Industrial Books

[A review of the SECOND EDITION, 2005.]

In the last 15 years, GPS has moved from an expensive and specialised application to a mass consumer market. There are numerous books on GPS; mostly directly at that mass readership. These typically concern how to use a device with a GPS receiver.

By contrast, this book is meant for the engineer who has to design such a device. It is a compendium of technical papers covering many aspects you are likely to need. And undoubtedly some you won't, which should be reassuring. Because it means that you do not have to read all of this book for it to be useful.

The sensitivity of the GPS satellites and the resultant GPS ground resolution is amazing, as can be appreciated from some of the papers in the book. Due mostly to the stability of the satellites' orbits and their onboard atomic clocks. Chapter 7 describes how GPS requires corrections due to Einstein's Theory of General Relativity! Not just Special Relativity. As a physicist, I found this fascinating. GPS is perhaps the first field where General Relativity is used, not to be tested, but as providing a necessary quantitative model for getting correct results. Akin to how Newton's Equations have been used for 300 years in ballistics. Granted, most readers will be engineers, who might find GR a trifle exotic.

The book also has good coverage of the Russian GLONASS system. Perhaps for those who also want to use this for redundancy. Or to combine the signals from this with GPS for enhanced resolution.

I've been an engineer and PM working with GPS and GPS systems since the inception of GPS in the mid-80s. While employed by a major DOD research lab I was fortunate enough not only to have access to practically every GPS book and article available, but I also had the opportunity to meet many of the key people responsible for the design and development of the system (many of whom contributed to this text). From system design to receiver architecture, this is by far the best general reference I have found on GPS.

If you are looking at the first edition, please note that the publisher plans to issue a second edition in December 2005.

This is a great book to read if you plan on developing any type of GPS tracking system. While the book covers the the basics, you'll need some further resources on interfacing GPS receivers and such hardware to real-world devices.

An interesting article entitled "Tracking a Vehicle With GPS" can be read at www.closerworlds.com

A lot of mobile solutions are soon to hit the market such as mobile phones using GSM or GPRS to track a person. This book will help to understand how it all fits together. It would have been nice if the book could have touched on how older communication systems like VHF radios can transmit GPS data. For that you'll have to visit www.closerworlds.com or some other website with such resources.

I'm an aerospace professional that is very close to the GPS system. This book is one of the best in depth references that I could recomend. I am not a novice and this text may intimidate some.

Webster's New World Telecom Dictionary (Webster's New World)
Fianlly a comprehensive dictionary of Telecom, Data and Computer terms. It is a fantastic addition to my library.

Review by Vladimir Kaminsky

Webster's New World Telecom Dictionary by Ray Horak is a comprehensive telecommunications dictionary of more than 4,600 terms essential to a clear understanding of voice, data, video, and multimedia communications system and network topologies, technologies, applications, and regulations. The book encompasses numerous volumes of materials in the area of telecommunications that can be only compared with information from the Internet.

Horak's background and experience allowed him to be an expert in many telecommunications areas. The book is the witness to this fact: it covers such simple technologies as twisted pair, such complex techniques as Passive Optical Networks, Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing; and such evolving technologies as WiMAX and MIMO.

It is interesting to note that Horak presents dry facts of telecommunications reality with humor and historical references, making it easy to read and more attractive to readers. The book can amaze a reader by its thoroughness to cover various topics, provide references, describe symbols; and it reveals Horak's deep knowledge of the topics and ability to work with huge amount of sources. For an encyclopedic treatment of the subject and a perfect companion to this work, see Horak's Telecommunications and Data Communications Handbook, also published by Wiley in 2007.

Horak is an independent telecom consultant. He is active in litigation support as a consulting expert and testifying expert, often in cases involving intellectual property such as patent, copyright, and trademark and service infringement. He has authored five telecom books and written of hundreds of technical articles, white papers, case studies, and solution briefs.

Vladimir Kaminsky, PhD is a President of Practel, Inc, a consulting company that is specializing in advanced communications technologies and network design.

