New Zealand Books

This is the first of two books written about this couple. The second book is called Crossing Divides: A Couples Story of Cancer, Hope, and Hiking Montana's Continental Divide. You might enjoy reading about what happened to them after their marriage and their encounter with cancer and hiking the Continental Divide.

This book packs in a lot as Scott and his partner, Kate, cover several thousand km of NZ bike touring, racing storms, pedaling up grueling roads, meeting all sorts of locals and travelers alike, and exploring natural and beautiful New Zealand.

Parts flew by too quickly for me, but other parts were described in fun, insightful detail. I feel I gained some good knowledge and insight into NZ after reading this book, especially in the areas of NZ weather (lots of rain, wind, and sun), how NZ treats foreigners (mostly good), and what bike-touring is like (tough and rewarding but mostly tough). Oh, and as a bonus, it really perked my interest in fly-fishing!

The book won't knock you out of your chair, but I doubt that is it's intention. A great read if you are planning a trip to New Zealand or planning a bike-touring trip; especially with a significant other! I hope to report soon as to how accurate this account is. The trip occurred in the late 1980s so I imagine NZ might have changed a lot since then, but maybe not.

Cover describes book as a "light hearted adventure story", should have been "a travel ordeal". Showed how lack of training and improper equipment can turn what should have been fun into drudgery. Choose biking as a cheap mode of transport rather than doing it for the pleasure of cycling which effected narrative. Constant whining and complaining made it hard to enjoy. Use of local NZ slang got old and author trying to force his personal views on locals seemed inappropriate. I have biked in NZ and it was nothing like the book described.

This was a great read - especially if you are interested in biking as an adventure. I just returned from New Zealand and agree with most of what he wrote!

AUSTRALIAN CYCLIST--"Here is an engrossing tale...Scott writes entertainingly and perceptively of the idiosyncrasies of the population and areas he and Katie passed through...If you have ever wanted to go cycling in New Zealand, you could do far worse than to read this book first. If you never want to go there, don't read it-it will probably change your mind!"

KLCC PUBLIC RADIO, Eugene, Oregon--" Today I have the pleasure of reviewing a marvelous book for you...The avid bike rider will be thrilled with the detailed and fascinating descriptions...TWO WHEELS AROUND NEW ZEALAND reads as if you were sharing travel yarns with old friends. Scott Bischke has a very informal tone, and he really brought me into his confidences as he shared his moods, fears, and hopes before and during this incredible year...Wouldn't this book make a great film!"

BACKROADS CYCLING-- "I did enjoy the book....the tone was nice, there were good illustrations, the descriptions of the difficulties encountered added to the story without resorting to the whining all too common in literature these days."

BOOKLIST--" ...Bischke offers insights into the pleasures of biking, fly-fishing, and just living."

BILLINGS GAZETTE--"Bischke has a fluid, chatty style..."

As the author of TWO WHEELS, I'm more than a little shocked at the first review posted. That I did not connect with that reader is apparent, though I have never heard the book described as anything but light-hearted and enjoyable (if the first review engendered a rating of 2, I'd hate to see his or her 1!). Wishing you happy pedaling, Scott Bischke

Judging from the two customer reviews, you either love it or hate it. I have a tweener view of Lambourne's tome. Having a keen interest in the Pre-Raphaelites, I wanted to learn more about Victorian art. I admit I chose this book because of it's size. However, I was pleasantly surprise by its content. I enjoyed his organization, for instead of going from artist to artist, he covered their subject matter and their important artists. It was a good review of the British art world of the Victorian era and some European/American artists who were influenced by the British. Lambourne was both academic and insightful. He seem knowledgeable of aspects of the artists' lives that are not usually in an academic work. The reproductions were great but I was disappointed that some were so small. However, I can understand the design trade off vs. cost of the book. So if you're looking for an extensive survey of Victoria period art at an affordable price, this is your book.

I'M AN ARTIST, AND I IDENTIFIED MYSELF A LOT WITH VICTORIAN PAINTING, I GUESS PART OF MY SOUL STILL LIVED IN THAT PERIOD. TO ME, THIS IS MY "BOOK OF LIFE", IT'S VERY COMPLETE, EXCELLENT INTRODUCTION, MARVELOUS COLOUR ILLUSTRATIONS, AND MOST OF ALL, YOU GET TO KNOW OTHER VICTORIAN ARTISTS WORK. **TRUST ME YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED**

Trust me - if you know anything about Victorian Painting you WILL be disappointed. Nice reproductions, though predictable choices for the most part. Platitudinous text.

