H Books

I agree with everyone else, if you are a grad student or new researcher you need to buy and read this book. BUT BEWARE: This book refers to turbo pumps as a new innovation, and ignores magnetic charged particle optics. Discussions of topics are fairly through but lack the depth of schematics, however many of the references are now considered seminal letters on their topics. The references alone will save you a lot of time.

The physics covered is accurate and usable, and the references, clear presentations of topics, and lists of suppliers make this book essential for any serious experimental scientist to be.

Buy it! :)

This book is an invaluable reference source for anyone whose work requires them to become involved in unfamiliar (physical science related) technologies. Though it would certainly be useful to laboratory researchers, it is equally valuable for the scientist or engineer who needs to apply these disciplines. As a physicist involved in design of commercial instrumentation, I have often had to become involved in various disciplines which were outside of my area of formal training and this book has commonly been my point of entry into unfamiliar terrain. This isn't just a "how to do it" book, but also provides a solid grounding in the basic theory. Over the years I have used this book as a primer/refresher for: (a) vacuum technology; (b) light optics; (c) charged-particle optics; and (d) mechanical drawing. In each case, this book provided me with the fundamental concepts, equations, and techniques to become productive, often without access to any other source of expertise. Though I do, of course, employ other sources as my knowledge advances, I still find myself regularly referring back to this book.

I know of no other reference that manages to pack so much useful information into so few pages. And yet, it remains easy and enjoyable to read. Part of this may be due to the abundant drawings which have a certain charm of their own -- echoing the style of the famous C.S. Stong illustrations in the "Amateur Scientist" section of Scientific American.

This book is so good that I own two copies: one for my office at work and the second for reference at home.

Have never seen a book which was able to pack so much practical information into so few pages, and able to explain complex concepts so simply.

If you have to work with any type of laboratory equipment you would be insane to NOT have this book on your shelf.

I would like to cast a somewhat dissenting view of this book. It is certainly a good place to start for information on various projects but comes up short on construction techniques. Perhaps an older source, Procedures in Experimental Physics (Lindsay Pubs), is better. Of course, it was written in 1938, so materials cited might be out of date, but the construction techniques aren't bad. I recently decided to build a good sized water tank (40" by 6" by 3") of acrylic and found nothing about construction tips. I was thinking of building something that probably required casting, and found a paltry two pages on the subject.

It would be good to see it updated every 5 years or so. I see the pub date is 1991. Things have changed a bit. It has a very good list of references, but with the advent of the web, it would be good to see some the reference material cite the web.

This is a _great_ book! I buy a copy of this for every student who starts work for me--which I consider to be a fine investment. Practical, hands-on information is given on a huge variety of skills needed by those working in Physics labs. From glass blowing to vacuum systems, to instruction on attaching BNC connectors, it's all in here.

Exactly as I said in the title. We completed Calculus 1, 2 and 3 on this. Great for beginners.

My son is currently at Harvard where he is taking Calculus II. He called home, requesting we forward his Larson textbook that he used for AP Calc in high school. It helped him tremendously with concepts he just wasn't getting at one of the top schools in the nation--and he has shared this textbook with his professor at Harvard!

Kudos to the author of this wonderfully written book.

First things first: If there was a ten star rating it would apply
to this book. Secondly, I found these authors through another of
their books, "Precalculus With Limits - A Graphing Approach". That book was just as well written. Truth be told, I would buy any of their books, sight unseen. They are a students
teacher and a teachers teacher. They don't sacrifice rigor, nor do they forget the mathematical maturity of their student audience. Using their books alone, and self-study (no classes,
tutors, or the intellectual diet pill category of "Calculus Made
Simple" or "Calculus The Easy Way" silver bullets I filled a forty year gap in math studies in 1-1/2 years to the point of
acing the AP Calculus and AP Physics Exams. Knowing calculus prior to beginning physics with calculus is an absolute necessity. I am no genuis. I do not have exceptional ability. I simply had the advantage of two textbooks written by teachers who
really care and take a mentoring approach to writing. All of this
has really been a long-winded way of saying that with this book
and a healthy dose of strong motivation and perserverance you will succeed in your calculus courses.

