Reviews Books

I really never understood TCP/IP until I read Randall Raus' book, Computer Networks. I didn't really "get" the Internet, especially the interface layer, before reading this book. I recommend it highly to anyone who would like a clear, theoretical explanation of networking and the Internet.

Calvin Ross, author of The Aliens of Summer and The Frugal Youth Cybrarian: Bargain Computing for Kids.

Computer Networks Super Review by Randall Raus is packed with solid information. It explains the highly technical concepts of computer networking in clear, easy to understand language, and covers hot technologies such as DSL and transmission over fiber-optic. Unlike many other texts on networking, it doesn't move to quickly or bore the reader with needless repetition. It is also well organized and has many useful diagrams and tables to help the reader grasp complex concepts. Microsoft Press could learn a few things from this author! A must for the serious student of networking! Victor Roszell, MCSE, BA English.

The great thinker Whitehead made contributions in the fields of education, logic, mathematics, metaphysics, philosophy of science, physics and theology. Whitehead's process philosophy was developed into process theology by Charles Hartshorne in works like The Divine Relativity.

This 1920 publication consists of the Tarner Lectures in the philosophy of science that feature Whitehead's assessment of the impact of Einstein's theories on nature. He argues for taking events and the process of becoming as the starting points for analyzing reality. This organic interpretation is not simple, but it does make more sense than the abstract concept of matter as assumed by the scientists of his time and many philosophers.

In his work of the previous year An Enquiry Concerning The Principles Of Natural Knowledge, Whitehead explains the method of extensive abstraction. This method of abstraction defines e.g. a formal element like a point in terms of a series of similar shapes encompassing and extending over one another. These and similar thoughts are further developed in The Concept of Nature.

Rejecting the dominant dualism, Whitehead defined nature as that which is disclosed in sense experience. This does not mean the simple awareness of particular sensations but instead a profound consciousness of a spatio-temporal passage occurring in nature. Within this passage or movement, he distinguished between events and objects.

Events are occurrences that, while they may overlap, are born and then pass away. Objects on the other hand are constant and may be considered as recurring patterns. Whitehead ascribed the uniformity of nature to pervasive patterns providing the quality of permanence.

He rejects the idea of nature as a mere aggregate of independent entities, each capable of isolation. According to this notion, entities form the system of nature by their accidental relations so space might exist without time and time without space. The relational theory of space is an admission that space without matter or matter without space cannot exist.

But the separation of both from time is still accepted. Whitehead's alternative is that nothing in nature could be what it is except as an ingredient in nature as it exists. There cannot be time apart from space, because every event forms part of a whole and is significant in the whole. Likewise there can be no space apart from time.

Our knowledge of nature is an experience of activity or passage. Events are active entities; their relations with one another differentiate into space-relations and time-relations. But this differentiation is comparatively superficial, since time and space are each partial expressions of one fundamental relation between events, which is neither spatial not temporal. Whitehead calls this relation Extension: it is the relation of including and does not require spatio-temporal differentiation.

The book was extremely challenging to read; I had to go back constantly to revisit and properly assimilate previous passages in order to proceed. And Whitehead uses mathematical formulae that I am not familiar with. But people with a solid grounding in the natural sciences will have no such problem. A determination to understand at least some of this great man's ideas was certainly rewarded in reading and studying this book.

The chapters are titled: Nature and Thought; Theories of the Bifurcation of Nature; Time; The Method of Extensive Abstraction; Congruence; Objects; Summary, and The Ultimate Physical Concepts. The book concludes with an index.

Whitehead's more accessible works include Religion in the Making with its beautiful definition of the Eternal Divine and Adventures of Ideas with his thoughts on inter alia history art, beauty, truth, freedom. He cautioned against complete certainty and rigidity of thought, warning that evil results when mankind transforms the partial truths that we are able to discern into whole truths. This came to mind as I was reading Chantal Delsol's The Unlearned Lessons Of the Twentieth Century that echoes Whitehead's insight.

For me, Whitehead's metaphysics resonate in the same way as that of Michael Polanyi and Frithjof Schuon. His economic and political persuasions, derived from his observations on force, slavery, persuasion and commerce, reflect the views of the great economists of classical liberalism such as Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek.

