Humanities Books

This topic is so essential to so many but explored by so few. The author does an excellent job of bringing this into focus. It is well researched and well written. I strongly urge those who are true to themselves to read this book. It will inspire those to a higher level spiritually and morally.

Dovid Sears' Compassion for Humanity in the Jewish Tradition is an extremely important book. I cannot recommend more highly this work as an accessible, inspiring collection of citations showing the deep roots of universal tolerance and love of peace in the Torah and the writings of the Sages, and as expressed by contemporary rabbinical authorities. If better-known, this work could go a long way towards helping many alienated and disaffected Jews reevaluate the stereotype that classical Judaism is a parochial, chauvinistic, xenophobic system of belief and practice. Anyone searching for Torah Judaism's message of peace for humanity should start here.

The source material selections and commentaries in this excellent book are infused with compassion and are especially important and inspiring at this time. These are teachings that can be of benefit for the entire world, if we but open our eyes and ears and hearts. Rabbi David Sears has done an extraordinary job!

One of the main reasons the world faces so many crises today is that the ways of society are generally contrary to fundamental Torah values. Even many people who are committed to Judaism often stress ritual observance but fail to place sufficient emphasis on Judaism's powerful universal concerns.
In his very well researched, organized, and written book, Compassion for Humanity in the Jewish Tradition, David Sears takes a major step to correct this situation. The book is a compilation of translations from classic texts of Jewish thought, from Scripture through the Talmud and up to contemporary rabbinic leaders, on Judaism's teachings on how Jews should relate to other people. The book also includes a number of essays that serve as general overviews and prefaces to the translations, discussing and analyzing the source material.
Among the themes that the quotations superbly amplify are: the Jewish mandates to be a "light onto the nations" and to work for tikkun olam (the healing, repair, and perfecting of the world); the mitzvot to pursue justice and righteousness and to emulate God in His attribute of compassion; the implications of such mitzvot as "love thy neighbor as thyself", "be kind to the stranger for you were strangers in the land of Egypt", and "seek peace and pursue it"; Jewish business ethics; treatment of converts; how the ultimate goal of Jewish particularism is to benefit all of humanity and all of creation; and the ramifications of the Jewish "Messianic Vision."
David's background in both secular and Jewish areas gives him unique qualifications to write this trend setting book on Jewish obligations to humanity. His initial education was in the liberal arts and in the fine arts and music, and for a time he taught at the college level. Later, he studied at several Chassidic yeshivas. He has written several books on Chassidic leaders and teachings, including The Path of the Baal Shem Tov: Early Chassidic Teachings and Customs (Jason Aronson, 1997) as well as several books for Jewish young people, including Tales From Reb Nachman (Artscroll/Mesorah. 1987). He has illustrated a number of books, including The Artscroll Youth Haggadah (Artscroll/Mesorah, 1987), as well as over 20 "kosher comic books". He has also made substantial contributions to various phases of Jewish music, has had exhibits of his paintings and photography, and has contributed a wide variety of articles to Jewish publications.
I hope that this book will be widely read in the Jewish community (and in other communities), because it has the potential to have a major impact on the future of both Judaism and our imperiled planet. Since this review is for a vegetarian publication, I will indicate one example of a quote from the book that can be tremendously helpful in efforts to put the treatment of animals on the Jewish agenda:
Love of all creatures is also love of God, for whoever loves the One (God) loves all the works that He has made. When one loves God, it is impossible not to love His creatures. The opposite is also true. If one hates the creatures, it is impossible to love God Who created them. (Maharal of Prague, Nesivos Olam, Ahavas haRe'i, 1)
If aware of such a teaching, how could committed Jews square it with the cruel treatment of over 9 billion animals annually on factory farms prior to their slaughter for a diet that also has such negative health and environmental effects. Of course the fact that over 70% of the grain produced in the U. S. and 40% produced worldwide is fed to animals destined for slaughter while an estimated 20 million people worldwide die every year from hunger and its effects is also sharply at variance with many of the quotations in the book.
What God must think of the widespread mistreatment of animals today is indicated in another of the book's quotes:
This may be likened to an expert goldsmith who fashions a vessel with great skill, but when he displays his work, one of the people begins to mock and scorn it. How angry that goldsmith would be; for by disparaging his handiwork, one disparages his wisdom. Similarly, it is evil in the sight of the Holy One, blessed be He, if any of His creatures is despised. (Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, Tomer Devorah, Chapter 2).
The very thorough and sensitive job that David Sears has done in this book makes it imperative that he obtain the financial means to complete another work in progress: a companion volume on "Compassion for Animals in the Jewish Tradition." For David has the background, wisdom, sensitivity, compassion, and commitment to animal rights to effectively challenge Jews to apply Jewish teachings on animals. As a Breslav Chassid, his commitment to Jewish law and tradition cannot be challenged. No one could claim that he is just one more animal rights advocate who doesn't care about Judaism and religion, in general, and is not concerned about human problems. Also. his knowledge of Hebrew and Kabbalistic, Chassidic, and other Jewish sources enables him to find teachings that are not commonly known. His authentic and powerful quotations would be a respectful but powerful challenge to the Jewish community that it would not be able to easily ignore.

