Education Books

This book is amazing in its ability to both amaze and terrify a potential candidate. It's a must have for any candidate trying to get in. It makes sure to give advice on the mental preparation you must make and the physical riger that is to be endured. As a female candidate this book has helped me answer my questions, end my doubts, and showed me how to prepare. If you're looking into any of the academys get the candidate book!

I just met my Blue and Gold Officer, and I think hes cool. We talked, but my dad was in a hurry so we couldnt really get into a conversation, since we were busy. Anyways, this book told me how to act in front of him. I saw a lot of guys trying to act tough to a guy who could break them in half. A lot of them werent even showing respect. But I knew what to do, even if I am a little younger than most of the guys there. I think I made a good impression on him, and am going to try to get to know him better soon, but so far, I have'nt had time to contact him. Oh well, this is still a very good and valuble book.

I'm entering as a member of the Class of 2007. This book helped me stay on track and know what to expect from the Admissions process. My admissions counselor was extremely helpful. This book gets 2 thumbs up!

This book is amazing!!! It helped me a lot to prepare for USNA, but I didn't get an appointment due to a medical disqualification. However, I followed the advise in this book and it helped me get into THREE other federal service academies. I got into the U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and the U.S. Air Force Academy. So even if you don't plan on going to the Naval Academy, it sure helps to read the book on how the application process works esspecially with the congressional nominations.

Currently Im a PO3 in the Navy who will be attending the Naval Academy Preparatory School this year with subsequent attendance to the Naval Academy proper. While this book only had a rather small mention of how enlisted applicants gained admission, and an even smaller section on NAPS, its still THE BEST resource out there for an aspiring applicant. After all its not the NAPS or Prior candidate handbook. As an Air Force brat I lived on USAFA for 3 years and I can tell you that the atmosphere that they portrayed in this book is pretty realistic. Just remember that nothing about any academy is going to be perfect. If you aspire to be a Mid or are the parent of the fore mentioned this book is an absolute necessity.
Keep this in mind. If you REALLY REALLY want to get in there is nothing that can stop you. I almost failed out of high school my junior year and then went to a military school (NMMI) for my senior year. Even though I excelled there I still only had a 2.57 GPA. Just goes to prove that if you REALLY REALLY want to get in all you have to do is go all out and focus on that one singular goal. Success is a measure of sacrifice.

What can I say? Max Lucado is a gifted writer who takes spiritual concepts and puts them into understandable and easy-to-grasp stories illustrations.

Max Lucado is a premier story teller. The message that Christ knows how we humans feel and that he is close enough to call on whenever we need him is uplifting and comforting.

i haven't read max lucado books in awhile and I have read quite some of them. I have to say that this is one of his best written. The chapters are short but they are meaningful, each one of them that applies to different people.

This a great book. I love the way Max writes. It's very unique and refreshing. He really brings the stories to life.

This is my first Max Lucado book and I loved it! It took me a while to read it because I don't read that often but something made me keep coming back to try and finish it. He made everything so simple and easy to understand. The real life examples were great! I would recommend it to anyone!

First, let me note for those interested in the subject that this book shows babywearing on the cover.

But that's really just a lagniappe in a good book.

Michael is, as you can guess, sitting on his mother's lap, and he keeps getting down and fetching more and more of his special things to be with him. Eventually all this wakes his sister, and his mother goes to sit her on her lap as well, and he makes room and they snuggle together.

The author doesn't patronize kids by carefully spelling out "Michael is jealous of his sister" or anything of that nature. It's too easy to do that. Instead, Michael's feelings are clearly shown by his words ("There isn't room") and the illustrations (him hiding under his blanket is priceless).

I wouldn't suggest giving this to a mother of five who has already started yelling "I WANT MY LAP BACK", after all, the moral is that there's *always* room on mother's lap. But most everybody else is going to love it.

Nice book, not sure if it engages my 2-yr old. Great sentiment though.
...Looking for 'new baby' books geared to very young crowd. Haven't found anything super yet.

