Computer Science Books

This book is filled with true stories of the deadly and costly consequences of computer systems gone haywire. It is not technical and does not contain alot of techo-babble. Instead it deals with subjects such as surgical procedures gone wrong, airplane crashes, military mistakes, cases of mistaken identity and more...all caused by the misuse of computers or the misguded ideas of humans who use them. The author is a TV news reporter who presents this like an investigative reporter. However, he offers solutions and expert opinions on how to prevent each of these diasters from happening again. The question is: Is anybody listening ?

I like reading real-life experiences used to illustrate a technical point rather than a dry dissertation. Like 1 of the other reviewers - I feel that this title should be reprinted but it should be updated and revised in light of changes in the software/hardware/systems world since the time it was published. AND it needs to have both an index and pointers to sources (i.e. footnotes, bibliography, etc.) The lack of the latter 2 items diminished the usefulness of the book for me as I could not follow up/get more in-depth information and I could not easily find a particular fact or passage I wanted to find in the book.

I wrote this for the other entry at Amazon.com with the same title, same author, different subtitle. This book should be reprinted. With the upcoming Y2K bug as well as other incidents of software creating problems for people's lives, this book is necessary reading. It contains actual real life information about the extent of the problem and how a society that relies on computers as much as ours does is vunerable.

This book should be reprinted. With the upcoming Y2K bug as well as other incidents of software creating problems for people's lives, this book is necessary reading. It contains actual real life information about the extent of the problem and how a society that relies on computers as much as ours does is vunerable.

This book is designed and written for higher education institutions which are considering or are engaged in distance education as a new education communications channel. The book's greatest strength is that it contains perspectives from many different individuals who are actively involved in distance education. The topics cover many different areas such as: defining distance education, implications for higher education, attraction of online distance education, future of distance education, faculty perceptions of distance education, teaching effectiveness, strategies for success, service providers for distance education, quality assurance issues, success factors, and many others.

Those in higher education will often adopt a new technology without fully investigating the potential and cost of the technology. This book has an excellent section on the benefits and disadvantages of using distance education. It is noted that distance education is not a panacea but it is another useful technology that can be used to enhance learning and meet needs of students who are not able to attend a traditional class-learning environment.

The reader was very impressed by the excellent end of chapter references. This will allow anyone who desires to investigate more fully the issues raised in the book to do so. The chapters dealing with various distance education delivery models and implementation will be useful to those who wish to move forward with this technology in their organization.

The reader highly recommends that those interested in distant education take the time to read this book before they embark on distance education. The book will help to minimize "re-inventing the wheel" and thus save time, money and effort.

This book provides an outstanding range of ideas, research, and insights into distance learning programs. The book is enlightening about how to improve distance teaching and learning, the design of these programs, their successes and failures, and how they are impacting institutions of higher education,

This is a great book for anyone considering setting up a distance learning program. The authors are even-handed in their treatment of issues that must be dealt with and provide practical advice for implementing a distance learning program.

The eyes of University Presidents and Vice-Chancellors all around the world light up as they think of those hundreds of millions of potential students out there, just waiting to pay money to study at their Universities - "If just 1% of them came here.... $$$$!!! Information Technology via the Internet and on-line delivery of our courses - will that provide the answer?" As Universities (and other educational institutions) rush to establish a presence in the "virtual" education market, often building Internet classrooms that in many cases resemble the "Field of Dreams" model - "build it and they will come" (they don't, and won't, of course) this book is a welcome steadying contribution.

Let me declare an interest before going any further - I am the author of a chapter in this book. That said, the book provides a serious collection of research articles aimed at making some early sense out of this fast-growing area. It is important to remember it is early days yet and much of the research conducted to date, and the practice, is preliminary - a problem compounded by the rapidly changing technology.

While most of the chapters in the book paint a generally optimistic picture, there are many problems, pitfalls and dilemmas identified. These range from restrictions and difficulties involved in state financing of education, through the difficulty of authenticating student work and testing of students, technological limitations, special dedication and skill attributes required in students, the suitability of some courses to remote delivery, to library strategies. This suggests that at least in the eyes of these practitioners (and most of them are) it will be far from plain sailing. Somebody needs to tell those Presidents!

There are several chapters that provide guidance in (very early) "best practice" and these present a useful if somewhat disjointed guide for those considering running such courses. Perhaps a future work could attempt to establish a "best practice" manual, although as the courses come to conform to a standard blueprint the competitive edge will blur.

