Samuel Daniel Books

This critical study of Samuel Beckett's prose aptly relies on post-structural thought to investigate a highly challenging text. Without simplifying or mystifying the difficulty of Beckett's prose, this book is written with much intelligence, elegance and rigor. Commendable.

It was in good condition & it was exactly how the seller said it would be. I was satisfied with how the book was when it was sent to me.

When the topic of World Evangelization and Christian Leadership comes up, there are a few key names that come to mind of godly men and women who have demonstrated special gifts in this field. The name of Dr Sam Kamaleson is surely one of the first to appear. When thinking of Dr Kamaleson, one is tempted to question how God divided up gifts by saying, why did the Spirit of god combine so many varied gifts in the life and soul of one man like Dr Kamaleson? Could He not have spread some of these gifts around to others rather than pouring so many into one man? Few people today have been blessed with such a wide variety of gifts and have demonstrated their use more fully than Sam Kamaleson. This festschrift or the felicitation volume with the caption World Evangelization and Christian Leadership is published in order to thank God for the sustained international leadership of the Rev Dr Samuel Theodore Kamaleson for more than four decades and to celebrated the faithfulness, goodness and grace of god to many of us who have been enthused by our fellowship with him immensely to carry on our ministry to people in our diverse contexts.

The book was nicely packaged in bubble wrap to prevent damages. The book itself was presented in a used, but very good condition for such a cheap price. In the end, I highly recommend!

This book is way more informative than my professor. Also, since introductory biology doesn't change within a couple of years, I'm really glad I saved money and purchased the seventh edition rather than the eighth.

The textbook was in very good condition, just as described by the seller. It arrived very quickly and saved me money by not having to purchase new.

Sometimes text books can be so fascinating that you can't wait to read the next paragraph and learn something new. This is not one of those text books. It is filled with lots of junk that only makes the book thicker and heavier but contributes nothing to your understanding. So you must actively read and take notes on the important stuff or you will fall asleep a lot. This book contains some very nice images and helpful diagrams so know them and use them as a guide when you take notes. This is just a general introductory text, so it's a shame that it's so large. Future editions should be released in cheaper smaller volumes that deal only with certain topics, or they could just cut out all of the junk. You might consider buying an earlier edition or a cheaper international paperback edition because they aren't much different from this edition. I haven't seen the latest edition, but I'm sure the only changes were the pointless interviews and some new and more expensive pictures.

Good Condition, no scratches, pages perfect, slightly bent corner of the cover but nothhing big. Fast shipping

I'll agree this book is a staple in the canon of literary criticism and the history of the novel, but what about women writers? I think this book's short coming is its oversight of authors such as Burney, Edgeworth, and Lennox.

Published in 1957, "The Rise of the Novel" was immediately recognized as a landmark of literary criticism. It has, justifiably, retained this status up to the present.

Recognizing that life does not present itself in neat separate packages of literature, history, and sociology, "The Rise of the Novel" integrates Watt's considerable knowledge in each of these areas to assess the impact of three authors, Defoe, Richardson and Fielding, upon the development of the English novel in the eighteenth century. In the final chapter, he shows how their contributions were integrated and further developed in the works of Laurence Sterne, Jane Austen and others.

Along the way, he makes numerous fascinating observations that I personally had not run across before. For example:

* With the rise of the city (in this case, London) in the eighteenth century, and the resulting development of a more transient population, the model for the Family shifted from the patriarchal family (with a paterfamilias) to a conjugal model (i.e., a new family is born upon each new marriage).

* During the century, there was considerable disapproval of the heroic epic (as exemplified by Homer) as a result of the manners and morals it exhibited, i.e., violence and cruelty. "Tom Jones," a comic epic, was critized at the time for glorifying these and other negative values.

* The large number of "spinsters" during the century led to formal proposals for the passage of laws allowing bigamy.

The book is remarkably fair and balanced in its assessment of Defoe, Richardson and Fielding, with Richardson coming off better than I had expected. It's not enough to make me want to read "Pamela" and "Clarissa," but I did come away with a heightened appreciation of Richardson's abilities as an observer of life and society.