We got this book for our 22 month old daughter for Christmas. It is now one of her favorites. I find it quite beautiful as Michael has to learn how to share his mother with his baby sister. It shows how he reacts emotionally and the difficulties involved around sharing, something all children can relate to.

This is a very touching book to reassure moms and children that life with a new baby means more love to go around. I have bought it for many friends. Those first months with a new baby are definitely a time of adjustment as the new baby needs so much attention and the older child has to wait (or the older child needs a lot of attention and the baby has to wait!) so this book is a nice, subtle reminder that there is always room on mother's lap. The last page definitely brings tears to the eyes!

This is a great book if you have a new baby come into the house. My son and I read this book every night and then he reads it back to me. I would recomment this book highly.

It covers everything you need to know if you don't have time to read the book.

One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of those few novels that is magical, beautiful and can capture the very kernel of mind to wake you up from the reality of Latin American world. The writer questions the propriety of the superstructure of the governance of mankind and the whole lot of theories and principles which are supposed to deliver the mankind from the drudgeries and miseries but which do not.To read this novel is to experience darkness and the failure of mankind.

To read Gabriel Garcia Marquez's masterwork is to confront one's demons and one's devices in a monumentally singular reading experience. What does that mean? I have no idea, but I thought it sounded good when I wrote it.
Seriously though, you could do worse than to read this book. Although, it is overrated, and at times, you will think it is pretentiously boring. Still, there were enough good stretches of narrative beauty to overtake the sometimes tiresome ponderousness of the story.

This was really the best book I ever read. The non-standard use of time and space concepts is amazing. I read it in two languages (both translated) and I started to study Spanish just to read this book in original. Everytime I read this book it gives me a completely different view.

In 10,000 years, when most of the world's literature is lost and forgotten, this book will still be read. Like "A Tale of Two Cities" and "Les Miserables", I will read it again and again until my eyesite fails. Then my childen will read it aloud to me. Then I can die.

Rardin was the first book I used for OR and I keep a copy in my personal library. It offers a series of examples that are followed up throughout the book, chapter by chapter, to provide insight into the application of mathematics to real world problems. By building the level of complexity, on an ogoing basis through the use of specific examples, Rardin shows the extrmely practical side to why Operations Research is such a fundamental use of applied mathematics. The book is easy to read and should easily meet the needs of any upperlevel undergraduate course in Operations Research.

It is both useful for graduates and for undergraduates.

Explanations are easy to follow but at the same time they don't lack detail or correctness. The book is full of examples and it covers different fields of OR.

For me, the best is Rardin's approach to teach OR: he begins from the base and he builds newer contents over that base. In this way, you feel like "that works!". And for graduates, there are some sections called "primers" where Rardin explains subjects outside the scope of the book, but very useful for beginners.

The book is very well written. A good big effort.

The only bad point I found is the book's font/typeset is not very good (I'd prefer a more TeXified style).

The "Search inside this book" feature was not available for this book when this review was published. Hope it helps.

Table of Contents
1. Problem Solving with Mathematical Models
2. Deterministic Optimization Models in Operations Research
3. Improving Search
4. Linear Programming Models
5. Simplex Search for Linear Programming
6. Interior Point Methods for Linear Programming
7. Duality and Sensitivity in Linear Programming
9. Shortest Path and Discrete Dynamic Programming
10. Network Flows
11. Discrete Optimization Models
12. Discrete Optimization Methods
13. Unconstrained Nonlinear Programming
14. Constrained Nonlinear Programming

If you need more information, Professor Rardin (Purdue University) maintains a website that can be easily located using any web search tool.

Review after 2 years of using this book: AMAZING BOOK. There has never been a better book (and probably never will be) in explaining OR.

Previous Review upon purchase:
If you are taking a graduate or an undergraduate course in OR, this book is a must! I have not seen ANY book able to present OR with such simple, direct examples and WITHOUT sacrificing theory.
This is the best written textbook I have ever read. When I compare it with the hundereds of dollars I spend on badly written books, even as a PG (poor graduate) student I would gladly pay twice of what this book is priced at.