I have been using Corbin books in my wellness / fitness practice since the early 80's. In 1981 I moved to Houston, Texas and started to manage the Tenneco fitness center. We saw over 1,000 employees using the facility a day and faced a huge challenge of moving past the 20% of the population that already kept in shape daily.

Corbin books were "real", about real efforts in real environments. I could sit down and read a little of Corbin and not only pick up tips for my coach counseling, but also ideas for group challenges or behavior change efforts.

I have had plenty of mentors along my 30 years of worksite programming and many of them I have become good friends, but Corbin is one I have never met, but highly respect for his work and what he has given the fitness and wellness field.

I have a spot on my book shelf that is "Corbin" books and I bet after you have bought this one and used it, you will go back and start like me a little Corbin library. I can't imagine a wellness practitioner without Corbin on their book shelf.

This book is completely up to date and has useful information for both the student and the non-academic consumer. The labs are easy to accomplish and give a relatively accurate profile.

Even though this books was a required textbook for college, I am glad I had to pick it up. There has been some really good information in this book. We are moving through it quickly in class, but I have already flagged some sections that I know I want to go back and read again.

I am super impressed with this book. It is packed full of great information. I'm reading it for a class and wish I had more time to thoroughly read it but what I have read so far is fantastic. I have learned a lot.

The book arrived very promptly, and although it was used it was in almost perfect condition. Very pleased.

I received my books within days NOT weeks as thought, had a chance to review the book before my classes started.

This will be the first place I look for new & used books.

Thanks so much for the quick service

I'm using this textbook in my community college course on corrections -- and I can't image how any book could be better. The book is built around a theme of professionalism in corrections and makes me want to work as a corrections officer -- and makes me want to improve the field. If you are interested in a career in corrections this book is for you -- whether or not you are currently in school.

I'm using this textbook in my community college course on corrections -- and I can't image how any book could be better. The book is built around a theme of professionalism in corrections and makes me want to work as a corrections officer -- and makes me want to improve the field. If you are interested in a career in corrections this book is for you -- whether or not you are currently in school.

I had to get this book for class, but it is a great book in that it covers the history of corrections as well as the problems that are facing the Corrections communities today.

Professor Welch's book has allowed me to recognize that it is not being human that is the problem so much as being human amongst humans. This book offers broad perspective on criminal justice system that is both realistic and very direct. Professor Welch's presentation of our criminal justice system 'the way it really is' challenged my range of beliefs that came to exist from channels of expectations that did not belong to me at all, but belonged to the continent of what the field of being human has decided we must all feel, think, and share. The book is straightforwardly read and intriguing, and I recommend it to any individual who is ready to be challenged. I just wish I'd known sooner what our criminal justice system does not tell. Despite CORRECTIONS: A CRITICAL APPROACH, I also recommend Michael Welch's PUNISHMENT IN AMERICA.