Two of the best books about general Victorian paintings are Lionel Lambourne's and Christopher Woods'. Although both book discuss the same broad subject of Victorian art, they do not seem to overlap each other but instead seem to reinforce each other, filling in gaps where one left off. Don't be afraid to own both books. Both books are packed with beautiful images and interesting notes about so many Victorian painters. Lambourne's book is almost twice as heavy as Wood's but the image resolution is smaller but he seems to give a better account of the events surrounding the paintings. The topics of both books are very well ordered (historical events, animals, nudes, outdoor etc)

In an environment over-saturated with the mediocrity of Modern Art, Victorian art is ever increasing in importance, and no serious lover of paintings should ever be without both books.

Although it has been much maligned by critics and art historians, the Victorian period was actually a rich and dynamic era in the arts. Modern art historians have been brought up with the notion that the concept of a narrative in a painting - essentially a painting that tells a story - is either mere illustration or "kitsch." Once this view of painting became the conventional wisdom early in the last century, Victorian Art, so much of which was narrative, was relegated to the basements of museums and even became an object of ridicule. In art history classes around the world, paintings of the Victorian era, whether by Leighton in England or Bouguereau in France, were used as a foil for the Impressionists and early Modern movements. The Victorian era was a sentimental time and there is a fine line between a romantic sentimentality and being overly sweet or saccharine and there were many times when Victorian painters vaulted over that line. However, like any other art form, you only become an effective and intelligent critic of a genre or period when you know it well. And, if your art history courses have taught you to dismiss it out of hand, you will simply be pathologically unable to make intelligent distinctions or draw proper conclusions.
Lionel Lambourne's book is a comprehensive survey of Victorian Art. It is a massive volume that is beautifully illustrated with exceptionally good plates. All too many art books suffer from poor color, clearly drawn from poor transparencies or scans, but this book doesn't stint on the number or quality of the illustrations, so it will be popular with those who simply want to enjoy the images as well as those who have the time to read the text. The author, who is the head of the paintings department at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, clearly knows his subject well and he has broken the long Victorian era down into logical chapters, beginning with a survey of the "Victorian Art Establishment" and then diving the Victorian period by subject and movement rather than simple chronology. He covers all the major movements such as "The Frailer Sex and the Fallen Woman," "The Pre-Raphaelites," "Aesthetes and Symbolists," and "Childhood and Sentiment."
The book is not devoted solely to the artists who lived in Great Britain but also includes painters from the British colonies and former colonies in order to show the connections between their art and that of England. Without descending into the jargon that is too frequently relied upon by art historians, Lambourne is scholarly, providing insight into the influences and motivations of the Victorian artists and then explaining why Whsitler and the Aesthetes rebelled against the prevailing style. Victorian painting has remained popular with artists and a segment of the public precisely because of some of the qualities that repell many art historians - the high level of craftsmanship, sentimentality, the narrative drive so common to the era and the moral element that is part of many paintings from the epoch - but in recent years, more and more exhibitions have been mounted and new books seem to come out each fortnight. Now that Victorian Art has regained some of its lost luster and popularity, it deserves to have an elegant book like Lionel Lambourne's "Victorian Painting" that gives readers an overview of a rich artistic epoch.

Eyed this book at a friend's home in New Bedford & had to read it. You can't get a better story of risk & adventure than this. The fact that it all began in New England makes it even more engaging. Good gift for any Irishman.

The Voyage of the Catalpa tells the true story of an American whale boat captain who is recruited to help rescue six Irish political prisoners from an Australia prison in 1875. It starts off slowly, but this quickly becomes a riveting tale. The mission is so daring and unlikely that you wouldn't believe it was true if you hadn't read the book. The climax is very suspenseful- I couldn't put it down.

I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to others who have an interest in history and the forced migration of the Irish to Australia.

While I am not personally of a Fremantle Irish heritage (was raised among it), I am writing this review in part due to being born and raised in Perth-Fremantle and now having the privilege now to live and work in New York! Coincidently, I was requested to write this on my first "St Patrick's Day" in New York while I'm still capable to write...

I feel that this book explained that the Irish cause was not only Irish but belonged to every freedom loving person. Captain George Anthony saw that it was a right thing to do for the 'Fremantle six' to get out of prison and be brought to New York as free men. And, he left his family to do just that. I believe that British imperialism was wrong and people throughout the world were tiring from it.

It is a complex issue the Fenians both military and civilian faced, but it was good to see that the Darragh character who was not a Catholic, still saw that Irish people were capable to rule themselves even when being of other religious beliefs. His struggle can be seen in the present Irish Republic as a secular state which is run by Irish people of all types of backgrounds.

