Industrial Books

You would gain maximum benefit from this book if you go slow as you read this book and finish all of the quiz questions. Please don't jump around between various chapters - just go slow and steady from chapter 1 to chapter 2 and so on!

This book does an excellent job of explaining basics/theory of electronics [almost]. The quiz questions are formatted in such a way that they make you think - and I liked that! My favourite subject area was the chapters 3 & 4 where author explains the workings of a transistor.

I recommend this book for beginners and intermediate level students of electronics who are looking forward to strengthen their understanding of the workings of electronic components.

Regards,
Shaukat

I have been through a number of "intro to transistors" books. This is clearly the best I've read. Starts with review of basic DC theory, then it takes you step by step through the calculations of determining the current and voltage in simple transistor circuits. It progresses to circuits with multiple transistors; each step is accompanied with a schematic and example of math formula and method. The end of each chapter has review questions (with answers). Also has a chapter on basic AC theory and one on filters, resonance, etc. An extremely informative, and useful real world book without the heavy classroom theory! A welcome addition to my collection of actively used technical reference books.

As others have noted, this really is an excellent book. It starts off slow with a review of DC and then covers the basics of AC and transistors. If you follow along and do the exercises you learn alot.

I really loved his nice development of transistors. He does it over 3 chapters.

The math consists of basic algebra so it's suited to high school level or amateur builder. Not really a college text.

The only book I've seen that matches this one for clarity is "Basic Electricity" by Van Valkenburgh, Nooger & Neville, Inc. ISBN: 0790610418. It's a reprint of the series first published by Rider. Also get the excellent 24 part series Navy Electricity & Electronics Training Series (NEETS).

table of contents of the Kybett book:

DC Pre-Test and Review
The Diode
Introduction to Transistor
The Transistor Switch
AC Pre-Test and Review
AC in Electronics
Resonant Circuits
Transistor Amplifiers
Oscillators
The Transformer
AC Diode Circuits and Power Supplies
Conclusion
Final Self-Test
Appendices
Index

This is one of the best introductory books to Electronics anywhere. Highly recommended.

The book is layed out well with nice diagrams. Not the hand drawn diagrams I've seen in other books. It is clear and concise. Several examples are given with each topic.

I have as of this writing passed through about half of the encyclopedia and found it to be of the highest value. It has helped me to gain insights into areas that I am foggy in and also expanded my knowledge of areas in which I hold some expertise.

Ron Davis MCSE, MCSD, MCDBA, MCP+I, MCP+SB, MCT, CIW, CI, CTT

Have been using this for the past 7 years before going to Stanford and still now.

An excellent overview of Computer Science.

This really is an excellent basic reference for non-specialists who need to elaborate on Computer Science topics. This encyclopedia is comprehensive in its breadth of coverage, and directs the reader at the next level of depth through cross-reference to articles and bibliographic references for those who need to in-depth in an specific topic.

It will be a valuable part of your library if you are not a CS specialist have an interest on Computer Science subjects.

If you are a practitioner, you may do better with "The Engineering and Computer Science Handbook".

I have the 1983 Second Edition and it is, as I assume the pricey Third is,a reference of biblical proportions, a sort of Brittanica of computer science. Lucid, authoritative articles. But while I lust after the new Edition, the three figure price makes me too shy to make a pass. Pity. If you can afford it, buy it.

Two words for you - David Hemmindinger - Can this man edit or what? Was Very excited about the release of this book, excellent reference material. I think Dinger needs to write a book of his own next! I know I'll read it.

I recently bought Engineering Electromagnetics (second edition) by Nathan Ida. It has since become my favourite book on the subject, along with Field and Wave Electromagnetics (second edition) by Cheng. I own six electromagnetics books, of which the two best known are the one by Cheng (aforementioned) and Electromagnetics with Applications by Kraus (sixth edition). I now compare these three books, referring to them as Ida, Cheng, and Kraus.

Firstly, all three books are good. All three are of similar level, suitable for EE undergraduates. (Ida and Cheng use matrices wherever appropriate, but Kraus never uses matrices, not even to simplify the discussion.) All three books display personal enthusiasm for the subject-matter. For example, Ida provides many interesting historical footnotes.

Secondly, Ida has 1235 pages whereas Cheng has 703 and Kraus has 617. It is tempting to attribute this to the fact that Ida tends to explain things with more words (something which I appreciate), but this is not the case because this would not account for more than 10 percent of the total book size. The true reason for the book's length is the in-depth discussion of theory, and the many many applications of the theory. In effect, it combines the best of Cheng (which is good for principles) and the best of Kraus (which is okay for applications). Ida actually far exceeds Kraus in many important applications, e.g. transformers, Smith chart, and numerical methods for boundary-value problems.