I review books in my role as a VoIP & SIP trainer for TrainingCity.com. When students ask me what to buy, I always recommend that they have a technical dictionary close at hand.

I am now recommending they have two, the old one and "Webster's New World Telecom Dictionary". I know it seems like overkill, but in fact these two books are both on my list of "must haves" for 2008. Webster's dictionary is focused, includes diagrams, and provides timely, accurate information.

Buying two or more books is never easy, so I often suggest students speak with their managers and discuss buying a "team library" of books that can be shared by everyone in the group. Often companies have a book budget, it can't hurt to ask!

Regardless of whether you a an undergraduate in a Business Administration curiculum, or an established Telecom or IT Professional, YOU NEED THIS BOOK. First of all, the price is right. And in today's world that is vital. But more important, the information provided exceeds expectation and is presented in language that even an industry novice can comprehend. The drawings and tables provide the proper support documentation without going into overkill.
In my 30+ years of experience in the telecom field, I have often found that the best way to gain client approval for a recommendation is to first educate the client and provide sufficient historical background so that my ultimate recommendation is the obvious solution. The information provided here, and the attention to detail in the way the information is presented, will allow the reader to answer or pose questions in any telecom-related environment.

"Webster's New World Telecom Dictionary" is destined to become my most dog-eared book. I just got my copy a few days ago and already I have referred to it many times. What's especially interesting about the dictionary is how easy it is to read and understand. Ray Horak has a no-nonsense style which shines through in this book. He takes what was surely a gargantuan task - producing content for over 4,000 terms - and makes it look easy with his completely understandable definitions and explanations. The book is also filled with numerous diagrams and tables which make the more arcane definitions a lot easier to understand. If you work in telecommunications, data communications, service automation, contact centers, computer telephony, or any industry tied-in to telecommunications, this book is a must have desk reference.

It's an inside about the largest retailer in the world. In my opinion it's a very accurate picture not only of the operations, but also of the company's spirit. The description is far more accurate because M. Bergdahl is an outsider that knows other companies as well.

What I Learned From Sam Walton by Michael Bergdahl is one of the most informative and intriguing business related books I have read this year. Not only is it a step by step how to guide for small businesses to compete in todays business environment but it is an entertaining and enjoyable read due to the many candid personal stories that Michael shares with his readers. As a financial professional, I believe this book is not only a must read for any business owner or rank and file employee who has management aspirations, but I also believe it could be a staple in the curriculum of any undergraduate or graduate business school program. I certainly look forward to his next book and can only hope that Michael Bergdahl fills it with as much energy and charisma as he did this one.

Yup, I realize people would say , oh yeezz npt another Walmart book. !!! But the catchy part of this books overall emphasis is the subtitle : `How to compete and thrive in a Walmart world'.

It's a really easy read book, all of just around 225 pages and has neatly divided the book as follws : POCKETS

· Introduction

· Chapter 1 : Pricing strategies and Tactics

· Chapter 2 : Operational Strategies and Tactics

· Chapter 3 : Cultural Strategies and Tactics

· Chapter 4 : Key Item/Product Strategies and Tactics

· Chapter 5 : Expense Control Strategies and Tactics

· Chapter 6 : Talent Strategies and Tactics

· Chapter 7 : Service Strategies and Tactic

· Conclusion

Though the book is an easy read, the author does tend to go round and round once in a while and could have really saved 50-75 odd pages. But manages to keep the reader alive by using his personal experiences and those of others with Walmart .

http://www.bloglines.com/blog/PrashantP

ANYONE in retail can benefit from reading this book. These days, any business other than Wal-Mart, is viewed as a "small business". This book provides detailed strategies and tactics for gaining the edge on the competition--no matter who that competition is. Heck, the forms in the Appendix are worth the price of the book! Bergdahl's style is well researched and is filled with first-hand experiences from the retail giant from Bentonville, Arkansas.