For academics the book identifies many areas for additional research. These include further work in the potential take up of on-line education by both students and Universities, the influence of the isolation effect, measurement of learning achievements, and interaction of students with the technology.

Overall the book offers a very good collection of experience and research. There is much more work to be done and many more experiences to be had. Uninversity management (and many academics ) will push to move ahead - there could be a lot of fallout, but in the end is it just possible this could be the University of the future? For a small percentage of students - maybe.

Clear, non-technical descriptions of telecommunication terminology and concepts are what the reader can expect from this title. It covers LANS, WANS, voice, data, and standards.

There are so many Telcomm terms and there are more every year. It's always good to have a easy-to-read technical reference book like this one. It's easy to read even for a Taiwanese! :-)

Btw, I hope there will be revised version of this book every two or three year. Thank you Mr. Muller, the author of the book, for providing the nice book.

This is a remarkably good reference work, especially considering (or because?) it is the work of one person (and no doubt a good editor). The articles are long enough to cover complex topics yet focused enough to provide a handle on the subject. Muller has an excellent sense of proportion. He offers succinct synopses of technical matters without getting bogged down in stuff only an engineer would understand. You can get a quick overview of "distance learning" and "outsourcing," on the one hand, or PCS 1900 and CDMA on the other. And all of it is very well and clearly written. Useful for anyone in the industry, or just for the curious.

This book it's has to be in every engeener desktop and also it's a great dictionary for universities stands and for students tools.

Dr. Clark's book is an easy-to-read guide on how to design training according to the five types of content: procedures, factual information, concepts, processes and principles. She clearly defines each type and then explains to the reader how to design learning based on the "remember level" (memorization by learner) and the "apply level" (application by learner). Dr. Clark gives examples on how to assess each type of content and guides the reader through each chapter with a "visual" - a chart which she fills in as the reader progresses through the book.

One of the instructional designers at our college is leaving to head the implementation of an online program at another college. I bought her this book as a going-away gift because it is an essential tool for every one who designs learning. This resource should be in every college's, instructional designer's and instructor's library. It is well worth the price.

Dr. Clark's instructional methods in this book describe five different areas: facts, concepts, processes, procedures and principles of technical training. It summarizes and applies current research that illustrates instructional strategies allowing instructional designers to better grasp these training processes. I liked the way she applied these instructional methods in a clear-cut, uncomplicated way throughout the book.

I've been using Dr. Clark's method of instructional design since 1992 to develop training materials targeted at highly-skilled software engineers. Again and again, students have commented on the way these course materials are not only helpful during class, but also later as reference materials when they're trying to apply what they've learned.

Be warned: Developing these kinds of "information mapped" training materials requires more effort than simply throwing together some PowerPoint slides with a few bullet items. But trust me, your students will thank you.

This book provides all the instructional design details for the five content types. It describes the what and why of instructional design and describes how to display it on paper and a computer screen. There is a full chapter dedicated to CBT design. I am recommending this book as required reading for all our trainers.

I am second year student in Electrical Engineering. I used the book to prepare for my Digital Design exam last semester. Passed with almost 100% :)
Now I read the book for a second time, expecially the last chapters. I think this is a great book if you want to understand the basics of the Digital D&A.
You will find almost everything, from basic boolean algreba to CPLD and FPGA structure and functions. The explanations are very clear with a lot of graphics.

In conclusion: This is a TOP 1 Book for everyone who enters (and not only) the amazing world of Digital D&A. I can only recommend it.

Provides a superb one semester introduction course into the field of digital logic design. Enough material to provide a good reference for use in later practice.

number system, boolean algreba,karnaugh map , flip flop, system design,

Excellent book for entry level to digital design. Serves very well as reference guide for the basics on digital design. Lots of solved problems and problems to do. Some math that you can go into or skip.

i have over 10 books in DSP all are the most famous ones, but this book is really really special, in the way it explains the subject.
i do not normally write reviews but i feel obligated to praise this book and its authors, very well done.
it is just the talent of teaching which makes all the difference between books.
this book delivers very well, crystal clear and insightful.
thanks for the authors.
digital signal processing by Steven Smith is also a great book.
both books are for beginers who seeks true understanding.

