R Books

I work on a small passenger ship, and we always keep a copy of this book on the bridge for mammal sightings. The photos are great, as are the overview charts showing comparative sizes. The descriptions of behavior give people some insight into the lives of these wonderful creatures.

This book is really great as it's full of very informative and interesting facts as well lots of colour photos and every species mentioned is illustrated. Excellent.

This is the only book we use on the Monterey Peninsula to go out whale watching with. It identifies quickly and covers all the marine mammals. Perfect field guide.

This books is very informational. I have gotten a lot of information from it and the pictures are fabulous! I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Marine Mammals. My daughter wants to be a Marine Biologist/Marine Mammal Trainer and this book gave her all the right information at the right time.

Audubon has certainly delivered their best in this marine life field guide! When I bought this, I expected it to be the usual good Audubon repeat of their previous field guides. I was quite impressed by the number of species inserted, and the special illustrations used along with it. There are a surprising number of families and subspecies listed also.
The whales and dolphins section is the best part of the guide, listing rare and endangered species. I don't suspect anyone has heard of the "Tucuxi" dolphin, have they? Rather than just listing commonly seen or normal species, Audubon has done extensive research on others, and has inserted dozens or more in each family section, making identification completely unmistakable. The seals and sea lions covered are no different in variety and number of listings. However, many of the seals listed are subspecies of 6 previous listings.
The binding is usual quality by Audubon publishers, making an excellent reading book, whether on a boat trip, in a car, or simply in an easy chair at home. Forget other Marine Mammal Guides, and make an extensive search for this!

ILTy...a geologist, March 7, 2005
An early day Hunter S. Thompson?
Wow! I've read all of the above reviews. What more can be said? Might it be expected that putting piss into the title pulls in a lot of wannabe adventurers?

As one of Jules's students (paleontology) in 1956-58, I can attest to his mid-career foibles. Aside from Hunter T. there can be detected traces of Phillip Roth and Kerouac. Nice job Jules.

Jules DuBar's "NEVER PISS INTO THE WIND" is a rollicking series of vignettes from his life. I found the book hard to put down because it is a great read.

DuBar is one of America's "Greatest Generation." He grew up during the depression in Canton, OH, a harsh blue collar town. His way out was military service during World War II. Using new options open to him, he became a geologist in academe, the petroleum industry and government. While an academician, he studied the coastal plain geology of the Carolinas during the hey-day of adequately-funded field geology. He focuses more on the unusual and interesting characters he meets in the Carolinas and the bonding he established with them. The actual science is left to a minimum and described clearly in lay terms. The people met int he Carolinas are, indeed, a colorful and strange lot.

The writing style is outstanding, the language is realistic, wholesome and lively, and his flashback sequences are masterfully done.

His accounts of the inner dynamics of academe are truly on the mark, exposing the pettiness and jealousies of faculty colleagues and its effect on the teaching/research program of a publicly-funded institution. Why their administration, board's of trustees or state higher boards of education permit this level of bickering is truly hard to divine.

I highly recommend this book for its realistic portrayal of life and the struggles to overcome adversity and being able to enjoy interesting and unusual moments along the way.

The book comes at you on multiple levels. On the surface we see a young soldier returning from war with eyes wide open about the hypocrisy of the life and times that he is living in. He takes us on a life journey that spans diverse experiences, university departmental politics, and widely varied episodes involving a whole host of quirky characters; some dangerous, but all strange in their own way.

On a different level, this book is a must read for geologists and would-be geoscientists everywhere. It provides a glimpse into the life and struggles of a field geologist/paleontologist, a truly dying breed. In this day when research is being conducted by professionals behind a desk with computers and fancy programs and no clue about the value of truly looking at rocks and fossils, Jules provides the reader with a down-to-earth understanding of the passion of scientific research for the sake of science. The quest for new discoveries is paramount and nothing can stand in its way.

"Never Piss Into The Wind" is a book of one man's life presented in such a way that you will envision your favorite colorful uncle or grandfather reliving the days of old at family gatherings, but the stories are so much more interesting than what most of our families could reveal. From growing up in the Great Depression to the growing mature days of WWII, to sticking it out in college and becoming a professor through campus politics, DuBar has some interesting tales to tell.

