Databases Books

I'm over half way through the exercises, and have learned a lot. Easy to follow.

Perfect book for beginners. Easy to follow instructions. Thanks to the author.

This book covers multimedia in depth, and is has a interactive CD that is great. It also covers multiamedia issues, has demos and a good library. It is a must for anyone who is intrested in multimedia!

I really like the fact that the book and the Cd rom are interactive, that helps me alot with my school work and learning powerpoint

B.R. Frieden and R.A. Gatenby (Eds), Exploratory Data Analysis using Fisher Information (Springer, London 2007)
For some years now, Roy Frieden has been exploring the consequences of studying physical phenomena on the basis of Fisher information and extreme physical information (EPI). From the very beginning, the results were spectacular. From the slenderest beginnings, many of the fundamental equations of physics emerged from these EPI principles: the Klein-Gordon and Dirac equations of quantum mechanics as well as the Schrödinger equation; Newton's second law; Maxwell's equations; many of the equations of general relativity; and this does not exhaust the list. These ideas, gradually developed in a series of publications in very respectable and severely refereed scientific journals, were brought together in Physics from Fisher Information (1998) and its successor, Science from Fisher Information (2004).
It was clear from that work that the approach should not be limited to physics but the extent to which it has shown itself fruitful, charted in Frieden's latest book, is a revelation. This is not a monograph but a collection of essays, edited by Frieden and R.A. Gatenby, a life scientist, on a very wide range of topics, all of which are shown to benefit from the use of EPI. The book begins with an introduction by Frieden, in which the reader is told what Fisher information is and how to use it, employing the EPI approach. Eight chapters follow, contributed by the editors and 11 other authors, on financial economics (Frieden, R.J. Hawkins and and J.L. d'Anna); tissue growth and cancer (by the editors); statistical mechanics and `thermal physics' - not very different from what I was taught to call thermodynamics (A. and A.R. Plastino); astrobiology (by Frieden and B.H. Soffer), which is described as a unification of biology and astrophysics; encryption (R.C. Venkatesan); the management of sustainable environmental systems (A.L. Mayer, C.W. Pawlowski, B.D. Fath and H. Cabezas); ecology (by the editors); and to conclude, `Sociohistory: an information theory of social change' (M.I. Yolles and Frieden).
This makes for a very adventurous book, all of which makes fascinating reading though some chapters are more readable than others and occasionally, the authors seem unnecessarily on the defensive, as though they expect readers to have a red pencil at the ready. The list of chapters already gives a good idea of the diversity of the contents and even within individual chapters, the coverage is often surprising; thus Chapter 7 (Environmental systems) ends with a section on `Sociopolitical data', in which "state failure", the risk of a "catatastrophic collapse of a nation's governing body" is examined and illustrated with a histogram showing the stability of five countries, Sweden, France, Argentina, Sierra Leone and Haiti. The Fisher index based on eight criteria is very high (indicating great stability) for Sweden, low for Argentina, Sierra Leone and Haiti and only marginally better for France (in the years between 1961 and 1995)! The concluding chapter (Sociohistory) is the most difficult for readers from the exact sciences, unaccustomed to Kant's notion of the noumenon, the Hegelian doctrine of the dialectic and the autonomous holon, though the authors have tried hard to render the vocabulary of the sociologist palatable.
The very different nature of the topics examined makes it less easy to appreciate the remarkable role of EPI than in the earlier books, addressed to physicists in language with which they were familiar, however revolutionary the theory presented. I imagine that readers of this latest offering will peruse only the chapter that deals with their own particular interest. I therefore wish to emphasize that the truly original feature of this book - apart from EPI itself - is precisely its broad coverage; its demonstration that such a simple principle, easily grasped, is capable of yielding valuable results in such a wide range of fields of enquiry. I found Frieden's earlier books immensely original and intellectually thrilling and this one adds yet more weight to that opinion.
P.W. Hawkes
(M.A., Ph.D., Sc.D., Cambridge; emeritus Director of Research, CNRS)