This book is an excellent book to learn the basics of DSP. The book covers all the necessary content (sampling, aliening, FIR/IIR filters, Analog filters, continuous and discrete signals in systems, and more) required to understand the basics of DSP. The authors have included material on often not covered topics such as undersamping and practical uses that make this well rounded reading. The content is not "stuffy" (e.g. "clearly", "therefore", etc.) that is on light-hearted side of humorous. A good coverage of practical DSP implementation on microcontrollers is included (notably the Motorola 68HC16 16-bit microcontroller). All first time students of DSP and aspiring DSP professionals should have this book along with Rick Lyons, "Understanding Digital Signal Processing" in their library!

It's readable, enjoyable, humorous, solid. Along with "DSP First" and Ken Steiglitz' book, this is as good as it gets. And the "DSP Guru" cartoons - what a crackup, excellent. Never mind the "microcontroller" part of the title - this is a book for anyone, on any platform, needing a good, fun intro to DSP.

I've owned this book for 5 years now. With that perspective, I think it's greatest strength is its "readability"- not something you normally associate with DSP books! Deller and Grove do a terrific job of explaining BASIC dsp concepts from the ground-up while avoiding high-level math (for the most part).

I rank it above Steven Smith's DSP book since it has more clarity and detail. Richard Lyon's "Understanding DSP" has more mathematical details, but it's not as user-friendly as this book-so I'd recommend this book first for newbies to DSP and then, Lyon's book.

Oh yeah, the cartoons are great too!

This book is a great reference book for basic science information. We also use it as a science text book for the kids when they're kindergarten through about third grade. It is well organized, has great pictures, and is easy for the kids to understand. There are many times when I ask the kids to pick out a book to read. They'll pull this book off the shelf and pick a subject that they want to read about. It's a great book for all ages. The pictures help keep the little ones interested, the information on each page is easy to understand, and they give just enough information on each subject to answer the questions my kids have.

I love this book almost as much as the original E.Encyclopedia.
It's highly educational, in my opinon. Parents and Kids will love it. I could spend hours reading this, and you may too.

This is the second joint project after the reference book e.encyclopedia was published in October 2003. Both books feature websites enhanced by Google. Keywords in this book direct children to exclusive DK/Google websites where they connect to pre-selected relevant and authoritative websites.

The DK/Google e.encyclopedia science website is free and children can access information once they have this book. Once they get to the sites they can watch videos, listen to sounds through sound buttons, take virtual tours, read real-time reports, access databases and take interactive quizzes.

There are 8 core sections to explain and explore over 220 science topics.

Matter and Materials
Forces and Energy
Electricity and Magnetism
Space
Earth
Plants
Animals
Human Body

This has to be one of the most beautiful books DK has ever created. The colors are vibrant and the section on Space is bursting with spiral galaxies and pictures of space exploration. If you are interested in Volcanoes, you can turn to the Earth section. You can read about the eruption on Mount St. Helens and see pictures before and after volcanic eruptions.

In the Health Section, children can learn about exercise, hygiene and diet. I found the information on the futuristic nanorobots in the bloodstream fascinating.

Every section has a bold heading and interesting definition. Then, there are pages and pages of full-color pictures that can keep your attention for hours at a time. I wish we had owned a book like this when I was a child because it would have given me an information base to build on in future years. Although I must say, I think adults will find this equally fascinating. Children are always asking questions and now you can find all the answers, complete with pictures.

Fascinating Pictures:

Mangrove Roots growing upwards in coastal swamps
Tigers
Monarch Butterflies
Cross-section of a Tide Pool
High-Tech Imaging
Eye of the Storm - Hurricanes
Limestone Caves

This book also answers the following questions:

Why can an opera singer shatter glass with a single note?
How do sea organisms make their own light?
How can we reduce pollution by using Renewable Energy?
What is the lightest substance on earth and why can it float on air?

I can highly recommend this beyond amazing book to parents, teachers and librarians. E-encyclopedia is a learning resource that is not limited to just the book. While the book provides a solid grounding and interesting facts, it is actually a springboard to the Internet Universe.

~The Rebecca Review

I bought this Science Encyclopedia along with their basic Encyclopedia and I truly love it. My kids are always reading it whenever they get the chance. I have a 5 minute session after lunch before my class leaves to go to "specials." During that 5 minute teaching period I have been letting them pick out one subject area from one of the encyclopedias and then we review how to read nonfiction while looking over that subject briefly. I am amazed to see the sparks that start flying and how interested in all of the subjects the students have been. The pictures are wonderful and help students to connect with the information they are reading. I will buy more sets for my classroom because they are always in use!!!!

