Computer Science Books

This is a best book I have ever seen. It has every details about how to use the iText. It's very clear in every technical aspects. iText is also a great API for Java programmer. It's also really easy to learn. I love iText.

I love this book. I strongly recommand this book.

This is a great book for people developing or maintaining applications using iText. It covers every corner-case I've run into, typically offering various options on how to solve a problem. The writing is concise, with easily approachable chapters and examples.

In January 2006 I was assigned to build a system that would create lots of PDF reports, typically with hundreds of pages of tables, and with tables nested in other tables. I started with an an open-source tool called BIRT that is well-designed and powerful, but it didn't quite give me sufficient low-level control over some aspects of PDF creation. When I realized that BIRT wasn't going to work for me, I was behind schedule and in trouble. Then I discovered iText. (BIRT actually is built using iText jar files.) I found that iText gave me exactly what I needed: an easy-to-use yet powerful Java API for creating PDF files. The remainder of the project, using iText, went smoothly, and my boss was very happy with the results. But I sure wish that I'd had Bruno Lowagie's "iText in Action" book at the time! That would have shaved a few weeks off of the project and would have saved me from learning some things painfully, by trial and error. As the original developer of iText, Bruno Lowagie is uniquely qualified to write this book. He obviously put a huge amount of effort into it, reflecting his longstanding commitment to iText. He made every effort to explain things as clearly as possible, and to document the pitfalls as well as the attractive features. It is evidently a labor of love for him. The book is written to the high editorial standards of other Manning books, with clear organization, good typography and layout, and so on. I highly recommended iText itself, and also this book, to anyone who is using Java to work with PDF files.

This is nice book, though most of the contents can be found online (I believe it is linked from the author's website). I have created some complex PDF files using iText following the examples on the book and online tutorials. This is the book from iText creator, surely it worth a 5 starts.

I've always figured that there should be some way to create PDF files without the manual effort of any 3rd party software client. Now I find out there is a way, and it's rather exciting... iText In Action by Bruno Lowagie covers the iText open source software project. It's a very well done reference manual that can also serve as a tutorial for a decent Java developer.

Contents:
Part 1 - Introduction: iText - when and why; PDF engine jump-start; PDF - why and when
Part 2 - Basic Building Blocks: Composing text elements; Inserting images; Constructing tables; Constructing columns
Part 3 - PDF Text and Graphics: Choosing the right font; Using fonts; Constructing and painting paths; Adding color and text; Drawing to Java Graphics2D
Part 4 - Interactive PDF: Browsing a PDF document; Automating PDF creation; Creating annotations and fields; Filling and signing AcroForms; iText in web applications; Under the hood
Appendixes: Class diagrams; Creating barcodes; Open parameters; Signing a PDF with a smart card; Dealing with exceptions; Pdf/X, Pdf/A, and tagged PDF; Resources; index

Lowagie starts off with a brief background of how iText came into being, along with a scenario of where the ability to programmatically create PDF files could dramatically change the way a college would run a department. Then after a short Hello World example that involves creating a simple document, he delves into all the different features and capabilities. The book at this point starts to change from tutorial to reference manual, but it's done in such a way that you could just keep working through the material in tutorial fashion with little effort (and good results). The example code in all the chapters are extensively annotated and explained, so you're not left to your own devices to try and figure out what the logic is trying to accomplish. In fact, I would say that the code annotation and commentary is some of the best I've seen in a book of this type. Great job...

The main target audience for this book is the Java developer, as the iText project is Java-based. There are .NET ports for J# and C#, and knowing how close those languages are to Java, this book should work pretty well for those development efforts with a little bit of thought and modification. Other languages should be able to use the iText toolkit if they have some way to call Java code modules from within their programs. As a Notes/Domino developer, I should be able to utilize all of this package in any Java agents I write, and the LS2J feature of LotusScript might also work well. After reading this book, I know I have some things I need to try...

If you have any sort of need involving the creation of PDF files from within your own system, iText is a great alternative to explore. And if that seems to be the way to go, I don't know of any better book to get than this one...

I agree with the other reviewer who could not put this book down. An amazing work that shows how long the information age has really been around. Introduced me to Jacquard for the first time and what a great figure to remember. Shows how a great invention took years to come into existence and over hundreds of years how important various contributions were.