Thirdly, all three books are generous in providing answers to end-of-chapter problems. Ida goes one step further by giving answers to ALL problems except a handful of discussion-type questions. Moreover, the problems are categorized under headings so that you can zero in on an area of interest. For example, the chapter on antennas has 36 problems, categorized under the following boldface headings: Hertzian dipole (4 problems), magnetic dipole (2), linear antennas of arbitrary length (2), half-wave dipole antenna (2), various length dipole antennas (3), monopole antenna (5), two-element image antennas (6), n-element linear array (6), reciprocity and receiving antennas (4), and radar (2).

It is noteworthy that most the Amazon.com reviewers say that this is the best book ever on electromagnetics. I am inclined to agree with them.

It's a greatest book that I have ever read on Electromagnetics.
It will be very competible with the Book of Balanis named Advanced Engineering Electromagnetics.
Really Great.

This is really the best book on electromagnetics I've seen until now. It is very complete and very practical. The author has a clear style and the students can follow the text almost without any help from the teacher. There are a lot of review questions and problems (all with answers). It is really a great value book !

This is a very, very good text for students new to electromagnetics. Mr. Ida uses lengthy, descriptive narratives to describe the important concepts in introductory field theory, and he goes the extra mile in making sure the student understands what these concepts mean. He accomplishes this through exemplary conceptual discussions and a collection of excellent example problems. His thoroughness justifies the 1200 page length of the text.

There is really nothing bad to say about this book, besides that the figures are obviously drawn by Mr. Ida or an assistant and are occasionally more difficult to read than figures drawn by a professional illustrator. In several examples, it also appears that the students solving the problems for Ida used a table of integrals instead of integrating the functions themselves; in several examples this resulted in more work than would have been required by straightforward integration methods.

This is really the best book on electromagnetics I've seen until now. It is very complete and very practical. The author has a clear style and the students can follow the text almost without any help from the teacher. There are a lot of review questions and problems (all with answers). It is really a great value book !

I was searching for a math text with practice problems and this item is the most comprehensive that I've found so far! It covers everything from algebra to calculus to ordinary differential equations. I also like the clean format. There's an accompanying cd-rom but I haven't played with it yet. Overall a great book!!!

A great book for those who need a review of math concepts or are just learning engineering math for the first time. It does a great job of explaining concepts that can sometimes be difficult. At around $40 a book, you can't lose with this purchase.

That's the book I use in my remedial math class because, contentwise, it's comprehensive and well organised.
Its programmatic approach is very similar to the Kumon system: you have to master each frame before you can move onto the next, and complex topics are broken down to manageable chunks. The foundation topics (part I) roughly correspond to the maths skills a pupil should have mastered by the end of 6th form/grade 12.
I would also recommend it to homeschooling parents who need to brush up on their maths skills and for their children too, because the prerequisites needed are fairly low; one should need only basic arithmetic and geometry in order to get the most of this book, as well as pupils preparing for their GCSE/AS/A level Maths.
It's one of the best maths self teaching book one can find, but be aware it doesn't contain anything about abstract algebra, it's purely engineering maths.

I was struggling through a statistics class at school, with a book that was nearly all words and very little in the way of specific mathematical examples. The author of that statistics book would spend several pages talking about an equation and then just glance over the example of it, or only show a very simplistic example, forcing you to figure out how to apply it in more complicated circumstances by yourself. Maybe it works for some people, but I learn by doing math, not by reading about it.

When I saw this book at my school's engineering department, I flipped through and saw the statistics section. About 70 pages of plain and simple math, with only a few very short paragraphs here and there to define or explain the concepts. It was exactly what I needed, so when I got home I went directly to amazon and ordered it. I figured it would turn out to be a good companion to my statistics text, but it was my stats book that was the companion to this book instead!

The rest of the book follows the same format, and covers a huge amount of content. I plan on keeping this book on my shelf to refer to whenever I need assistance in anything math-related.

I would generally give this 5 stars and agree with the bulk of the reviews that merit its breadth and approach to teaching and referencing maths. But I give it 4 stars because, in comparison with other math books of roughly the same intent, it comes out being rather bulky. This may be necessary as the one reviewer mentioned that he was able to cut through allot of statistics material by referencing the processes in this book. So, yea, compared to taking up a book on each subject matter, this book probably still needs the bulk, but if you want to cut through to even a more succinct explanation and forgo the process examples then there are better or equally qualified books around, such as Engineering Mathematics with Bird (5th ed). As mentioned in that review, I still keep both around, just tend to refer to Bird more. But if the evolution of a concept isn't automatically registering then I kick it back to Stroud.