The topic of microarray image analysis has always been on the backburner. However, it is a very crucial step in the microarray experiment and image analysis is misunderstood by many colleagues. This book covers the basics of microarray image analysis, as well as some advanced topics. It is a really helpful reference. Good to include in class studies.

To my knowledge this is the first book to appear focusing on analysis of microarray images, though the topic is commonly addressed to some extent in general books on microarray technology. Because microarray technology evolves so quickly, books such as this one are almost of necessity put together in a hurry. Unfortunately, the hurry really shows in this case. In addition to the grammatical problems all too common in scientific texts, there are technical inconsistencies. For example, the term "signal to noise ratio" is defined at three places in the book, with three different definitions. First, we are told (chapter two, page 38) that the signal to noise ratio is defined as the ratio of mean signal to mean error. Later (chapter five, page 86), the signal to noise ratio is defined as signal (minus background), divided by the standard deviation of background. Finally (chapter six, page 101) tells us that the signal to noise ratio "can be estimated by computing the peak signal divided by the variation in the signal." Only that part of the discussion starting on page 86 is included in the index.

Chapter one provides an introduction to microarrays. Chapter two introduces image analysis with a focus on issues pertinent to micro array analysis, though it is not perfectly customized as background for the other chapters. For example, though Chapter two's appendixes include Fourier analysis, this is not really used explicitly further in the book. The next three chapters concern microarray scanning. They are each written by groups at different commercial firms, and they provide vendor oriented views. These chapters are redundant in the sense that they all cover the same topic, but taken as a whole, they provide some balance. It might be preferable to have an academic team write a single, more objective chapter, but it's understandable to take this approach in the interest of timeliness. Chapters six and seven are the ones that directly address image processing. Though Chapter seven is entitled "microarray data normalization", it really provides the most detailed information about image processing and analysis. Two short chapters cover a comparison of commercially available software and a brief overview of information workflow. The final chapter on bacterial artificial chromosomes is a general (and worthwhile) overview of that application, but it is not particularly focused on image analysis.

The book is concise (it took me about eight hours to read it cover to cover) and the price is right (under $30 at amazon.com). The editors and author are to be congratulated on producing a timely book, and I'm delighted that the publisher has made it so affordable. Keep up the good work.

DNA Array Image Analysis is the most comprehensive book that I have read, dealing with Microarray analysis topic. My background is in genomics, which is too far away from statistics. Nevertheless, this book gave me a very nice perspective on statistical approaches for microarrays. Recommend it to all, especially for those who are running microarray facilities.

DNA microarrays form an indispensable tool in molecular biology, allowing researchers to gain insight into the intricate mechanisms of gene expression. Microarray technology also aids the researcher in transforming and supplementing data available on genes and cells into useful information about gene expression, and ultimately, cellular biology.
cDNA arrays experiments use many gene-specific polynucleotides derived from the ends of RNA transcripts. These are arrayed on a single matrix and simultaneously probed with a fluorescently tagged cDNA representation of total RNA pools from test and reference cells. This allows one to determine the relative amount of transcript present in the pool by the type of fluorescent signal generated. Thus, the relative message abundance is based on a comparison of the test cell state to a reference cell state. Common to all array-based technologies is the need to analyze digital images of the scanned DNA array.
Shishir Shah is an Associate Professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, and is the author of numerous publications on image analysis and data mining, while Gerda Kamberova is an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at Hofstra University, New York, where she teaches computer vision, computer graphics, and artificial intelligence. With this book, the authors address the fact that the topic of microarray image processing is usually neglected due to the availability of various software tools for image processing. The focus of microarray bioinformatics today is data analysis, but how can one be certain that the data obtained through image analysis of a microarray experiment through is of high quality? How can one perform data mining on data derived from different microarray technologies, where microarray images were analyzed with different image analysis softwares?
In Kamberova's introductory chapter, she describes the basics of image analysis for molecular biology researchers. Although some of the formulas in her chapter may seem intimidating to many biologists, they are necessary to fully understand the subject. However, the mathematical load in this book is concentrated in this chapter, and the text thereafter becomes very friendly, with more advanced discussions saved for an appendix.
Chapters on the design and performance of CCD and laser microarray scanners serve as a forum for three companies representing a good cross-section of the technology in the microarray arena. The book then moves on to spot finding and segmentation issues with tips for practical image analysis. Quality control of image analysis is discussed at the application level.
Elsewhere, Kamberova and Shah have invited a team from Fox Chase Cancer Center to discuss aspects of image background corrections and data normalization. Another interesting aspect of this publication is the inclusion of statistical comparison of data generated by various softwares. Finally, Shah's chapter on BAC arrays and image analysis is of particular interest because it is a new application gaining momentum in the microarray field.
This book emphasizes aspects of both theory and application and therefore, can be used for teaching as well as self-study. It will be a useful reference not only for computer and biology scientists, but also for anyone using or interested in microarray technology.