Mr. Essinger's writing exceeded all expectation--he is a gifted teller of history and even more gifted at drawing out the threads of technological developments. It takes some time for the real changes of society to become apparent--indeed, my cell phone shares a name and essential function with a device invented over a hundred years ago but who would have thought that such a simple idea could so drastically change the world. The most engaging histories draw on unexpected sources to shed an unexpected light upon the events in question. James Burke was a master of this with his Connections series--think of Jacquard's Web as a more focused version of Burke's incredibly discursive journeys. No better example of the maxim, "a picture is worth a thousand words" comes to mind than the fascinating story of the picture that is found on the very first page of the story.

Essinger demonstrates how Mr. Jacquard's idea of using punched cards created a revolution. He compares and contrasts Jacquard's success with the failure of Charles Babbage by showing how an incremental technological advancement was necessary, i.e. Herman Hollerith's tabulator. But the story is basically familiar to most anyone who would be interested in this volume. Essinger excels at demonstrating the incredible importance of the personal traits of historical figures. Babbage's temper and inability to stick to his original idea killed his chance at demonstrating the power of his ideas. Hollerith's persistence, on the other hand, took a simple idea and polished it until its value was indisputable. It is a very sympathetic portrayal of a man, Babbage, who saw the promised land that he could never enter.

Frankly, it is impossible for this reviewer to adequately portray the power of Mr. Essinger's seemingly effortless ability to teach. This is that rare book that demands a quick trip to the bookstore or a check of that tempting box--"overnight delivery."

Highest Recommendation

No one could read the first chapter of this book and not finish it. In fact, I've just spent the past two days devouring it from start to finish. It's an entertaining fact-filled romp through the entire history of something that dominates our lives, and that we always think of as entirely modern... and yet the history this book traces goes back nearly 5,000 years.

What I liked best about it was the teasingly thought-provoking idea the author raises: that our computer age could have started over 150 years ago in Victorian England...

According to Jacquard's Web, the Victorian scientist Charles Babbage spent a lifetime building and refining metal calculating cogwheel machines or `engines' as Babbage called them. The working portions of the Engines he built worked perfectly. As Babbage's friend and colleague Ada Lovelace once said, it was the first time in history that `wheelwork' had been taught `to think'. But funding ran out and Babbage died never seeing his calculating engines come to fruition.

What I found so incredibly thought-provoking in this book was that in London in 1991 a perfectly working Difference Engine was built from Charles Babbage's plans and drawings. I have seen the Difference Engine in action myself (as the white-gloved engineer cranks the handle, the stacked columns of cogwheels spiral and coalesce beautifully as they perform their mathematical calculations) but I hadn't realised the significance at the time.
According to the author, James Essinger, if Babbage had found the funding to complete his Engines, computers could have come into widespread use in the nineteenth century. Now if that isn't a thought-provoking idea I don't know what is!

James Essinger's book takes us on an amazing journey from Napoleonic France, through Victorian London and on to the otherwise bewildering offices of IBM and the other giants of the computer era.

On a basic level, this is a very readable history of computers, from the complexities of the modern era back through the stages that led to their invention - and then, most importantly, to the very roots of the idea - the first spark that lit a conflagration - in the mind of an otherwise obscure French silk weaver, Joseph-Marie Jacquard.

The book is far more than that, though. On another level, it is a series of brilliant recreations of the key stages in the computer's growth. We are zoomed into the frenetic world of Napoleonic Lyons; led by the writer's genteel hand into the polite salons of Victorian London and introduced to the likes of the Duke of Wellington and Ada Lovelace, daughter of none other than the great Byron, and then ushered on through the now rather wierd, geeky world of early-mid 20th century computerdom.

On yet another level, it does something that I feel needed doing for a long time. As an historian, and despite using them all the time, I had always felt computers were something rather alien, rather nasty. They're not things that you normally think about being rooted firmly in 18th and 19th century history. Yet here they are, in the true historical context, and suddenly a lot less scary.

What a wonderful read, for historian, computer-buff and any reader who delights in a cracking story grippingly told.

As the least technologically-minded person I know I bought this book because I wanted to find out what computers really are and how they've come to dominate our lives today. The book didn't disappoint. It performs the unlikely paradox of making computing interesting - fascinating in fact.

