John Hughes Books

Half of this book's pages are beautiful 4-color photos of boats (mosly sail, but some power), underway, at anchor. For each, Hughes (a sailor and a pastor) has penned a reflective poem focusing on the Lord and his goodness. Wonderful. I had a copy years ago, lost it, and yesterday my wife found a used copy for me - what a joy. This is a treasure you will use frequently.

. . . if only for the brilliant concept of "technical orthodoxy." But, thankfully, there's a whole lot more going on here.

For one thing, the genesis of this book is utterly fascinating. John Jay Hughes made history as the first Anglican priest to be received as a Catholic priest without being reordained (he was conditionally ordained, which is a rite administered to those for whom the validity of their orders is questionable, but not regarded as essentially defective). This book is an apology for his view that the Anglican understanding of priesthood is in continuity with Catholic views (although one wonders what he might make of the chaos in the Anglican Communion following the consecration of Gene Robinson).

What's fascinating about the book, beyond what has to be the most thorough investigation of the issues of the validity of Anglican orders, is, what it uncovers about issues surrounding the reformation, especially regarding questions of "the Sacrifice of the Mass." That's where the concept of technical orthodoxy comes in. Hughes, over against the standard Catholic accounting of the late Medieval Church, admits there were some rather severe problems with the Church's self-understanding. These had to do primarily with, one might say, degraded, although not heretical, understandings about the Mass. He uses the term "technical orthodoxy" to describe these views. What he means is that although the Church did not slip into heresy, it only with barely minimal adequacy preserved proper understandings. The brilliance of this term is that it grants that while Catholic self-understandings had become very problematic they were not so degraded as to compromise the indefectibility of the Church. Additionally, it enables one to see that even though the Reformation's theological challenges to Catholic understandings arose from grave problems within the Medieval Church, the answers provided by the Reformers were not necessarily satisfactory.

Indeed, the Catholic Church was unable to adequately answer the challenge of the Reformation's new theological views (esp. regarding issues such as how the Mass is a sacrifice and the nature of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but also issues about justification) for over four hundred years. In fact, the best Catholic theologians of the time were reduced to essentially saying something along these lines: "You're wrong, because what you say doesn't accord with what we have received." Thus, they preserved a proper understanding even as they were incapable of adequately explaining it. It took the recovery of the Mass in the vernacular, the reappropriation of the idea of Anamnesis, and a deeper appreciation of the role of the entire company of the faithful in the action of the Mass, brilliantly made manifest in the Vatican II documents, in subsequent proclamations by Paul VI and John Paul II, and in the actual vernacular liturgies themselves, for the Catholic Church to finally answer the challenges presented by the new theology of the Reformation.

Thus, the scope of the book is much larger than the mere question of the validity of Anglican orders, and the questions it raises and the answers it gives are quite far-reaching. On a personal note, this book, which I have owned for nearly thirty years, and which I finally thoroughly read and digested just this past summer, was a major factor in the completion of my decades-long pilgrimage from Protestantism to Catholicism. It, along with the works of N. T. Wright and Ben Meyer, provided the framework for me to grasp the theological essentials of the Catholic faith. For that, I am profoundly grateful.

Explain every aspect of cables design, mechanical properties of materials and finished cables, electrical characteristics of different constructions, manufacturing techniques and machineries, testing methods and installation. Furnished with well explained and practical formulas of twisted pairs and co-axial metallic cables. Every telecom cable's designer must-read book !

This is a great book! As a 5th-grade teacher, I am always on the outlook for new fiction, and this story delivers the goods! Toots, trapped between personal grief and moral obligation, is forced to make decisions which affect not only her future, but those around her. In the process, she learns valuable lessons about life and love. I highly recommend this book for children of all ages.

As a student of sociology, I found the text to be definitive and an excellent resource during my studies. The text offers a clear analyasis that is very readable and user friendly to the less initiated in the ranks. A very good companion for Giddens in the study of classical sociological ideology.

This work is simply wonderful. Old's treatment of the history of worship is historically illuminating, theologically insightful, and personally edifying. He traces the development of worship from OT Israel to the modern church in terms of various aspects of worship: Baptism, the Lord's Day, the Ministry of Praise, the Ministry of the Word, the Ministry of Prayer, the Lord's Supper, Daily Prayer, and Alms.

He concludes with a short essay on the place of tradition in our theology of worship. The Reformers rightly saw tradition as helpful, even authoritative. But tradition's authority flows from and is subservient to the authority of Scripture.

For those interested in the history of preaching, Old's discussion of the Ministry of the Word in the history of the church is worth the price of admission.