But for me, any Perth-Fremantle or other located Western Australian person that ever came to be in New York or the US New England region and experience its warmth can now see one of the historical reasons for this close bond that we in Perth-Fremantle share with this part of the US. A connection in part heightened from Irish suffering of the late 1800's.

To those who have passed including the 'Fremantle six' and Captain Anthony thank you for giving me, a West Australian, another deep connection to the United States. A connection that I knew about from Primary School, but needed to comprehend further as an adult.

Peter Stevens has done a good job.

This unknown history at it's finest. The reseach was outstanding done by Stevens. It's the perfect match adventure and history this did really occur as hard as it is to believe. If your interested in Irish/Australian/American History it is a must read.

I have read this book with a mixture of interest and annoyance. I was interested in a part of Irish history that I had not read about previously. The author has managed to compile a quantity of factual documentation on this subject.

My annoyance arises from two main areas;

1. His �factional� way of writing. Interspersing historical documents with the attributed thoughts and actions of his subjects. While I agree that it is the authors choice how he tells the story, his stereotypical approach of �Cruel Britannia� versus the �Noble Irish� gets a little tiresome after a while. Irish history (like most history) varies considerably depending on who does the telling. The �Irish Question� is seldom black or white, a fact that has been discovered by several generations of US presidents. (I say this as an Irishman and a Nationalist).

2. An area where I am more qualified to comment is in his writing about the seagoing element of the story. If Mr. Stevens has a nautical proof reader he/she should be keelhauled. Some of the howlers are as follows;

Sailors raced up the ratlines to sheaf the ship�s sails (p. 52) �Sailors reef sails.

From the quarterdeck, a sailor called out �twelve bells� (p.71). � No, NO, NOOO, bells are rung (on a bell � duh), and the highest number is EIGHT. 12 midnight is 8 BELLS.

� asked if he might see the ship�s chronometer and learn how one used its winding key to arrive at the ships position. (p. 199)

AND

, took out his new chronometer, wound the key, and read --- ninety miles away (p. 232). � �Mother of the Devine!!!!!!!!!�� Mr. Stevens is mixing a Sextant with a Chronometer � A chronometer is a CLOCK. A sextant is used to measure angles � e.g. stars, sun, mountains etc. By combining an accurate CLOCK and a sextant angle of a heavenly body, using tables you can plot a ships position.

The first cry of �Ah!Blows!� rang out (p.220) � If a whaler cried out this he would be harpooned. The cry is �Thar she blows�

"greasy luck" was the standard whalers cry, not �greasy voyage�

This is only a small sample of the errors in the nautical side of this book. I can only assume similar carelessness in other areas. As a result Mr. Stevens gets a 2 star rating.

Congratulations, Mr Carey, on producing the only boring book on Sydney I have ever read. The stories you relate are, apart from the climbers dying in the Blue Mountains, mainly boring. You do not capture, in my opinion, the essence of Sydney. Your book is essentially about a group of your closest friends, who, frankly, could be living in any city in the world. I am not interested in what your mate thinks of Parramatta bleedin road? It may have had some historical significance in the 19th Century, but its just a road now, which leads through some pretty decrepit suburbs. I expected some really penetrating anecdotes about Sydney and Sydneysiders (I was one of them, having grown up on the North Shore). As for your politics - why oh why oh why do you liberals think that ordinary folk in the street should apologise for atrocities committed against the Aborigines? You are just another one of the `sorry' brigade, which gets a kick out of seeing young white children paint the word `sorry' on their foreheads. Disgusting. Mr Carey (and please stay in New York), there is no such thing as Inherited Guilt. You should never apologise, or force other people to apologise, for something you haven't done. If you want Inherited Guilt then I suggest you go live in North Korea.

I will, however, give you plaudits for reciting the story of Mr Eternity. But Mr Eternity was a quintessentially Australian character, Mr Carey; you are not.

Enjoy the Big Apple!

Any attempt to girdle a city within literature is doomed by the complexity and expanse of the topic. Carey delays this admission until the end, although by then his feelings are clear. Living and writing in New York City, only a deep inland residence could give him greater setting for contrast. His comparison with his current home is limited to the cramped quarters he endures there. Yet this limited contrast imparts the theme and import of this personal summary. Little of this book is about Australia's key city. Instead, the majority of Carey's essays here describe the Harbour, the Blue Mountains, the Pacific Coast, the Bridge and rivers. The characters are a melange of his personal friends and historical figures. There is a mystical episode on the Harbour Bridge and a passing critique of the CBD [Central Business District] and the values of those working there. The theme remains that the City is but one location in a region of contrasts. No other city is placed so uniquely. Perhaps no-one is better suited to attempt this unique task.