This book from 1920 consists of the Tarner Lectures in the philosophy of science and features Whitehead's assessment of the impact of Einstein's theories on nature. He argues for taking events and the process of becoming as the starting points for analysing reality. This organic interpretation is not simple, but it does make more sense than the abstract concept of matter as assumed by scientists and philosophers for so long.

Whitehead criticizes the idea of nature as a mere aggregate of independent entities, each capable of isolation. According to this idea, by their accidental relations entities form the system of nature. In this theory space might exist without time, and time without space. The relational theory of space is an admission that space without matter or matter without space cannot exist.

But the seclusion of both from time is still accepted. Whitehead's alternative is that nothing in nature could be what it is except as an ingredient in nature as it exists. There cannot be time apart from space, because every event forms part of a whole and is significant in the whole. Likewise there can be no space apart from time.

Our knowledge of nature is an experience of activity or passage. Events are active entities; their relations with one another differentiate into space-relations and time-relations. But this differentiation is comparatively superficial, since time and space are each partial expressions of one fundamental relation between events, which is neither spatial not temporal. Whitehead calls this relation Extension: it is the relation of including and does not require spatio-temporal differentiation.

I found the book extremely challenging to read and had to go back constantly to re-read and properly assimilate previous passages in order to proceed. And Whitehead uses mathematical formulae that I am not familiar with. But people with a solid grounding in the natural sciences will have no such problem. A determination to understand at least some of this great man's ideas was certainly rewarded in reading and studying this book.

The chapters are titled: Nature and Thought; Theories of the Bifurcation of Nature; Time; The Method of Extensive Abstraction; Congruence; Objects; Summary, and The Ultimate Physical Concepts. The book concludes with an index.

The benefit for an understanding of musical politics, for standards of performance, for audience civility and for musicology in general, has been incalculable, and it is hard to see how existing standards in any of these fields can be maintained, much less improved without continuous and patient prodding and the occasional outpouring of bile from such a source. Let music lovers, makers,administrators and editors, all please take note! " Concert Life in Puerto Rico" is therefore valuable for use and imporvement but also for pleasure. Who can resist a book that contains cracks like, "the orchestra sounded like a faulty zipper," or that compares the first act of Tosca to La Boheme played backwards?!

The benefit for an understanding of musical politics, for standards of performance, for audience civility and for musicology in general, has been incalculable, and it is hard to see how existing standards in any of these fields can be maintained, much less improved without continuous and patient prodding and the occasional outpouring of bile from such a source. Let music lovers, makers,administrators and editors, all please take note! " Concert Life in Puerto Rico" is therefore valuable for use and imporvement but also for pleasure. Who can resist a book that contains cracks like, "the orchestra sounded like a faulty zipper," or that compares the first act of Tosca to La Boheme played backwards?!

Peter Kropotkin was a Russian prince who lived during times of great flux in his country. He was born to nobility during the "last hurrah" of the tsarist regime. He witnessed the disintegration of that regime through the early decades of the 20th century, and before he died, he watched as the Bolsheviks consolidated their power, substituting one authoritarian system for another. It would have been easy for Kropotkin to maintain his aristocratic life, which would have brought him tremendous privileges even after the fall of tsarism, but he renounced his title and became one of anarchism's foremost theorists.

The Conquest of Bread is one of Kropotkin's contributions to anarchist theory. Kropotkin posits, like Marxists, that the concentration of wealth which is the basis of a capitalist economy is the root cause of poverty. Unlike the Marxists, however, Kropotkin does not suggest a centralized state as the solution to workers' exploitation. His solution is autonomous collectives in which produce what they can and barter for what they need and want. In essence, Kropotkin is suggesting an anarchist market economy.

This market is not profit driven, as it would be in a capitalist market, having no regard for the basic needs of the individual. Kropotkin believed, instead, that the productive system is efficient enough to produce not only the needs of the population, but also enough of the luxuries that make life pleasant. What prevents the general enjoyment of these goods is not lack of production or inability to distribute them, but the determination of production by profit motives rather than social consumption motives.

Kropotkin's divides his book thematically, looking at basic human needs and wants. He examines why despite the ability to produce enough for everyone, people live in want. He looks at the need for luxury and sees it as an understandable and necessary part of being human. And despite being written over 100 years ago, his analysis is still fresh and relevant. The same problems that limit the lives of the working class in 2008 limited them in 1905. The difference is in scale and scope.