Watt's own life (1917 -1999) is interesting. He joined the British Army at the age of 22 and served with distinction in World War II as an army lieutenant in the infantry from 1939 to 1946. He was wounded in the battle for Singapore in January 1942 and listed as "missing, presumed killed in action." In fact, he was taken prisoner by the Japanese and remained a prisoner of war until 1945, working on the construction of a railway that crossed Thailand a feat that inspired the Pierre Boulle novel "Bridge Over the River Kwai" and the film version by David Lean. More than 12,000 prisoners died during the building of the railroad, most of them from disease, and Watt was critically ill from malnutrition for several years.

He joined the faculty of Stanford University in 1964., and was chair of the English department from 1968 to 1971. In addition to "The Rise of the Novel," he is best known for his body of criticism of the works of Joseph Conrad.

Although this is not an exciting book, it is highly informative and well-written. Watt makes a case for why Defoe, Richardson, and Fielding all have a claim to the paternity of the novel. Laborious academic bloviation is relatively nonexistent in The Rise of the Novel, and if you do much of this type of reading, you know that's a plus. Even if your focus is not Defoe, Richardson, or Fielding, this book is important to read, just so you understand where your writing fits in the greater literary tradition, or even to give contemporary writers context.

What? No reviews of this classic? You cannot pretend to understand the novel in English if you've not read this.

Any study of the novel would be incomplete without knowledge of this book; however, and it's a big however, it is not a study of the rise of THE NOVEL so much as a study of the ENGLISH novel. And then it's not so much that as the story of the English novel by male authors because the book barely acknowledges female and Continental predecessors and acts as if Defoe invented the form. But as long as you read the book with this grain of salt, it's a good and informative read and well worth the time.

I finally got my replacement book, and it turned out the FEDEX did find the first book that was lost in the carriers hands, and I had it shipped back to Amazon.com directly.
Thanks!
Business is great.
Damien

This is the first book I have ever reviewed -- and it is only because I feel so strongly about it. This book is nowhere near being a beginning accounting textbook. The authors take for granted that the reader understands accounting terms as clear explanations are few and far between or missing completely. Perhaps the authors are far too advanced to be able to explain the basics of their business. The content is very confusing as are the multi-colored, multi-boxed, multi-fonted, multi-faceted, CNN/USA Today-style pages. I would definitely NOT recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand accounting to any degree.

Actually, the supplier no longer had the book available. But the supplier contacted me immediately and my account was credited almost as quickly as the money went out. So I am still a happy shopper.

Given how dry a subject Accounting can be (especially for non-Accounting majors) - this book really was fantastic. It serves up excellent examples, has a modern, graphic and splashy style that made it easy to follow along and refer back to key terms, and I liked the tie-ins to business in the general commentary. It's a great text for a self-paced course like an online accounting course offered at Berkeley. I felt like I learned a lot from this book.

If your school uses this book, not only don't take this class, drop out of the school. If I could rate this with negative numbers I would. This is the worst textbook ever devised by man OR woman. If you are already a CPA looking for a review, it might be worth something, otherwise it teaches nothing. It presents examples without first explaining things then explains things using examples that have no bearing on what is being taught.

If you have to use this book, my sympathy for you. I can only hope the school will refund at least a portion of my money.

This very short book (<81 pages including editor's intro) is a set of 3 lectures published posthumously. They were edited by and published with an introduction by the author's student, Samuel Cohn. Herlihy was a distinguished historian of Medieval and Renaissance Europe and these lectures are an attempt to outline the significance of the Black Death in European history. The first chapter is a short overview of demographic impact of the Black Death and a discussion of the agent. Herlihy suggests that the Black Death was not bubonic plague. This is an interesting point but probably not something that can ever be settled and the specific etiology of the Black Death is not strictly relevant to understanding the impact of the Black Death. Chapters 2 & 3 are the real meat of the book. In Chapter 2, Herlihy suggests that the Black Death constituted a decisive break in European history. Prior to the Black Death, Europe was locked in a Malthusian stalemate which could have continued indefinitely. Herlihy suggests the enormous mortality of the Black Death precipitated a series of economic and demographic changes with considerable long run benefits. The scarcity of labor provided an impetus for labor saving technology and Herlihy argues that the Black Death resulted in a demographic pattern shift with more emphasis on control of fertility. In Chapter 3, Herlihy points to other changes with important long term consequences. He suggests that the Black Death degraded the universal Latin based intellectual culture of Catholic Europe with greater emphasis on the use of vernacular languages and the establishment of local universities. These phenomena, in turn, contribute to nascent national feelings. Herlihy makes the very interesting suggestion that the Black Death may have been seen as a vindication of the Nominalist critique of Thomistic theology, further eroding the Catholic intellectual consensus. He concludes by suggesting that the Black Death was responsible for the spread of popular Christian piety.
In the introduction, Cohn provides a good critical discussion of some of Herlihy's ideas and indicates areas where Herlihy may be wrong. Most of these criticisms seem appropriate but one may be off target. Cohn suggests that Herlihy was wrong in suggesting that the labor shortages following the Black Death were responsible for introduction and use of labor saving technology. He points to the example of printing, which appeared over a century after the initial catastrophe of the Black Death. I think Herlihy is correct. We know that the Black Death was a catastrophe across Eurasia and resulted in the disruption of both local economies and the large pan-Eurasian trading networks. Given the magnitude of the disaster, it would have taken generations to recover. Technological innovations become particularly important during periods of economic boom with some relative labor shortage. The time lag between the initial Black Death and the development and dissemination of printing pointed to by Cohn is exactly what Herlihy's model predicts.

