltation of the One worshipped. Worship must reflect God's grandeur, his transcendence, and his mystery. While many of Marcellion's points regarding worship are well taken, his treatment of what constitutes acceptable worship music lacks the necessary specificity to be helpful and is sufficiently vague to be harmful. While some worship music seems to transcend time and culture, every generation must be free to offer praise and adoration in the vernacular of its musical culture. Much of the denigration directed at contemporary praise and worship music reflects the aesthetic values of the detractors rather than specific biblical injunctions. Modern day Luthers and Calvins must be allowed to transform the popular music of the day into melodious praise meaningful to the contemporary worshipper. Let history sort out what works and what does not work.