I found this book to be an excellent guide when it comes to describing the entrepreneurial process as well as how to start up a business. Not only does it cover the theorectical sections of this vast subject, it also provides guidance on how to go about getting funding, encouraging creativity and innovation within a firm etc. It details the stages of a business and has a number of case studies. A great book!

This book played a significant role in shaping a business plan that attracted institutional investment for a technology start-up I co-founded in Brazil. Great book.

This book has really helped me in class. It ties into all of the other books we use and all of the discussion in class. The book is actually interesting and easy to read unlike other textbooks!

This book is phenominal. While it is an academic textbook, it really hits home to the real world. The business plan section is extremely useful and the real life company examples and case studies are quite interesting and insightful.

Dr. Kuratko's book is positively OUTSTANDING and a MUST read for anyone who is even CONSIDERING starting his or her own business. Dr. Kuratko is considered by many to be the nation's foremost expert in the field of entrepreneurship and small business management. His book blends the structure of a course textbook with excellent real-life case examples. This is, without question, the finest book that I have ever read. I keep it by my nightstand!!!

Buy this one! You WON'T regret it!

Michael

I first read Mr. Meyer's book in the early 90s and was touched and amused by it. As the decade progressed, so did the number of layoffs I also encountered, and I never went through a layoff without thinking of his story. I can't tell you how many people I have referred to this book, and that's why I'm on this web site today - to send a link to yet another middle-aged worker who is feeling "Down and Out in Corporate America."

It's a must-read for anyone who has been laid off and anyone who works in Human Resources. It stands the test of time!

G. J. (Jerry) Meyer writes an outstanding memoir reagarding his experience seeking work in the modern America of right-sizing and layoffs. Mr. Meyer writes honest and straight-forward prose about corporate life and the tough job market faced by the increasing numbers of people as production gets more efficient and automated. I read this book right after reading Jeremy Rifken's 'The End of Work' (which discusses WHY so many people are un- or under-employed), there should be a Surgeon General's warning about doing this, the experience is nearly too intense. One can only hope that Mr. Meyer gets screwed in some other manner, so that he'll be motivated to write more. Truly an excellent book by a very skilled and compelling writer

I so enjoyed this book I devoured it in one sitting -- which surprised even me. I have not a thing in common with the author: I am not male, I'm nowhere near 50, I have never been a senior executive and I've never been fired. In fact, I'm a stay-at-home mother. But Meyer writes well. And if you've ever had to look for a job under any circumstances, you'll identify. Don't believe the reviewers who call Meyer bitter -- he's not, he's just very, very specific about the details of his humiliation. His book does raise real questions about employers today, but more to the point, it's a good read.

Even if you are securely employed or living off a comfortable trust fund, this book is a superb read, painfully funny, sharp-witted, well written. Though I had never much sympathy for six- figure executives, Meyer's take on that world still engaged me to read the book in one sitting

The corporate life is much like a chicken coop: the few chickens on the top of pecking order have friends and a full access to the feeder. Once a chicken slides down the pecking order, it is unlikely to regain its spot. At least, not at the age of 50 and not without strong connections.
Jerry Meyer, an ex-senior executive at MacDonnell-Douglas, wrote a painfully frank story of a corporate chicken, who made it to the top of pecking order without connections or old money, and fell back to the bottom.
It is a must-read for every executive wannabe. Maybe, the reader will think of Meyer's message and reconsider the career strategy: it is safer to be paid for what you DO than for what you ARE. A title is no substitute for skill, creativity and, most important, sense of self-worth.

Want to take your Mindstorms creations to new hieghts? Go beyond RIS? The ya have to get this book, a follow up to Dave Baum's Definitive Guide to Lego Mindstorms. You will not only see more NQC programming, but pbForth as well, and an excellent section on constructing your own sensors. If your the kid who doesn't grow up, an engineer at heart, and the owner of more than one RIS set because you are obssessed with Lego Mindstorms, then you cannot do without adding this book to your collection.

I don't know if I like the "Extreme" in the title. In many ways this book just covers the basics. In some ways I like this book better than Baum's "Defintive Guide to LEGO Mindstorms", because it's not so NQC centric. In other ways I prefer the DGLM because it had more info on structural issues. There is a knack to making good LEGO structures, and a few tips really come in handy. I would have to say that I find the DGLM more extreme as far as the variety and originality of the projects.