The best book about Calculus I ever seen. Read it and you will know all about you need to love mathematics.

This is no doubt the best textbook I have ever owned in any subject. I've never been able to actually read through a math text untill this book came along. The analytic graphs are colorful (and the 3-D generated ones are simply astounding) which is totally different from the dull, dreary, and nightmarish math texts from my past. This math book is unlike any other I have seen before -- in a class of its own. There are plenty of examples, charts, and many many exercises(some especially challenging). I went through Calculus I and have taught myself Calc II within a matter of weeks. Highly recommended.

Elisabeth Murray writes a wonderful and highly detailed biography of her grandfather, James Murray. Simon Winchester reintroduced many in this country to Mr. Murray in his book The Professor and the Madman, which told the story of Murray and an American living in an English asylum named W. C. Minor. This book was highly readable, but not comprehensive as a true biography of Murray.

James Murray, the first editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, was a gentle man of words who dedicated his life to the study of the English Language. His efforts are best understood in this book by the descriptions Elisabeth gives of his scriptorum, where Murray spent the majority of his life, and where Elisabeth worked as a young lady.

In reading about this man's life and the effort that was required to undertake the construction of this dictionary, one really gets a sense of the vastness and complexity of the English Language, the historical richness and the regional diversity. One also sees in florid detail the life of one of the great late-Victorian pedants.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. It really conveys the sense of martyrdom that Murray must have felt during the 30-some years that he worked on the Dictionary. After a while, however, it got a little old--chapter after chapter describing the horrible deprivation Murray suffered at the hands of the Delagacy of the Oxford University Press into which he was virtually forced.

Whenever there were "good years" the book would read something like "...and then the Delagacy let up on the poor guy for a while, but then so-and-so was named the new Secretary and he turned out to be an idiot." Then the author (actually Murray's granddaughter) spends another chapter detailing how so-and-so made Murray's life a living hell.

Like I said before, this gets to be tiring. It seems as if she has an axe to grind with the OUP after all these years and has made the main point of this book to be a crusade of some sort. She wants the world to know just how much pain and suffering dear old granddad went through. I couldn't help thinking that, in reality, he was just some kind of ultra-perfectionist nutcase and somewhat of a big crybaby.

Other than that, I recommend the book as being informative and interesting.

James Murray was a prodigy. He learned languages, geography, botany at an early age. He lived in Scotland. He was intrigued that his border language was identical to that of Northumberland and so that the English-Scots boundary had no linguistic significance. He was always learning, always collecting knowledge.

In two years at school he learned four languages. After school he was tutored in two more by a family friend, Italian and German. His family did not send him to grammar school at Melrose because there were other boys to educate. He became an assistant master when he was seventeen. By 1857 he was developing an interest in philology. Seeing Anglo-Saxon put him into a high state of excitement. He moved to London and started to work at Russian. He wrote THE DIALECT OF THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES OF SCOTLAND.

James Murray was respected by Morris, Ellis, Sweat, Skeat--men instrumental in revolutionizing the science of etymology. In 1868 at the Philological Society Murray encountered Frederick Furnivall. Furnivall was an inveterate founder of organizations for the study of English. Murray became an editor of the dictionary project of the Philological Society after the first editor, Herbert Coleridge, died. Borrowing the method of work from the Germans, Coleridge had started in 1860 with fifty four pigeon-holes. James Murray was named editor in 1877.

Ultimately there were sixteen thousand pages of the OED. Murray died in July 1915. The last portion of the dictionary appeared in 1928. Supplements to the dictionary were issued in 1933 and 1972. There are two appendices, notes, and an index in this very good book.

This is really two books in one: the life story of James Murray, first editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, and the tale of the dictionary itself. Both are lovingly told. It's a must read for anyone interested in dictionaries or linguistics.