Many cities rejoice in their history, but in this, too, Sydney is special. Founded as a convict colony, it grew into a major Pacific port. Survival was a struggle with poor soil, vagaries of rain and wind and the presence of the Aborigine population - issues that urbanisation hides but cannot eliminate. Sensing its importance early, Sydney girted the Harbour with forts, something Carey lightly applauds when old forts become new parks. Carey conveys the sense of struggle, but time has transformed equal starving of convicts and guards to ideals of social equality - so long as that society is white, he reminds us. His "distorted view" imparts his dissenting view on relations with displaced Aborigines, among other topics.

However booksellers classify this work, it's not a travel advisory. Tourists will be unlikely to join the Sydney to Hobart race. Even more unlikely when they read Carey's account of the disaster of 1998. Nor will the casual visitor find themselves in a capsized racing skiff in the teeth of ten metre waves and forty knot winds. If you do visit, be careful hiking in mountains. If your visit occurs in the Southern Hemispheric summer, be extra cautious with matches or campfires. What can happen if you aren't Carey imparts with stunning clarity. Having lost his own house to fire, a telephone dialogue with a friend fighting to save one is a gripping read.

Carey's many awards are well deserved. His descriptive writing skills and characterisation are well demonstrated in this book. It's no matter if these are real people, mixtures of many into one or wholly invented. Their own stories are from real life and deserve attention. Carey snags your attention from the first page and you give it willingly to the rest of the book. An essay string that may be enjoyed by anyone, this book provides entertainment, education and excitement. Try it and see. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Peter Carey spent 30 days in Sydney in 2000 and we readers are the lucky recipients of his account. He clearly loves Sydney and demonstrates this love in every page of this little volume. His love is contagious. For example, on viewing what he calls "the great Pacific Ocean," he writes: "It is one of a hundred places you will find in Sydney which take your breath away, and I, familiar but disoriented, was in a state of constant amazement that any metropolis could be so blesssed." He also obviously cares deeply for his friends who still live there. About his friend Jack Ledoux he says: "I have lived in more than one house Jack has designed and would be a happy man if I could wake up in one tomorrow morning and live in it all my life. Every time I walk into one of his constructions, it makes me happy." What an extraordinary way to describe a friend!

Mr. Carey sets out to describe this great city in terms of earth, air, fire and water. He does this by having several zany friends of his-- some of them friends of thirty years-- tell their stories. Any one of these characters ought to be found in a novel, at least one of Mr. Carey's. In his hands they become flesh and blood and as interesting as the city they describe. Good stuff jumps out on every page. Mr. Carey admits that he cannot drive over Sydney's famous bridge without having a panic attack, a fact that is particularly significant to me since I suffer from the same problem with high bridges. Then there is the delicious account of the word "Eternity" and the little man responsible for writing the word everywhere or anywhere he felt his God called him to write it. Carey's handling of the "Aborigine problem" is particularly poignant in his discussion of Vicki, who was taken from her parents and raised by a white family.

Carey, now living in New York, did not move to Sydney, the city his mother said was just like Liberace, until he was almost forty-- ". . . even then I carried in my baggage a typical Melbournian distrust of that vulgar crooked convict town." I for one would love to see him write similar books about both Melbourne and New York.

So much good writing-- so many marvelous stories in 248 pages. A great read!

This is a good read for Aussie expats, not least because the author is one of Australia�s more prominent contemporary literary figures, staging a return visit to Sydney from his current home in New York. Aussies living in America will probably be tuned into the way observations of one country are used to shed light on the other, the extra explanations he is obliged to include for either culture, as well was the exercise of reacquainting oneself with one�s place of origin and trying to come to grips with its history and character. On occasion the author�s own brand of cronyism (men relive their exploits or otherwise act out their mid life crises) is a bit irksome, but then he is well aware of such potential gripes and fends them off within the book (�Mate, you�re making a big mistake talking to all these men. You�re ignoring the women��). In all, he spins a good yarn, and the final pages will have you heaving on the open seas at the mouth of the Hawkesbury River.

The book provides excellent info on tool creation, braiding techniques and many other hard to find carving concepts.

The photos are excellent but are usually not shown in an order that makes sense. Good enough to get the idea though.

If you want good information on a wide variety of carving techniques this is a great book for it.

