Papers Books

I loved this book! I am a calligrapher and amateur bookmaker, and found this to be a valuable addition to my library. The pictures and text instructions are clear, and the projects were interesting and fun. Projects included cards, gift boxes, and mobiles, as well as some more advanced craft techniques. The author focuses on easy-to-obtain equipment and materials, making this a good choice for beginners like me. I also found it a good volume for sparking my brain when my creativity flagged.

I had a summer design class and since the class was so condensed, we designed and constructed projects on a daily basis. For my final project, I had to construct a book. I only had 2 days to do it and since I knew I wanted to make my own papers, I needed some direction. I used this wonderful book and not only did it have very clear directions with concise illustrations, the supplies needed were on a very practical level. That means I didn't have to purchase extra supplies I probably would never use again. My book turned out so beautiful, I got an A+! I now make papers as a hobby and I owe it all to this great book.

This is one of the most helpful reference books on southwestern North American zooarchaeological identification I know of. It doesn't contain much text, and is focused mostly on drawings. These are clear, to scale, and have helpful notes pointing out key features for identification. While a lot of the book is dedicated to cranial materials, there is an unusually good section on postcrania too. It won't replace a comparative collection (no book can), but if you don't have regular access to one this book will definitely help you narrow the field of possible identifications and make the best use of your time with the comparative materials, as well as point out key features to look for.
First editions can take months to find and can be expensive, but you can still buy the 1996 reprint edition (identical to the original in every respect) from the publisher, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (look for the "Publications" link on their website) for $35. There are almost always copies for sale at the Peabody booth at the Society for American Archaeology meetings too, if you happen to be a member. They also publish Olsen's very similar, excellent books on birds and on fish, reptiles and amphibians.

Extremely difficult to find but one of the few books that is well worth the wait. Detailed drawings of bones on a single page allow for easy comparison and identifcation.

The Maurers are marbling artists, she in watercolor and acrylics, he in oils. Diane Maurer has used linear left brain thinking to clearly explain the process underlying the right brain creative endeavor of marbling. Numerous color images accompanied by step-by-step drawn illustrations (repeated for each pattern) make learning marbling technique while experimenting with one's own inventions uncomplicated. Directions for making equipment, marbling tray, drain board, wood rakes, bouquet combs, are based on easily obtained household items (T pins, foam, glue). This world class artistic team collaborates with other artists who work on fabric. One chapter is devoted to projects to make from marbled papers, with introductory techniques on bookbinding. For such a short and easily consumed volume, this contains inspiring visuals, instructive graphics, broad technique offerings, as well as craft suggestions. Highly recommended.

Marbling--once called "cloud painting" is enjoying a renaissance, both as a craft and as a decorating concept. This ancient art of floating colors on liquid, patterning thema nd picking upt he image on paper or fabric can now be easily done at home. This beautiful, all-inclusive guide to marbling includes: step-by-step instructions for suminagashi, oil-color marbling, and watercolor marbling; detailed directions for creating twenty classic marbling patterns, including Nonpareil, Cascade, French Curl and Scallop; more than sixty full color examples of marbled papers and fabrics.

Tom Tierney was at his best when he created Marilyn Monroe Paper Dolls. The renderings are absolutely gorgeous. The use of colour and line is superb in its subtlety. True paper doll enthusiasts will appreciate this work because the doll isn't just a piece of paper behind a costume with a hole for the face (unlike Mr Tierney's later work). Fans of Marilyn Monroe will be delighted by the sensitivity with which Mr Tierney has portrayed the legendary star.

This is an absolute "must have" for Marilyn collectors. All her famous outfits from her movies....very very nice.

I first saw these books in Old Town, San Diego and they were exquisite. I bought one as a gift and then stumbled on to them on Amazon (much cheaper!) so I bought about six more, all different, for Christmas gifts. They are so beautiful I am going to hate to part with them.

I decided to order this journal as a gift for my sister-in-law who adores horses. Based on the available photo I thought that the journal would be sufficient. However, upon receiving the journal I found myself enamored with its design. The photo does not do this journal justice. The horses sparkle and are just beautiful. The journal comes with a red ribbon marker - a nice contrast.

I also ordered more journals from this company because I was impressed. A great journal and a great value!