Professor Welch's book has allowed me to recognize that it is not being human that is the problem so much as being human amongst humans. This book offers broad perspective on criminal justice system that is both realistic and very direct. Professor Welch's presentation of our criminal justice system 'the way it really is' challenged my range of beliefs that came to exist from channels of expectations that did not belong to me at all, but belonged to the continent of what the field of being human has decided we must all feel, think and share. The book is straightforwardly read and intriguing, and I recommend it to any individual who is ready to be challenged. I just wish I'd known sooner what our criminal justice system does not tell. Despite CORRECTIONS: A CRITICAL APPROACH, I also recommend Michael Welch's PUNISHMENT IN AMERICA.

Since criminal justice only makes sense within the wider context of social justice, why do we insist on yoking law enforcement and the penal system with the fatal impasse of socioeconomic inequality and exploitation? As Professor Welch powerfully demonstrates, a large criminal justice system is a social failure -- much like dentistry, the criminal justice system's primary goal should be to put itself out of business, to defy the conservative propaganda-artists who evangelize $$$ for the prison-industrial complex. As a sociologist (and former prison psychologist), Welch was displeased with the descriptive or "objective" nature of most corrections textbooks; he required a text that would do justice to the byzantine entanglement of ironies which foreordain the social construction of the prisoner. A critical approach to corrections will schematize the wider precincts and differential vectors of social control, the penal system presented as a stirring palimpsest of our society as a whole. For example, if white-collar crime is infinitely more destructive to (read: expensive for) the socius, why don't we have a Uniform Crime Report tuned to the interstices of corporate criminality? If a stable capitalist economy relies upon a Surplus Labor Pool of bored, frustrated, disillusioned citizenry, how can we expect the underclass to universally reject the temptations of narcotics trafficking and other esteem-granting shortcuts? If we truly live in the richest and most enlightened nation on earth, why do we also have the largest statistical ratio of citizens festering away in lock-down? Prisoners, of course, are more valuable as penal *commodities* than they would be on the welfare take. By raking in every new generation of the underclass in to the prison system, conservative administrations justify their perverse spending via election-motivated tough-on-crime propaganda, reinforcing the very injustices which overdetermine criminality and social deviance.... It goes without saying that most criminal justice departments are staffed by former attornies and retired law enforcement personnel, enticing the student with a reactionary Us Against Them mentality which tends to downplay the crucial problems of our persecutory and unredemptive prison system. Michael Welch is a rare exception in this morass of dreary cop rhetoric, shaking us awake to the schizophrenia of that rough beast slouching towards Bethlehem, that most daemonic of American juggernauts, the hamstrung broken-backed criminal justice system. Of course, to get the full effect of this text, one would have to take Prof. Welch's course at Rutgers, but for those professors and adjuncts who want to shock their students awake with the *real* issues of contemporary corrections, this book should be back-ordered for their courses ASAP.

My intro CJ class was assigned this textbook and about half of our test came out of assigned readings, so I spent a good deal of time with this book. I found the book to be professionally written yet easy to digest, even for a college freshman. It gets updated every year, but I compared my 1yr old text with the newer version a classmate had and almost nothing had changed besides these little real-world story blurbs that are spread throughout the book, so you could save some money that way.

GREAT TO BUY FROM! SHIPPED QUICK AND THE BOOK IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED!!

I found this book, while currently enrolled at a local 2 year college in Criminal Justice,to be very helpful in explaining how the Criminal Justice system works, from early initiaion of law enforcement practices to modern day. There are many fascinating aspects to explore, and learn from within this text. It also helps to have an instructor that is knowledgeable with the text, so the teaching can be understood.

This book is very educational for those who are majoring or minoring in Criminal Justice. The book itself explains how the Criminal Justice works. In addition to this, the book helps you understand the laws. It also allows you to understand each and every law that the government of the United States has set. The author of this book seems to be very detailed and specific about every law and details of these. Another thing that makes this such a great book to any college student who has great interest in learning Criminal Justice is that it has great illustrations to explain the rights and wrongs of the law.