The key to Wal-Mart's success may be a 7:00 a.m. meeting each Saturday. While competitors are rubbing the sleep from their eyes, 500 top managers gather at headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. They discuss current performance and future goals in free-wheeling discussions that may even feature visits by GE or Disney executives or even country music stars like Garth Brooks.

Michael Bergdahl, author of What I Learned From Sam Walton: How to Compete and Thrive in a Wal-Mart World, points out the benefits of such meetings, where everyone has to pay for their own coffee and donuts at an honor bar. Every manager hears the same message in the same way. Ideas, successes and failures are shared. Strategic execution can begin while competitors are playing golf.

"I believe competitors who are losing the competitive battle against Wal-Mart (or who have already lost) probably don't even understand the significance of the Saturday morning meetings to Wal-Mart's competitive advantage. It's as if the company leadership has a management retreat every Saturday of the year," writes Bergdahl. "Unless competitors are willing to go to a six-day workweek and hold meetings with all their top executives each week to plot counter strategies, I don't know how they can even think about competing directly."

It's hard to compete against Wal-Mart. Just ask Kmart as well as the myriad mom-and-pops who have gone under whenever a Wal-Mart opened nearby. How did Wal-Mart become the force of nature it is today? Bergdahl uses his experience as a director at the retail giant and at other retail chains to explain how Wal-Mart conquered common retailing and business issues through a relentless emphasis on cost-control and execution. Based on this experience, he outlines how companies can compete against Wal-Mart if it invades their town or competitive space. Each chapter concludes with a checklist of questions and actions that reflect either Wal-Mart's best practices or a weakness ripe for potential exploitation. One example: "Run the pay week from Thursday to Wednesday so necessary labor cuts are made on the slowest retail days." The advice is enlivened with anecdotes about Sam Walton, the firm's founder and exceptional retailer, businessman and manager, who brought his beloved bird dogs to run around each Saturday morning's meeting.

The book has no stunning strategic or other insights. But that is not the point. As Bergdahl explains at the beginning of his book, "Wal-Mart's success strategies and tactics are easy to understand yet hard to duplicate." In other words, Wal-Mart owes its success to in-the-trenches execution, based on the total-quality principles of continuous learning and continuous improvement. "By focusing constantly on trying to become more operationally efficient, Wal-Mart sets itself apart from its competitors," writes Bergdahl. "Wal-Mart isn't successful because of its strategies so much as because of its lockstep tactical execution of those strategies."

These operational advantages include close vendor partnerships, an awesome distribution system that can get products from a California dock into customer hands in as little as 72 hours, and an advanced IT system so integrated that even the temperature of every Wal-Mart store is centrally controlled from the Arkansas headquarters.

If the organization is undeniably the brand, how do you communicate corporate values, provide consistent service and ensure "lockstep tactical execution," especially in rapidly growing organizations? The challenge is even more daunting among retailers like Wal-Mart, which pay close to minimum wage, have turnover rates as high as 300% and face an insatiable demand for new employees to staff the one or more stores opening each week.

One Wal-Mart answer is the concept of "servant-leadership." Essentially, that means all managers put the needs of their employees and colleagues first. Managers are required to respond to any request for help, even if it means delaying their own work. The concept stems from Sam Walton's oft-stated belief that "if you take care of your people, your people will take care of the customer and the business will take care of itself."

Another key tool is the corporate story. Sam was a natural storyteller, and his anecdotes illustrating key principles would be repeated from manager to employee to employee for years. In contrast to other large firms, Wal-Mart hires for attitude and then teaches the necessary skills. To overcome the natural human tendency not to hire someone who might outshine us, Wal-Mart requires managers two levels above the open position to interview and approve all new hires. Finally, managers spend more time in the field than they do at headquarters to both communicate corporate messages and obtain firsthand market intelligence.

Unlike too many other companies which focus on products or sales more than customers, Wal-Mart has an unremitting focus on customers. The Wal-Mart cheer, which reinforces the service culture every day, ends with the question, "Who is number one?" Every employee - or associate, in Wal-martspeak - shouts, "The customer...ALWAYS!", sometimes even while standing on a chair. When complaints are received, associates ask, "What would you like us to do to fix the problem?" and are empowered to provide the requested solution.