I purchased this book not having any experience with bone carving, and it has got me started in a big way! I now carve and have successfully sold my own carvings. It is instructional in both the history and techniques of bone carving. The illustrations are great. The author provides an excellent step-by-step approach to carving, including preparing the bones, tools to use in carving, and finishing techniques (including braiding necklace cords). It has been my only source of information and has been all I have needed. I whole-heartedly recommend it!

The whole book seems confused...chapters are oddly out of sequence, real descriptions of how to accomplish a given step are either lacking, unclear or printed in the wrong order...much is said about how traditional bone carving is etc, but the info on how to actually carve is almost nonexistant - we have pictures of the raw bone with a sketch on it, then a sawed out version, and then the finished piece. What happens between these stages is left to the imagination. Nowhere in the book the actual carving process is depicted.
Exactly two-and-a-half pages are devoted to material preparation, which is neither sufficient not the complete process. The fact that inlays can be made is mentioned in passing, but no information is given to how.
Add to the whole that the language is sometimes strange, with an odd choice of words, and the result is, I'm sorry to say, a confused mess.

Clearly not what I had in mind to learn about techniques. If you are interested in some pictures of finished carvings, you might liek it - otherwise skip it.

This is a very well written, well illustrated book on the complete process of New Zealand bone carving. The book covers making your own carving tools, creating designs, choosing material, all stages of carving and finishing, and string lashing techniques. The author smoothly mixes traditional designs and techniques with modern interpretations and tools. This is a complete how-to book if you want to create beautiful bone jewelry, or just a fascinating read if you are interested in Maori culture. If you enjoy this book, also try Moko: The Art and History of Maori Tattooing by H. G. Robley.

This book is absolutely a helpful reference for me to find out which supplement to choose. After I did my research on this book, I personally believe all the test figures and facts on each supplement brand are true - otherwise, the author would not have been able to publish the forth edition in mid 2007, which scientifically rated and compared over 1,500 US and Canadian supplements, and not get sued by those BIG brands for giving them 'unfair' low ratings. So, I will keep this book on my bookshelf.

I found this to be a good read and was useful for me when making a decision.

Also I reckon the previous reviewer has pushed the boundary as they have posted defamatory comments about an independent scientist.

How could anybody review all these supplements without some backlash from people with their own agenda?
I read this guide and it was glowing about USANA - but why not if it was really the best? You can't do a comparative guide without declaring a winner. McWilliam makes no profit from USANA and you can't blame him for using the product if he thinks it is the best.

I've also read the web article accusing it of bias. It is clear to me that this is one of the companies that didn't get a good review - trying to defend their product - surely that is bias by definition.

I've read this book & found it very informative. Never realised how important nutrition was, and how far the research has come in the last decade.

Some salient points not mentioned in the other reviews, though:
* Four company's products rated well. The sad thing is that there were about 110 examined. Of these, about 102 were below the mid score!

* The methodology is impartial, clearly outlined, and based on the findings of seven published nutritional authorities).

* In demonstrating the benefits of good quality nutrition the author cites some 530 published research papers and articles.

All in all, a useful reference of available products.

A friend of mine who is getting into selling USANA recommended this book. After checking it out, red flags came up in my head - "Hmm, I wonder who this author is? What are his credentials? What kind of evidence does he provide?" Gee, my first Google search popped up with an interesting 8 page expose of the book by one of USANA's competitors.(...)I recommend if you are NOT selling USANA, to find a less biased guide for selecting your nutritional supplements.
I recommend if you ARE selling USANA, find a more ethical way to sell your products, or find a more ethical company from which to sell.

Although this biography is aimed at a general audience, it does an effective job of presenting Rutherford's contributions to our early understanding of the atom and of the subatomic world. Using laboratory apparatus quaintly primitive by today's standards, Rutherford in the early decades of the 20th century found elegant, indirect methods to "see" into the structure of the atom. Guided by intuition as much as by previous knowledge and experience, he drew startling and startlingly accurate conclusions from data generated by his own experiments and by those of other scientists around the world. He is remembered not only as one of the greatest experimental physicists of the 20th century but also as one who fostered an international approach to science based on cooperation and sharing of results.

I ordered this little biography because it was on sale. It was not a good deal. It lacks depth or insight. Although the author has a technical background, most of Rutherford's experiments are poorly described and their importance virtually ignored. Interactions between Rutherford and his many collaborators and students are trivialized. Because it is short and cheap, it will find it's way into libraries around the world. That's a good thing because Rutherford was one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century and certainly New Zealand's most famous son. Hopefully, interested readers will have access to "Rutherford: Scientist Supreme"
by John Campbell, a much more complete and authoritative biography. If not, then check out the following website for better information: [...]. For the technically inclined, get a copy of the recently reprinted "Radioactive Transformations" by Rutherford himself - absolutely fascinating!