Then there are the field studies. Dr. Jules DuBar is now a former Professor of Geology, but his previous scientific studies are fascinating enough to inspire readers to look at the earth around them. Learning the ins and outs of geological studies is fascinating and downright hilarious while reading about Dr. DuBar's experiences. On the more serious side, readers will see the very human emotions of going through divorce and living in less than ideal circumstances. Such is life.

Dr. DuBar has answered one of my wonderings. As a student I would often ponder who the person is behind the lectures and exams. Professors are people too, and sometimes turn out to be the most interesting people we can meet. Whether you make an acquaintance in a musty old forgotten campus museum or through the pages of a book, chances are you will find a story to learn from. DuBar has given you that opportunity.

Review by Heather Froeschl.

It's a shame that history classes today do not include actual history
such as the content found in Jules DuBar's Never Piss Into the Wind.
While those modern history books spend pages upon pages describing
grandiose events of history that took place far beyond the imagination
of most, DuBar's autobiographical look into the past is a pleasant -
and yet shocking - view into an American past that is not so far away,
and yet so many of the modern generation are completely oblivious to.

Overall, this is a book that is stark in its honesty, holding nothing
back and leaving nothing censored. DuBar gladly rips open the drapes
for his audience and lets them peer in the house of his past and the
past of thousands upon thousands of other American youth who grew up
all too soon with the Second World War. But DuBar hesitates to simply
dwell on the war itself, and while it remains a convenient anchor
point of the past for the novel, DuBar prefers to fill his novel up to
the top with valuable historical details about how things used to be
long before the world got into a big hurry.

Not content to be only a historical treasure trove, the book is also a
very human novel, coarse and vulgar and strange and wonderful all at
once. DuBar's use of profanity only enhances the realism that younger
generations miss about the past, supplanted by idiotic grins from
picture-perfect parents. DuBar has none of that and slaps readers back
to reality with the swearing and the vivid descriptions of sex through
the eyes of a young boy and then a man.

While those features may seem like a somewhat-burlesque view of the
book, instead DuBar plays to an audience with a deeper, richer
outlook. His tales of his family, of his friendships - especially that
with Jim Solliday - add a very human element that takes readers off to
a place they never expected to go when the first chapter they read was
titled "The World's Slowest Train." Other lively characters include
his attention-hungry mother, his world-weary father and his cousin
Pete, perhaps one of the most loveable drag queens ever to be
described in non-fiction literature.

Now, while Average Joe will no doubt find this book to be pleasant,
enjoyable and beyond, scientists, academics and people of all kinds
can latch on to and develop a true connection with this mad geologist
who absolutely refuses to sink into a mold of the snobbish academic.
DuBar is certainly unlike the vast majority of scientists as the world
sees them and adds a very human element to the genius inside the
skull. He gives people the impression of the truth, that there is a
beginning and an end to these scientists, most of which involves life
outside the textbooks filled with unpronounceable rock names and
fossilized creatures.

DuBar's book is certainly a valuable piece of the American historical
puzzle. The only people that really know about what life in middle
America in those days are the people who lived them, and DuBar has
graciously allowed us to share in that rich past, to let us immerse in
it and understand how it led us to where we are now. He gives people
reason to believe that there is, and always has been, another world
out there hiding from us all along, one that contains mystery and
danger and hope and joy and for once we don't have to go to another
cookie-cutter novel to get it.

Thanks for sharing with us, Jules.

What a miserable life our Frost leads!

However, I don't feel sorry for him, because I know everyting will be all right with him in the end of the story.

I like happy-ending stories, and so I like this seiries of Inspector Frost.

Incredible. This was the first Frost book I read after seeing the inferior TV show first. In my opinion it's the best of all five Frost novels, with good mysteries, likeable (and unlikeable) characters, just about everything.

Whether you're British or American, you'll love this book (and the others in the series.) Here's hoping Wingfield writes more!

After reading all the Colin Dexter Inspector Morse books and feeling at a loss as to what could possibly satisfy me after such a delightful and rich reading experience, I was lucky enough to find Frost.Definitely not politically correct but what fun to read ! Great stuff.

Frost is a new series character for me and I will enjoy following him in this series. He is brash, rude, profane, obscene, callous, rough-edged, filthy minded and has poor personal hygiene. Nonetheless, he is also relentless and compassionate. He gets his bad guy and also shares the credit.