Elizabeth Murray, the granddaughter of James Murray, who was the chief editor of the huge Oxford English Dictionary on which every serious scholar of English continues to depend, has written an excellent biography of the greatest English lexicographer, and done more: she has also given an insight into his personality, and, yet more importantly, into the whole scholarly world of philology, lexicography etc. in Victorian England, and the difficulties which beset the creators of the dictionary. I recommend the biography most highly, and feel that all fans of *The Surgeon of Crowthorne* (chiefly on Dr W.C. Minor) should read this - preferably BEFORE that book (so as to get a sense of context), but otherwise after. - Joost Daalder, Professor of English, Flinders University (see "More about me')

I have played chess for more than 20 years but never had the chance (or the willingness) to read a chess book. I play very well for a amateur, but I started to get serious and join some tournaments. I won some games from players around FIDE 1800-1900, but I also lost many others, since I lack the fundamentals and tournament experience. So, my chess professor, said that I should start my chess education with endings and tactics. This was my first chess book that I have ever read in my life, and I found it amazing. After studying carefully all the diagrams I asked myself why I haven't studied this book before, I would have benefit from it so much. I have just to agree with a comment that I read that the author approaches rook vs queen endings in the begnning of the book, which is quite difficult and took me many hours of practice to get used with the position and the many variations possible. I have also checked the positions with Nalimov tables, and practicaly the book has no mistakes. I have also like the author's approach for pawn endings using the key squares theory. My chess professor's book, called "The Final Countdown", and the Fundamental Chess Endings from K. Muller, both also used this modern approach. In the overall this is a must have book.

This book is translated from Russian, so it must pass the test of time. Averbakh used very concise analysis. He gave us, immediate level, a tool to understand the endgames.
It is essential for players from beginning to intermediate levels. After a chapter about the basic mating the lone King with minimal force, it introduces the standard combats between various pieces. It explains where a forcible win is guaranteed where it's not.
Then come two chapters of piece fighting against Pawns: a Rook or a minor piece versus Pawn (it's hard to believe that in some positions a single Pawn can beat the Rook!) and the Royalty versus Pawn.
After that there are two important chapters. One is about the fighting between two minor pieces where one side has one or two extra Pawns. The part about the opposite color bishops is very instructive, some case is winnable and some not. There is so much to learn in the next chapter, which explains the Rook plus Pawn Ending. As Capablanca put it: Rook and Pawn Ending is one of the most important endings. When the Rooks join the battle, sometimes they are the last pieces, understanding this type ending can help to win or draw it.
In the second half of the book, Averbakh used practical endgames from master games to emphasize what he explained in the last three chapters: Royalty and Pawns, Minor Pieces and Pawns, and Rooks and Pawns. He analyzed where some masters failed to save or win the game.
I highly recommend this book at new or used price. I guarantee your endgame knowledge (same level as mine) will improve.

I refrained from writing a review for this book until I finished it (just two days ago). I am now undecided as to whether I should move on to another book, or simply go through it again! I thoroughly enjoyed reading/playing through this book, and I shall explain why.

This book is small, indeed. However, I should emphasize that it is extremely *dense*. This book has no anecdotes, no analogies, and few sentences that do not directly relate to the discussion of a given endgame position. Some may not like this, but that is fine for them; they are going to miss out on a good book. After reading such an informative book such as this, one can only wish, as I did, that Mr. Averbakh had written more. This, however, would be contrary to his goal of creating a book of "essentinal" knowledge taken from his vast amounts of endgame material. Indeed, along with Alexander Kotov and another gentleman, Mr. Averbakh originally wrote a book titled Shakhmatnye Okonchaniya, available from Amazon as Shakhmatnaya shkola, it seems.

This book is also very compelling with its examples, especially to a beginner such as myself. In fact, I think I developed a certain fascination for the endgame after reading this book. I eagerly anticipate working on endgame puzzles and reading/playing through more volumes on the endgame, which brings me to my next point.

Realistically, I do not think that there is any need to move on to another book! As Mark Dvoretsky advises (and I am sure others do, as well) that one should know relatively few endgame positions, but understand them totally and to be able to execute them expertly. In this manner, and as a beginner, I could follow this advice and stick to this book for some time and not suffer from a lack of endgame knowledge.