On Valentines Day 2002 the PBS in America featured a one-hour documentary examining the status of marriage and family. This is the companion volume to that film, featuring leading marriage and family experts along with the stories, testimonials and recollections of many ordinary Americans. Taken together it provides a fascinating and incisive portrait of the related issues of marriage, divorce, parenting and family in contemporary American life.

The book features a number of perspectives, including those who argue for gay marriage and easy divorce. But probably a majority of contributors recognise (academically or experientially) that marriage and family are troubled institutions today, and they are in need of help and support.

Many of the articles are quite good, from a pro-marriage and pro-family point of view. A number of experts more or less supporting such a view are featured, including David Blankenhorn, Wade Horn, Judith Wallerstein, David Popenoe, Linda Waite and William Galston.

Many of their insights alone are worth the price of the book. For example, Wade Horn's article on fatherhood is an important contribution, given all the problems we have in this area: "..."

And the well-documented evidence is quite clear: children are hurt by father absence. Indeed, children are hurt by divorce. And the hurt goes on for decades. Judith Wallerstein, who has studied children for three decades after their parent's divorce knows this all too well:

"..."

And marriage is what best protects children. As David Popenoe reminds us, "..."

David Blankenhorn reminds us that marriage is more than just a private relationship. It is also a public institution. Marriage effects not just the couple, but the in-laws, children, and society as a whole. And marriage has even more far-reaching importance:

"..."

And it is not just the conservatives who make such claims. Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman from Connecticut, for example, is also aware of these truths: "..."

In addition to the experts, many of the testimonies from ordinary Americans also strongly make the case for marriage and the natural family. Some of the heartbreaking tales of the impact of divorce on children for example are worth recounting. One mother offers this perspective on how her four kids responded to their parents' divorce:

"..."

Other stories could be recounted. But as this book makes clear, marriage is still very important for the overwhelming majority of Americans. And the institution of marriage is being severely tested these days. This collection of articles, stories and essays shows that marriage is more than just a piece of paper.

This engaging read is a collection of complete transcripts of experts and "real people" interviewed for the PBS national broadcast of the same name. The program was seen in most markets on Valentine's Day 2002. There is a "Marriage--Just a Piece of Paper?" video that readers may want to seek out. The video video, narrated by television journalist Cokie Roberts, contains an extra half-hour of footage and should be required viewing in every church group, marriage preparation course, and high-school or university course on marriage and relationships in this country. The experts include a range of professionals--from academics, to judges, to therapists, to ministers, to United States senators from both political parties. The interviews with these experts along with those of men, women, and children and their "real life" experiences of family life today are all collected here. One particularly poignant interview with a dad in the process of divorcing, along with other accounts of fatherhood in the book, really opens the eyes to the important of fathers for families of and of families for fathers. Two of the Gen X women interviewed (and there are many Gen Xrs talking about the realities of dating, single life, and marriage today)--one a single mother and the other twice-divorced and dating--speak of their experiences with such humor and candor (and with such personalities in the accompanying video!) that they could be destined for sitcom stardom if they ever make it out to Hollywood. Read it straight through or interview by interview--but definitely read it and seek out the accompanying video if you want to understand the state of marriage and family today.