Most of the police have the flu and -- of course that's when a whole series of crimes take place, piling up on the exhausted Jack Frost. (Would someone's parents really do that to a child?) meanwhile, his vicious and incompetent superior is looking over his shoulder trying to find an excuse to scrape the Frost out of the force.

This is my first Frost book and I'm an immediate fan. I've watched all of the TV series and loved them and am now enjoying the book too. The TV people have cleaned him up quite a bit physically and cleaned up his language too, as they'd have to in order to pass the censors but he still makes a wonderful character. The dishevelled, grubby, newly widowed Frost is joined by a new offsider, Det.Sgt.Frank Gilmore, only 24 years old, and totally unable to comprehend how this grubby, crumpled older man could possibly be the crack policeman that he is. As usual, the always fussy and inept Police Superintendent Mullett is always there to exasperate Frost, who does his job expertly, but in his own unorthodox way. There are two separate cases taking place, one the serial murders of old age pensioner women who are found with their throats slashed, and the other being a case of arson and murder. The writing is tight and the book flows seamlessly as the overworked police team from Denton moves in on the criminals. It's a great read which I can't praise highly enough.

An outrageously good book! George Allen offers us a look into the notoriously secretive world of intellence analysts. What is stunning is that just as I suspected, there was no "failure" on the part of the Intelligence Community in Vietnam. The CIA predicted,prior to US involvement, that we could not stop the spread of Communism in Vietnam. As far back as the Indochina War, intelligence analysts, like George Allen, had observed the French struggle against a Viet Minh insurgency that was determined, well-supplied, and well-led. The almost endless supply of weapons flowing in from China (and Russia?) meant that the Viet Mihn could outlast us. All this was communicated to the higher ups including "the best and the brightest". But Hubris (sound familiar?) got in the way. Good intelligence was ignored. Rosy, upbeat reports were printed by Washington to coverup a fiasco. Career obsessed generals placed too much confidence in technology and forgot about man's Darwinian capacity to adapt and thus survive. Reading this book was like reading a memoir on the Iraq War. Let's hope Iraq is not another Vietnam. However, I'm haunted by Hegel's famous line: "History shows us that people don't learn anything from History."

'There's none so blind as those who won't see,' is a proverb that has proven itself over and over in life. And in the area of critical military intelligence it is a deadly proverb. It's an excellent choice of a title for this book on the intelligence failure in Vietnam.

The problem essentially comes when the estimates of the intelligence analysts conflict with the opinions of the leadership making the decisions. And the 'problem' in this case costs the lives of soldiers.

This book is basically a personal history of the author's travels, studies, and analysis of what was going on in Vietnam. He discusses the reports he made and how the powers in charge refused to believe the evidence he had collected through first hand observation during visits to Vietnam.

In his concluding chapter he says that President Roosevelt had the best understanding and recommendations for the future by supporting self-determination rather than assisting the French in re-establishing their empire. Oh what a difference that would have made.

Fascinating reading, especially in view of the current situation in Iraq.

This is an exceptional book, absolutely required reading for the history of the Vietnam War since 1950 but also for the foreign policy decisionmaking process in general. A classic! Reinforces those who thought the war a tragic waste of human lives and resources--who opposed the war.

This is altogether an extraordinary book by an extraordinary author. It is nothing less than the history of the evolution of U.S. policy towards Vietnam from the end of WWII to the conquest of South Vietnam by the Vietnamese Communists as observed by a professional intelligence analyst. The insights this book provides are not just on U.S. involvement in Vietnam (and by extension Laos and Cambodia), but on how U.S. National Security Policy toward South East Asia was formulated over a twenty year period. The comments about the value of a systematic process of formulating national security policy by integrating military, intelligence, and policy considerations are alone worth the price of the book.

If this were all the book did it would be a remarkable achievement. But George W. Allen does considerably more than this. Allen was from the beginning of his long career (some fifty years total) first and foremost a working intelligence analyst. As such he focused on Vietnam for some 18 years and developed in that time the increasingly rare quality of detailed knowledge of his target. Reading this book should provide any attentive reader with an excellent understanding of how the process of intelligence analysis actually works when executed by a real professional.

Although a personal account, Allen's book has an authentic feel to it. This reviewer found much of his account hauntingly familiar although we never met or worked together. Certainly his inability on several occasions to perform truly all source analysis due to ill-conceived compartmentalization is quite familiar. The same is true for his encounters with senior military leaders and civilian policy makers who considered any intelligence that did support their views almost a personal affront.