Before his untimely death in 1991 David Herlihy presented three lectures examining the Black Death and in doing so redefined the entire historical outlook on the great plague. These speeches may have been lost, if it were not for Samuel K. Cohn, Jr., who collected Herlihy's lectures and notes and presented them in a concise tome. According to Herlihy although the Black Death had a devastating affected on everything in European society, it kept European culture from getting stale. While historians originally viewed the "great plague" as a disaster that hit Europe and set European society back 100s of years, Herlihy sees the "death" as a liberating force, pushing European society forward, destroying it, but at the same time transforming it, spurring new growth and possibilities. There is a reason according to Herlihy, "that the...characteristics of the population collapse of the late Middle Ages [were] Europe's deepest and also its last."

Herlihy's thesis is a simple, yet revolutionary one: that the Black Death created the demand for labor saving devices as the population dwindled, and this in turn pushed European society forward. While most historians approached the subject from a political and military aspect, Herlihy looks at the social effects of the plague on women, art, and society in general, and comes to the conclusion that the plague was, in the long run, a good thing for Europe.

The book itself is divided into three major parts reflecting the lectures that Herlihy had delivered at the University of Maine in 1985. Cohn adds an introduction and an extensive section of End Notes, but overly keeps Herlihy's text intact. The first chapter explores the idea that the plague itself may not have been bubonic plague, which is the standard historical theory to this day. "Medical writers of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages," writes Herlihy, "recognized only one type of epidemic disease marked by only one kind of symptom, inflammations, boils, or buboes in the area of the groin, [which] the authority of the ancients may have blinded later witnesses to other symptoms, indicating the presence of other types of epidemic disease." To back up his argument Herlihy knocks down the age-old notion that the plague was spread by infected rats, moving throughout Europe. If, according to Herlihy, the "death" was bubonic, then there should be evidence of an epizootic within the rat population. "To my knowledge," Herlihy states, "not a single Western chronicler notes the occurrence of [such] an epizootic, the massive mortalities of rats, which ought to have preceded and accompanied the human plague." For Herlihy, the disease that ravaged Europe was most likely anthrax. "Anthrax can produce the characteristic swellings which might be mistaken for buboes."

The second and third chapters of the book delve into the economic impact of the plague on European society, and how that society rebounded from it. For years historians have look at the reasons behind the cause for the plague as a "Malthusian crisis." That the population had just grown too big for the land to sustain it. Herlihy disagrees with this thesis, and sees European society before the plague in more of a social deadlock, which societal numbers maintaining themselves. "The medieval experience shows us not a Malthusian crisis but a stalemate, in a sense that the community was maintaining at stable levels very large numbers over a lengthy period." To back up these arguments Herlihy relies on several medieval sources, including documents from the city of Tuscany. "In spite of frequent famine and widespread hunger, the community in ca. 1300 was successfully holding its numbers." It is necessary to point out however, that Herlihy's argument that the Black Death was in reality anthrax relies too heavily on sources from Italy, and one can find just as persuasive arguments to support the standard notion of bubonic plague. In fact Cohn shines skepticism on this theory himself in his introduction. Yet despite this slight flaw within the first section of the book, Herlihy's argument as presented in the second and third chapters, that the plague was a catalyst and driving force for change within Europe, is well supported.