This is because Jacquard's Web is such a human story. The author breathes life into some incredibly interesting characters - an ancient Chinese princess, two cheeky monks from Constantinople who perform the first recorded instance of industrial espionage when they sneak silk-worm eggs out of ancient China in their walking sticks, the greedy kings and queens of Europe and their unquenchable desire for luxurious fabrics, Napoleon, the fascinatingly eccentric Victorian computer pioneer Charles Babbage and his friend Ada Lovelace - daughter of the notoriously sexually rapacious poet Lord Byron, and of course dedicated, ingenious Jacquard himself.

I was surprisingly fascinated by the more modern portion of the story: Essinger's account of the trials and tribulations of Herman Hollerith and 1890 US Census when the US government struggled to find new technology to cope with the unprecedented mass of data that was pouring in. (Jacquard's punched card technology did the trick) and the account of the dawn of IBM.

This is a friendly, frequently very funny tale, and - for me - an enjoyable and truly memorable initiation into our high tech world of IT and the computer. I thoroughly recommend it.

My copy of this book is well worn, dog earned, and filled with enough paper clips to set off airport alarms. It has well over half a pad of pink post it notes extending from its pages. Several Xerox copies of book pages hang from my desk for quick reference. I would never go back to L*****'s book!

It was Diller's manuscript that allowed me to publish my dissertation with LaTeX in a timely fashion with minimal headache (from text processing!).

Pure TeX geeks will shun this book. It's too readable and too practical. If you want to hack away your grad school days solving Knuth's TeX programming exercises, this book is not for you.

Purchase this book if you actually want to get some productive work done with LaTeX!

This book is well written and is great for anyone trying to put together reports and simple documents with no frills (base fonts and formatting). It does not cover font selection (NFSS), customization, and many other important things for advanced documents, like a book. If you need a much more comprehensive book for LaTeX I would recommend Kopka's book. The book is structured in a very confusing and sometimes illogical manner, but it covers much more. This book is much more efficient, but you may find yourself needing more.

I've recently been through most of the beginning to intermediate LaTeX books and have found the bulk of them almost worthless in helping to learn and use LaTeX. This book is extremely readable and useful with correct syntax. The focus is unapologetically LaTeX2e and is not encumbered with outdated 2.09 commands. This is hands down the one book I would buy if I were only going to buy one. After this I would recommend Kopka, though that is much less well presented but definitely the next best (it is loaded with superfluous 2.09 command comparisons which just get in the way of getting through the book). It is way down hill after that, including Lamport's book (beautifully typeset but not clearly written).

In the TeX/LaTeX universe, I've found that you get the program for free, but then you wind up buying $200 worth of books to learn the program because no one textbook is all things to all people. This is hands down the best "introductory book." It's easy to read and gives you enough information to start up quickly. Hahn's book is outdated with its coverage of Latex 2.09, and Kopka's, while having lots of good stuff in it (if you can find it), reads like a scientific text translated from a foreign language--which it is.

If you want to start getting productive with LaTeX immediately, get this book.

I agree with the previous review. Among other nice touches the book contains a descriptive list of all LaTeX commands. This alone made it worth the money for me.

The pinnacle of the act of teaching is to be simultaneously clear, simple, interesting, and complete. This is rarely achieved in person, and almost never in writing; "The Little LISPer" achieves it. I believe this defines what a teaching book can be. It is brief. It can be read in snippets, at any pace. It will maintain the interest of anyone who comes to learn. The reader is left ready to write Lisp code, no matter what background precedes it.

I read this book in high school in 1982; it taught me enough that five years later I aced a four-credit independent study class in Lisp (at an Ivy League college) without any further reading. Hey, I *told* him I already knew Lisp! Dr. Friedman, I hope you come across this endorsement some day; please accept my thanks for creating this wonderful little gem. (Pass the pizza, please, I have a little more to write...)

I cannot endorse this book highly enough. If you want to learn Lisp, I know of no better place to go.

...it's been obsoleted by its own fouth edition. No place on the listing for this book do I find a hint that this is the third edition of a book currently in its FOURTH edition. They renamed the book The Little Schemer for the fourth revision. Buy that book instead.

I'm still struggling with lisp, but this book was simple, to the point, and clear. I didnt even get annoyed by his goofy attempts at humor.

I read this beautiful little book as a child and it has never left me. It left me with a clear and straightforward understanding of the basics of LISP -- in this it remains possibly the most enjoyable and time-efficient technical book I've ever read, but much more than this it is a book I still often call to mind as an example of good pedagogy or simply of good design in any field.