The Washington D.C. area is fairly awash with former `intelligence officers' claiming to be intelligence or counter-terrorism `experts' based on often rather dubious experiences in the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). It is refreshing then when a real intelligence professional is actually willing to share his thoughts with general public. Towards the end of this book, Allen, identifies himself as a "professional intelligence analyst" which he truly was. The U.S. could use a lot more like him.

I have read a number of books on the US involvement in Vietnam, some of them quite good. This is the best, the ONE book you should read if you're limited to one book. Other recommended books are _To Bear Any Burden: The Vietnam War and Its Aftermath in the Words of Forty-Seven Americans and Southeast Asians_ by Al Santoli, and _Our Vietnam/Nuoc Viet Ta: A History of the War 1954-1975_ by A. J. Langguth.
With first-hand knowledge -- not just reading from second-hand sources or going through one general's papers -- George Allen describes what happened in Vietnam from before Dien Bien Phu through the fall of Saigon. He has detailed information on the US side, and informed accounts of what the North Vietnamese strategy was. He introduces us to the personalities and events so important to the way Vietnam happened, all in a very engaging and readable style.
One of the most fascinating parts of the book is the listing of the many times the US took action without a full examination of the complete situation. Allen writes, "In foreign affairs and national security matters, there is no substitute for thorough, conscientious, and objective analysis of all the factors bearing on a decision, of alternative courses of action, and of a weighing of the consequences -- domestic as well as foreign -- of all the options available." This was rarely done in Vietnam. Among the hasty decisions the US made were to consider the northern Vietnamese as part of a monolithic Communist threat, to aid the French in maintaining their empire, to take over the French role in Vietnam, to give the green light to the Diem coup, to not realize the problems the lack of post-Diem leadership would create, to not encourage South Vietnam to develop an effective political message and a stable appealing government, to appear to favor Thieu as a candidate (by proclaiming neutrality), by failing to build an effective intelligence system in south Vietnam, by US in-country personnel repeatedly lying to their superiors by exaggerating US success and minimizing enemy strength (thus depriving themselves of the needed resources to meet the real threat), by the false "light at the end of the tunnel" PR campaign (setting the government up for an even bigger fall when Tet '68 came), by giving South Vietnam false assurances of our post-withdrawal support, etc. etc.
These just touch the surface. Allen explains how even minor decisions like insisting ARVN units included artillery support, and not replacing ONE incompetent colonel, possibly had very significant bad effects. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Vietnam, recent American history, or politics. It should be required reading for US policy-makers.
Hopefully someday we'll have someone the caliber of George Allen tell the true story of 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Florence Nightingale greatly influenced modern nursing, to focus on the needs of the patient and establish nursing as a profession requiring assessment skills as well as caring presence. This brief, well-written & clearly understandable book is a must for the personal library of any nurse or nursing student. It is amazing to realize how advanced Nightingale's thinking was in her era; her lessons remain essential today and provide a basis for understanding why we do the things we do. A great read for anyone interested in nursing!

I received the book within a few days of the order and it was in perferct condition.

A book for true Nightingales! I enjoyed this book a great deal, some parts had me laughing out loud. It is an excellent gift book for nurses!

This makes a wonderful gift for a nursing student who is graduating, a nurse who is retiring or one who is being promoted. It is fascinating reading from a historical aspect will be relevant until the end of time.

Nursing is a vocation; not "just a job." Miss Nightingale knew this, and this book reflects this philosophy. Nursing-schools, many years ago, designed the curriculum--and educated the aspiring nurses--with this in mind. Sadly, many present-day nurses (and nursing-schools) have lost this ideal...and the state of affairs in nursing bears this out.

If you're seriously considering nursing--or are a nurse who is "burned out," read this book. It will enlighten and edify you.

Again, Vicki Lewis Thompson has penned a hot, sassy and fun love story with NOTORIOUS. This book reminded me of the saying "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas". And that's what most of the book is about.

After ten years the fates decide that Keeley and Noah will again meet. Noah is in Vegas to be in his friend's wedding and Keely is on assignment to write an article for her magazine Allure.