If Definitive Guide was wonderful this one is even better.

These guys have done a good work with the book.

Special mention to Gasperi's Homebrew Sensors section.

One of my library's jewels

If the Definitive Guide was wonderful this one is even better.

Special remark to Gasperi section about homebrew sensors.

This guys have done a invaluable works.

One of my library jewels.

i work with c and assembler, also i work with maya and 3d studio max on the graphics end. black belt in all of those fields. this book is bringing me to my white belt to black belt knowledge in robotics.dont think buy.

This book is an awesome look back at some of the best artwork and packaging of its time. The footnotes for each "Fac" are interesting and the reproductions of the artwork are showcased nicely. I only wish there were some photos of the packaging, for instance the famous Blue Monday single with the die-cut, it would have been nice to see how it looked. Still, I think this is a great book!

I've always been a huge fan of Factory Records and the designs of Peter Saville so this book was a dream come true. Pictures of all the artwork from Fac 1 onwards, all the New Order, Joy Division, Happy Mondays, Durutti Column - everything you could want.
A wonderful gorgeous book, the pictures are bright and clear, plus history and stories on major aspects of the artwork - highly recommended fro any Factory / New Order / Peter Saville fan.

This is an excellent book for fans of Factory Records. Factory was label that always had beautiful graphic design work. The album covers and poster art were a showcase for the design work of Peter Saville. I highly recommend this thorough book to fans of the label.

FACTORY RECORDS: THE COMPLETE GRAPHIC ALBUM could have been featured in our Music Shelf area but is profiled here for its artistic visual inspection of one British music label's eye-catching covers and productions. Notes for each production outline the varying graphic design choices which made the albums notable and different, making this a fine choice not just for contemporary music libraries but for art library holdings strong in graphic arts representations.

This is a magnificent time machine. There are a lot of labels people loved - Stiff, sst, etc. My favorite was Factory. With only a few exceptions, the music coming out on this label defined English music in the Eighties. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" was unquestionably the song of the year in 1980 for instance. But what made the music even more evocative was the artwork along with it. The famous Joy Division covers, and the mighty "Power, Corruption, and Lies" are just a few examples. Thanks to New Order I learned who Fantin-Latour was, they skipped over him in my art history classes. I collected all the albums and 12 inch 45s. I especially liked A Certain Ratio, after I saw them at Danceteria in 1982 (I think that was the year). Where is the vinyl of yesteryear? The music is all on cd, but those tiny covers just dont do justice to the art. Here is all the glory in one beautiful package. If only I had made it to the Hacienda back in the day...

This book is an awesome look back at some of the best artwork and packaging of its time. The footnotes for each "Fac" are interesting and the reproductions of the artwork are showcased nicely. I only wish there were some photos of the packaging, for instance the famous Blue Monday single with the die-cut, it would have been nice to see how it looked. Still, I think this is a great book!

I've always been a huge fan of Factory Records and the designs of Peter Saville so this book was a dream come true. Pictures of all the artwork from Fac 1 onwards, all the New Order, Joy Division, Happy Mondays, Durutti Column - everything you could want.
A wonderful gorgeous book, the pictures are bright and clear, plus history and stories on major aspects of the artwork - highly recommended fro any Factory / New Order / Peter Saville fan.

This is an excellent book for fans of Factory Records. Factory was label that always had beautiful graphic design work. The album covers and poster art were a showcase for the design work of Peter Saville. I highly recommend this thorough book to fans of the label.

FACTORY RECORDS: THE COMPLETE GRAPHIC ALBUM could have been featured in our Music Shelf area but is profiled here for its artistic visual inspection of one British music label's eye-catching covers and productions. Notes for each production outline the varying graphic design choices which made the albums notable and different, making this a fine choice not just for contemporary music libraries but for art library holdings strong in graphic arts representations.

This is a magnificent time machine. There are a lot of labels people loved - Stiff, sst, etc. My favorite was Factory. With only a few exceptions, the music coming out on this label defined English music in the Eighties. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" was unquestionably the song of the year in 1980 for instance. But what made the music even more evocative was the artwork along with it. The famous Joy Division covers, and the mighty "Power, Corruption, and Lies" are just a few examples. Thanks to New Order I learned who Fantin-Latour was, they skipped over him in my art history classes. I collected all the albums and 12 inch 45s. I especially liked A Certain Ratio, after I saw them at Danceteria in 1982 (I think that was the year). Where is the vinyl of yesteryear? The music is all on cd, but those tiny covers just dont do justice to the art. Here is all the glory in one beautiful package. If only I had made it to the Hacienda back in the day...