This book presents the subjects in a different and novel way which provides many new insights.

In it, there is a great concern with the practical, professional use of operations research, as can be easily seen in the modeling examples. This book could be named "Optimization theory with realistic applications". This book certainly enables the students to apply the theory learned in practical situations, while providing the necessary mathematical foundations.

Rardin exposes the subject in a very clear and non-orthodox manner, unifying all algorithms through the use of the improving-search framework. The text is also innovative, containing sections on Genetic Algorithms, Simulated Annealing, Tabu Search and Branch and Cut.

But if you want to go deeper in some subject (linear programming for example) you will need another book.

I used this text in the 80's as an undergrad in Brazil, and am now a chemistry professor. Although my research is in computational chemistry, and organic chemistry seems a lot like fantasy to me, I still love Morrison and Boyd's textbook. I remember my experience with it, and my awe in finding that someone could actually put a textbook together that was enjoyable to be read, and easy to understand - and mind you, I was not fluent in English back then. I have just recently realized that all my organic texts have been "borrowed" by students, and that I should really get Morrison's. And this time make sure nobody will take it out of my office. If you want to learn organic chemistry with no struggle, this is the book.

it is a great textbook for those who need organic chem. i am a chemical engineering undergraduate and the way the book is set up in problems and exercises is also great. after every section a question , that may seem difficult at first, is really a restatement of that section. but don't get it twisted into thinking that it is a pick up and go book. the solutions manual is a must if you want to fully grasp an understanding for this difficult subject. i also got a copy of the wade series to complement the book when i wasn't sure of the full chemical reactions that took place but overall, it's a great book to use.

Due its ambitious purposes and powerful transcendence, the whole understanding of this fundamental branch of the Science seems to be in an authentic crescendo day after day.

This book illustrates and clarifies such just a few, the most relevant aspects of this dynamic and expansive scientific discipline.

Recommended for students and teachers of Chemistry, Chemistry Engineers and Bio analysts.

O.K. Let's face it: what could be more boring than Organic Chemistry - right? WRONG! Morrison and Boyd's Organic Chemistry takes the pallid and dry subject of Organic Chemistry and imbues it with a vitality and interest that will stupefy you. Trust me, you cannot begin to fathom how effective this book is at making its subject interesting and more importantly understandable. The authors are brilliant at introducing a complex and arcane topic, incrementally building slowly and confidently a framework of knowledge and information that nearly makes, of all things, intuitive sense when they are through.

Every educator should study Morrison and Boyd in an attempt to appreciate how it works its magic. I can say without reservation, this is the text book against which all others should be measured. You will not be disappointed.

I used this book as a supplement for Ege's organic book. It helped me do well in my class and prepared me for the chemistry GRE. This book is older but well worth the cost. I think it should be on any chemists' shelf of literature. The reactions it tells you are easy to understand and the mechanisms make sense. The only problem I would have is the spec. section for infared is a little weak. But it does everything else well so it makes up for it. Buy this Book for undergraduate study you won't be disappointed!

I'm coming to the end of my undergraduate studies (in PHYSICS!) and I was looking for some insight into what graduate school would be like to to try and figure out if a PhD is in the cards for me. This book is easy to read and FULL of useful tips. However the overwhelming majority of these nuggets of gold come from past PhD students in the medical/biological sciences. This began to get really annoying. I was constantly having to decide which comments to take onboard and which to leave behind (because I thought they wouldn't apply to me). As a result, I probably have in my head a very distorted picture of what grad school will really be like.
The title is very descriptive, it's just missing one word, but I suppose if they added it sales would drop significantly.

This book should be required reading for anyone applying to gradutate school in the sciences (physical or biological). A quick read of the text will give one plenty to think about before making the big decision. The earlier you read it the better off you will be. The most important reading regards selecting an advisor. I am in the process of completing my degree and in hind sight agree with the issues on which the author has choosen to focus.