Noah walks by a strip club and immiedately his old "crush" Keeley comes to mind, the hometown's Bad Girl. As fate would have it, they bump into each other and Noah gets the impression she is going into the strip club to apply for a job. Since her father and soon to be sister-in-law work for him and the sparks are still there, Noah feels that he must protect her and invites her to stay with him for the weekend in hopes that he can counsel her. Well, Keely has other ideas. Why? Noah rejected her 10 years ago and so did her family and hometown when her photo was featured as a centerfold in a magazine.

Well, hold on to your hats, because if you want sex, steam, sass and tears, then read this wonderful and incredible love story. You will laugh, sigh and cry at the same time.

This book also reminded me of another five star VLT book, LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX. Another "Bad Girl" and fun book.

Keely Branscom had always been a little notorious. A confirmed wild child, she'd shocked the town by posing for a centerfold at the age of nineteen. But what she'd really wanted was to get a reaction from seriously sexy Noah Garfield. Only, back then, he hadn't quite known what to do with her... ** Now, years later, Noah's still in over his head with Keely. But when he catches her walking into a Vegas strip joint, he knows that he has to save her from herself. Only, Keely doesn't want to be saved. Instead, Noah's supersexy childhood nemesis seems determined to show him exactly what he's been missing....

So it has finally dawned on me after reading almost 100 Blaze books and coming back to this one as one of my all time favorites why I like them soooo much: the fantasy element of the Blaze series and the tasteful yet wild sexual fantasies that each one incorporates is like reading every month a set of Red Shoe Diaries- like the sexy Zalman King series that was on Showtime and narrated by David Duchovny as the lover whose woman had died and left him with a pair of red shoes and a diary filled with fantasy unfulfilled.....

The sex and the tension in this one and the tremendous impact of the sex scenes is visceral. I love it when Keely tempts Noah with some voyeuristic thrills then takes them herself when it pushes him over the edge....their passion at a Vegas wedding against the glass looking down on a hotel lobby again has these fantasy elements that bring the heart rate up! I need to get a new copy because I find myself doing as I did at 13 and dogearring the good parts to read over again!

Kudos to Harlequin for continuing to stretch and push the element of women's fiction! The strong sexual content of the Blaze books, the action packed Intimate Moments line, the emotional Special Editions and the ever good Desire and Temptation lines just keep getting better. People forget that most of the big names in women's fiction all got their start in series romance- today with all of the options available in the series there is room for so many styles it is the readers who really win!

And the Harlequin Blaze line esp as written by Ms Lewis Thompson is about as good as vanilla porn ( the Jennifer Crusie term from Welcome to Temptation) can get!

Blaze picked the perfect book to launch its new series. I have two copies of this book as a failsafe in case I ever misplace one! To be honest, I haven't read a romance novel since which has measured up to the anticipation, passion, and satisfaction that this book offered. The prequel story in Midnight Fantasies about sister BJ is wonderful as well.

Rancher Noah Garfield can't visit Las Vegas without thinking about sex--and when he thinks about sex, he thinks about Keely Branscom. She was the bad girl he wanted growing up--the one who he managed to resist when she was 16 and too young, but who then posed for a centerfold and left home. He can't believe it when he sees her in Las Vegas and resolves to do everything he can to save her.

Keely has never forgiven Noah for spurning her advances at 16, and this is her chance for revenge. She'll treat him to a weekend of sex he'll never forget, then move on with her life. At least she doesn't have to return to the dreary and conservative land of ranches and nosy people. The one thing she can't risk, though, is falling in love with Noah--again. But surely she's out of that now--isn't she?

Author Vicki Lewis Thompson writes a sexy story. Noah promises himself that he'll keep his hands off the beautiful Keely, but he doesn't have a chance when Keely turns up the heat--and boy does she turn up the heat. A Vegas wedding adds to the emotional impact of the moment as both Keely and Noah review their thoughts on what marriage means and their hopes or fears for their own future. NOTORIOUS was the launch book for Harlequin's BLAZE series--and it delivers both the sexy premise (he thinks she's a topless dancer and possibly a prostitute) and follow-through that BLAZE is built around.

Dr. Lester Sauvage, the founder of the Hope Heart Institute in Seattle, wrote The Open Heart, one of the most uplifting books I've ever read. He describes his philosophy and practice of open-heart surgery, and then turns the book over to a number of his patients, who describe their treatment and recovery. It's humbling and inspiring to read of the challenges some people face just to prepare an evening meal or walk to the store to buy food for a loved pet. This book is a great read about those who love life itself.