When I received this book recently as a gift I was completely overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the considerateness of the donor. Overwhelmed by the high quality of the production. Overwhelmed by the large number of "big names" who had contributed. Overwhelmed by the quality and meaningfulness of the photographs. Overwhelmed by the quality of the message that it gets across. Overwhelmed by the ammunition it gives me in my own personal drive for safer, more reliable food. Overwhelmed by how helpful it will be to the waverers who have not yet plucked up the courage to break their links with the chemical establishment.

Let me start with the photos which are not only high quality but extremely helpful because side by side we are given a picture of crops grown under two systems which represent the two poles of producing our food. The text on the left page goes like this: "Industrial Eye: see what you are looking at: MELONS: More than half the melons sold in the U.S. are grown in California where industrial melon farms stretch for miles and miles ... Two of the most heavily used toxins in industrial melon production are ... Life is also difficult for the melon pickers ..." On the right page we have: "Agrarian Eye: See what you are looking at: MELONS: These melons are one crop among dozens at the Live Earth's 23-acre farm near Santa Cruz, CA. The melons are part of a diverse system of annual and perennial fruit and vegetable crops that rely on soil health to support the plant's natural ability to deter pests. But it's not done so easily - there are many challenges ... Coastal fog also poses potential fungal problems for melons, which Broz addresses by using fungal-resistant varieties of melons ... The melons are sold at local farmers' markets and through the farm's community supported agriculture (CSA) program, where families receive a weekly box of seasonal fruits and vegetables throughout the growing season."

Next the text. "Part One: Farming as if Nature Mattered: Breaking the Industrial Paradigm" is composed of seven articles such as "Global Monoculture: The Worldwide Destruction of Diversity". Then "Part Two: Corporate Lies: Busting the Myths of Industrial Agriculture" is composed of articles each addressing one of the seven myths such as "Myth Two: Industrial Food is Safe, Healthy and Nutritious". The book continues through to "Part Seven: Organic and Beyond: Revisioning Agriculture for the 21st Century" with nine more articles such as "The Ethics of Eating: Why Environmentalism Starts at the Breakfast Table."

In these 370 pages we have all the information we need to convince those sitting on the fence that we must reduce our dependence on industrial agriculture. When confronted with this volume it is difficult to imagine how all those involved in the industrial agricultural chain will be able to put up an effective argument. On the contrary, it should be convincing to the thinking service organization that this is where their future profits lie and they should climb on the band wagon helping rather than hindering. For the farmer who is wavering - and probably for good reasons as his livelihood is affected - he will find in this volume the encouragement he needs; others have forged the trail and he can follow in the knowledge that the forerunners have solved the major problems.

Bravo to all those concerned with the preparation of this volume. You have done mankind a great service. It is a long tunnel down which we are travelling, but I for one can now see the light in the distance. Because of your initiative the rest of us will travel our own path with more confidence and with greater speed. At last we can hope for some sanity in our food production. If we can get this volume into the hands of enough people - people who care - then we really can change the world. If Silent Spring was the book that woke the world to the evils of indiscriminate chemical use, then this volume will go down as the one that banged home the last nail in the coffin of industrial agriculture.

This book is beyond a book. It is like a movie on pages. The visuals are that powerful.
What is revealed in these pages is a secret that must be exposed. Andrew Kimbrell has done a wonderful job here. His work is pioneering a new awareness for the entire world.

After reading this book, your views about agriculture will be forever altered. Presented in a high quality, high impact format, the photography offers the reader the chance to see the stark contrast between the products generated by 'power farmers' and that of the 'small farmer' - the true agrarian. Upon opening the book for the very first time, you will be completely engaged; you will be unable to put the book down until you have rummaged through all of the pages. The images will be etched on your brain with a subtle permanence and the accompanying text is just as powerful.

The central message of this rather large book (put some legs on it and it could serve as a coffee table itself) is that industrial agriculture is unnatural, inhumane, dangerous; that big farms and big chemical multinationals are destroying the land and causing massive hardship for not only the ecology of the planet but for humans as well.

One of the arguments is that industrial agriculture actually leads to hunger and starvation for millions because it forces people off the land, land that is then used to produce foods or other products that are exported to the developed nations. The poor farmer cannot compete with the industrial farms and so has to go out of business. In the underdeveloped countries, land that once supported a variety of food plants that fed the local people has been turned into land that supports only a single crop destined for export, the profits going to middle men and the large land owners.