The Black Death "gave to Europeans the chance to rebuild their society along much different lines," the author writes. The unprecedented drain on the labor force, especially devastating because of the feudal society, drove the need to produce labor saving devices, and thus broke the "stalemate" of that feudal society. "Europe at the time of the plague...was a society reeling under repeated, powerful shocks; burdened with huge numbers of dependents; struggling with difficulty to maintain its occupational cadres; struggling also to uphold the quality of its skilled traditions." Herlihy clearly put into perspective the situation that existed during feudal times, explaining how land use and societal class differences stagnated European culture. The plague, killing off large numbers of the labor force, created a situation in which the surviving Europeans, both Nobel and peasant classes, had to adapt in order to survive. "Above all [the plague] freed resources...mills and mill sites...[that] could now be enlisted for other uses; the fulling of cloth, the operation of bellows, the sawing of wood." While the horror of the disease took a great toll on the families who lived through it, in the long run "the late Middle Ages were a period of impressive technological achievement."

To arrive at his thesis Herlihy uses an interdisciplinary approach to the Black Death, using comparative narative, as well as a social and medical historic approach, to try and develop a model of how the disease progressed and how populations reacted. To expound on the latter, the author uses modern approaches as one way of trying to allow the reader to relate to the overwhelming effects the disease had on Europe. To do so Herlihy creates a comparative analysis with the AIDS virus, and how people reached at first to both AIDS today (homophobic feelings) and the Black Death (anti-Semitism).

To support his arguments Herlihy relies on Church sources from the 1300s, focusing on marriage and death records, drawing most of his data from Italy. This is one flaw of his work, but should be of no surprise to readers' familiar to the author's other works, as Herlihy is a Medieval Italian historian. Therefore most of his research focuses on the effect of the Black Death in Italy, and uses literature of the times (poetry and songs), to try and paint an entire picture of medieval life at the time. To even further understand the social impact of the plague on 1300 society, Herlihy uses as secondary sources monographs, and newspaper articles for comparison with modern plagues. The concentration on Italian sources however, is a weakness in his thesis, as it does not take into effect the Black Death in England, France, and several other European nations.

The book ends with an extensive section of End Notes, taken from Herlihy's "incomplete" notes, and expanded upon by Cohn. This section also serves as a Bibliography, and points the reader to other sources of information. In addition Cohn uses the notes to expand on Herlihy's lectures, providing new and updated information, and sometimes contradicting the author himself.

Unfortunately the book falls short in several places, especially in light of examining other societies that fell victim to the plague. Herlihy seems to gloss over the fact that the Black Death was a pandemic that effected more than just the people of Europe, and nether Herlihy (or Cohn for that matter), addresses the questions as to why the Middle East, also effected by the plague, did not experience the same cultural resurgence Europe did after the epidemic. Nor are the effects of plague on China mentioned. China in the 14th century was also hit hard by epidemics almost identical as that as the Black Death, yet China started falling behind Europe soon afterwards. Surely if the devastation of its society was the catalyst which prompted innovation in Europe, would it not have had the same effects in China and the Middle East? It is possible that the European transformation can just as easily be explained by a different theory: the influences of the Mongol Empire. The Mongol Empire, which crumbled around the same time as the Black Death was ravaging Europe, had transmitted much of China's technology (gunpowder, paper) to Europe. Over time, as these innovations slowly caught on within European society, these technological changes would have taken place regardless of the death of so much of its population. It may be that it is more to the Mongols than the plague that Europe is what it is today.

Overall what Herlihy and Cohn have achieved here is to present a theory that asked the question, was the Black Death a bad event, or good event for European society? In and of itself it poses a grand question, and allows the reader to rethink previous views regarding Europe during the 1300s. While readers interested in a more traditional "history" of the great plague will be disappointed, serious scholars will find Herlihy's arguments provocative, and thought provoking. Despite its few flaws, Herlihy's "The Black Death and the Transformation of the West" is an excellent collection which challenges the views of mainstream history, and that is always a good thing.

John Rocco Roberto
History Department, The Nelson A. Rockefeller School

This is a rather slight work of only 116 pages including Professor Cohn's thoughtful comments. Thus, those wishing to read a sound introduction to this period of 1348-1350 a.d. need not feel daunted in seeking it out.