A heartwarming, inspirational book beneficial to all. A must read type of book to finish off a stressful day. Love, hope, healing and happiness is what matters. It is a great perspective on life and healing. This book is a great gift idea. It is inspirational.

What an uplifting book. I loved every page. Will make a great Christmas gift and I plan to give it to my family members as I'm sure they too will love this book.

This is simply one of the most wonderful and inspirational books I have ever read. The story of Dr. Sauvage and his patients' interwoven lives is riveting and gripping. It truly helps to give a perspective of what is important in life and shows us that there are indeed doctors out there who are concerned not simply with ego, money and status but the whole person that they are treating. A fantastic gift idea! Thank you, Dr. Sauvage.

. . . bound to change the course of the reader's life. It is a book of infinite values. The reader discovers that the heart of medicine is Love, and that Love is the most powerful remedy that cures not only the ailments of the heart, but of the spirit as well.

The Open Heart is a page turner that is difficult to put down. Beautifully well-written, outstanding from beginning to end. This book is a treasure that should be read by everyone! I keep a copy on my night table for quick reference. It offers the reader help and comfort during troubled times. I found some powerful ingredients, such as peace of mind, enjoyment of living and the conquest of fear.

The Open Heart is a masterpiece of divine connections between the science of medicine and God's Love! Dr. Sauvage has demonstrated that Love is the key to healing! - Cora Hussey, author, Love Is the Answer

I definitely recommend this book for anyone working with OpenGL's new Shading Language. I would, however, say that probably the most difficult part of working with GLSL is getting it working in the first place. Especially on Linux, this is somewhat confusing - some cards support GL 2.0, some don't, but still support the GLSL if using the ARB function calls. I would also make sure to point out to new users that GLEW is close to essential when working with the GLSL - you can download it from sourceforge. It might be worth mentioning in future versions of the book, along with ARB functions which are the same as the GLSL standard functions shown in the book.

Twenty years ago, I used to program graphics on an Evans and Sutherland PS340. It was then one of the top of the line graphics computers (costing $100k). It could labouriously do shading, but only Phong and Gouraud. Nowadays, many PCs have this ability, and much faster. But a problem still persists, where often the shading methods are restricted to what is implemented on the graphics chips.

In contrast, you have the approach in this definitive book on OpenGL Shading Language. This lets you implement in your code, shading routines of your own devising. To be sure, given the same shading method, one done in this language, and one in the hardware, then the latter will have better performance. But it turns out that today's computers are fast enough, and have enough RAM, that the difference in response might not be appreciable.

The book describes an extensive set of built-in convenience functions that come with the language. And the language's API is explained in detail. The author rightly recommends that you come at it with some experience in the standard OpenGL.

Since the language is still quite new, you are more or less on your own, when looking at development tools. This dearth is expected to be remedied in a few years. But right now, you'll have to rely on your wits. Along with a chapter that gives general principles of how you should develop your own shader. What may be even more use, however, is the second half of the book. Devoted to case studies of many shaders. Understanding these may be more beneficial than any IDE.

Oh, as you might expect from a graphics book, there is a lovely set of colour plates in the middle of the book, showing what custom shaders can do. Treat it as inspiration if you wish.

The recent trend in graphics hardware has been to replace fixed functionality with programmability in areas that have grown exceedingly complex (e.g., vertex processing and fragment processing). The OpenGL Shading Language has been designed to allow application programmers to express the processing that occurs at those programmable points of the OpenGL pipeline. Independently compilable units that are written in this language are called shaders. A program is a set of shaders that are compiled and linked together. The OpenGL Shading Language is based on ANSI C and many of the features have been retained except when they conflict with performance or ease of implementation. This shading language is without a doubt the most important addition to OpenGL since its inception, and this book provides an excellent guide to programming with it. The author was one of the primary contributors to the development of the language, and he provides a well-written and insightful explanation of the language and its use.
The book begins with a review of OpenGL basics, followed by an introduction to shaders and how they fit into the pipeline. It then covers the language itself, including data types, operators, interaction with the OpenGL state machine and fixed function pipeline, built-in functions, and more. It also introduces and explains the OpenGL APIs needed to use shaders.
The last half of the book focuses on shader development, including general process and workflow, and coverage of many specific techniques, such as procedural textures and GPU-based animation. It even includes a section on implementing the fixed function pipeline using shaders. The book ends with a handy comparison of OpenGL Shading Language with other shading languages, such as Cg, HLSL, and Renderman and a couple of appendices providing a language grammar and API reference.
I particularly liked chapters 6 through 8, which take you from a simple shading example -"brick"- through the specific steps of shader development that you would need to master regardless of the API you are using. Also the chapters on procedural textures and noise and the accompanying code examples helped clear up some matters that were murky when I read "Texturing & Modeling: A Procedural Approach" by Ebert et al. In summary, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in implementing software shading, both from the standpoint of OpenGL and from the standpoint of the design process itself. I notice that Amazon does not show the table of contents for the second edition, so I do that here:
Chapter 1. REVIEW OF OPENGL BASICS
OpenGL History; OpenGL Evolution; Execution Mode; The Frame Buffer; State; Processing Pipeline; Drawing Geometry; Drawing Images; Coordinate Transforms; Texturing;