I gave an earlier edition of The Little LISPer a glowing review in Byte in 1980. It was then the best introductory book on programming, regardless of language, and I still haven't seen anything to compare with it.

The greatest strength of LISP is its firm base in the essentials of the mathematics of computability, including Goedel's recursive functions and Church's Lambda calculus. It uses a single data structure, the linked list, and a minimum of programming primitives, all with well-known mathematical properties. For those who don't know the mathematics, this base in simple concepts means that LISP is one of the easiest programming languages to understand, and at the same time one of the most powerful.

The greatest strength of Little LISPer is its easy and natural sequence of steps for introducing data types and structures (numeric, text, and Boolean atoms organized in lists and trees) along with the recursive programming structures that are natural for creating and processing them.

I have just ordered the third edition for my son who is learning programming (if he can get it away from me).

This is a wonderfulli ilustarted and enlightening book to re-learn algebra from. Highly reccomend. The illustrations are superb and it takes you step by step of working out a problem.

I failed Algebra 2x in high school and never caught up (I have a BA in English but until this book had zero real math skills.) It seemed hopeless, but I've never been able to find a pleasant, easy teaching book like this one before. This book is a MIRACLE. I am almost finished with the book and really enjoy getting to do algebra every day (a crazed statement). If only they did a calculus book....!

This book will walk you through the basics of algebra in no time at all. the graphics are excellent , subjects are presented well ,and the pages well laid out and comortable to read.

The Algebra in here is not very advanced but it helps you learn the fundamentals and makes it stick with you. This would make an excellent high school algebra text. The ease in the way you will advance through this book will amaze you.

There are problems in every chapter and solutions given at the end of the book.

Wish I would have had this book in high school and I hope that they come out with a Calculus and Trig book soon, I'll buy them right away !

Enjoy the book

The folk at Maran do beautiful books. This one is no exception. It is intended for the beginner to get started quickly.

What makes the Maran books so good is the quality of the graphics they incorporate as part of their philosophy. The pages in their books look good, they are easy to follow, the text that goes with the graphics is excellent and ties in exactly with the illustration. I imagine they were designed together.

For this particular book, the Maran's have teamed up with Alistair Savage as a technical consultant to be sure that everything they say is correct. Dr. Savage is a professor in the Department of Mathematics adt the University of Toronto. The information from Dr. Savage is then merged with the graphical format for which Maran is famous.

Conclusion, Beginners level, but probably the best Beginners level book available. Why couldn't my old high school books have been written this well?

You are probably checking out these reviews because either you want to refine your algebra skills, or perhaps you never had strong algebra skills to begin with. Personally my algebra skills were never up to par so I picked this book up. It's a bit embarrassing because I'm a software developer and most people when they think of developers they think of computer geeks with good math skills. Unfortunately I've never had good math skills. Well I'm sick of being mathematically illiterate so I picked this book up.

This book is great. I have always been intimidated by algebra but this book really helped me get over that. This book starts very simple and works it's way up to more difficult concepts. You first learn about adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing possitive and negative numbers. Then you begin to slowly move towards working with variables, fractions and equations. Then you really start to move into the meat of algebra by learning about graphing linear equations, linear inequalities, polynomials and you work up from there. Don't worry if some of these terms are unfamiliar, the book presents them in a way that sticks. I am actually enjoying working through this book.

The layout of this book is spectacular. it's nice and colorful. The author describes the topic on the top of the page, gives a few examples and then provides tips on the bottom of the page. It's a layout that really worked well for me. The colors help keep this book from being boring to look at. The author also makes a few jokes throughout his writing which helps the reading from becoming boring. It's really an awesome layout.

This is definitely a book for those who possess very little algebra skills. Although you dive through most of the algebra basics, the problems never seem too daunting which is excellent if that's what you're looking for. I am actually enjoying math now, which may sound geeky but it's true. I look forward to moving on to more complex algebra books and then moving on to more complex math, such as calculus. This book was a great first step, and I highly recommend it.

Current physics students had less mathematical trainings than those did several decades ago, when computer wasn't popular. So this book is probably too hard to read through and to work on its problems. But if you force yourself, you will begin to appreciate the beauty of mathematics. The chapter about Green's function is escpecially good, never had a so vivid lecture on Green's function before. Actually, when I read this book, I felt Green's function is the kernel and the main bone of this book. It appears almost in every chapter.