This is a bible for computer graphics. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn computer graphics knowledge base.

If you're a beginner looking for a book which has example code you can test out and try, either forget it or be prepared for some headache.

I can speak on my experience, I have a GNU/Linux system, the SRGP library which is used by this book only supports a display depth of 8bpp, which means you'll most likely need to reconfigure your X server to some extent - the examples/library will crash at higher display depths.

But there is no doubt that the techniques and principles explained throughout can be applied using other toolkits, as the book explicitly says that the facilities contained in the example libraries are common to many other graphics libraries.

A quick note on the quality of the library code, it appears to be pre-ANSI C and contains a few modern no-nos, which can lead to crashes.

If you're looking for a book to merely use as a reference or for theory then this is what this book is, and as one other reviewer said, you could probably just borrow a copy of the book and xerox the bibliography to refer to the papers it sources information from.

It's an all-time classic in computer graphics world. I bought this in 1997 and i could learn a lot from it. Though it hasn't been updated, one can gain all the fundamentals about CG.

This book is a great book for general knowledge but all of the chapters that deal with talking about hardware is badly outdated. I got this book mostly for algorithms. I got much more then what I expected but most of everything I needed was there. Its a very good book for learning about line drawing, and polygon rasteration algorithms. Don't expect anything up to date like shaders though.

Except for the chapters on raster algorithms, this book is just an extended bibliography. It has no material on texturing, for example, just a reference to the original paper on it. The math isn't that mature either, and the chapter on Perspective Projections is a pedagogical atrocity. Instead of buying this book, just go to your local univ. library and xerox the bibliography; then, lookup the articles on topics you're interested in.

I am a professional life and business coach for young adults in life transitions. I also operate the Young Adult Crisis Hotline for young adults transitioning in various stages of life. I have used this book to coach young adults through the mountain passes of life's difficult transitions. I also have been using this book in various ways to teach practical entrepreneurship to individuals who want to start their own businesses or who are self-employed as a professional life Coach. It is practical and has easy to follow steps that empower people to know how to work not only hard but smart.

Personally, this book has radically revolutionized the non-profit I founded and operate daily. I took the book apart section by section. Practically applied numerous chapters to the non-profit's marketing and promotional department. We have grown in one year from a local crisis hotline to a national crisis hotline for young adult in difficult life transitions who have life controlling problems. Before using If Nobody Loves You Create the Demand we averaged only six calls a month, now we have sometimes a thousand calls a month nationally, write daily articles on our blog, and still applying learned principles from this book. We operate our non-profit on a shoestring budget and the steps that this book suggested we applied vigorously in promoting our purpose. It was and continues to be a of jolt great wisdom for our organization and the clients that we recommend weekly to read the book for personal growth and development. We are looking forward to the upcoming workbook that will be released soon.

Thank you for contributing to the many young adults who comment "If Nobody Loves You Create the Demand: is amazing road map of entrepreneurship."

[...]

Thanks,
Teddy Awad
Certified Mental Health Professional
Young Adult Crisis Hotline
[...]

This is not just another mediocre motivational book with grandiose theories, but this is one of the most practical books I have ever read for entrepreneurs. Although I have been in business for years, this book is still very helpful to me. Many of the ideas in this book can be put to use immediately, and I have already started applying some of the things I have read. From a business and marketing standpoint, this book is a great tool for the new entrepreneur or for the more experienced person in business. In the book, Joel Freeman is very generous in sharing many of the practical secrets to success he has learned over the years, so the reader gets a wealth of knowledge.

I was SO excited when I ordered this book based on the other reviews. It too me one day to read and it left me with more questions than answers...For starters, how to make any of the advice to apply to any business that isn't what the author does?

It is all fine and good that he is successful; but do we need to hear about it in every chapter? Do you have any real world advice for us; or do you just want to toot your own horn?

I found this book to be a think-outside-of-the-box resource. I completed it in one sitting and have found myself referring to it again and again. It's full or practical advice and powerful insights. Sherry Current

This "little book" is a must have for any aspiring entrepreneur! It's like having a mentor with you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! Dr. Freeman has provided us with a tool that can be referenced at anytime! It's relevant and very user friendly. He uses personal examples and testimonies of others to reveal the essence of what it takes to "Create the Demand!"

I loved the concise nature of the book. It gives enough information to let you know more than dates about the artist but doesn't bog a younger reader down in details like, "during their 32 year of life....". It is fast paced and interesting enough to want to sit down and read the whole thing through during the first reading. I got this for my dd, 10, and she loved that it was good compliment of male and female artists. They even mentioned a female Renaissance female artist I had never heard of and was able to teach my art students about.