Most interesting is Professor Cohn's suggestion that the political impact of the plague in the Mediterranean was not at all like that "in the West." He notes "...Mamluk (slaves who rose to power in Egypt) political control was unshaken by the plague experience." This surprises and informs. Thus the Introduction is a very good reason for having this book.

Cohn also credits Herlihy with ingeniously adding to historians' discussions of epidemics by addressing the implications for creating saints by the church. Even more interesting is the "naming" discussion in the third of the three essays by Herlihy, "Modes of Thoughts and Feelings". It is in this section that he probes the choices of names for children relative to the horrific emotions stirred by the plague. In traditional study of religion, the analysis of "theophoric" elements in names is extremely useful as scholars of Near Eastern religions have often noted.

He notes as well that some very base passions were stirred to the extent that wild frolicking occurred even among the graves in cemeteries.

However, those escorting the many to their final resting places
did not often exercise their right to remove valuables from the pockets of the deceased. Understanding of the risks entailed must have become clear. Grave diggers traditionally had appropriated a few coins used for the deads' fare into the next world..."to pay the tillerman." This understanding may have developed slowly, but it did develop.

Herlihy restricted his analysis primarily to "demographic and economic" systems even though the reader will sense that much more could have been written as regards other religious influences and practices (burials just noted) specifically, the authority of the Catholic church. After all it was the wealthiest institution in the world. Some students, of this awesome series of events assert the "the Black Death" so changed religious perceptions as to lay some of the foundation for the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. This is really intriguing!

Just how could the plague have occasioned such long lasting effects. Surely something as significant as "...the Transformation of the West" would fully grapple with these dimensions. However, students of this matter will have to look elsewhere.The editors may have over reached in appending "Transformation of the West" to the title.

Alas Dr. Herlihy died in 1991... with all of us...amateurs and scholars alike...losing his further creative and brilliant insights into this great period in the history of human family. We do thank Dr. Cohn for his contribution and may Professor Herlihy rest in peace.

psb 2-22-20040

Herlihy makes the excellent point that the Black Death strengthened Europe in the long run (meaning over many centuries). For centuries, Europe had lagged behind China in technology and standard of living. By the 16th century, Europe was ahead, and has remained so ever since. What made the difference? Actually Phil Rushton had suggested something similar as the explanation, but Herlihy expanded on it in this book (though he probably never heard of Rushton).

The Black Death killed off something like half of Europe's population within a decade in the mid-14th century. The short-term destructive effect was incalculable. But Herlihy argues that those who were left unkilled were suddenly provided with huge resources, both natural and human, and much technical innovation became possible, which in turn launched Europe onto the road to the Industrial Revolution. As an example - the most dramatic one - he called the Gutenberg printing press a direct result of the Black Death. (p. 50) Not only was this a major technical innovation, the printing press had a greater influence than, say, a more efficient way to grow food: printing helped disseminate knowledge, even though, at first, most of this knowledge concerned religion and then only later science and technology.

Samuel Cohn used the Introduction to criticize Herlihy, which I think is not only odd but in poor taste, because Herlihy was already dead when Cohn wrote it. Cohn doubted the printing press (and by analogy, Herlihy's other examples) made much difference: far more book were printed many years after Gutenberg, he says, when population growth was surging again. I think Cohn misses the point: the INVENTION of the Gutenberg printing press was made possible by the Black Death, which made labor costs sky high by killing off many scribes. That many more books were printed with a fast-increasing population is not surprising: the demand for books increased with headcount. But Herlihy argues that without the Black Death, Gutenberg might not have had to invent his printing press. Herlihy's other examples include firearms.

Cohn points out that gunpowder and cannons were already known before Black Death. True enough. But he cannot convincingly prove that the Black Death didn't create a need for the widespread use of firearms in war. Cohn raises many other questions. A tough one is: why didn't the Middle East experience a cultural resurgence after the Black Death, which struck Europe just as hard? Herlihy has no answer to this. Cohn also fails the mention the puzzling case of China. The 14th century was hard on China also - many millions died from epidemics almost identical with the Black Death. But China started falling behind Europe soon afterwards. Why did Europe and not China benefit from the Black Death? (My guess is China suffered less human loss than Europe did, and as a result could not free up more resources to break what Herlihy calls the Malthusian deadlock - the constant growth in population which swallowed up all the benefits of innovation with no real improvement in standards of living and the possibility for revolutionary innovations.) Also, China had printing with movable type long before Europe did, and this didn't help China much later on.