Foundations of mathematics. The Hilbert--Russell meta-mathematical programmes were meant to establish the infallibility of mathematics by the Euclidean method: "derive all mathematics from trivial logical principles" (p. 12). Although "From the seventeenth to the twentieth century Euclideanism has been on a great retreat" (p. 10), having failed again and again in numerous branches of knowledge, Russell and others had no doubt that mathematics would be different: "Too often it is said that there is no absolute truth ... Of such scepticism mathematics is a perpetual reproof; for its edifice of truths stands unshakeable ... to all the weapons of doubting cynicism" (p. 14). "We all know how the brief Euclidean 'honeymoon' gave place to 'intellectual sorrow', how the intended logico-trivialization of mathematics degenerated into a sophisticated system, including 'axioms' like that of reducibility, infinity, choice, and also ramified type theory---of on the most complicated conceptual labyrinths a human mind ever invented. ... There even emerged the completely un-Euclidean need for a consistency proof to ensure that the 'trivially true axioms' should not contradict one another. All this and what followed must strike any student of the seventeenth century as a déjà vu: proof had to give way to explanation, ... Euclidean theory to empiricist theory. We also encounter the same refusal to accept the dramatic change", e.g. "Like Newton hoping to explain the Law of Gravitation by principles of Cartesian push-mechanics, Russell hoped for the trivialization of the reducibility axiom" (p. 14). But eventually Russell admitted defeat: "When pure mathematics is organized as a deductive system ... it becomes obvious that, if we are to believe in the truth of pure mathematics, it cannot be solely because we believe in the truth of the set of premisses. Some of the premisses are much less obvious than some of their consequences, and are believed chiefly because of their consequences. ... The only way in which work on mathematical logic throws light on the truth or falsehood of mathematics is by disproving the supposed antinomies. This shows that mathematics may be true. To show that mathematics is true would require other methods and other considerations." (p. 17). Thus logic "is an empiricist theory" like any other, albeit one that is hard to test. "The only way of criticizing this peculiar empiricist theory is, on the face of it, to test it for concistency. This leads us to the Hilbertian circle of ideas." (pp. 19-20). "Gödel's second theorem was a decisive blow to this hope for a Euclidean meta-mathematics. ... consistency proofs have to contain enough sophistication to render the consistency of the theory in which it is carried out dubitable ... For instance, Goldbach's conjecture---that every number is the sum of two primes---might be formally proved to-morrow, but we shall never know that it is true. For it would only be true if meta-mathematics, meta-meta-mathematics ... ad infinitum are consistent. This we shall never know. Gödel's first theorem showed a second way in which a formal theory could misfire: if it has a model at all, it has more models than intended. ... If the Goldbach conjecture is true in its intended interpretation, but false in an unintended one, there will be no formal proof leading to it in any formalization. Gödel's discovery of omega-inconsistent systems was still worse. ... A formalized arithmetic might be consistent, i.e. have models, but none of the models might be the intended one; every model, if containing all the numbers, might contain some other 'class-alien' elements which might provide counterexamples to propositions which are true in the narrower domain of the intended interpretation. In a consistent, but omega-inconsistent system we might prove the negation of the Goldbach conjecture even if the Goldbach conjecture is true." (pp. 20-21). Contemporary logic should not pretend to be the foundations of mathematics. "We read in one of the most competent books written on the subject that the 'ultimate test whether a method is admissible in meta-mathematics must of course be whether it is intuitively convincing.' But why then not stop earlier, why not say that 'the ultimate test whether a method is admissible in arithmetic must of course be whether it is intuitively convincing,' and omit meta-mathematics altogether...?" Or, for that matter, "why on earth have 'ultimate' tests" at all? "Why foundations, if they are admittedly subjective? Why not honestly admit mathematical fallibility, and try to defend the dignity of fallible knowledge from cynical scepticism, rather than delude ourselves that we shall be able to mend invisibly the latest tear in the fabric of our 'ultimate' intuitions?" (p. 23).

"The method of analysis--synthesis." A famous "heuristic" in Euclidean geometry was to prove a theorem by assuming it to be true, deriving something known (analysis), and then reversing the steps to obtain a proof (synthesis). This approach was explicated by Pappus, whence it may be called the "Pappusian Circuit" (p. 76). "A main feature of the story of modern scientific method is the critical elaboration of the ancient Pappusian Circuit into the Cartesian Circuit, followed---in spite of some partial successes and several intriguing rescue-operations---by its breakdown" (p. 77). "Both Descartes and Newton were very explicit about the necessity of starting the analysis from facts, from which one proceeded to 'mediate causes' and from there to first principles. They despised those who tried to arrive at first principles with no care for facts, by 'rash anticipation' instead of by laborious analysis" (p. 77), e.g., "Hooke only guessed the inverse square law, but he, Newton, deduced it from Kepler's empirical laws" (p. 80). This is also the meaning of Newton's "Hypothesis non fingo." "Hypotheses have to be embedded in a Cartesian Circuit and thereby cease to be hypotheses" (p. 77). "Descartes's main interest was to find a method of discovery of infallible knowledge, an infallibilist heuristic. The paragon of infalliable knowledge was of course Euclidean Geometry. And the only extant method was of discovery in Euclidean Geometry was the Pappusian Circuit. This was Descartes's natural starting point." (p. 83). "Now my differences with Hintikka's and Remes's rational reconstruction of Greek analysis--synthesis become clear. They base their reconstruction on the assumption that Pappusian analysis was a heuristic pattern in already axiomatized Euclidean Geometry ... In my view the most exciting analyses of Greek Geometry were pre-Euclidean and their role was to generate Euclid's axiomatic system." (p. 100).