How can anyone compete against Wal-Mart? As Bergdahl explains in an early chapter, price is not the answer. Because of Wal-Mart's efficiencies and buying power, retailers can often buy products at Wal-Mart for less than they can get it from a distributor. The key to success involves finding a niche, and providing value-added service, based on intimate customer knowledge. Wal-Mart's only Achilles heel is its inability to address specific customer requirements, although that weakness is masked by the "10-foot rule" and similar policies. Each associate is required to help, or at least smile at customers, if they are within a 10-foot radius.

The book has a few minor flaws. Bergdahl is clear about the stress and overwork, but only alludes to the well-publicized labor problems Wal-Mart now faces. Margins have remained at 4% for years, but what happens when advances into new areas can no longer fuel growth? Wal-Mart's IT capabilities are a primary factor in its success, but they are only discussed in passing.

Although this book never mentions "positioning," "brand vision" or any other of the immeasurable wastes of good ink, What I've Learned from Sam Walton is actually one of the best branding books I've read. It clearly spells out how companies can achieve operational excellence, upgrade their workforce and unify an organization around customer requirements, even in brutal competitive arenas. It reads well, with a nice balance between soft anecdotes and hard advice. If you believe brand success depends on "lockstep tactical execution" instead of pontification, get this book.

My 8 year old read this book to me for health. We are learning about waste and pollution. This book includes at dumps, landfills, ocean dumping, incineration, recycling, the end uses, and reducing our garbage to begin with. A very good book that I would recommend for grades 1-3rd. It would also make a good book for social studies.

This is a great book about how we deal with our garbage. It is easy to read and understand. My students are middle school who are learning English. This book allows my students access to information while learning to read English. I highly recommend this series and this book.

I used this book with 1st and 2nd graders. There is a lot of information provided about recycling garbage (how plastics, paper, newspapers and metal) are processed at their respective recycling plant. The book encouraged a lot of relative conversation.

This book satisfies a child's natural curiosity about the everyday world around us. That garbage that we carry out in big plastic bags after raking the lawn, cleaning out the cellar, or tidying up the kitchen -- you just have to wonder where all this garbage ends up!

Diagrams, charts, graphs and cute illustrations will put kids in the know about dumps, landfills, recycling and preventing unnecessary waste to help the environment.

Well done volume on a timely subject.

My son, like many curious 5 year olds, enjoys watching the Garbage Truck. And he loves to ask questions such as posed by the book's title, Where Does the Garbage Go?

As with most books I have seen in the Let's Read and Find Out Science series, it begins with a story to engage the child in the books primary theme. This one begins in a "traditional" classroom setting where the children learn all about garbage from their classroom teacher. It's a great conversation starter with a young child or group of children to ask them where they think the garbage goes.

In this book children will learn:

1. what garbage is (various types of garbage - yard waste, consumer waste, recycling etc.)

2. simple diagrams explain how an incinerator works, how glass, aluminum, paper and plastic is recycled

3. the process that transpires at a landfill, which includes bulldozers, compactors and dump trucks (a thrill for my son for sure)

4. practical ways to reduce our own garbage

provides a profound explanation and a road map for dealing with today's organizations in transition....It is a must read for anyone who wants to proactively navigate their career in workplace 2000.

provided insights into both our personal and organizational styles. Very exciting, powerful, and meaningful.

quite helpful in diagnosing organizational needs and for recommending specific improvements that are easily actionable.

Working from Your Core draws the reader immediately into the substance of his or her own core, then offers reams of valuable information about each core pattern. You can pick and choose particular morsels or consume the whole banquet. Either way, Sharon Seivert has written a wonderfully intelligent and authentic book.

three significant health system mergers over the past five years and I strongly believe that the understanding of corporate culture is key to the success of a merger. This book is a very effective guide for an organization as it thinks through its cultural development or the prospect of a merger.