Lives of the Artists is light reading with approx. 2 pages of facts per artist, so it is not an in-depth look at their private lives; however put it on your "Fun" reading list. It is a highly amusing book and a great source of dinner conversation. Also Check out Lives of the Musicians:Good Times, Bad Times (and What the Neigbors Thought)

I found this book while looking for a way to get my children more interested in art and famous artists from various periods. This book was exactly what I needed. It tells a little about each artist without being boring giving them a glimpse at each one. After reading this book to my 3 year old and then letting the 11 and 15 year old look it over, I was asked about various artists in the book which led us on hunts at the library for more information.

So this book makes a good introduction if you're wanting to just give your kids an idea of all the artists that have come and gone. I do agree with another reviewer that it would have been nice if they had included at least one piece of their artwork in the pages. Of course, that just means we will have to find them on our own which for us homeschoolers is part of the "thrill of the hunt".

I found this book in the children's section of the library, but this is not a children's book; although children might enjoy it. This book is very reminiscent of the "Politically Incorrect Bedtime Stories" series. It's a wonderfully campy little book full of facts about just how bizarre artists are. It would make a great coffee table book. I just loved it! I can't wait to read the companion book about musicians.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed it because it puts some of the humanity back into a subject many of whose personalities have been so lionized that they have become icons, non-people. However, I'm not certain to whom I might recommend it.

To begin with, the book has the direct, simple style of books written for children, grades 4-8. The language is a little too complex for those under age 8, the style a little too simple for those over age 13. Since I occasionally read children's books anyway, this did not stop me as an adult from reading the book and taking satisfaction from doing so. Nor would I have had any problem with recommending the volume for a school or public library, except....

I enjoyed the book primarily because I had already had a rather extensive exposure to art of all types through my mother, who was a working artist herself. Our house was littered with books about artists and their art works, and I started visiting museums in her company from the age of six. When Lives of the Artists: Masterpieces, Messes (and What the Neighbors Thought) discussed Rembrandt, I already possessed a pretty clear impression of his style and of some of his more famous works. The possibility that the he did not paint Man with a Golden Helmet surprised me, because I have a very clear picture of the work-one of my favorite Rembrandts-in my head. Someone who didn't would find it difficult to care; it would be just another bit of free-floating information.

In short, the book fails to fulfill a goal as a vehicle of teaching young people-or any people-about art because there are no illustrations of it. While there are entertaining anecdotes about a nice selection of famous people who perform a variety of styles of art, they might be anyone with eccentric behavior.

I'm not certain where the fault for this glaring defect lies. Perhaps it arises from an attempt to produce an interesting and attractive book that is still affordable, especially for children. Perhaps it was a matter of inability to procure a right to reproduce a work of art belonging to someone who has exclusive rights over it. Still, I find it difficult to believe that the museums of the world would be unwilling for their masterpieces to be represented in a book on famous art, especially for children, if only because it represents free publicity for their establishment. Certainly if any given museum is unwilling, there are other works of art from which to choose: therein lies a certain degree of leverage.

Whatever the reason for the lack of art in an art book, I can only suggest this book to schools that provide a thorough grounding in the subject. An art teacher might give lectures on periods of art, their characteristic works and personalities, and suggest that this book might be fun to read. For a young person who has been prepared, this might return "great" art once again to the realm of human endeavor.

Rick Bass does an excellent job of using short, usually off topic notes, that when put in chapter and book form are most enjoyable. He intertwines his geological skills with his philisophical view on humanity and also his personal life-well done. He has some very unique analogies, such as a geologist drawing a surface map thousands of feet below the earth's surface by using basically what he sees through a hole the diameter of a fire hydrant. Mr. Bass is also very ecologically concerned with our planet, his views on this subject are quite refreshing.

Rick Bass's little oil book, originally published in 1989, is a good read for those who know something about oil production. But it is dated, very badly, by recent developments in the energy sector. One of his "notes" -- page 19 of the SMU edition -- states "I hate coal." This goes to two pages of nonsense written by someone years ago, like me, that could not have anticipated the significance of coalbed methane.

If you read this book, realise it is from a well-head mentality. This oil genius probably has never spent a day underground or a minute to understand why we must mine coal. Perhaps he could run his word processor off the crude pumped into a generator adjacent to his office. That's a patent I'd like to see.