Through a small part of the beginning, I played through the varations on my chess board, but after a bit I skipped them in favor of merely acquainting myself with the positions and ideas, since this was my first undertaking of actual endgame theory. (I caught a glimmer of it in various parts of Chessmaster 9000, but nothing as serious as what is in this book.)

From my estimation, all one would need for endgame theory is this book and one more advanced or exhastive book for later study. Highly recommended.

I've earned 2017 fide initial rating without this book, but i was lucky.
Here we have everything a tourneament player MUST know about endings, and something more. As an example you don't have to know how to defeat a computer in a Q vs R ending, so you can avoid that part of the book, in real games it's hard to find an under 2200 player that will play the perfect defense with the Rook. Maybe you don't have to know the B+N mate, I still have never seen a B+N vs K position in my tourneys. Anyway this book give you an EASY way to understand that mate. Thanks to this book now I know how to deliver this mate, the other 2 books i've studied weren't enough.
Here we have a book with just 100 pages that gives you what it promises.

This book attempts to provide a foundation of endgame information for the beginning chess student. After an introduction and a brief discussion about the scope of each piece the book presents five chapters meant to introduce the reader to the basics of endgames. Since there is no "Search Inside" option for this book the table of contents is reproduced here:

1 - MATING THE LONE KING
Mate with a Queen
Mate with a Rook
Mate with Two Bishops
Mate with Bishop and Knight
Mate with Two Knights
2 - VARIOUS PIECES IN COMBAT
Queen versus Rook
Queen versus Minor Piece
Rook versus Knight
Rook versus Bishop
3 - VARIOUS PIECES IN COMBAT WITH A PAWN
Queen versus Pawn
Rook versus Pawn
Minor Piece versus Pawn
4 - QUEENING A PAWN
King and Pawn versus King
King, Minor Piece and Pawn versus King
Knight and Pawn versus Knight
Bishop and Pawn versus Bishop
Bishop and Pawn versus Knight
Knight and Pawn versus Bishop
Rook and Pawn versus Rook
Queen and Pawn versus Queen
5 - PRACTICAL ENDINGS
Pawn Endings
Knight Endings
Bishop Endings
Bishops of the Same Colour
Bishops of Opposite Colours
Endings with Bishop versus Knight
Rook Endings
Queen Endings

One of the best things about this book is that it is the perfect size for digestion in just a few study sessions. For those starting with little or no endgame knowledge this means that at least a basic understanding of endgame concepts is attainable in a reasonably short period of time.

If you are inexperienced with endings, the information in this book is sure to not only increase your confidence at the chessboard but also provide a nice bridge to other more advanced endgame books. After studying this book one could move on to Seirawan's "Winning Chess Endings", which is still aimed at the beginner but contains slightly more in-depth information, or the superb "Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual" by Dvoretsky, which is more suited for the advance player.

This has turned out to be one of my favorites of the series. I love the reason for the mission and the flow of events in this adventure. The fairies' flying trip on the hawk was one of my favorite parts. Cinnabar's reserved character is well done making her a strong but careful leader. I think we need more of this type of leader in our world, less aggressive with more thinking and planning. This is a good role model for girls.

It is wonderful that this series is now illustrated, such beautiful and flowery tales deserve good art to bring them to life. The artwork has rich depth and a lot of intricacies, it is obviously very good quality and adds a lot to this fairy tale.

My daughter, a fairy herself, disappears into each new Fairy Chronicle book. When she returns, several hours later, she is filled with excitement and inspiration - she then designs her own Web of Dreams friendship bracelet or composes her own shadow poem. The entire series is a wonderful example of storytelling, mixing fact and fantasy, making the brave young heroines partners with the natural world around them, giving my young reader a place to explore various methods of expression.
We own every one in print, and have pre-ordered the titles yet to be released.

J.H. Sweet, Thank You for the magic.