Charles Weigl's Introduction is well-researched and gives important insight into Kropotkin's life and context for his work. For someone unfamiliar with Kropotkin, it will prove invaluable. Weigle takes the reader through the ideas and critiques of Kropotkin without the pedantic idealizing of many who write about the people they admire.

The Conquest of Bread is an important contribution to anarchist economics and anarchist theory in general. This edition by AK Press is well presented and of high quality. I highly recommend it.

Peter Kropotkin's 'Conquest of Bread' helps point the way toward a future ruled, not by greed and oppression, but by fairness, rational division of labour, and humanity. This book is an antidote for the bugbears of state socialism and 'liberal' capitalism.

This book was a great supplement for final exam study I wish I had purchased it earlier in the year, prior to my mid-term exams. It really clarifies the information we were required to read in our textbook. I would recommend to all friends.

This is an excellent supplement for con-law. He breaks things down very well and helps you remain orgainzed. I highly recommend it.

Thanks Professor Prygoski!

This is the only professionally written, highly analytic, examination of the greatest documentary film of old times, Dziga Vertov's "The Man With the Movie Camera," which includes a formal analysis of virtually every shot, simultaneously represented with the respective frame enlargement.

This is an excllent title for degree level students studying film, art or european history. I found this an extremely rewarding analysis of Vertov's work and working practice. Petric writes in a way that is academic but also easily understandable for the lay. Petric does not just an analysis 'The Man With The Movie Camera' he also looks in depth at the political and artistic conditions that gave rise to constructivism.

Film studies students often drop the name; Dziga Vertov without actually knowing anything about the man or his work and this book is an excellent way to learn more.

Good explainations. Good case summaries. Contains Case "Squibbs" in the back - case summaries of major K cases - along with a de minimis and de maximus outline. Also, there are good review questions and tips for what to do when you've only got so much time to study.

I used this with the Examples & Explanations by Blum. This is an excellent study guide - very concise - though "big" in size.

Archibald Cox, Nixon's nemesis, explains the history of the Supreme Court and its consitutional interpretations. Read this book and discard simplisitic notions about liberal 'activist' judges. Perhaps the most activist judges in US history were the conservatives that frustrated Roosevelt's New Deal legislation. Was John Marshall an 'activist' when he asserted the right and duty of the Supreme Court to 'say what the law is' in Marbury v. Madison? That case established the rule of law as much as any other single act in Anglo-American legal history.

Most lawyers probably need to read this book (I am one), but it is very accessible to the lay reader as well.

I read this book for a class on American Government; it is extremely interesting and well-written. I enjoyed it immensely.

This is a great source of problems to study through for the CPA exam. It's tough to find though. The entire series is good.

Two decades ago, I passed the Uniform CPA Examination. The Gleim volume
was one of several review references which aided in understanding the
material. The CPA Exam is a unique creature. It requires that the material
be understood fairly comprehensively. Being familiar with the material
is not enough. A good review text helps to structure the material so that
problem solving is a much simpler task. The Gleim text has a minimum of
complexity yet it focuses on the essential elements requisite to solving
simple to intermediate level problems. The CPA exam rarely tests beyond
Intermediate Accounting in any big way. A beauty of this acquisition is that it can help you learn the material initially and prepare for the CPA exam later. Gleim's presentation is not cluttered with a lot of verbiage.
The lettering is well-spaced with many helpful diagrams and "canned"
schedules so that you can literally "drop the numbers in place" .
The acquisition would be very helpful in studying the material for the
first time or reviewing it just prior to taking the CPA Exam.

I found this book really helpful, especially the review chapters on each core subject. As I was an Epi major, I had very little knowledge about HPMN and SBS. The theories of SBS and leadership are well explained and covered everything that was asked in the exam - I did not read anything outside the book. Biostatistics is another core which is a major part of the exam. I found all statistical tests and their assumptions - useful from the exam point of view.
However, the practice questions below each chapter are easier than the actual exam. Also, the sample exam is same as the practice questions. There is no option as "All of the above" in the actual CPH exam and so you need to know the exact answer.

It's the only one of its kind so it had to be good! Very helpful study guide. The proof will be in the exam score!