Bender offers the following reformulation of the deep ecology platform. He believes the platform's language should be forthright about deep ecology's debt to ecology, hence also its biological nondualism. At the same time, since there are many paths to deep ecology, if you accept some, but not all of the points, you are to that extent still a supporter of the deep ecology movement. Bender takes into account some of Naess's 1993 reflections and his own earlier arguments. The following are proposed nondogmatically, or, as Naess now suggests, as a set of abstract, general statements that most supporters of the deep ecology movement might accept.

Proposed New Deep-Ecology Platform

1. Everything on earth is both interdependent and transient.
2. Each species' self-realization requires and contributes to that of all others.
3. Nonhumans do not exist for humans' sake.
4. Continued evolution without catastrophic setback requires the preservation of biodiversity, especially at the genetic and ecosystemic levels.
5. Other things being equal, human action is justifiable when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and complexity of the biotic community; it is wrong when it tends otherwise.
6. Present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive and rapidly worsening.
7. Significant reduction of human impact requires first doing no further harm, then protecting and restoring biodiversity, wild-' ness, and evolution.
8. Deep ecology supporters encourage the deep questioning if human happiness, progress, and technology as commonly .1 defined. The necessary changes include deliberately and humanely lowering the human population, redesigning the global economy, adopting low-impact technology, and changing personal lifestyles as required for ecological sustain- ability.
9. Ecological sustainability also requires peace and justice throughout the world, and recognition that quality-of-life is about more than material standard of living. Especially in the poorest countries, social justice and long-term ecological sustainability are equally necessary, if people's material, self-preservation, rootedness, and spiritual-growth needs are to be met.
10. Those who subscribe to these points have an obligation directly or indirectly to try to carry out the necessary changes. Though the platform's applications vary considerably, in general deep ecology supporters work for local self-sufficiency and autonomous cooperation, and against centralization of power, exploitation of the weak, and corporate-controlled economic globalization.

The platform, in short, poses a counteroffer to the culture of extinction, outlining numerous possibilities for engagement for those who take nondualism, ecology, ecocide, or overshoot seriously. Thus, deep ecology is potentially a solution, not only to ecocide, but to nihilism.

I would say that anyone who has a serious theoretical interest in deep ecology and Green theoretical issues should have a copy of this expensive book. The book is important for the philosophy of deep ecology, and the radical environmental and deep Green political movements. Bender wants to help "draw millions to deep ecology."
This book has forced me to look at the evolution of deep ecology, as reflected in the writings of Arne Naess, in a new, supportive yet more critical manner. For Bender, the distinguishing characteristic of deep ecology is "nondualism" (what we would perhaps call ecocentricism). He argues that Naess has moved away from this nondualist position as reflected in the original 1972 statement and also become more apolitical.
It has a thoughtful and very interesting discussion of Bender's own "ecosophy", named after the place where he wrote much of his book. His book concludes with a ten-point "Proposed New Deep-Ecology Platform" which incorporates his critique.
Bender is a professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado and was, according to book cover information, the editor of _The Communist Manifesto: A Norton Critical Review_; _The Betrayal of Marx_; and _Karl Marx: The Essential Writings_. What is interesting for me is that such a substantive book on deep ecology has been written by someone who very definitely considers himself part of the Left. Bender now takes his place alongside other Left deep ecologists who have books out, like Richard Sylvan, Andrew McLaughlin and Andrew Dobson.
Bender wants to reformulate deep ecology and we all need to pay attention to what he is telling us. I did find the book on the abstract side. Overall however, this book is a wonderful achievement and will help us all move forward on the deep ecology path.

In this book, Bender has managed to pull together ideas that might be seen by some as difficult to reconcile -- recent scientific research, deep ecology, general systems theory, nondualist spirituality, and leftist political activism -- to create one of the most stimulating works that I have read in a long time.

Written for the academic, but geared to present a total picture, The Culture of Extinction is an in-depth look at what we have created on this planet and what we can expect if we do not listen to this writer and others who are shouting as loud as they can. Excellent for the classroom.

I thought this was an excellent source of informaion. I used it for a class and earned an A. Very thorough and easy to understand. Lay terms are frequently used and I found I learned a lot and found it very valuable.