There have been many biographies of Ernest Rutherford; what does Richard Reeves 'A Force of Nature' contribute to what has already been done? In a few words: popular accessibility. This is a book of scientific biography for a popular audience, and it works.

Like other entrants in the Norton 'Great Discoveries' series, the point is the explication of a great scientific discovery and the life of the person most responsible for bringing it about. Reeves has already proven himself an accomplished biographer, especially of Presidents Reagan, Nixon, and Kennedy. This is apparently his first biography of a scientist.

Reeves traces Rutherford's trajectory from New Zealand to the Cavendish in Cambridge to McGill (in Montreal) to Manchester and beyond. But the real story is Rutherford's discovery of the structure of the atom. Although the topic may sound boring to those not interested in such things, Reeves effectively relays the excitement and drama of this particular scientific discovery (the ability to do so of which is the real strength of many of the books in the 'Great Discoveries' series). Here's but one example: Reeves describing Rutherford's reaction after his team first split the atom:

"Rutherford's first reaction was to swear Cockcroft, Walton, and Chadwick to secrecy...until the results could be published in 'Nature'. Only God could know what the Americans would come up with if they knew in advance of publication. ... Of course the secret did not really hold...Rutherford [soon] told members [of the Royal Society] what happened...then he swept his arm toward Cockcroft and Walton and boomed out, 'Stand up, boys! Let everyone have a look at you!' " (p. 147-48)

Because politics and history appear to be Reeves' own biographical strengths, we learn perhaps as much or more about Rutherford's impact on politics and history (e.g. helping 'rescue' European scientists during WWII) as we do his impact on science. This is not to say that Reeves does not adequately discuss or understand Rutherford's scientific accomplishments (he does--he was an engineer early on in his career), but rather that Reeve's does not do any original analysis of Rutherford's scientific work. The author admits there are better (e.g. longer) sources available for this (see his bibliography at the back of 'A Force of Nature').

Overall, this is a highly readable biography of one of the 20th century's greatest scientists, and is a good starting point for those interested in learning more about Rutherford.

Final note (for full disclosure): As a reviewer for a major newspaper, I often receive books that I am not able review in print. I was pleased however to receive this one and was impressed enough to review it online.

There are probably only a handful of scientists the average educated person could name, among them Galileo, Newton, Einstein. And, of course, even a typical educated person might have trouble saying something about why these scientists are so important. This is too bad. Not just because of what it says about science education in the world today but because there are so many scientists whose work deserves better recognition. Ernest Rutherford is one of those who deserves better.

Many students comes across Rutherford in middle or high school during the study of the atom. Rutherford's "gold foil experiment" through which he identified the atomic nucleus and developed the "solar system" model of the atom is a standard part of the curriculum. However, this only touches on Rutherford's body of work and says nothing about the type of man, and scientist, he was. In A Force of Nature, Richard Reeves does an excellent job of bringing both to the fore.

Mr. Reeve's describes many of Rutherford's achievements in a very accessible way. Rutherford's work ranged from investigations of radio and radioactivity to basic sonar concepts during the war. His work on the atom included more than just his well-know discovery of the nucleus. He also was the first to split the atom, though he never realized (or admitted he realized) the awesome power potential of this process. His work earned him a Nobel Prize (in chemistry, Rutherford would sneer) as well as a number of other awards and honors, including the prestigious directorship of the Cavendish Laboratories.

But Mr. Reeve is also able to give a real sense of Rutherford as a human being. As a "colonial" (a New Zealander), Rutherford found it difficult to fit in with the Cambridge set when he earned a scholarship to attend. It wasn't until he became one of the most famous experimenters in the world that he was generally accepted and, even then, his loud voice and rough manners were a matter of note among his contemporaries. Still, few scientists in history have been as successful as both a researcher and a teacher--he pointed many of his students in the direction of earn their own Nobel Prizes.

As a science teacher, I have struggled to educate my students not only in the key ideas of the field but also on the people who brought these great ideas and discoveries into the world. As one of the true experimental geniuses in history, Rutherford still often doesn't get his due. (Theorists get all the glory.) Yet, in his time, only Einstein was revered more. It is nice that Mr. Reeve has put together a book that can bring Rutherford to the public's attention again.

I love the Let's Read and Find Out science series, and Aliki is one of my family's favorite authors, so this book is a real winner for us. Clearly written text and lovely illustrations make for an enjoyable read-aloud for K-2 level students, or an informative read-alone book for older kids or early readers.