The price is pretty high, but if you choose physics as your career, it's worth to have this book, both for academic and entertaining purposes.

Feshbach Publishing has acquired the rights to this work from McGraw-Hill. Cambridge University Press did a terrific job reprinting the book using printing film supplied by McGraw-Hill.

Despite George Arfken's claim in 2002 that a paperback version was on it's way, no such version was ever planned. This book is used intensively over several decades by many people. I doubt that a paperback version would survive for long under such circumstances.

In response to questions from colleagues and students i'm posting this review.
This was the standard text many years ago.
Many current topics on mathematical Quantization and Stochastic Optimization are conspicuously abscent.
The publisher is working on a two Volume Paperback edition that will be available shortly, so save your money and buy this 2-vol set for one fifth the price.

..please help the poor like me by launch the paper back edition so i can afford it..please be compassioned

The classic text, still excellent, tho' somewhat dated. Well worth having because (a) the physical viewpoint is helpful for theorists and easier for experimentalists, (b) the older viewpoint is different from that of more modern texts, and still worthwhile; multiple viewpoints increase understanding.

Unlike many other microprocessor books which mainly focus on programming, this book provides practical and detail knowledge on hardware interfacing. These including design of address decoder and mechanical characteristic of microprocessor buses.

For student or fresh engineer who want to get the real thing works, this is the book.

This is especially handy as the 3rd edition has a cd-rom with a cross-compiler!

This book is suitable for a semester course in microprocessor systems. It has good coverage of hardware and software topics. I use it in a senior/master's course which studies the 68000 and SPARC as comparative CISC/RISC architectures. The book comes with a CDROM including a PC-based 68000 simulator for readers who do not have access to real 68000 hardware.

This book makes all things clear about designing systems controlled by microprocessors and uses the Motorola 68000 family of microprocessors as an example. It is full of clear examples and many exercises for the student, and shows details of both the hardware and programming aspects of microprocessor system design, making it ideal for engineers who are interested in the subject. The book starts with an overview of the microcomputer in general, and shows how the microprocessor and its accessories control the larger microcomputing device. Next, the author introduces the reader specifically to the Motorola 68000 family of microprocessors and their respective architectures and features.

Next the author tackles an art that is usually passed down by word of mouth from master to apprentice - how to program a microprocessor and its peripheral devices using the C programming language as well as assembly language. This is followed by chapters on memories, exception handling versus interrupts, and coprocessors and caches.

The next few chapters are on the external devices that are usually a necessity for a microprocessor controlled system - parallel and serial ports, external timer devices, special devices to control IEEE-488 buses, and special buses such as the VMEbus and Nubus. Actual existing peripheral devices are used in the examples. There are plenty of circuit diagrams and code snippets in both assembly language and C to show how the various pieces of a microcomputer are assembled to make a working system.

Although today RISC designs based on "microprocessor cores" power the vast majority of mass-produced computing devices, the approach to creating the components of these core-based microcomputers is basically the same as it was in the days when we used to wire-wrap a 10MHz 68000 system together. Thus, learning the art of microprocessor system design is something any engineer interested in digital design should know. This book is an excellent source for learning that art. The following is the table of contents:

1. THE MICROCOMPUTER
Microprocessor Systems
Examples of Microprocessor Systems

2. PROGRAMMING THE 68000 FAMILY
Assembly Language Programming and the 68000
Programmer''s Model of the 68000
Addressing Modes of the 68000
An Introduction to the 68000 Family Instruction Set
Program Control and the 68000
Miscellaneous Instructions
Subroutines and the 68000
Introduction to the 68020's Architecture
Speed and Performance of Microprocessors
Structured Programming and Pseudocode (PDL)

3. ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE AND C
Parameter Passing
The Stack and Local Variables
C and the 68000
Summary of C''s Syntax

4. THE 68000 CPU HARDWARE MODEL
68000 Interface
Timing Diagram
Dealing with Timing Problems
Minimal Configuration Using the 68000
The 68020 & 68030 Memory Interface
Worked Examples

5. MEMORIES IN MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEMS
Address Decoding Strategies
Designing Address Decoders
Designing Static Memory Systems
Designing Dynamic Memory Systems
Worked Examples