The following was copied from another website's review of The Ph.D. Process, and I think it describes the book perfectly:

Graduate school in science is not an experiential extension of undergraduate education, where the passing of a sufficient number of courses usually guarantees one a degree; nor is it medical school or law school, where there is a delineated and set curriculum. Ph.D students are actually pretty much on their own--and they will sink or swim depending upon their own interpretation of how the system works.

The purpose of this book is to provide students with some insight into this unusual system. The authors--each a Ph.D. in the sciences--reveal the generally unspoken "rules" of the game. They offer the secrets of survival and success: What should you discuss in your application essay? What types of research advisors should you avoid? What kinds of research projects should you never undertake? How hard do you have to work? Are grades important? What steps should you take now to make yourself "employable" when you finish? What decisions can make or break your career? How can you network in the scientific community? What goes on at the oral defense, and how can you prepare?

Described also is the daily experience itself: research life, classes, seminars, journal clubs, lab meetings, interactions with peers and professors, qualifying exams, professional meetings, oral exams, dissertation preparation, etc. Anxiety, frustration, and joy-- all normal responses to a grad student's life--are also examined. (In quotes sprinkled throughout the text, numerous past and present grad students relate their individual experiences and emotions during their doctoral training.) A separate chapter is devoted to the special problems of foreign students, strangers to our culture and educational system.

There are many intellectual and emotional challenges inherent to becoming a scientist. This book prepares students for each stage of the experience. They will learn what to expect--socially, psychologically, and academically!

The PhD process is a great overview of graduate school in the sciences. It covers most basic topics such as choosing a type of school, applying, preliminary exams, comps, thesis work, etc. Of course each school does these things slightly differently, but the main points are there and the authors do a good job of pointing out where differences between programs are likely to turn up. This book also explains things that graduate programs aren't likely to advertise such as using students as `cheap labor' and what things to look for in an advisor other than interesting research. This is a fun to read honest book, and the anecdotes from current and past graduate students are the best part. I enjoyed reading them because so many of the same things have happened to me, and it's nice to know that I'm not alone.

I wouldn't say that I received any great insights from the book because I had some experience with academic labs before I applied to graduate school and had a pretty good idea of what I was getting into. I found it a little calming to read about others' experiences as I was waiting to get started. I think most students who apply to graduate school have already spent much time in labs with current graduate students so this might not be that useful to them as practical advise; however, I found this book to be an excellent resource for my parents. My parents had no idea what graduate school is like, and the fact that I'm at school all day and only go to class for an hour baffles them to no end. Reading this book helped them to understand the structure and goals of graduate school. Though I still don't think they understand journal club. (Why would anyone join that club? It doesn't sound like very much fun.)

I recommend this book to grad students for their parents or to undergraduates who aren't sure if graduate school is the right path for them. This book gives great insight into what graduate school is really like.

The book definitely unfold the whole map of graduate school life, especially for (biological) science students. Many aspects and stages of doing science research and how to survive in graduate school are covered. However, the lack of insightful guidence is the main drawback of the book. Pointint out possible obstacles does not necessarily makes gradute students' lives easier. The interviews from (past) graduate students do help readers build up confidence because it is comforting to know many people suffer as they do now, but at the same time few specific steps or directions are NOT distilled by the authors. It's like everyone just talks their experiences without any conclusions.

I love it! David Levithan does it again. This book just puts your mind in a different world. It really is the Realm of Possibility. There are gay couples and struggling souls. All of this in the form of some wonderful poems. The church choir girl can fall for the goth guy, the beautiful song writer can fall in love with a girl of her own, and sooo much more. After I read this book I was shocked at how much of an effect it had on me. If I bought it I would read dozens of times. You'll love it. This author really knows what he is doing. I hope you enjoy it!!