An excellent general overview, covering drug use and regulation, pharmacological basics, in-depth analyses of the legal drugs, tranquilizers and stimulants, narcotics, hallucinogens, and marijuana, and comments on "a rational look at drug use." Well-documented with an abundance of relevant quotes and statistics; a rich set of references follow each chapter.

I bought this book to study for a quiz-out test for my Psych major. I read through three chapters the first time I picked it up. I usually have to force myself to complete an assignment, but with this book I just kept reading with no pushing whatsoever! I highly recommend this book to anyone taking a class in this subject, whether or not it is the required text. It would be a great additional information source. It is helpful if you or someone you know may be going through any type of drug or alcohol treatment--from caffeine to heroin. I also enjoyed the online quizzes you are allowed to access once you have the book. It really enforces what you have learned.

This book is the source for unbiased information on the sociological, psychological, pathological effects of "drugs" - this compendium covers everything from caffeine to antipsychotics to alcohol to psychedelics and everything in between. A review of the history of each drug introduces each chapter. Careful attention is paid to not only the effects of the drugs themselves, but the effect which they have on our laws and the way in which treat addiction.

As a former student of Dr. Ray's I can attest to the thoroughness of this work. It is the one book that doesn't tell you what to think about drugs - it provides you with the data to be informed to make your own decision. In fact the DEA uses this book in training! If you are looking for a comprehensive resource for school, your own interest, or just to be informed to talk to your kids, look no further.

I have read this book, it is very informative. A lot of "hands on" information that you can use in your classroom or for private lessons!

This book was recommended to me and I love it! You will not find a better book for an art teacher!!

I love this book and believe it would be helpful for all art teachers. I love the approach and recommend it. Theory, application, and projects are all found in this book. Get it.

I am a specialist Art teacher and this book is my bible! It is filled with beautiful photos of student work and plenty of expert advice & knowledge. It doesn't give step-by-step instructions for any of the projects, but anyone with some experience or creativity can break down how to create the amazing pieces of work by studying the photos. It is inspirational and the authors obviously know their stuff. I highly recommend this book.

My wife, Connie Barlow, a writer of popular science books, and I live permanently on the road. We travel to colleges, universities, churches, synagogues, and meditation centers teaching and preaching what we call "the marriage of science and religion for personal and planetary wellbeing" all across North America. Our specialty is helping people see evolution in sacred ways.

Over the last decade or so I have read dozens of excellent books related to science and religion, sustainability, the epic of evolution, and the future of humanity. (See ... for an annotated list of Connie's and my favorites.) Evolution's Arrow, by John Stewart, is one of the wisest, most insightful, and most inspiring I've ever encountered. I devoured it twice in the last week.

To tell the truth, I simply cannot speak too highly of this book. My hunch is that at the end of my life I'll still rate Evolution's Arrow as one of the most significant books I've ever read.

Stewart's thesis is simple: The universe is going somewhere, there's a direction to evolution, and this has major consequences for humanity. Without resorting to teleology, Stewart argues that wherever life emerges in the cosmos, evolution will progress in the direction of greater cooperation and complexity at ever increasing scale and evolvability. Why cooperate? Because in a cosmos where natural selection is a primary driver of evolution, those who cooperate, whether they be molecules, cells, organisms, or societies, will outcompete those who do not. Cooperative organizations are more competitive and adaptable than non-cooperative organizations, if, that is, the system is "managed" in such a way as to ensure that cooperators benefit from their cooperating and non-cooperators pay for their non-cooperating. Without management, or governance, freeloaders and cheats will typically outcompete and out-reproduce cooperators. But where management - effective governance - can ensure that the system captures the results of cooperating and non-cooperating, evolution will produce cooperative organizations out of self-interested individuals and continue doing so at ever wider scale and adaptability.

The key to progressive evolution is organizing and managing a system such that an individual pursuing his or her own self interest also pursues the interests of the whole; and by serving the whole, they are serving themselves. Stewart shows that this is not nearly as difficult as one might imagine. Evolution has already done so many times.