6. EXCEPTION HANDLING AND THE 68000
Interrupts
Privileged States and the 68000
Exception Processing
Exceptions Implemented by the 68000
Interrupts and Real-Time Processing
The Reset and the Bus Error
Exception Processing and the 68010 and 68020

7. THE 68000 FAMILY IN LARGER SYSTEMS
Error Detection and Correction in Memories
Memory Management and Microprocessors
Cache Memories
Coprocessor
Introduction to the 68040 Microprocessor
The 68060

8. THE MICROPROCESSOR INTERFACE
Introduction to Microprocessor Interfaces
Direct Memory Access
The 68230 Parallel Interface/Timer
The IEEE 488 Bus

9. THE SERIAL INPUT/OUTPUT INTERFACE
Asynchronous Serial Data Transmission
Asynchronous Communications Interface Adapter (ACIA)
The 68681 DUART
Synchronous Serial Data Transmission
Serial Interface Standards

10. MICROCOMPUTER BUSES
Mechanical Layer
Electrical Characteristics of Buses
VMEbus
NuBus

11. DESIGNING A MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEM
Designing for Reliability and Testability
Design Examples Using the 68000
Design Example Using the 68030 Monitors
APPENDIX
SUMMARY OF THE 68000 INSTRUCTOR SET
ABOUT THE CD-ROM

This book presents an excellent intro to the design of microprocessor systems using the very powerful and easy-to-learn Motorola 68000 family. It concentrates on hardware design/interfacing, programming,timing issues, memory mapping and address decoding, serial I/O and peripherals. Covers all the important issues. The information is of high quality and very well written. The reader should have a knowledge of binary/hex number systems and basic digital design as prerequisites. Comes with cd-rom containing software tools. I recommend this book highly.

I own this book for almost 2 years I also own many more and by far this is the best IPv6 book. It covers all the topics of IPv6 and does it in a clear but not to simplistic way.
It serves both as a tutorial and a reference manual. One of the great things about it is that it covers IPv6 configuration on all major platforms like Windows LINUX and many others.

I considered many different books about IPv6. It looks like I made the right choice. This book teaches both about IPv6 itself and how to implement it with different operating systems (Windows XP, Vista, Linux, FreeBSD, etc) using Cisco routers or Juniper routers. I am currently running a dual-stack on my home network (both IPv4 and IPv6) and hope to be fully prepared should I need to migrate a large business network to IPv6 in the near future.

Face it folks, IPv6 is coming. Windows Vista comes with it enabled, as well as a few tunneling technologies (such as ISATAP) to help the transition from IPv4.

This is a very comprehensive reference for IPv6. The author covers IPv6 from the basics to advanced topics like multicasting, anycasting, and mobility. The book even covers the application aspects of IPv6 and porting issues, as Marc has that background as well. I would recommend this book to anyone seeking a up-to-the-minutes overview of IPv6, and as a reference for anyone that will be working with the protocol over the years ahead.

Really useful IPv6 technical books are few and far between because the technology is so new and evolving rapidly so its hard for a book to keep up. Marc's new book is the most up to date and informative book available now. I've got a copy on my bookshelf and am already handing it to clients for reference about our IPv6 integration projects.

Amazon's date is wrong on this book. It was just published in Jan 2006, not in 2002.

Sylvia Hagen's book IPv6 Essentials is also excellent - I'm waiting for the 2nd edition to bring it up to date.

I have half a dozen books on IPv6 on my shelf and by far Migrating to IPv6 provides the most comprehensive view of IPv6 and related protocols in both breath and depth. The book is written in clear and concise manner so it is a perfect learning tool. Moreover, it also makes for a good reference book because each chapter in the book is self-contained.

Our team works on IPv6 transition and we liked Migrating to IPv6 so much that we order a book for each team member. This is a must have book if you are working in Networking.

Having never taken a course in computer-based dynamic modeling, this text proved to be an excellent introduction to the topic - and then some. The opening chapter clearly explains the reasons modeling is so important in our complex world, and subsequent chapters in the opening section walk the student through the basic processes of using STELLA and MADONNA to explore dynamic biological systems. (The text is supplied with a run-time version of STELLA.) Later sections build students' modeling skills by adding layers of complexity as a wide variety of biological questions are examined.