Chapter 2. BASICS
Introduction to the OpenGL Shading Language; Why Write Shaders?; OpenGL Programmable Processors; Language Overview; System Overview; Key Benefits;

Chapter 3. LANGUAGE DEFINITION
Example Shader Pair; Data Types; Initializers and Constructors; Type Conversions; Qualifiers and Interface to a Shader; Flow Control; Operations; Preprocessor; Preprocessor Expressions; Error Handling;

Chapter 4. THE OPENGL PROGRAMMABLE PIPELINE
The Vertex Processor; The Fragment Processor; Built-in Uniform Variables; Built-in Constants; Interaction with OpenGL Fixed Functionality;

Chapter 5. BUILT-IN FUNCTIONS
Angle and Trigonometry Functions; Exponential Functions; Common Functions; Geometric Functions; Matrix Functions; Vector Relational Functions; Texture Access Functions; Fragment Processing Functions; Noise Functions;

Chapter 6. SIMPLE SHADING EXAMPLE
Brick Shader Overview; Vertex Shader; Fragment Shader; Observations;

Chapter 7 OPENGL SHADING LANGUAGE API
Obtaining Version Information; Creating Shader Objects; Compiling Shader Objects; Linking and Using Shaders; Cleaning Up; Query Functions; Specifying Vertex Attributes; Specifying Uniform Variables; Samplers; Multiple Render Targets; Development Aids; Implementation-Dependent API Values; Application Code for Brick Shaders;

Chapter 8. SHADER DEVELOPMENT
General Principles; Performance Considerations; Shader Debugging; Shader Development Tools; Scene Graphs;

Chapter 9. EMULATING OPENGL FIXED FUNCTIONALITY
Transformation; Light Sources; Material Properties and Lighting; Two-Sided Lighting; No Lighting; Fog; Texture Coordinate Generation; User Clipping; Texture Application;

Chapter 10. STORED TEXTURE SHADERS
Access to Texture Maps from a Shader; Simple Texturing Example; Multitexturing Example; Cube Mapping Example; Another Environment Mapping Example; Glyph Bombing;

Chapter 11. PROCEDURAL TEXTURE SHADERS
Regular Patterns; Toy Ball; Lattice; Bump Mapping;

Chapter 12. LIGHTING
Hemisphere Lighting; Image-Based Lighting; Lighting with Spherical Harmonics; The *erLight Shader;

Chapter 13. SHADOWS
Ambient Occlusion; Shadow Maps; Deferred Shading for Volume Shadows;

Chapter 14. SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS
Refraction; Diffraction; BRDF Models; Polynomial Texture Mapping with BRDF Data;

Chapter 15. NOISE
Noise Defined; Noise Textures; Trade-offs; A Simple Noise Shader; Turbulence; Granite; Wood;

Chapter 16. ANIMATION
On/Off; Threshold; Translation; Morphing; Other Blending Effects; Vertex Noise; Particle Systems; Wobble;

Chapter 17. ANTIALIASING PROCEDURAL TEXTURES
Sources of Aliasing; Avoiding Aliasing; Increasing Resolution; Antialiased Stripe Example; Frequency Clamping;

Chapter 18. NON-PHOTOREALISTIC SHADERS
Hatching Example; Technical Illustration Example; Mandelbrot Example;

Chapter 19. SHADERS FOR IMAGING
Geometric Image Transforms; Mathematical Mappings; Lookup Table Operations; Color Space Conversions; Image Interpolation and Extrapolation; Blend Modes;

Chapter 20. REALWORLDZ
Features; RealWorldz Internals; Implementation; Atmospheric Effects; Ocean; Clouds;

Chapter 21. LANGUAGE COMPARISON
Chronology of Shading Languages; RenderMan; OpenGL Shader (ISL); HLSL; Cg;
Appendix A. Language Grammar
Appendix B. API Function Reference

I'm not a fan of the 'group of papers' style of book. But this book pulls it off nicely. The text is consistenly good throughout. And the illustrations and formulas are high quality and presented nicely.