This understanding of the role of governance, prehuman and human, in evolution is one of Stewart's most valuable contributions. Management, of course, can be external or internal. Examples he gives of external management include the way RNA manages proteins and the way rulers and governments manage human societies. His examples of internal management include insect societies managed by genes reproduced in each individual and human tribes managed by inculcated beliefs and moral codes.

By demonstrating how management systems and evolutionary "mechanisms" (means of searching for and reproducing improvements) have themselves evolved, and continue to do so, Stewart shows how self-interest at the level of genes and individuals need not stand in the way of the movement of evolution toward increasing cooperation and complexity. As he states, "Evolution on Earth to date has organized molecular processes into small-scale prokaryote cells, prokaryote cells into larger-scale eukaryote cells, eukaryote cells into multicellular organisms, and organisms into societies. It is about to produce a unified cooperative organization of living processes on the scale of the planet, managed by humans."

Others, of course (Aurobindo, Teilhard, de Rosnay, Wright, Russell, Hubbard, and Wilber come to mind) have said similar things. What makes Stewart's contribution unique, and invaluable, is both the clarity of his argument and, especially, his vision of where and how humanity needs to change in order to align with and embody the evolutionary impulse. His chapter on creating a "vertical market" for models of effective global governance is worth the price of the book in itself. His vision of how to organizationally move into the future, both individually and collectively, is both alluring and compelling.

Some readers may find irritating the author's habit of repetition, but I was grateful. By the time I closed the book, his main points had become so much my own that I can trust they will not disappear as a passing enthusiasm.

Evolution's Arrow is both mind-expanding and trust building. If I had to recommend reading only one book on evolution and the future of humanity, I'd suggest this one. It rocks!

When I first read Evolution's Arrow in 2001, John Stewart's analysis of the human situation and its relationship to evolutionary processes impressed me greatly. In my own writing since then I have quoted passages from his book and commented favorably on his view of things. It is a book rich in important insights that can help humanity deal with its present multi-problem predicament. With the book now more widely available, I wanted to take the opportunity to say some things about it and encourage others to read it.

A central focus of the book is the role of cooperation in furthering the evolutionary process. Stewart effectively sells the idea that although competition may at times help an individual organism to survive, the root mechanism for evolutionary advancement in the larger sense always has been, and still is, cooperation. If self-interested individuals work together in the right ways, all can benefit. Early in biological evolution it was necessary to wait long periods until the slow-moving evolutionary process invented an effective new technique for "managing" cooperation. These management mechanisms are necessary because they allow cooperation to overcome competitive threats from those not willing to cooperate -- and Stewart tells us about some of these techniques. Today, however, with human decision-making driving evolution, we have the opportunity to bring human ingenuity to bear on the problem and to change things much more rapidly. We can devise ways of better-managing the cooperative mechanisms that already exist (such as markets) and we can invent new ones. Cooperation is the way forward for humanity, and creating management and governance structures which bring self-interest into harmony with the long-term interests of the human species and all life on earth is the challenge.

Stewart notes that present human psychology is determined by our evolutionary past -- both biological and cultural -- and that to meet the challenge we must transform ourselves psychologically. He advocates aligning our personal behavior with the inherent directivity of evolution, and says that to "contribute to evolutionary objectives" we need to "develop the self-knowledge and psychological skills needed to transcend our biological and cultural past."

I can here only hint at the insightful gold that resides between the covers of Evolution's Arrow. Whether your interest is a clearer understanding of evolution, or saving evolution's experiment here on earth from today's human mis-management, get and read this book.

This book makes a compelling case for evolution of life on this planet as having a clear and predictable direction.

Each major advance in evolution of life is the result of cooperation of simpler organisms into a vertical organization of these simpler organisms into a more complex organism.

The premise is that cooperation is a "win-win" proposition and that evolution occurs when the benefits of this cooperation can be distributed to all the organisms participating in the cooperation. The barrier to evolution is that there are "freeloaders", "cheats", and "thieves" who receive the benefits of communal cooperation without paying the costs that produced those benefits.

Until effective governance is in place to stop these uncooperative organisms, evolution into the next level of vertical integration does not occur.