Fossils tell of long ago is a good book for children. Brightly illustrated pictures help them grasp the facts of fossils. It includes a fun experiment, too, along with a clear explanation of how fossils were made. I give this book four stars.

My son and I enjoyed this book and used it to add to our study of fossils. The book was easy to understand the artwork was engaging. I recomend this book for primary grades 1-3.

While this book is still a decent introduction to fossils for children, I'm giving it two stars because it is a VERY different book from the original (published in 1972, I believe) that I read and loved as a child. I purchased this version thinking it would be the same as the original (except for the different cover and perhaps some updates to the information therein). Well, I was wrong. ALL of the illustrations have changed (NOT for the better, either, in my opinion). There are now children of every hue pictured, and even a black boy in a wheel chair. How nice. This is what all children's books of the future will look like, apparently. (Classic children's books that don't include pictures of kids from various ethnic groups will need to be re-illustrated.) Aliki, why did you mess with a perfectly good original?

If you've read the original edition of this book, DON'T purchase this one, as I think you'll be disappointed. Search for a used copy of the original.

The basic concept of this book of focusing less on the key people and events of history and more on the environmental, social and cultural impacts is not new and could have produced an interesting and insightful analysis of a country that is still a mystery to most Westerners. However, Totman fails to achieve this. His writing style can be tedious and he seems intent in showing off his impressive vocabulary - he certainly must get the prize for the most use of the word "adumbrate" in a book.

Ironically, therein lies the problem. He sketches over some complex issues,cultural themes and whole periods of history that without an existing deep knowledge of Japanese history and society leaves this reader, at least, more confused than enlightened. His approach of laying a lot of emphasis on the geographic and environmental influences, again, could have been very interesting but it finally degenerates into a rant about the war in Iraq and how destructive and corrupt the Industrialized world is. Rather than a diatribe against the Bush administration, it would have been useful to see an analysis of the factors that have caused the Japanese economy to stagnate compared to Europe and particularly the U.S.

In the end this book really does not give either a helpful overview of the history of Japan nor any insight into its future.

I had the good fortune to use (the first edition of) Conrad Totman's "History of Japan" in a series of introductory Japanese history courses for which I also read large parts of the two works with which it is often compared by other reviewers: George Sansom's three-volume history and the encyclopedic Cambridge history. This let me compare all three works and identify the strengths that each has relative to the others. Although I read the first edition, few major changes seem to have been made in the second edition, the main one being an expansion of the epilogue to discuss pressures associated with the war on terror and invasion of Iraq.

As a one-volume work, Totman's history can't hope to include as much detail as the other two multi-volume histories. However, it nevertheless manages to present a comprehensive and very accessible history of Japan from prehistoric times to the twenty-first century. Unlike the Cambridge history, it is actually affordable, and unlike Sansom's work it includes events following the Meiji Restoration. Totman also spends considerably more time exploring Japanese society and economy than does Sansom, who focuses mainly on political, military and high-cultural affairs.

Totman's main conceit is taking an 'ecological' approach to Japanese history that governs the book's structure even if it doesn't dominate the narrative as a whole. He divides Japanese history into four rough and somewhat overlapping periods, based on the dominant means of production: pre-agriculture, dispersed agriculture, intensive agriculture, and industrial. Each of these periods, he argues, exhibited an early high-growth phase when the spread of new techniques and technologies led to rapid increases in production and population, followed by longer periods of stasis. As a result of this approach, for instance, Totman considers the Meiji Restoration a less crucial transition than the process of industrialization that followed it later in the nineteenth century.

Totman's interpretation is plausible, and I appreciated how he uses it to provide structure to his account, without forcing all aspects of Japanese history to fit into some overarching model. His writing was also quite accessible, and often a pleasure to read. The supplemental tables, glossary, index, annotated bibliography and limited notes were also helpful. Sansom and the Cambridge history may make more complete references, but of the three I found Totman's "History of Japan" the most interesting, accessible and enjoyable to read.

Totman tries ever-so-hard to liberate his history from traditionalist binaries such as East vs. West and industrial vs. pre-industrial. He does this by examining history from an ecological perspective, examining the interaction between man and the environment. At first, this approach seems to work remarkably well. It is possible, it seems, to deduce pre-historic settlement patterns from the environmental record alone.

Yet, the novelty of his approach begins to break down when he tries to fit all of Japanese history into four distinct stages defined by the ability of the society to extract and process resources (e.g. crops, minerals, forests, etc.). This is just old-style development theory dressed in a new suit. Also, Totman conveniently abandons the ecological model when examining such items as culture, even though he vainly tells the reader that he has not forgotten his approach! When the author has to remind the reader that he hasn't strayed from his theme, it's a sure sign that he has!