When you look at all the bad things in the news today, you can get pretty depressed. This is something that can make you feel good and happy. The pictures in the book put a smile on my face right away, and the fairy mission to the island kept me interested to the very last page. Cinnabar is a wonderful character. She is a ballerina who is graceful and very reserved. Her moth fairy gift of night abilities makes her an excellent choice for this shadowy fairy mission, and she doesn't let us down. In the end, the children who were missing their shadows get them, and we have a happy ending to make us feel good.

This book has exquisite illustrations. They are colorful, full of detail, and really draw you into the story. My favorite is a somewhat old-fashioned looking illustration of the king and queen of shadowland. It has a black and white look but with some blues, purples, and golds. This was a fun fairy tale to read with exciting and unusual characters like shadowmakers and a griffon. It has a happy ending like most fairy tales. I really enjoyed everything about this book and I will read it again.

We felt like we went along on Cinnabar's mission to the Island of Shadows with her. We could feel the wind in our ears as we rode on the hawk and we felt the splash of the salty sea spray as we rode on the turtle. But we had to hide when the fairies battled the chimera because we didn't have magic wands. (We are going to have to make some magic wands.) We really liked this book and we are going to read it again.

As a long-time family law practitioner, I believe that the Collaborative approach to divorce and separation offers the best chance for couples to divorce each other without destroying the complex network of family and friends that is a part of every marriage. Pauline Tesler's highly readable book clearly explains Collaborative practice and how it can accomplish the preservation of a peaceful reformation of a family contemplating divorce. This is a must read for anyone, attorney or private party, who has anything to do with divorce Please read it--if not for yourself, for a friend, a neighbor, a family member.

Many divorce lawyers (including me) are jumping on the band wagon for this much more respectful way to divorce. Pauline Tesler is one of the top trainers in the industry and has a huge following among divorce professionals. This is not a how-to-do-it-yourself book but helps you make more intelligent decisions about how to handle your divorce.

Buy one for yourself and one for your to-be ex spouse.

This book was very informative and is an excellent resource for anyone who is interested in the collaborative process. I highly recommend it!

As the matriarch in a very large extended family, where there is much love but conflict may be unavoidable, I read Collaborative Divorce with great interest. I hope my family will not need to use it, but just in case, I bought a copy for each couple around me. Bitter divorces are expensive, painful, they create long-term resentment, and make it difficult to raise healthy children. The damaging effects of failed or thwarted love can and should be avoided. That is the point of this book. According to the authors, when there is a commitment to integrity, ethical
behavior, clear communications, and constructive problem-solving, a divorce should be a solution and not a cause for more entrenched conflict. Collaborative Divorce shows there are smarter and kinder ways for a couple to part.
ISABEL ALLENDE

The authors have succeeded in creating an easily accessible and remarkably complete guide to thinking about and managing this difficult process. The combination of legal and emotional insight will resonate strongly with anyone who has participated in divorce and goes on to skillfully guide the reader through the alternative. Clearly there is a better way and this work hits on all the different aspects, how to approach them and the high value of avoiding the legal process. This is a must read for anyone contemplating divorce. The outcome will be a dramatically better experience, better settlement and an easier path to the rest of one's life. Top rating.

Thank you Mark and Bruce for putting together the book "Conquering Depression". I believe it to be the best and most practical book I have ever read on the subject. For once I have found a book outlining a workable program, that develops tangible skills, and that forges and sharpens mighty weapons to defeat and overcome depression. A book that addresses the tri-part nature of man: his spirit, his soul (mind, will and emotions) and his body. I am convinced that should people who suffer the dreadful effects of despair and depression follow the 30 day program outlined in your book, they will be empowered to overcome and defeat their depression. Again, well done !

Mark Sutton and Bruce Hennigan do a great job of explaining some of the many possible causes for depression as well as steps to take in overcoming it. I discovered that a person may battle depression on a daily basis, but it can be overcome. The Life Filters are great! Written from a compassionate viewpoint, this book will help you with depression if you are willing to work and apply its suggestions.