We are now at a point in the evolution of human society where we have global economic markets that are not adequately controlled by governance mechanisms that can fairly distribute the benefits and the costs of these economic markets. For those who are aware of this evolutionary direction, establishment of a global vertical market as a governance mechanism provides meaning to life beyond gratification of personal biological (food, sex) and social status (money, power) objectives.

I strongly encourage everyone to read this book, especially if you are sensing a lack of meaning in your life!

This is an amazingly bold book. Copernicus and other Renaissance intellectuals took "man" out of the center of the universe. Now Stewart and others are putting humanity back at the center but in a radically different way from the theocrats. Contrary to the conventional view that evolution is just adaptation to existing circumstances, without any overall direction, Stewart identifies two unifying themes in evolution. First and foremost is the drive toward greater cooperation among organisms due to the huge payoffs in survival that such cooperation yields. Second is the drive towards better mechanisms of adaptability itself, yielding much more rapid evolution with fewer dead ends.

Humanity is identified as the ultimate in both cooperation and adaptability among current organisms. Planetary society, or global governance, is next on the cooperation agenda. Oral traditions and now print and electronic media have already yielded a fantastic increase in adaptability. This is cultural, not genetic, adaptability, but all nature cares is that it is effective both within a single lifetime and between generations. Next on this agenda is a much deeper psychic ability that will enable individuals to achieve satisfaction through pursuit of a visionary planetary society, transcending existing, recreation, entertainment, family, work, community, etc. Others who are of the optimistic sort, might proclaim genetic engineering of humans as the next wave of adaptability, but Stewart only looks at genetic engineering of other organisms.

Another book that sees a possible evolutionary breakthrough by humanity is "Promise Ahead - A Vision of Hope and Action for Humanity's Future" by Duane Elgin of "Voluntary Simplicity" fame. A major difference is that Elgin looks at environmental barriers to humanity's success - climate change, resources exhaustion like Peak Oil, etc in the face of massive population. Instead Stewart looks at evolutionary barriers to cooperation. That is, the most primitive evolutionary force is reproduction of the individual organism, but individual success may spell doom for the greater success yielded by cooperation. This is the "prisoner's dilemma" of game theory. Example: when our individual cells attempt to proliferate at will, we get cancer and die.

So Stewart identifies how this barrier was overcome at each stage of evolution, from primordial soups of reproducing proteins to modern humans, usually by a strong "manager". For humans we had the subordination of the individual to the family and the tribe, now to the corporation and the state and much in-between. Principal problems to overcome are the "freeloaders" and "cheats". Religion and mythology used to play a dominant role as manager in enforcing community norms and morals, but these are also a barrier to creative change, hence the emergence of the modern secular state. This in turn has left a somewhat hedonistic individualism in its wake, which could be cured by the transformative view of Evolution espoused by Stewart. A more dramatic, visual, and spiritual version Stewart's Evolution is the "Great Story" of the universe presented by Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow.

Stewart even tackles the problem of how to make global governance work. He says that "vertical markets" would introduce adaptability into governance. Governance is now adaptable by passing new laws but is hamstrung by static constitutions and by the rigidity of the laws themselves when faced with complex and poorly understood societal problems. A vertical market in governance would open many governmental tasks to bidding by private entrepreneurs. However the idea is to solicit different ways of defining and performing the tasks themselves, not straight forward implementation of previously defined tasks. To a certain extent this is already done by the "requests for proposals" that are used in some areas of government contracting. Stewart would extend this to a much higher level, to the legal and even constitutional arena, with the public having a much larger say in the contract awards.

Of course it is a severe challenge to get the public involved in a way that serves the larger public interest, not that of special interests, which often have the most knowledge or financial interest. This is where many of the techniques of "deep democracy" enter, including advanced methods of deliberation and polling. Since you'd need to regularly re-bid these contracts, you'd also have a major problem of personnel management: workforce turnover and disruption of careers as strategies are shifted by these new engineers of civil society. A possible solution would be a more universal civil service system to maintain benefits and career development across varying societal roles. These issues are not discussed by Stewart.