I've gotten recommendations for David Levithan's books before, but I'd never read any. I picked this up at the bookstore and was hooked. Although I enjoyed basically every part of this book, my favorite was Charlotte's narrative. I cannot express how much I loved it, how much I wanted to be like her and do that. "The Realm of Possibility" is definitely worth reading; it won't take you long. It is amazing.

Though this book drags in a few of the poems, it's mostly very readable, as free-verse poetry tends to be if you read it quickly. Sexuality and sentimentality - or, if you like, adolescent angst - are heavily featured, but Levithan is so good at rendering them that the book hardly ever feels trite or emotionally abusive. However, the standout entry is clearly "The Patron Saint of Stoners," which deals with a far more serious issue than most of the others, in far less dramatic terms. The narrator of the poem, Clara, is an excellent student who has trouble trying to find some pot; but the important question for the reader is not the how, but the why. "Gospel," told from the perspective of Gail, a fervently Christian and compassionate girl who befriends an outcast, and "Writing," in which a Goth girl, Charlotte, literally puts "the writing on the wall" in a surprisingly uplifting way, are also very good.

Like "Boy Meets Boy" and "Are We There Yet?" the tone of the book is - not relentlessly, but insidiously positive. No one is worse off at the end of their poem or the book than at the beginning; even the 'bitchy' character who gets her comeuppance also has a personal insight.

One thing Levithan never addresses is why the twenty characters are writing these poems, or if they even are writing them down. Interesting, because he could have written it off with a throwaway line - for example, "Mr. So-and-so is making everyone write a free-verse poem for English class" - but instead he leaves it unclear whether they are simply internal monologues or poems the characters actually write.

I love everything about this book! Even the length was just right. Every line was so insightful and we can all relate to each character in the short stories and poems. The form of all the poems was really creative and I respect the writer for putting on paper the feeling of so many different human beings. This book is simply amazing- you just have to expirience it for yourself.

I admit it: this book totally sucked me in. The characters are realistic, and I was able to find something about a number of them that I could relate to. And I found a number of them that I simply fell in love with, for all sorts of reasons. My favorite sections were the ones written by Anton, Charlotte, Lily, and Jed.

I found the book somewhat confusing at times, because I kept coming onto names I'd seen before. So i actually went back and made a little list of characters and their relationships, which I shall put up here for anyone that's intested. So *spoiler alert* for the next section of this review (just in case you want to pick up this book knowing NOTHING whatsoever about anything in it... I'm not giving away anything really important):

Daniel: is Jed's boyfriend and is neighbors with Pete
Mary: suffers from anorexia, is Pete's girlfriend
Diana: is in love with with Elizabeth, writes love songs for her
Megan: is in love with Diana, watches her loving another girl while she plays the part of a devoted friend
Tyler: rants about his girlfriend's love of Holden Caulfield
Anton: a seemingly troubled youth- sits in the back wearing black and earphones and writing poetry
Gael: relgion is important in her life, hates injustice, stands up for Anton
Jill: possibly Tyler's boyfriend, stole Cara's boyfriend, feels she doesn't deserve him and regrets the person she is
Anne: nice poetry about random things
Jamie: has just suffered from a breakup, is zack's brother and jed's friend
Pete: Mary's boyfriend
Clara: perfect student lacking a positive homelife, interacts with Jed and Toby
Charlotte: writes haunting messages ("you are foolish in your unhappiness") around school, mesages deeply affect some people, intrigue others (Daniel)
Elizabeth: lives in sister's shadow, tormented by people who disliked sister (Cara), Andy's girlfriend
Cara: loses respect after an incident involving Elizabeth, has fake friends (Jill)
Lia: friend's with Clara, korean, in love with delivery boy
Zack: Anne's boyrfriend, Megan's friend
Karen: no obvious hints as to her relationships
Lily: is close to Jed, although they don't spend much time together, her poetry style is unlike any of the others presented in this book
Jed: is celebrating his one year anniversery with Daniel (it's so sweet!), also- title of book comes from his poem

Student ministry is so strategic, young people need a clear path to right and wrong, more importantly the ability to make good decisions on there own, After 25 years of youth ministry I was pleasantly surprised to find a book that puts the essentials students need to understand before leaving home and the keys to good decision making all in one book, each check point gives students a deeper understanding of not just what, but why, we are to follow God's direction, Andy is gifted at getting to the main things the plan things, he and his team have given student workers one of the most valuable tool they will ever have.