I think there are many other issues and questions to consider how and why Europe advanced so much more quickly after the Black Death than before it. Surely the Mongol Empire which crumbled around the same time as the Black Death happened had by then transmitted much of China's technology (such as gunpowder and paper) to Europe, which needed time to digest and disseminate. So the possibility is real that it was the dreaded Mongols who made Europe what it is today, not only by making Chinese technology possible, but also by creating the conditions for the Black Death epidemic itself through its intercontinental trade routes. The Black Death may have started from central Asia in Turkestan - in today's southeastern part of Kazakstan, not far from the Chinese border. (p. 22-23) As Herlihy puts it, a certain Mongol khan used dead bodies with the plague to besiege a Black Sea town - one of the first effective uses of biological weapons. Thanks thus to the Mongols, Europe suffered the Black Death only to benefit from it enormously in the long run. I only wish this book were not so short, so that Herlihy could have been more specific as to why he thought so. Still this is the only effort I know of which makes this suggestion.

I had read late David Herlihy's book back in college and I just read it again. It is rather a very short book as it took me a little over an hour to read. It is a very readable, well written, and quite insightful. This book consisted of three parts: the question of the Black Death itself, the economic after-effects, and the impact of the plague on the social institutions/orders.

I found this book to be quite intriguing read, and holds a great benefit for those who are interested in studying the horrific events of the Black Death.

Have you ever tried to decipher Don McLean's "American Pie"? If
that is such a difficult task, how much more so is understanding
the prophets of the Old Testament? Can you be sure that what
your church teaches is accurate?

If you are a person who has qualms or questions about the tenets
of a faith you may have followed for some time, or grown up with,
this book is for you. It is well-edited, and so easy to read and
understand for anyone who has read the prophetic books, and,
even with lots of footnotes, come away more confused than when
you started.

The volume traces, through a point of great understanding and
wisdom, the development of the understanding of God's children
that God Loves them, and that other practices and beliefs,
including sacrifice, etc. are not consistent with such love. The
main revelators are the prophets, though one who is well read
in psychology and spirituality can carry parallels through to
modern day religion, as well.

The source was initially quite questionable, as far as I was
concerned. However, I have been convinced of the rationality,
sense and wisdom I have found in this book and in texts to which
it refers.

Don't let it pass you by, it may change your whole outlook for
the better!

The idea of a God of unconditional love is critical to understanding how to live in global community. Through the prophets' stories, The Gospel of God's Love describes a profound sense of connection between God and the human soul and the nature of the Divine as one that fosters peace and forbearance above all else. Highly recommended reading for anyone interested in knowing how to live in peace rather than fear.

While one's desire to search for the truth of God is beautiful, admirable, and wonderful, the fabrication of a God from one's own mind is surely not the way to satisfy that desire. These authors' creation is no more imaginative nor illuminating than that of any other similar creation, be it "conversations with God" or anything else. If one desires to understand true Christianity, I urge one to search deeper into the works of C. S. Lewis or Dietrich von Hildebrand to discover its glory. Do not content yourself with Samuels' and Oreck's calculated creation -- aimed more at pacifying us and fleecing those authors' pockets than at revealing anything of God. The "easy" yet empty theology of this and every other new-age work shows -- in its failure to satisfy -- its falsity. The truth, even when it is uncomfortable, has the feeling of solidity to it. "The Gospel of God's Love" is more like a breath of air which, though it may in its coolness deceive us into forgetting our thirst, can never satisfy a mouth parched for God.

There is an aspect of human nature that enjoys the complexity of a good mystery novel, with unexpected twists of plot and a surprise ending, but there is also that in each of us which appreciates straightforward simplicity. And so, while some will prefer books on "secret codes" and hidden predictions supposedly contained in the ancient texts of the Bible, others may appreciate the commonsense simplicity of the biblical revelations presented in The Gospel of God's Love.

This book gently presents a revolutionary outlook on the Bible, Jesus, Christianity, and God. This new understanding has dramatically changed my life for the better, and I believe that, given a chance, it could do the same for the entire planet. Would that it could receive 1/10 the attention given to some of the more flamboyant recent interpretations of the Bible.