Stewart's discussion of "linear" vs "systemic" modeling is somewhat confused. The former is identified with simple cause and effect logical analysis, the latter with more complex multivariable analysis that requires deep insight, needed for more advanced levels of cooperation. However linear analysis, as mathematically understood, can involve any number of variables, as long as the multiplications are by constant numbers or matrices. Thus straight forward scaling, not cause and effect, is what makes linear models easy to understand and to use. Much cause and effect reasoning is actually nonlinear, often involving discrete, not continuous, quantities.

Dynamic nonlinear models involving feedback loops and the like are probably what Stewart means by "systemic" modeling. Classic examples are the world scenarios developed for the "Limits to Growth" study, plus many narrower economic, social, biological, and environmental models. The crucial insights are into the qualitative behaviors of such models, including such phenomena as convergence to a steady state or to cyclical behavior, divergence, overshoot and oscillation, bifurcation, and chaos. Discrete models like cellular automata would also qualify as systemic, as would iterated nonlinear equations. Here is where computer simulations can greatly extend real world experience, but this is not mentioned by Stewart. To expect insightful systemic modeling by a significant portion of humanity without widespread use of such tools seems highly utopian to me.

These quibbles aside, "Evolution's Arrow" is groundbreaking work and a quick, easy read to boot.

I was taking a intro to audio class and my teacher who worked in the sound industry has recommended this book for all kinds of reasons. Starting from story boarding to angle shots and sounds, and all kinds of very interesting information that just cannot be covered by me talking.

Very awesome book and whoever is in the industry should try using it.

This book is excellent for the fundemental understanding of film and its various stages. It allows readers to look at films through the eyes of filmmakers and critics alike. It simply allows you to understand how films work, as well as provide a summerized yet thorough hisotry of early film all over the world. The book provides readers with movie titles that are important in the developement and influence for movies today. Overall, the book is worth every penny for those who are looking for a detailed understanding of film and film history.

We used this as our textbook for a course on "The Art of Film" at my university. It's packed with a lot of great detail, obviously written by someone who knows and loves the subject. The problem is that it's not as well organized as it could be. For example, the authors will make a comment along the lines of "there are three important reasons why X works the way it does." Then you spend the next 28 pages trying to find the three reasons (since you KNOW you're going to be tested on this), which are usually buried among a lot of very interesting details. A few well-placed paragraph and sub-paragraph headings would help alleviate the need to play "where's Waldo" with important concepts.

My other beef isn't so much with the content of the book but with McGraw-Hill's penchant for printing paperback textbooks like this one on the **heaviest** paper they can find. Not that the paper is thicker or more durable or anything, it just weighs a TON. Add a couple of these tomes to your backpack, and it's off to the chiropractor. The paper also has a kind of "sheen" to it that makes it very difficult to read under library lights (most lights, for that matter) due to the glare that appears on the pages. I usually end up holding the book at some odd angle just to be able to see through the bright spots. Obviously, this is not something the authors necessarily have any control over, but I believe it deserves mention.

I would have given this book a rating of 4.5 had that been an option, as the content IS quite good. Over the course of my class, I've been making a list of "movies I must see before I die" based on some of the comments and examples used in this book. As I mentioned above, the biggest problem is organization, and unless you're a student with limited time, this probably wouldn't be an issue.

This is one of the best introductions to film studies. The bulk of the book is about the formal analysis of film, from genre, to editing, staging, sound, and mise-en-scene. Although this is an introductory book, it goes very in-depth into all the formal elements of film-making. All terms are carefully defined with many examples. Film has its own "language," and this book helps readers to understand that language. After reading this book, you will never watch a film in the same way again. It will vastly increase your understanding. The writing is clear, accessible, well-organized, and straightforward. There are also chapters on film production and distribution, and a helpful chapter on film history. Reading a film textbook tends to be an exercise in frustration, since there is so much technical analysis of films that either you haven't seen, or haven't seen recently. The many pictures help with that problem to some extent. The physical size of the book is rather awkward for reading, unless you're sitting at a large desk with the book laid out in front of you. The accompanying CD includes a few very short film clips and some quizzes on the chapter materials.