Criticism of falsificationism. Popper "has refused to notice two [historical] facts: (1) 'Crucial experiments' are frequently listed first as harmless anomalies, rather than refutations ...; and (2) All important theories are born 'refuted'." (p. 201). Further discussion on this is limited to Lakatos' effortless refutations of two minor falsificationists (Agassi and Grünbaum).

"Cauchy and the Continuum." Conventional histories claim that Cauchy made several "mistakes" in his Cours d'Analyse, e.g. his proof that the limit function of a convergent series of continuous functions is always continuous. This seems strange, however, because there were already published counterexamples and "today, if one gave Cauchy's false proof to a bright undergraduate, it would not take him long to put it right; and indeed, Seidel [who eventually corrected the proof] did not find the problem at all difficult! What inhibited a whole generation of the best minds from solving an easy problem?" (pp. 46-47). Actually, there is no "mistake", since the alleged counterexamples do not converge in Cauchy's sense, as he himself explained: "His example is the series sin(x)+sin(2x)/2+sin(3x)/3+... He shows that in the neighbourhood of zero where the limit function is discontinuous, 'the value of the remainder for xs very near to zero, for instance for x=1/n where n is a very large number, can differ considerably from zero,'" so that the series does not converge at the "moving point x=1/n" where n goes to infinity (p. 57).

The author introduces the main lines of discussions in epistemeolgy and philosophy of mathematics in a very understandable but comphrehensive way. It is a brilliant reference book for the subject which also contains so-far unpublished articles of the author.

I received this book as a birthday gift. I thought @ first it would be another overly dramafied story of a gay man's contraction of AIDS and his long painful death. This book doesn't celebrate his life. It's a graphic, dark novel on a young man's adventure through the an underworld that eventually infected him with HIV. It's honestly graphic, powerful, sexually charged and visceral. It takes your attention. I'm nearly finished and I would recomend this book.

Theoretically, this is not the sort of "AIDS novel" I would care to read, following as it does a pattern that has become far too predictable: the chronicle of a gay man's sexual adventures followed by his (inevitable?) contraction of HIV. But this book grabbed me anyway: its clean, straightforward, sometimes graphic style -- espeically in a time when too many gay American novelists have succumbed to fussy literary affectation. It's odd and ironic to find a British author who writes more like an American noir novelist, while his American counterparts are too often trying to write (in the 1990s!) like Henry James. This novel was truly a case of bracing candor and honesty overriding the downbeat subject matter. It deserves to be read as a model as well -- for other writers who want to say what they mean, instead of flit around the edges in some mistaken notion that such flitting is what constitues art. I was saddened to read of Moore's death a few months ago, from AIDS complications -- and to realize that the novel was much more autobiographical than I wanted it to be. His voice was brave and pure. These loses cannot properly be measured. But I for one will miss the other books Moore might have written had he lived. James Robert Bake

Book was in perfect condition. Was sent in timely manner and was just as the seller described it. I was very pleased.

The ever-wonderful Penguin Classics brings together the distinguished father-son scholars Thomas and Nathaniel Philbrick to edit a small anthology of the earliest documents of American history. Son Nathaniel used these documents to create his National Book Award-winning MAYFLOWER; Dad Thomas no doubt taught the works in his English courses at the University of Pittsburgh. The selections provided elegantly elaborate and support the bare bones knowledge most Americans have of our first colonial forebears. Some may find the writing in all its 17th and 18th century archaic funk to be difficult, but to those who persevere, much like those colonials, the works reward generously. Represented here are William Bradford, Edward Winslow, Thomas Morton, Benjamin and Thomas Church, and, with all appropriate obeisances to multi-culturalism, the fascinating account by Mary Rowlandson of her captivity during King Philip's war. This collection not only complements and supports Philbrick's book on the Mayflower, but also the earlier Penguin Classics EARLY AMERICAN WRITING. Both of these would make excellent textbooks, but are also great reading for those of us who still love the challenges posed by a younger, perhaps more complex language.

Excellent book on anything you need to know about any problem with the Didestive system. I read so many books about the topic due to finding out that I have LPR. This book was one of the best. I also found Renew your life and Gut solutions by B.Watson very good.

I FIND THIS BOOK USEFUL IN THE SENSE THAT IT ADDRESSES COMMON QUESTIONS MOST OF US TEND TO HAVE ABOUT FOOD, EATING, DIGESTIVE HAZARDS AND RELATED ILLNESS.