I read this book for a youth ministry class in college and it is probably the best youth ministry book I have ever read! They cover a lot of ground and make it applicable to real life. I would highly recommend this book to anyone!

Great resource for anyone who minister to youth. I bought this book for our youth ministry team. It has helped them to focus on the important issues that youth face today.

I can't wait to start using the checkpoints as laid out in this book, or use it to create our own version.

Andy Stanley and Stuart Hall have done amazing "legwork" for Youth Leaders everywhere in defining essentials that are usable now. To find out there's curriculum to go along with this book was a lifesaver.

I highly recommend this book to help define your YM strategy.

this is the most practical book for streamlining a youth ministry i have ever found.

If it weren't for the illustrations, this book would be rated two stars. I saw this book advertised on Amazon's website among other children's books. The cover was so beautiful, that I had to read the reviews about the content and artistry of this book. I was seconds away from making a purchase when I decided to borrow it from the library instead. The pictures are absolutely gorgeous and I liked the way the author took a spin on the mean old woman in a shoe rhyme and made it into a loving mother bunny rhyme. Children get to learn all kinds of uncommon words (at their age) like shed, trellis, etc. but the rhymes are just names of rabbits who sleep on those objects - boring and uncreative. Example, "Zed slept on the shed" The whole book from A to Z is like that. I was wondering why such a beautifully illustrated book was not such a hot seller on Amazon's rankings and found out why. It's pretty but not educational. I don't need my little one to learn uncommon names of people that are supposed to rhyme with the objects. If you want a good ABC book, I highly recommend Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. That is by far the best. It is very educational and very fun. As for numbers, I recommend Ten Little Ladybugs and/ or Over in the Meadow. Both are just excellent.

Illustrations are wonderful. Text is silly fun, but instructive in counting and alphabet. Just don't be so taken by the beautiful bunny drawings that you decide to get a bunny for your young one- they're more adult pets, despite their cuteness. They require a lot of care, research, adult attention and space to roam. Let your kids enjoy the pretty pictures instead.

Mama bunny lives in a shoe, has 26 babes, but knows just what to do. She tucks them into various "beds" as she counts them off. The detailed illustrations are what I like best about this book. My son loves studying them. He gets a kick out of the quirky places the bunnies sleep, esp Frankie in the hankie for some reason. I wish that this was written so that the bunnies' names and the places they slept started with the same letter. That would have reinforced the alphabetic aspect of this book, but maybe it's asking too much. I still really do like this one.

Unlike so many poorly executed rhyming books, this one is a joy to read. The rhymes are well constructed and creative. And the pictures are delightful. Just tonight, my 6 year old asked me to read it again as a bedtime story, because he loves to study the engrossing pictures. And we've enjoyed this book for years. I was happy to just now see that this author/illustrator pair have done other books together.

I'm such a sucker for rhymes. Fortunately, so are my kids. There's nothing like a story with pleasant and soothing rhymes to get them off to sleep quickly (giving me more time to write reviews :D) See, there's an Old Mother Rabbit who lives in a shoe. She has 26 children (those rabbits sure know how to multiply!) but she definitely knows what to do. The tale travels through the alphabet -naming each bunny and where they fall asleep (1 is named Abel, he slept on the table.....and so on) My kids delighted in guessing where each little bunny would sleep (some places were pretty strange - like who could fall asleep in candy???) It also taught them words they don't normally use (e.g. lane, holly, kettle). Counting, the alphabet, and rhyming.... all in one sweet little bedtime story. What more could a parent ask for - besides children who beg to go to bed?