This book is VERY helpful. It's both scripturally and medically educating. To complement each day's reading, in the back of the book are daily perforated cards with the scripture and memory joggers for the day. Well-written by 2 men who still face depression, but don't let it overtake them. I'm on day 22 today. The card says "LifeFilter 22 / I Can Dilute My Depression through Sharing / "Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety" (Proverbs 11:14). On the back it says "Today / 1. Remeber: God does not want me to be alone in this world. That's why he is always with me. / 2. I resolve to leave isolation and share meaningfully with some positive, wise Christians. / 3. If necessary, I will find a godly counselor and let him/her partner with me in overcoming my depression." It's a cool approach and has taught me a lot. This and "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" are the books that have helped me the most. That along with medication, counseling, time, and talking things out with friends. There is hope. You want there to be hope. You can have a life again.

First I'd like to say that if I could give more than 5 stars, I would for this book. This book is a wonderful book on how to conquer depression, an illness that has plagued me for over 9 years. It is written by two professionals who both are strong Christians and both have suffered from depression which makes you know they understand what you are going through and there is hope. I also appreciated the fact that I didn't have to sift through what I felt was Scriptural and what I felt wasn't as this book is very Biblically based and glorifies God throughout the whole book. If you are suffering, have suffered, or know someone who is suffering from Depression please purchase this book for them. I only wish I had found it years ago when I went through my first major depression.

This book is really great! When I was first diagnosed with depression, I didn't understand a lot about it. This book really helped me to understand what was going on with me emotionally and understand what was chemically going on in my body. When the authors say they understand where you're at, they really do! They've been there too. From a Christian perspective, this book is very bibically based. It is the best book I've found on depression yet, at least from a Christian perspective.

This book has detailed information about many of the plants and animals one might encounter in Central America. No color pictures, but many black and whites. Book is probably too large and heavy to carry in the field, but is exactly what I was looking for to learn new and obscure facts to impress the non-scientific fellow traveler. I'm very pleased with it.

An amazing reference; everything you need is here, from species accounts to detailed narratives. A perfect reference; my only complaint is that the 800+ pages would have been better as a hardback book - my paperback copy split its spine within a week of purchase and now looks dog-eared and worn!

Janzen's book is over twenty years old but remains an encyclopaedia of tropical America. The 174 authors, all experts in their fields, have penned over 800 fascinating pages. The final product is a milestone, since much of the information presented was previously unpublished.

Introductory chapters cover the history of field biology in Costa Rica, biogeography, climate, geology and soils. The information presented is a thorough background for Costa Rica and provides a wealth of references for those who want to have more detail. These chapters are a useful aid to understanding the biology of any area in the northern Neotropics.

The bulk of the book comprises species accounts grouped systematically with an additional section on agriculture. At the start of each chapter, a well-written introduction gives an overview of the Costa Rican group in question and a taxonomic checklist for the country. However, the meat of the book is the species accounts themselves. Written by a large number of authors, they range from a brief few paragraphs to a couple of pages with two dozen references, depending on the amount of information available. Monochrome photographs illustrate the accounts.

Not surprisingly, Janzen's tome has found its way into universities, research stations and personal libraries throughout the American tropics. For the tropical naturalist who wants to know more than the identity of an animal or plant, this is the book to go for, especially for a trip to Costa Rica. Highly recommended.

There are so many bad books on the market trying to do what this book does so simply and so well. ...few are written with the same authority and attention to detail that Janzen brings to this text. It could be the best money you spend all trip. And I agree with the other reviewers on the book, "Costa Rica the last Country the Gods Made." It's without question a close second to Janzen's masterpiece on the physical world.

I found this hyper-detailed book to be absolutely invaluable while I was in Costa Rica!

A book I found equally indispensable, which I read BEFORE I got there, was "Costa Rica: The Last Country the Gods Made." Both books should more than adequately prepare you for a trip around 1 - 3 weeks.

From back cover:

"Fortify yourself against the likes of you."

"This remarkable book presents a step-by-step system to develop an appreciation of the underlying princples of personal power and its enhancement.

A compelling blend of erudition, wit, storytelling, synicism, morality, and practicality, 'The Craft of Power' is profuse with techniques for managing people and organizations, for developing a personal philosophy of power, and for implementing this philosophy.