There is a lot more to this book than than old words dressed new. You will be introduced to God's Divine Love in a fashion you never heard of before. You will learn how God had a plan; how He made His Divine Love available to mankind, so that all humans could become partakers of the Divine Nature. Through the many lucid exegeses of the words of the prophets of old, like Isaiah, and Ezekiel, you come to learn how God had this promise waiting for us, and that a time would come where we could make for ourselves a New Heart, based on the possession of this Divine Love. And you will learn of the glorious moment when Jesus came to earth, how he prayed for the Divine Love, and so became the first human transformed into a Divine soul; and how he had come to bring the Glad tidings: that the Divine Love, the greatest of God's attributes, can become ours for the choosing as well!

A fair warning: the shells may fall from your eyes! This is a good thing, though. ;) Especially if you're in search of God's Truths. Seek and you will find; well, found you have, I would say. :)

Your brother in Christ,

- Mark

It is almost a given to expect palliatives and soft talk from friends and preachers when we encounter some crisis or painful event in our lives. What I found especially comforting about this book was that I was not just served the usual fare. Rather than give easy answers, it also took on head-long the difficult issue of righteous men and women who suffered, went through trying periods and kept their faith against all odds. One sees that there is comfort in overcoming as much as in the reality of God's presence right through our tribulations. The third chapter (It is the Bend and not the End) is especially faith building. The author's treatment in Chapter 4 of the events of 911 is the most balanced that I have read to date. I highly recommend this book for all - believers, non-believers and agnostics alike.

Haven't read much of the book. It was required for class. Useful to learn certain processes so far.

The book cover boasts that this is the only book with through discussions in mathematical equations, etc. Indeed! Except that there are other mathematically oriented books with kindly worked out examples. Some concepts, such as deriviation of the cable equation, were wonderfully presented. However, no attempt is made to obtain the solution. To think about it, that might have been an appropriate choice, for a physiologist does not have to know all the mathematics. However, the Rall model (Sec. 3.5) should have been approached in analogy with impedance matching. A unique feature of this book was somewhat detailed discussion of the Stochastic nature of ion channels. This is a good book, I believe. Overall, mathematics is thorough and abstract concepts are well chewed over.

This book is chock full of equations concerning the Hodgkin-Huxley Model, Kinetics of Ionic Channels, Presynaptic & Postsynaptic Transmission, LTP, LTD, quantum vesicular release and reuptake, & a "scant" neural net theory. There are a plethora of 'end of chapter' problems with derivations & applications to solve. The book is going to be confusing and tedious, even for computationally trained neuroscientists. For me, this book is a reference only. The format is similar to Thomas Weiss' Cellular Biophysics 2 Volume Set. There is too much on the Hodgkin-Huxley Model which is very important historically, but of less interest today than it was in the 1960s. The authors also use cable theory to model neuronal & dendritic function.

This book covers a lot of material. The quality varies from chapter to chapter. Figures are sprinkled here and there with very little explanation of what they mean. Additionally, there is not much consistency between figures. This book might be serve as a good companion to a course, but it's virtually useless for self study.

My background is engineering and neuroscience, but I still found the math to be poorly explained. If you're trying to learn about biophysics and cellular neurophysiology, pick another book. If you're unfortunate enough to have this book assigned to you for a class, make sure you attend the lectures.

The index is also terrible and virtually useless for anything that I've tried to look up. The only good thing about the book is that it references a lot of stuff, so you know where to look.

One star is for the breadth of topics covered and one is for the references. The Matisse drawing on the cover is also a nice touch.

This was the assigned text for a short section on electrophysiology in my first year graduate neuroscience course. I did not have a math or electronics background, but had worked in a neurophys lab for two years. I managed to learn stuff from this book, but it was hard work and I couldn't have done it without my lecturer and classmates. It's obvious that the authors really know their stuff, but being able to explain it to novices is another thing... And I agree with the other reviewer who noted that the index is *completely* useless, almost random lists of page numbers after topics...
Unless you have to buy this book for a class, skip it (and if it is the text for a course, ask your instructor why!!)- buy Molecular and Cellular Physiology of Neurons by Fain instead, it doesn't cover as many topics, but breadth is no use if you can't understand the content. My department switched to the Fain text last year because so many people complained about Johnston et al.