Many workplaces seem quite safe. There are no open mine-shafts to fall into, no baths of sulfuric acid to spill, no explosives lying about ready to be ignited. And yet, according to professional safety consultants Dan Hopwood and Steve Thompson, every workplace needs a detailed, current and well-documented program to protect the health and safety of employees. While the hazards have changed, the risk of injury remains. Rather than spiraling down a mine-shaft, a worker might get a repetitive stress injury. Rather than spilling acid in the doughnuts, a worker might pull a muscle lifting a heavy box. Rather than dropping a cigarette onto some dynamite, a worker might inhale an irritant that causes a chronic lung condition. In each case, the results can include missed work, disrupted lives, insurance claims that increase your premiums and fines for regulatory violations. This brief book will help you avoid all that, whether you are just starting your safety program or re-engineering it. Many checklists and useful appendices nicely complement the text. We feel safe recommending this sensible guide.

Steve and Dan have written a concise book that outlines step-by-step what all new safety professionals need to know in order to create a positive safety culture within their organizations. The Appendix, References and Resources sections are the best I have ever seen. For any person given the responsibility of safety management and who want to "save lives, prevent injuries and illnesses and protect their companies from financial harm", this is the place to begin. Thank you Steve and Dan for this contribution to protect our workforce, and help to ensure that everyone has a chance to go home safe each night to their families.

Dan and Steve successfully put together not just a well-written book loaded with many outstanding hints and ideas, they also included so many practical tools that the small to medium sized business can begin using immediately to improve workplace safety. It should be a "must read" for any business if they are really serious about this often overlooked issue. If just some of the ideas suggested by Dan and Steve are implemented, it can have a dramatic impact not only on employee safety and morale, but bottom-line profits as well. Thanks Dan and Steve !!

Finally . . . a user-friendly, efficient, and effective risk managment and loss control tool for everyday business. Workplace Safety will actuall save lives, prevent injuries and illnesses, and help every reader to avoid the financial hardship and administrative nightmare associated with any injury. Thank you Steve and Dan for bringing safety out of the classroom and putting it on the front line where it belongs.

Steve and Dan have written a book that is a "must have" for those looking for a comprehensive but easy to follow resource around which to build an effective workplace safety program. It provides the perfect mix of well-thought-out strategy and practical tools to address illness and injury in the workplace. It is an easy read but it has the depth necessary to make a difference. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in creating a safe working environment.

The history of the WTC is traced from black and white photos and simple text regarding its design and architecture through the chilling events of 9/11. I have to say that the color photos of 9/11 capture the events totally and will leave you breathless.

I have purchased 6 copies of this book for family and friends and think it is the best WTC book out there.

I proudly keep a copy on my coffee table and leaf through it often and remember the beautiful buildings I once marveled at and loved.

This is a truly astonishing "oversize" book both in the value for money spent and the quality of the content. This is simply a remarkable series of photos from all the eras of the Towers from construction to the spotlight ghosts. There is text that is limited and informative. The pictures capture the glory of the structure and the astounding destruction not only to the Towers but to the entire complex. A remarkable balanced achievement that says more with pictures than any text is likely to provide.