If you can live with it, it can live with you. Let not the wailing and groaning of the innocent weaken your will to win and keep."

This is not your pop-business or pop-anything book. It is a scholarly work that has global political reach, as well as personal impact. Part of the beauty of this work it how systematic it is in providing a well-rounded picture of power dynamics that transcend the century in which they play out.

I have been a student of the philosophy, if not the practice, of war for as long as I can remember. I've read everything from Machivelli to Napoleon to Sun Tzu in an effort to study the nature of ruthlessness. The comparsions of this book to Robert Greene's work are unavoidable. But for any serious student of the nature of power this book is indispensible.

I was constantly reminded of "The 48 Laws of Power" as I read this book. The author used laws (80 compared to 48), as well as historical and political examples to make his point. This book is much shorter, making it an easier read. I enjoyed reading this book, but should have had a dictionary handy, as there were a lot of big words. If you like "The Prince", "The Art of War", or "The 48 Laws of Power" you will like this book as well.

In this book, Siu applies the philosophies of Machiavelli to the subject of power in the modern-day corporate and government realms. I learned a great deal from this book. In particular, it provided me with a lens through which I can identify and deal with the power plays that occur in every day life. While few will want to follow the recipe provided by Siu to obtain personal power through his methods, all can learn from them.

Dr. Fancher makes many excellent points in this book. There is a lot more reform that needs to happen in psychology and psychiatry. It's good that there are courageous people like Fancher who will raise these crucial issues.

I am giving up half-way through. The outline of this book is great, and the points made are valid. But it is not written well. Specifically, it is very wordy and repetitive. The author makes a point, discusses the point, then makes the point again a page or two later. I got it the first time.

I am toward the end of the section on the Behaviorists, and have just decided it is not worth finishing. I would give an example of the wandering wordiness, but it would take too much text to convey this oft-repeated problem. An editor needs to get hold of this and fix it up.

That's a shame - the author does a very good job of defining the theory and the scientific basis of the major schools of psychotherapy, and then noting how far the theory is from its scientific claim. For the intellectual content, I agree with other reviewers that this is one of the best books to do this. However, it is a lot of work to slog through all this writing to cover the wide but discrete range of theses presented.

The author makes profound statements about the human condition, normalcy, and pathology, including as understood by the schools of therapy. But he presents this elliptically. His case could be stronger if he simply stated his counter-arguments, supported them, then went on to the next chapter. The counter-arguments actually add up to a nice profile of what it means to be human, whether disturbed or not!

I was excited to get this book. I have read a lot on this topic. Like the author, I am also trained as a psychotherapist, and like the author, I am quite concerned about the way that therapeutic training ignores the truth that most of what we do is based on philosophy and belief and only to a small (but increasing) degree on science.

I was surprised at the quality of writing when I began reading. I then figured out my mistake: I picked this used book up for a good price, thinking it was written by Raymond Fancher, who wrote the marvelous book, Pioneers in Psychology. That also covers historical and philosophical bases of psychology. When the writing proved annoying, I looked closer and realized it was a different Fancher!

If you conduct research in this area and want a good account of the premises of the major schools of psychotherapy, and you want a good account of their criticisms, this is a valuable book. for example, an ambitious undergrad could write a strong paper with guidance from these arguments. But you will have to work at it -they are not clearly presented.