The result of all this is a highly fragmented account that is difficult to read without prior knowledge of Japanese history. If I were a professor in this field, it would be an agonizing decision to go back to Sansom's venerable 1960's volume instead of turning to the current scholarship used in Totman. And yet, Totman's book is so difficult to digest that it would probably be worth it.

Conrad Totman's A History Of Japan conceptualizes four major "ages" grounded in the material resources that sustained Japanese society: the age of foragers, dispersed agriculturalists, intensive agriculture, and industrialism. Totman beings with Stone Age society in Japan, and then moves through developments in agriculture, state-building, the blossoming of classical arts and letters, socioeconomic growth and change, domestic and diplomatic politics, social issues of class, gender and ethnicity, cultural production and the environmental effects of agricultural activity. A History Of Japan provides detailed coverage of the twentieth century when Japan grew into a much larger society and its role on the international science became militarily, economically, and culturally influential. A History Of Japan is a highly recommended, informative, scholarly, comprehensive, and "reader friendly" introduction and historical survey that will be much appreciated by students of Japanese history and culture, and has a wealth of material for the non-specialist general reader seeking to understand the Japan of antiquity as well as a contemporary and influential society.

I bought "How Do You Want Me?" after hearing a hilarious and touching interview with Wax on Terry Gross's "Fresh Air." A die hard Ab Fab fan (of which Wax is the script editor) I knew Wax only from her camero appearances on that show and her role in the not-so-funny Girls on Top.

She's not much of a writer and the book itself is mostly a series of short statements with very little reflection or insight. As a speaker, she's hilarious and gives a lot of character to what she's written, but the book itself is pretty dry.

Her experiences are varied and interesting and there are some fun moments, so buy the book if you already like her and you can find the book used for cheap.

I've been a Ruby Wax fan for many years but it wasn't until I read this book that I began to understood the wellspring of her often aggressive humour.
Like so many clowns, her mask conceals a troubled soul. It took her many years to realise she needed help. I suspect writing this book was part of the therapy.
The book is a mixture of laughter and sadness, and as we share her journey towards self understanding, the latter emotion becomes dominant. Nevertheless, it was well worth reading and I particularly recommend it to anyone who has suffered at the hands of overbearing and deprecating parents.

Ruby Wax, who is she? An American actress who became famous in Britain for being a loud-mouth American actress. As an actress, she was of little account: background wench in RSC productions and so forth. As a loud-mouthed American broad on UK TV - specialises in celebrity interviews with the likes of Pamela Anderson - she keeps the Brits entertained: vulgarity upon vulgarity. This book is good (even very funny in parts) where Wax deals with her bizarre US upbringing, with monstrous parents whom she mocks and lambasts and serves up to the readers as if they are freaks in a side-show. This is funny, up to a point. The point being that one starts to think she is exploiting mom and dad. As for Ruby the adult, nothing much to say. She is a hopeless attention-seeker of little talent. It's the family story that is memorable because she lays into mom and dad with such gusto. Despite all she writes, dad has the last laugh, though. He can never quite believe that his nutty, runty daughter has been a success in Britain; for no one has heard of her in the US. Finally on a visit to London one of Ruby's celebrity Brit pals proves to dad that she is a hit, saying she has done x, y and z. His wonderful deadpan reply (paraphrased): "Well, what do they know in Britain, anyway? They haven't got any real celebrities to measure Ruby against. In America, we've got Sinatra." Well, quite.

I was interested in the other reviews of this book--and surprised at their lukewarm and even hostile attitudes. It would seem you either like Ruby Wax's wild and outrageous sense of humor or you don't. And if you're American, which I am, you might take offense at some of her well thought-out potshots at the USA, but only if you takes things so personally that you can't laugh at your own country. In which case, steer clear of Ruby.

I read this book in one sitting--it was something I regretted ending. There are passages that are so funny (like her excursion to Disneyland) that I was in physical pain from laughing so much. There are also sadder passages recounting the loss and difficulty she went through in coming to terms with the abusive upbringing she had at the hands of her eccentric but mad parents. What comes through is that she came through all of it, on a different continent, fulfilling her dreams to act (despite all the ugly things her parents told her about her lack of talent). For that reason this book is ultimately uplifting and positive. It is a sometimes raucously funny account of one very talented person's survival at the hands of utterly insane parents. Well done!

And in regards to Girls on Top, I think it is fantastic--not the same as AbFab, but quite spot on. I cross my fingers that we will see more of Ruby in the future.