Rick Bass, a petroleum geologist and environmental activist is known for his knowledge of the earth and oil. The book, Oil Notes, written by Bass, gives the readers the feeling that they are petroleum geologists. Bass allows the reader to understand what he is referring to and how everything on an oil rig works. At first glance or first read, the reader might think that the book is solely about oil. But as the reading goes on, the reader finds out differently. Oil Notes is not only about oil; it is an analogy for life. Bass also uses searching for the number one oil field, the one that will make someone rich, as an analogy for a man trying to find his place on earth.
Throughout the book, many facts that are in oil exploration also coexist in life. For example, Bass claims that "Nothing lasts. Old seas are buried" (42). Not only is Bass talking about the soon to be scarcity of oil, he is talking about life. No matter how much you try, you will not live forever. Rocks do not last forever; eventually they become stones, pebbles, and eventually sand. That is the same with life. Life does not last forever. Unfortunately, death is inevitable. Everything that is thought to last forever...love, hatred, and friendship...will cease to exist when the person dies.
Another example of life being told in terms of oil is when Bass talks about leadership in the field of geology: "A leader-in a profession of men and women who cannot be led, and will not" (135). Bass says that those are the type of geologists that everyone needs to stay away from. They are the geologists with the egos that are bigger than their head. In life, staying away from people like that would help a lot. People with big egos refuse to help people and also refuse to be helped. They are solely dependent on themselves. Unfortunately, they will not learn in life until they drastically fail at something. Only then will they hopefully realize that there are sources other than themselves.

Time and change coexist and have a big effect on the oil business and life. Everything revolves around time. Bass is amazed that in a lifetime "you will see a picture more different than could ever be imagined" (134). Things can change drastically in a lifetime. Just look around a city. Remember what it was like 10 years ago or 20 years ago. No matter what duration of time, change always occurs. In the oil business, drilling can go smooth for fifteen hours, and then it becomes tough due to different rock. The flow of oil can trickle and then it can spew out one-thousand barrels per day. It can change that drastically in a short period of time. In life, the health of a person can drastically change as the person ages.
In the oil business assumption can make or break your career as an oil person. In life assumption can do the same. Bass says, in reaction to not knowing about your oil well, "You've got to be careful not to judge it too quickly or too harshly" (145). If a person assumes an oil well is in shale, and uses a bit that only goes through shale, it will ruin their day to find out that the $10,000 bit is useless because they are actually drilling through granite. The oil well can be lost and the geologist can be out of a job. In life, the same can occur. If a person judges another person before getting to know them, that can prove to be a big mistake. Maybe that person could have been a good friend or something more.
Finding the perfect oil field is similar to one's efforts to try to find out where they belong in the world. Bass claims that "Someday I am going to drill my own well. There is no geologist who does not dream of this. It is what you are after" (89). In any profession, a goal is set. A pilot might want to fly a certain plane or so many hours. In oil, the goal is to own a big money making petroleum company, owning a well. Life provides goals similar to those and with a similar pay off. The fact that Bass says "someday" means he is going to try. That is an analogy for life. A person may look all of their life to find out who they are, where they belong. Once the person "knows himself" then the world is his. They know what they are capable of and what they are made of.
Not only is Oil Notes about oil, it is about life in general, about one person's effort to find their place in the world.

Oddly enough, I was far from home doing field work in North Georgia when I found Oil Notes in a little bookstore. I am a geologist. However, unlike Rick Bass my job was to look for fresh drinking water, not oil. I found time to read his book between logging boreholes and setting wells. By the time I was finished I (with the book) I had a renewed interest and spirit in my profession and in the environment around me. Rick Bass found a way to express in words, the excitement and passions associated with being a field geologist, environmentalist and a man in love.

Oil Notes is a fantastic book, and Rick Bass is an equally outstanding author. I have since read everyone of his books. He vividly defines his feelings and passions in everything he writes about, be it drilling for oil or studing wolves.

You can almost feel Rick Bass' concentration as he considers each and every word before adding it to this sparkling little journal. The resulting prose is lean and crisp, fresh as the air after rain. I savored the writing in these little essays almost as much as I enjoyed the bits of life-wisdom found a dash here and a pinch there.
No matter how intriguing, these elements are relegated to the status of sub-currents within the framework. On the surface, Bass treats the reader to a large helping of fascinating details about the oil business, and it was this that first attracted me.
Of course, as I read the author began to make contact on a second level, and my interests shifted. Years later, original motive no longer relevant, I enjoyed Oil Notes again. There is much to be learned here. Bass seemes to be that rare creature; the sensitive male. I'm not sure, but now that I've read it several times, I think maybe some of it might be about to rub off.
Art Tirrell - author of The Secret Ever Keeps - Mar 2007 from Kunati Book Publishers.