If there were still hippies, this book would not have to be written. Thinking back to those days, I recall my friend Alex coming from therapy one day and saying, "Psychologists basically want you to conform." He was right then, but in our age of conformity, common sense statements like that will not be enough to educate a public inundated with data showing the efficacy of therapy. This book fills that vaccuum and reveals the hidden ideology of each of the contemporary schools of psychotherapeutic schools so cogently, succinctly, and logically that it would probably be blacklisted by most graduate Psychology departments. It is equivalent to Galileo's revelation that the Church had a vision of the solar system, not based on study but on wish-fulfillment. Taking on the psychoanalytic enterprise, behaviorists, Beck's cognitive psychology, and psychopharmacology in one fell swoop, he demonstrates effectively that that the theorists and practitioners of these various "methods" have molded their views in the same way pre-Columbian map makers designed atlases: through conjecture, impressionism, and powerful cultural biases. Regardless of the implied assertions by many that psychotherapy is rising to the level of a science, Fancher shows this to be far from the case. This is of particular importance today as there is a strong move toward defining evidence based or empirically based therapies that work--probably an artifact of pressures from HMO's rather than greater sophistication of understanding the nature of mental illness. Fancher presents two major problems: one is that in dealing with what is a "healthy individual," one must have an ideological basis; and second, the "subjects" are not reliable. Ever take an employment test with a question "Have you ever stolen from an employer?" How would YOU answer? This is a rather crude example, but you get the point. But if you think about the claims therapies make, and think rationally, it seems fairly obvious psychologists are either poorly trained in logic, poorly educated in the nature of human culture, value, and imagination. One gets the feeling from reading the anayses of the reasoning behind what makes therapy work that most psychologists/psychiatrists don't even read the newspaper. One salient example is the popular Beck Cognitive Therapy industry. Your thinking determines how you feel; change your mind, change your emotions--all in 12 easy sessions. I can imagine Doestoevsky or even John Steinbeck in these sessions. "See, John, when you THINK people are poor and exploited and powerless, you will feel sorry for them and write those pessimistic books of yours. Now, just look around, do you see anyone starving to death in my office?" That might be a bit of hyperbole, but not far from the truth. But it is certainly the truth that such methods--if taken at face value--have the potential of converting the search for the end of psychological suffering and the search for meaning to a reductionist level that approaches the quest for mental health on the same level of taking dance lessons to get dates. Fancher hits home when he challenges each of the popular forms of therapeutic schools, showing even psychopharmocology is an enterprise based on Nielson ratings, figuring out what therapists want their patients to feel, then trying to get the chemistry right. At times the author uses a bit more ammunition than he needs. Having hit the nail on the head, he will occasionaly add a few swings of the hammer. Also, while psychopharmocology does have its ideology, it does appear to relieve some suffering at least some of the time, so I'd be hesitant to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Rather than provide more summary, I'd make the point that if you are interested in the field of therapy or counseling--either as a professional or consumer--if you don't read this book, it would be like trying to play chess without knowing what any of the pieces do or how the game is played.

This is the best book on comparative clinical psychology/psychiatry I've ever read.

If psychotherapists/psychiatrists were considered faith healers (which this book makes clear they are), this book would qualify as a book on comparative religion, and it would make one question their faith.

Psychoanalysis, Behaviorism, Cognitive Therapy, and Biological Psychiatry are all analyzed, with their core beliefs and assumptions described in detail. Each school's standing with the scientific facts is mentioned.

Cultural reasons why Americans accept certain therapies, or come to accept them in spite of their unscientific bases, are also given.

The most noticable omission is the lack of any discussion of Albert Ellis' Rational Emotive Therapy, although many of the comments about Beck's therapy apply to RET too.

The chapter on biological psychiatry could have provided more background on its history, as well as mention more specific psychiatrists' and pharmaceutical companies' influences. For biological psychiatry, "Blaming the Brain" by Elliot Valenstein (mentioned in this text's acknowledgements) is also recommended.

Without coming out too strongly (which could create a backlash), the book does an excellent job of pointing out how biological psychiatry's illness model is used to justify prescribing psychoactive drugs with no proven specificity in treating "illnesses", in a culture which otherwise wages war on psychoactive drugs.

The only noticable editorial error was a major misspelling of "renaissance".

Okay, I wrote this, so of course I like it--and since I have to give it "stars" in order to post, I give it five.

But the point of this "review" is to say that the book will be back in print this Fall (2003), from Transaction Publishers/Rutgers, with a new intro and a new title--"Health and Suffering in America: The Context and Content of Mental Health Care."

The hype about mental health care in the last five years or so has grown more and more outrageously false. I'm glad Transaction wants to keep this book in print, as a corrective to the nonsense that those who profit from mental health care would have you believe.