As a native New Yorker who formerly had a beautiful view of the World Trade Center, and now avoids looking at the painfully flat skyline every day, I have this fabulous volume to treasure instead. .............. While disappointed with the flood of tributes to the still unfathomable tragedy of 9/11, this book was a must have the moment I thumbed through for a quick cursory look. I was immediately impressed with all the gorgeous shots of the WTCs depicted in all the ways that I loved them. Shimmering in golden sunrise yellow, blinding in midday platinum steel, glowing in the ominously blue-violet dusk, and sparkling with the thousands of tiny lights that made the New York City skyline, the awesomely spectacular sight that so sadly, won't ever be the same. ................. The most wonderful thing about this book, is not only the terrific pictoral contents, with several posters included, but the informational text that accompanies it as well. If you are interested to know the complete history of the WTCs and New York City, you will see the city before the towers were built, how and by whom they were planned, the way they were built, when and why. Also covered, their effect on New York City, as well as their role in the media and Hollywood movies. Finally, you will get the brutally shocking photos of their horrible demise. Look no further for a truly complete tribute. Every single chapter goes into wonderful detail, and is accompanied by the most breathtaking photographic treasures ever seen, of these iconic masterpieces of lost architecture. Not only is this the absolute BEST book I've seen for anyone who wants to keep their memory of the WTCs alive forever, it's also one of the most reasonably priced. This volume offers a tremendous return for your dollar. It's all printed in sharp color, on thick gauge, glossy paper. There is not one page in here that will waste your time with filler. Author Pete Skinner, British born, but a longtime resident of Greenwich Village, had, like me, watched the birth of the World Trade Center, built and completed in 1973, and like me, watched it die. People all over the world felt the pain of this unprecedented loss, but those of us who were lucky enough to live among the Twin Towers for their retrospectively short lifespan, will treasure this book. ................... If you are looking for a book about the entire gamut of events that took place in New York, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania, you may not find all of what you're looking for here. However, if you are like me, a person who will forever mourn the loss of these twin icons of prestige and success that defined the great soaring spirit of New York City, as well as the tragic loss of many wonderful hard-working New Yorkers who loved to work at the World Trade Center once upon a better time, then you have found the perfect tribute to a symbol of New York that will remain, forever in the American heart.

This book is the one to get, if you want fantastic photos, interesting prose, and just an overall great pictoral commemoration of the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11.

With the War on Terror continuing, sometimes it is good to be reminded of why we are fighting and what it's all for. This book will bring the memories (and the resolve) flooding back.

An excellent tribute at a great price. Five stars!

I live in the Midwest (have never visited NY) but saw a review of this book on a website. I just had to have it so I ordered the book from Amazon.com. I received the book late yesterday afternoon. The pictures and information contained in the book are truly amazing. It is amazing to see what Lower Manhattan looked like before the WTC was built. The pictures of the various models of WTC that were built. There are pictures of the construction of the twin towers. The book has some very nice posters of the WTC and New York skyline. There are many pictures taken on September 11th and in the days following. This book is a must-have for those who are interested in the World Trade Center. It's truly a remarkable book.

The text is designed to meet the specific needs of engineering students who needs adanced math to complete their degree.The text is written for self-study and is completely self-contained.I think that the Advanced Engineering Mathematics text definitely has all of the math you could expect to use in electrical engineering.The nicest part of the text is the fact that the authors use bite-sized chunks of information.You will not get fancy derivations or cute stories at the beginning of the chapter.If you want all types of physical insight or mathematical modeling,this is not your book. If you are like most engineers and need to make it past this material,then the "cookbook" like feel of the text is exactly what you need.

The programmed instruction approach is used very effectively by Stroud to make sure the student fully understands exactly what is being taught.

Brilliant!

This book is the sequel to Stroud's excellent "Engineering Mathematics", which focused on the undergraduate engineer and the math that he/she should know by graduation. This book continues on with crystal-clear discussions of numerical methods, linear algebra including the singular value decomposition and its uses, linear programming methods, multiple integration, and partial differential equations, to name a few of the topics covered. Just because the mathematics is more advanced in this book does not mean that it is any less clear than its less advanced predecessor. Stroud continues his tradition of holding your hand and leading you through every question you might have about working various types of math problems. I particularly liked his coverage of partial differential equations and numerical linear algebra topics. That is because it is hard to find advanced math books on these topics that are not written by pure mathematicians. Thus most of those books have a tendency to go overboard on proofs and not focus on the practical matters engineers must know in order to solve problems. The only negative thing I can say about the book is that it references Stroud's other book on engineering math, "Engineering Mathematics", during some of the explanations, possibly putting you at a disadvantage if you don't have it handy. I highly recommend this book as a reference every engineer should own.
NOTE: For some strange reason this review of "Advanced Engineering Mathematics" is appearing under that book and also "Vector Analysis" by the same authors. This is NOT a review of "Vector Analysis", just to clear up any confusion!