Clearly then, this is a polemic against industrial agriculture and in favor of a return to an agrarian life style. It is a tract against the use of pesticides and herbicides and in favor of organic farming. It is against monoculture farming and in favor of biodiversity and crop rotation. It is against genetic modified foods and Round Up ready seeds and in favor of the slightly blemished but flavorful produce from fields tended by hand and hoe. It is beautifully illustrated with breath-taking photos of farms, farmers, farm equipment and especially fields of verdant crops.

I am in substantial sympathy with the message of this book, but I do not appreciate facile or phony arguments in support of even the most agreeable message. I think unsubstantiated claims and superficial understandings do not help a worthy cause. Unfortunately there are a few of those in these pages.

On page 62, for example, the text suggests that "if biotech corporations really wanted to feed the hungry, they would...push for wealth redistribution, which would allow the poor to buy food." Obviously corporations don't work that way, and agrarian reform is not going to be helped by reviving delusive Marxist economics. On page 71 it is written, "...75 types of vegetables, or approximately 97 percent of the varieties available in 1900, [in the US] are now extinct." I am not sure what was left out here or misstated, but obviously more than about 2.34 vegetables (the 3% still extant) are still available. Worse yet is this from page 102: "In 1996...the fungal disease known as Karnal Bunt swept through the U.S. wheat belt, ruining over half of that year's crop and forcing the quarantine of more than 290,000 acres." However on page 100 it is reported that wheat fields take up "a total of 60-70 million acres" of land in the continental US. So how can a infestation that resulted in a quarantine of 290,000 acres (less than one-half of one percent of the total acreage devoted to wheat) ruin "over half of that year's crop"? Such slips tend to cast doubt on the credibility of the other figures in the book.

However, the central shortcoming of this otherwise laudable effort is the disinclination of the editor and the contributors to point to overpopulation as the root cause of hunger and starvation. Such a studied avoidance is disingenuous to say the least. The periodic starvations due to droughts that plague such places as Africa are due to too many people living on land that cannot reliably support them. In times of feast, the populations shoot up only to crash when the weather changes, as it must, as it has for millions of years. Furthermore to suggest (as the text on pages 50 and 51 does) that agriculture can keep pace with human population growth is mistaken. Fortunately, the essay, "The Impossible Race: Population Growth and the Fallacies of Agricultural Hope," by Hugh H. Iltis, which begins on page 35, presents a more realistic view.

Nonetheless, I applaud this effort by director Douglas Tompkins and those who contributed to the project. I was particularly taken with the photography and art design by Daniella Goff-Sklan who carefully avoids any "scare" photography. We are spared the sight of the bloated bellies of the starving poor. There are no photos of the horrendous conditions inside the poultry and meat packing industries. Clearly, the editors didn't want this book to be purely a propaganda piece. They wanted to get their message across without controversy; they wanted to be effective.

I am also in substantial sympathy with the agrarian movement itself. However whether it is possible or even desirable to return to an agrarian existence is in great doubt. Perhaps one might wax even more romantic and suggest a return to a hunting and gathering existence. Such nostalgic fantasies are just that, fantasies, like the notion of the noble savage or of an unspoiled garden of Eden. Humans have and will continue to alter the landscape. What I hope is that we find a balance between human needs and the needs of the planet's ecosystems before it is too late. Yes, a return to an agrarian culture (especially without the feudalism and warlord economies that existed concomitantly) would be a step away from the abyss that we are now approaching. But that isn't going to happen anytime soon. The surest way to save the planet from ourselves is to reduce our numbers. Until that message gets across, the planet will continue to be decimated by our insatiable desire to exploit and control. My vision of the future includes a large number of small farming communities with single family farms aplenty. But it also includes great tracts of forest and savannah, desert and tundra, unspoiled by human habitation. From my point of view the planet already contains too many humans. And that is why my vision and the agrarian vision so beloved by contributor Wendell Berry cannot yet become a reality.

Like other reviewers, I was unable to put this book down once I opened it. Although I understood in sort of a theoretical way that corporate agriculture was not a good thing, the pictures in this book connected all the dots for me. There is something about the photography that is simply transfixing - which seems odd given that the photos are of agriculture - but true nevertheless.

After reading this book I could not bring myself to buy any more non-organic produce, so be forewarned - this is not a "coffee table book" in any ordinary sense. It should come with a warning label.