The presentation style permits exploration of so many topics by first presenting the basic elements of a model and then guiding the eager student to adjust the model to answer additional questions. Thus, the text truly has something to offer anyone interested in biological systems. Furthermore, it is not necessary to study the chapters in order. Yet the text is carefully woven with analogies so that the skills and knowledge gained from one chapter's model can easily be directed to building and solving those in other chapters.

I also found the text easy to follow during lectures. As the models were presented in class, the equations and the figures in the text - both models and graphs - allowed me to focus my attention on the discussion rather than on getting the "pictures" down in my notes. The text contains plenty of white space around equations and figures so that the student can simply take notes directly onto the pages. One of the most useful features in each chapter is the box showing the equations "in the basement" of STELLA that drive the model. The text is definitely a learning tool, not simply a book to be read but not used.

"Modeling Dynamic Biological Systems" is a text that will be kept close to my computer and pulled from the shelf often. The systems thinking and independent learning encouraged by this book will be very useful as I complete my education and move into my new career.

I have used this book to learn dynamic modeling both as part of a class and in research work. This is an excellent book for beginners and professional modelers alike. The book uses STELLA, an iconographic modeling software, as the platform for learning. However, the knowledge gained through the book and the software is based on more general modeling philosophies that can be applied using other modeling software or programming languages as well. The approach used here is to learn by hands-on training through examples. One does not need to study a lot of theories to start developing models; rather the theories and principles evolve through the modeling exercises. It is not required, though advisable, to purchase the software to go through the examples as the book comes with a run-time version of STELLA.

Another aspect of the book that I found to be interesting is that after going through the initial few chapters, the rest of the book can be studied in any order. It includes a host of examples from various areas of biological sciences and it is possible to focus on one's area of interest - be it population dynamics, genetics, environmental pollution or epidemics. It gives a fair introduction to spatially dynamic modeling as well. I must also mention that one does not need to be a biologist to use this book. I have had friends with economics and engineering backgrounds who used this book to learn dynamic modeling.

One of the most important strengths of this book is that it is easy enough to be accessible to people from a wide range of disciplines and at the same time advanced enough to expose the user to moderate to highly complex modeling challenges. I strongly recommend this book to academics who are teaching dynamic modeling and anyone else who is involved in research that include dynamic processes and interactions. This book teaches dynamic modeling as a versatile tool - so much so that I even used it (for fun) to model my personal finances!

I suggest that the reader take a systematic approach to study this book while sitting in front of the computer and doing the examples as you go along. This will maximize the learning from this book. This is certainly one of the most practical books on modeling that I have come across.

The increasing interconnectedness and complexity of ecological and biological systems is undoubtedly increasing the potential environmental consequences of our decisions. Thus the growing importance of improving our understanding of the characteristics and internal relationships that govern the system's behavior. Hannon and Ruth clearly illustrate how we can think about problems from a `dynamic systems' perspective, and how we can use technical programs to apply this new way of thinking as a tool to model biological systems. They present the means to build a greater understanding of the phenomena we see, the context of the problems that confront us, and the potential and expected effects of any interventions we may make.

Like the book's theoretical foundations, the modeling software used is both user-friendly for easy up-take by beginners, and sufficiently powerful for those at a more advanced level needing a robust software package. The reader is actively guided through the model development, simulation and interpretation process. This learning by participation and experience increases the readers understanding of the wide variety of contexts in which modeling techniques can be applied, and how to apply them.

Those interested in biological issues will find this valuable from the practical biological examples that are used, and the novel approach in which these issues are addressed. These range from spatial and population dynamics, to models of organisms, genetic movements and physical systems.

Further, the clarity of writing, and the familiarity of the examples and problems addressed, makes this an enjoyable educational experience for all people interested in developing a new perspective of the environment in which they live and work.

Perhaps most importantly, the analogical strength of the techniques used and models developed is such that researchers in all fields of academia, from economics to sociology, will benefit from it. It challenges us to re-examine how we define the problems we seek to solve, and to discipline our existing conceptualization of systems. It presents us with tools that challenge, yet compliment and strengthen traditional scientific approaches.