Useful for Engineering math. If you have to use step functions, second order differenital equations , Get this book. I used it and i got great marks for math. I think any book by K.A. Stroud is fantastic. This book has sets of questions and fully worked out answers. As with most math,theres lots of short cuts in math. Laplace transforms show you that theres a quick solution to second order or higher ,differiential equations. Being fast at this allows you to solve control theory questions quickly.

I'll begin with the one problem I've found in this book (the only reason it doesn't get five stars): in the working of some of the example problems, the author leaves out numerous steps, does some odd algebraic manipulation, and some of the example answers are flat-out wrong (there are a couple in the section on Fourier Transforms). Now to all the great aspects...this book covers an extremely wide array of topics, assuming only an elementary knowledge of calculus and differential equations, addressing (in detail) many techniques frequently utilized by engineers with almost no rigor (great if you're an engineering student wanting to learn applied mathematics, not so good for pure mathematics students). The topics include numerical methods for solving algebraic equations, the Laplace Transform, the Z-Transform, Fourier Series and the Fourier Transform, power series solutions of ODE's, numerical methods for ODE's and PDE's, partial differentiation, analytic solution of PDE's, integral functions, matrix algebra, multiple integration, vector calculus, complex analysis, and linear optimization. The author's pedagogical approach is perfectly-suited to self-instruction, and I have been able to work through the book and most of its problems (for which all answers are provided) relatively quickly. My only problem with the content of the book (other than the aforementioned occassional errors) is in the coverage of multiple integration, where a large amount of work is devoted to line and surface integrals of scalar fields (including determining whether the line integral of a differential in x, y, and z is conservative without any discussion of curl). I just personally think this is the wrong approach for line and surface integrals, which are easiest to understand (IMHO) in the context of vector fields and vector calculus. Overall, I feel this is an excellent book for engineering students, and could even serve as a good starting point for mathematics students as an intro to the methods of harmonic analysis, PDE's, and complex analysis, before jumping into the theory of these fields. I whole-heartedly recommend this book.

This book is full of delightful contradictions: satire, straightforward dialogue, dark humor, clever word-play, brazen irreverance and raw emotion. This author does not shrink from exposing the ultimate effects of love, intimacy, pain and what can happen when any of it goes awry. It's a rare and special novel that can elicit laughter and tears in the blink of an eye. I didn't want this one to end...perhaps it hasn't.

While trying to solve the mystery of her brother's death, tough gal Max confronts her own conflicted feelings about her past as well as her well-concealed softer side. Funny, sassy, and ultimately very moving.

This book is full of delightful contradictions: satire, straightforward dialogue, dark humor, clever word-play, brazen irreverance and raw emotion. This author does not shrink from exposing the ultimate effects of love, intimacy, pain and what can happen when any of it goes awry. It's a rare and special novel that can elicit laughter and tears in the blink of an eye. I didn't want this one to end...perhaps it hasn't.

Heroine: short and solid

After surviving a harrowing adolescence and maintaining her status as the town's foul-mouthed, hard drinking tart for twenty-plus years, shop teacher Maddie "Max" Maxwell thinks she's one tough cookie. But she soon discovers her "soft center" when her hormones start going haywire with a surprise pregnancy. After all, it's not everyday you go into the doctor's for a scheduled hysterectomy and come out with a due date for a baby--by a guy you are about to dump, no less!

        But Max is about to find out that even the toughest cookie is liable to crumble under the right circumstances. If the pregnancy wasn't enough to bowl her over, surely the multiple murders occurring around town will do it. Especially since all of them are connected in one way or another to Max herself!

What worked for me:

All right, I admit it, Max grew on me. Rough-around-the edges and with odd taste in men she's very different from me, but I think I could enjoy time spent in her company.

I thought the writing was clever, and the plot held my interest with its nicely convoluted mystery. The dash of raunchy sexual tension and heart-wrenching plot developments were also a great touch.

   Size-wise Max is closing in on forty and built, in her words, like a fireplug. And her best (and annoying) friend is rather voluptuous as well.