In a simple-minded way Fisher information can be expressed in one dimension
as an integral of (P') squared over P where P is a suitable probability density.
For example P could be the square modulus of a quantum wave function.
Many action principles for physical systems in quantum mechanics or
relativity involve extremizing a Lagrangian which contains such Fisher information
(FI) terms. The book applies such ideas to a huge variety of physical, biological,
economic, ecological, social, game theoretical, and informational systems.
One uses FI in a unified approach to statistically based science called
EPI (extreme physical information). This leads to a program (EPA) of
exploratory data analysis whose inputs are real or Gedanken data and whose
outputs are the natural laws governing a system. The results often appear in the form of
differential equations. Here one thinks of the
universe as information-dominated and "participatory", of Harrison type,
allowing maximum
information gain at each observation and "favoring" the intelligent
observation of information.

One speaks of three levels of solution for EPI,
depending on the three levels of prior knowledge categorized by the
19th century philosopher C. Pierce. These are
(A) The highest level
or "abduction", giving exact (quantum) solutions; (B) The next highest level
or "deduction", giving accurate but inexact (non-quantum) solutions of
classical physics; and
(C) The lowest level or "induction" using merely empirical data giving approximate
but smooth solutions.
The exact type (A) solutions of EPI require a measurement space connected
via unitary transformations with some other space having a physical reality.
In this event one arrives via EPI at the correct dynamical equations for the
measurement space. There are two earlier books in these directions:
(1) Physics from Fisher information, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1998 and
(2) Science from Fisher information, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2004, both
by B.R. Frieden.

The present book is is a collaboration by H. Cabezas, J.L. D'Anna, B.D. Fath,
B.R. Frieden, R.A. Gatenby, R.J. Hawkins, A.L. Mayer, C. Pawlowski, A. Plastino,
A.R. Plastino, B.H. Soffer, R.C. Venkatesan, and M. Yolles. The topics include (1)
A tutorial on FI and background mathematics plus chapters on
(2) Financial economics from FI, (3) Growth characteristics of organisms,
(4) Information theory and thermal physics, (5) Parallel information phenomena
in biology and astrophysics, (6) Encryption of covert information through a
Fisher game, (7) Applications of FI to the management of sustainable
environmental systems, (8) FI in ecological systems, and (9) Sociohistory:
An information theory of social change.

There is much to reflect on here and strong evidence that this is indeed the
way to go. I personally have used and exploited the Fisher information theme
in numerous papers related to quantum mechanics and relativity, in particular
via relations of FI to the quantum potential. I would even say that this theme
seems to have "cosmic significance" and in the present arena of information
technology, processing, retrieval, and distortion the book should be considered as
must reading.

Robert Carroll, Emeritus Professor, University of Illinois

Awesome price and seller sent in a fast delivery time. The book was in great condition!!!!!!!!!

Great reference for everyone that wants to get started to Access. The book is full of examples and exercises.

A+

This book gave me great insight into the b2b world. I was a novice and now I consider myself an expert in this field after reading this book. I highly recommend this book for beginners and up.

The checklists alone are well worth getting the book. The author takes the proven, intuitive process of software development and uses it as a template for building an extranet. A must read for anyone involved in online commerce. I've already given many copies to clients who have used the book for their businesses.

It's always hard to figure out which search engine to use when you're trying to find information on the Web. Hock's book does a great job at sorting out the strengths and weaknesses of each of the major search engines, as well as providing easy-to-read documentation of features such as phrase searching and searching for personal names. I especially liked the sections on "What Happens Behind the Scenes" and "Special Options," which show where each search engine excels. Any serious Net.searcher should have this book within arm's reach.

The availability of a lot of information on the Internet has made finding specific information a more difficult task to accomplish. Unless someone knows were to find something online they must make use of existing tools to find it. A number of elaborate search engine tools were created with this one goal in mind.