Modeling Dynamic Biological Systems is a wonderful book for students and researchers interested in learning about dynamic modeling. I used this book in the first class I took dealing with dynamic modeling and found it very easy to understand and follow. The basic design of the book is to introduce the basic concepts of dynamic modeling and how to get started designing models in STELLA. Descriptions for designing models and the example models are based on STELLA modeling software, an intuitive iconographic program that allows even non-technical readers to begin modeling quickly. After the introduction to dynamic modeling the book is divided up into parts based on different areas of biology: Physical and Biochemical Models, Genetics Models, Models of Organisms, Single Population Models, Multiple Population Models, and Catastrophe and Self-Organization. In each of these parts there are a number of models dealing with different issues. The models are clearly explained and both the iconographic diagram and the equations are given so users can create the example models from the book or check their own work.

This book is a great resource for both novice and experienced modelers. Biologists from all areas will find this useful if they are interested in learning about dynamic modeling. Even if one's area of interest is not exactly one of the areas focused on in the book, the skills and basic method of dynamic modeling will be learned and the reader can then apply these to their area of interest. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in dynamic modeling, even non-biologists. With its great examples and clear explanations this makes a great resource for learning about dynamic modeling.

This book is a concise, effective introduction to dynamic systems modeling
and how it can be used to provide insight to biological problems. The use
of dynamic modeling is demonstrated through example models, a new model
each chapter. The authors walk the reader/student through each model and
then make suggestions as to how it can be further exploited for greater
understanding of the problem. The greatest aspect of this book lies in
its demystification of computer modeling in general and shows that any
person, no matter their quantitative skills, can effectively model a
system by adhering to certain fundamentals. The models that are provided
range from ecosystems to individual cells, espousing a 'systems' approach
to every level of biology. Overall, this book is easy to understand; providing a mental tool by which one can bring greater clarity to complex, dynamic problems.

Not a beginner's book: The technologies presented are relevant to (gasp) some real life problems. The treatment of Distributed Constraint Satisfaction problems was well written and usable. The initial treatment of all subjects was broad, delving into details after laying a sound foundation. Assumes a bit of mathematical sophistication on the part of the reader, but on the whole, well written, well organized and well worth it.

I have been using this book probably for an year now, and this has become indispensable to my work. The collection of authors in this book reads as an 'who's who' in multiagent systems and distributed AI research. Although, its' difficult to maintain continuity in edited books, the editor has done an commendable job. The authors provide a readable introduction to their area of expertise, and supplement them with an excellent bibliography...enough to get u started fast.

Thogh edited the book looks like a single authored text. The definitions are clearly presented with illustrations. The presentation is highly comprehensive. The book is thus highly readable with minimum effort. I liked the chapters on distributed problem solving and planning (Chapter 3),Learning in multiagent systems (chapter 6), Formal methods in DAI: Logic based representation and reasoning (chapter 8)and Groupware and computer supported cooperative work (chapter 10) very much.Readers of diverse interest in distributed artificial intelligence will find the other chapters equally interesting and useful.The book should be on the desk of anyone interested to learn the concepts of multiagent systems and technology.

While perhaps this should not be your first book in AI, it should definitely be your first book on agents. It took me years to accumulate the knowledge present in this book, and it's a great survey of the field for the beginning investigator. However, while this is a great way to get started in agents, understand how agents can be used in intelligent applications (from distributed AI type problem solving, to resource optimization problems), and "get the agent paradigm," coverage of agent software engineering techniques is light. This is not a fault of this book - you will simply need other resources to understand the difficulties and current research in engineering multi agent systems (or indeed any concurrent distributed system). So if you are trying to figure out what to do with agents, or how agent systems work, this is the book for you. If you already know that and want help with formal specification of an agent, verifying your agents meet the specifications, etc. this is not the book for you. Understand that to build systems you will need both!

This is one out of very few books that exist on multiagent systems and distributed artificial intelligence which won't take for granted the reader. It has really taken me from elementary concepts up to industrial applications, passing over the actual "nitty gritty" of programming an agent. Many papers on artificial intelligence are just too mathematical for many readers, and those which have any application would describe what the program does, but only sometimes you get into knowing *how* the program does the trick. I personally would say the book is a "must-have-it", not only for those seeking to understand in concrete distributed artificial intelligence or multiagent systems, but also for any mathematician, physicists, computer scientists and engineer whose background touches somehow the concepts of artificial intelligence as a whole. Come to think of it, even any cunning philosopher of science could take real advantage of this book. Now then, concerning those industries which would like to have this book on their shelves, they would have to take in mind that this book is a departure point. A good one, but nevertheless only the start for deepening towards a concrete application the industry would have in mind.