What didn't work for me:

It was hard not to flinch when thinking about Max's drinking during her early pregnancy.

Overall:

I found this story to be a creative hybrid of women's fiction and mystery. Readers looking to be drawn into an emotionally raw, thought-provoking story would be well-advised to search this one out.

Warning: this book has some coarse language and some brief references to homosexuality.

If you liked "Ain't Nobody's Bizness" you might also enjoy the "Steph Plum" mystery series, the "Sam Jones" mystery series, the "Casey Jones" mystery series, the "Odelia Grey" mystery series, the "Women's Murder Club" mystery series, "Princess Charming", "Infernal Affairs", "Plum Girl", and "Hey Lady, Your Tin Snips Are Showing".

Madeleine "Max" Maxwell is about to have a sudden life change. Nearing forty, scheduled for a hysterectomy, and as hard
drinking and hard living as they come, she wasn't exactly ready for the unexpected pregnancy that would ultimately change
her life.
But then again, she wasn't ready for the smoky voiced, ex-con, Jackson O'brien, or the murders occurring in her little town
of Hawk Marsh either. Murders directly related to her.
What's a girl to do? She's pregnant, hormones are raging, life altering events are occuring, and Max is smack dab in the
Middle of a murder mystery threatening to drive her insane.
You've got to read this book. Laura Gardner has written a wonderfully witty, superbly emotional, and amazingly twisted
mystery you won't be able to put down.
Who's killing the men in Max's life, and why? Is it the moody ex-con, the psychotic ex lover, or someone else ensuring
their own agenda?
Packed with humor, and an earthy realism that will amaze you, Ain't Nobody's Bizness guides you through six harrowing
months of Max's life. The changes to the person that was, the growth of a woman and mother that will be, the trials that will
knock her down, and her steely determination to stand up against all odds, and face the future to come.
This is a mystery you definitely don't want to miss.

Review by: Shadoe Simmons

This is a great book for all instructors teaching fluid mechanics or CFD. My students were really excited on seeing those beautiful pictures. This book can be an excellent incentive for the CFD students to simulate those flows.

this album is a must for any scientist or engineer who wants to visualize fluid motion and understand the dependence of flow type upon physical variables. for example, there is a series of photos of spheres towed at a broad range of Reynolds numbers, which depend upon tow speed and viscosity (as well as sphere diameter). Markers in the fluid allow the reader to view the circulation at the various Renolds numbers and get a feel for the transition from laminar to turbulent flow. Several of the photos are classics.

Having once failed a student on a doctoral oral exam because he could not define flow around a basic structural shape, I required students in a hydrodynamics course to obtain this book after it became available. Sometimes called "the picture book," it is an excellent reference illustrating all types of flow including creeping flow, laminar flow, separation, vortices, instability, turbulence, free-surface flow, natural convection, subsonic flow, shock waves, and supersonic flow. The author has researched the subject of flow visualization, and has acquired illustrations from a wide variety of sources. I was pleased to see that the book is still in print as it is a very valuable reference. The author has maintained a relatively low price to make it affordable to students.

I bought this book about twenty years ago, and getting hold of it then was a nightmare. Peter Bradshaw (then at Imperial, before he moved to Stanford) had it at the top of his recommended reading list, and none of us realised that Milton van Dyke was printing it himself from his garage. Peter was absolutely right though. I cannot remember how many times I have had recourse to this to understand a facet of a particular flow or explain it to someone else. This is even more important in these days, as fewer and fewer students are being exposed to experimental flow visualisation techniques. If you can get this book here do it, you won't regret it.

I have reccommended this book to many animators who create visual effects,
and all the artists go nuts when they look at the images that fill every page of this beautiful book. This
book is one of my inspirations and treasures,
and I dread the day it goes out of print. It sits on my bookshelf next to "Abstraction in Art and Nature" by Nathan Cabot Hale.
I bring this book to the design classes to open the minds of the artists to the wonder inside these pages. Yes, I love this book.