Randolph Hock has written The Extreme Searcher's Guide to Web Search Engines to provide us with helpful insight into how existing search engines can be put to use to help researchers find specific information online. A number of these search engines have been around for a while and have seen much use, but time, effort, and money can be saved by becoming more familiar with the major ones and using those that will get the job done!

This book covers the operation and use of major search engines such as Alta Vista, Excite, HotBot, Infoseek, Internet Sleuth, Lycos, Northern Light, WebCrawler, Yahoo, and others. Readers will find out that there are not only search engines that search the 'Net, but search engines that search multiple search engines themselves! Some of these are covered in the book as well!

Readers are introduced to each search engine covered in the book. Screen shots, entry fields, and information about special functions and use are provided. They will learn how each search engine operates and how they should be put to the best possible use. They are compared with one another and the author offers his own opinion of the strengths and weaknesses of each one. Readers are left to determine which search engines are best suited for their own particular needs. An accompanying Website provides updated information at their fingertips!

The book is ideally suited for professional researchers, students, businesses, and libraries. It can be read from cover-to-cover or opened up at any particular place as special needs arise. It is thoughtfully written and very readable. It will make finding information online a much easier and more enjoyable task!

Have taught this course and the 8.0 Power User. Both are very good books to teach from. This book has a little too much material to teach in two days, but in all fairness many of my students have been relatively non-technical. Highly recommended for your Crystal Classes.

This review is to show my sincere gratitude to FASTPLANET for making the Workshop books available (Quick Start and Power User). The books provide excellent information in a concise manner. They provide excellent formats that are easy to follow. They provide excellent exercises. They make a complicated and powerful software easy.

I was able to go though most of the two books in a weekend and have been very productive in modifying Crystal reports. We have saved a significant amount of money by not relying on the service of outside consultants to modify most of the reports that we can do on our own.

Again, my sincere gratitude to everybody at FASTPLANET for making the books available.

A very happy user

Prompt delivery, book was in great shape. I'd buy my next textbook this way!

The greatest quality of this book is that all the author expects the reader to have is a basic mathematics background (a Discrete Structures background of basic Set Theory). It contains consise explanations and straightforward proofs to all the essential theorems of the subject,but, fortunately, is NOT too elementary that it loses its true mathematical appeal. To top it all, it is chock-full of excellent applied problems in communications, image transmission, and even a party trick here or there (oh yes, friends WILL be impressed when you can error-correct an ISBN!).
In short, I think this book serves as a wonderful textbook into introductory Coding theory. And as for the subject of Coding Theory in general, maybe to spark a bit more interest in some potential customers, a thorough study of the theory will bring together all types of Mathematics (from algebra, calculus, number theory, set theory, finite geometry, and linear algebra).
All will be revealed!

This book shows using the program how fuzzy logic works.
There is a lot in the book
and it needs to be read a few times.

Read also

FUZZY LOGIC: THE REVOLUTIONARY COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY THAT IS CHANGING OUR WORLD
by Daniel Mcneil

The ideas in both are amazing.
page 107 is great here.

It's not theoretical or programming based, rather a superb description of what fuzzy logic can DO. The software is getting a bit out of date, but you can always download the latest demo version off their web site.

Langdon's book is an important addition to the literature on Genetic Programming. After a thorough survey of the state of the art in the field, he describes how Genetic Programming can be used to generate the standard data structures that humans rely on so heavily. He then describes how these data structures can be used to extend the power of Genetic Programming, and gives a number of useful examples. In all, an important part of any GP library.

The book "Genetic Programming + Data Structures = Automatic Programming!" by William B. Langdon is a very nice introduction to the field of genetic programming. The book is well structured. It contains most, if not all, references to important previous work on GP, and further extends the range of applicability of GP by investigating the use abstract data structures in evolving genetic programs. Routines to manage abstract data structures (stacks, queues, and list) are evolved by GP. The book also shows some problems where enriching the GP-language with primitives to manage a data structure enables it to solve more complex problems.

Cees H.M. van Kemenade.