Although this book wasn't published yesterday it is worth buying used. Of particular interest is the chapter entitled "Waiting for the Messiah" which does a wonderful job of addressing the nature of consciousness.

Indeed this is the best book I've ever read. The ideas discussed in this book have never been better described or explained by any other author I have read. I keep this book with me very often and I am constantly going through it highlighting and writing in my own thoughts. It is written in a way that it does not bring a bias until all sides are presented well and in detail. If you are a philosophy buff like me and you haven't read this you either can't find it or can't read. buy it buy it buy it.

If I had to choose one word to describe this book it would undoubtedly be "elegant". Pagels writes about a subject that few of us consider for longer that a few seconds. And it is an important one in that it seems to counter everything most humans apparently seek - perfect order.

The subject is chaos, complexity and the realization that life cannot be compartmentalized, defined, divided into neat little sections - an idea to which we all adhere one way or another. The introduction of the computer has cast a new, enormous wrinkle into the mix. For the first time we can simulate reality (indeed, life itself down to the cellular structure) and make predictions of complex phenomena.

He also espouses something quite original in his dicussion of that ancient brain vs mind question. He believes that until the mind is understood on a PHYSICAL basis it is useless to make conjectures on mental or even philosophical bases. Other subjects - consciousness, linear approaches, and even a historical analysis of the meaning of science - perhaps one of the best discussion in the entire book. His remarks on the great Karl Popper and how his works revolutionized the approach to the science world is worth the price of the book alone.

The last chapter on historical scientific creativity is a gem that should be required reading for every high school senior.
Get this book now.

This is a nicely written book. I read it a while ago but this one makes you think and reconsider what you believed. The late, Pagels, (yes, he expired on a mountain climbing expedition), is actually a physicist and like some other physicists, gives a philosophical touch to the issues. Its alot of fun reading him coz he doesnt just blabber but has put his thoughts in a very neat manner. His 'cosmic code' is also a good one. Quoting something from this one (this is actually his friends' reflections) "there are some things in the universe that man was never meant to know".

I thought this was an excellent source of informaion. I used it for a class and earned an A. Very thorough and easy to understand. Lay terms are frequently used and I found I learned a lot and found it very valuable.

An excellent general overview, covering drug use and regulation, pharmacological basics, in-depth analyses of the legal drugs, tranquilizers and stimulants, narcotics, hallucinogens, and marijuana, and comments on "a rational look at drug use." Well-documented with an abundance of relevant quotes and statistics; a rich set of references follow each chapter.

I bought this book to study for a quiz-out test for my Psych major. I read through three chapters the first time I picked it up. I usually have to force myself to complete an assignment, but with this book I just kept reading with no pushing whatsoever! I highly recommend this book to anyone taking a class in this subject, whether or not it is the required text. It would be a great additional information source. It is helpful if you or someone you know may be going through any type of drug or alcohol treatment--from caffeine to heroin. I also enjoyed the online quizzes you are allowed to access once you have the book. It really enforces what you have learned.

This book is the source for unbiased information on the sociological, psychological, pathological effects of "drugs" - this compendium covers everything from caffeine to antipsychotics to alcohol to psychedelics and everything in between. A review of the history of each drug introduces each chapter. Careful attention is paid to not only the effects of the drugs themselves, but the effect which they have on our laws and the way in which treat addiction.

As a former student of Dr. Ray's I can attest to the thoroughness of this work. It is the one book that doesn't tell you what to think about drugs - it provides you with the data to be informed to make your own decision. In fact the DEA uses this book in training! If you are looking for a comprehensive resource for school, your own interest, or just to be informed to talk to your kids, look no further.