I would have liked full color throughout, but I accept that it would have been cost prohibitive on a book of this heft. Speaking of heft, yeah, this is a doorstop of a book. I think some of the text could have been edited down and the formatting tightened up to reduce bulk.

The OpenGL Shading Language is without doubt the most important addition to OpenGL since its inception, and this book provides an excellent guide to programming with it. As one of the primary contributors to the development of the language, Rost provides a clear and well-written explanation of the language and how to use it.

The book begins with a review of OpenGL basics, followed by an introduction to shaders and how they fit into the pipeline. It then covers the language itself, including data types, operators, interaction with the OpenGL state machine and fixed function pipeline, built-in functions, and more. It also introduces and explains the OpenGL APIs needed to use shaders.

The last half of the book focuses on shader development, including general process and workflow, and coverage of many specific techniques, such as procedural textures and GPU-based animation. It even includes a section on implementing the fixed function pipeline using shaders.

The book ends with a handy comparison of GLSL with other shading languages, such as Cg and HLSL, and a couple of appendices providing a language grammar and API reference.

If you're doing shader development with OpenGL, you'll definitely want this book on your desk. My only complaint about it is that it was written before GLSL was officially promoted to the core. When that happened, a number of important things were changed that aren't reflected in the book. However, determining the differences isn't difficult, so don't let that deter you from picking this up.

This is a really fine book, one of the better technical books I've seen in a while. It seems like these days they'll let anyone write a book. It's good to see that some publishers still demand quality and are also able to produce it. For anyone who is interested in learning about optical networking, from top to bottom, or in teaching a class on it, this is the right book for you.

John Vacca has put forth an excellent handbook that should be on the book shelves of every person interested in optical networks. The book provides an excellent historical overview of the technology as it emerges from its infancy in the early 1900's through today. It contains detailed network architecture descriptions of the hardware, software and infrastructure components required to establish, maintain and extend fiber optic networks now and in the future. It will answer most, if not all of the questions one might have about this technology, and it can also be used as a textbook about the subject.

I loved the way this book was written. There's nothing like a great reference book with tons of examples and enough details to be useful. Optical network books are usually dry and theoretical; however this one keys off of practical implementations with just enough detailed information and references. This handbook is loaded with terrific graphic diagrams and excellent explanations. Highly recommended.

Great work by John Vacca. The book is comprehensive, easy to read, and handy for both the student and the professional. I highly recommend it.

John covers all aspects of optical networking in both a general and in-depth manner allowing the reader to absorb the subject matter at their own level. I found this book to be a valuable reference and should be in every IT professional's library.

the product description matched exactly what i received in the mail. it was also shipped in a timely manner. i was left satisfied with this experience and only reinforces all the other positive experiences i have had in the past when purchasing from amazon.

This book is for my environment health class, however, I didn't really use this book as often as I expected. Some of the readings are pretty interesting but at the time, it conclude a lot of information.

Awesome work!!! Great textbook; covering soil, air, & water problems & the effect on humans & animals. The author did a magnificent job of organization and handling of the various topics & offering solutions.

This book was a required text for one of my courses. In the past I have not had the best experiences with texts that offer such broad overviews of topics, and as result, I was not looking forward to reading this book. However, I have found the book extremely well written with an abundance of references for additional reading and further research. Every chapter has inserts of up to date events that outline both the environmental and health effects of pollution on world populations. For example the chapter on "Water Pollution" (Ch. 15) at the same time that it identifies the many sources of water pollution it also provides the reader examples of water pollution on health; such as, describing in detail the how and why schistosomiasis infection rates have remained constant for the past 50 years affecting 250 million people globally. If you are interested on a well written introductory book on the environment and health, this is certainly a book to keep in mind.

This is a very well organized book that covers the major environmental issues facing our world complete with case study examples to illustrate the points.