Tools Books

It is refreshing to see that there exists a book on the market which examines the physical remains of Ancient Egyptian tools and not just the by-products of manufacture. Voice is given to the ancient smiths by letting the Ancient Egyptian depictions of their metal-workings speak for themselves, in private tombs stretching from the Old Kingdom to the New Kingdom, as well as the informative accompanying hieroglyphic inscriptions. Every kind of manufacture is considered in this well documented book. A must for all interested laypeople and scholars.

This is a classic manual of practical mechanical engineering originally published in 1867 by Virtue Brothers and Company of London, England. If you've ever worked in old fashion manufacturing then you'll identify with this book. It comes from a time when men with mechanical aptitude could do anything from scratch with a minimum of outside help. Everything in this little book is written with an eye towards specific applications in industry- this isn't empty theory. Indeed, this one book covers just about every practical mechanism needed to run just about any Victorian manufactory.

The first part of the book covers the fundamentals of mechanical design and kinematics. This is done with only simple shop mathematics. Basic definitions and formulas are given. The elements of levers and linkages are covered. Gears and gear trains are covered next. Pulleys and belts are the next subject. This is followed by the windlass and capstan. Variable motion using unusual wheel and gear shapes, sliding linkages, Roemer's wheels, eccentric escapements, etc. is next. Intermittent and reciprocating motion by wheels, geneva mechanisms, mangle wheels and racks, crown wheels, etc. follows. Sliding motion via inclined plane, screw, wedge, and cam is the next area covered (with special emphasis upon the screw press.) Escapements and pendulums of the type used in clockwork mechanisms are next. The following section covers flywheels, centripetal governors, and safety valves. Part One finishes up with mechanisms for modifying or translating motion such as sun and planet wheels, levers of Lagarouse, spiral cams, swash plates, and both Watt's and White's parallel motions.

The second part of this book covers a multitude of machines used in manufacturing, construction, and domestic purposes. First come winches and cranes. Next follows pile engines, hand jacks, the patent excavator (steam shovel), railway uncoupling, and dredging machines. Then a section of machine tools are covered (drilling machines, foot-lathes, punching machines, shears, and sawmills. Next is the smoke jack (a type of hot-air engine.) The common clock is then treated. The following section deals with hydraulic machines from suction pumps to presses. There is a good coverage next of water wheels and waterpower. Screw propellers for ships are then covered, as well as the water turbine. Motion of water in pipes and channels is next. The following section is a detailed examination of machine tools (engine lathes, planers, shapers, slotting machines, and shearing machines.) Textile machines for carding and spinning follow. Riveting machines for boilers and other large vessels are covered. Next we have extensive coverage of steam engines (including slide-valves, boilers, boiler feeders, and pressure gauges.) Then there is an entire chapter on the process and machinery of sugar refining. A full chapter on calculation of work and its hindrance by friction follows. Then comes a full chapter on pottery manufacture. Finally there is a concluding chapter on the theory and practice of metal cutting machinery (mostly lathes, shapers, and gear cutters- the horizontal universal milling machine does not seem to be covered or anticipated.)

All of these topics are illustrated with a multitude of crisp, sharp line drawings. You are not provided with specific dimensions since these are concept drawings- you where expected to be able to think for yourself when it came to implementation. I am convinced that an intelligent practical engineer could reconstruct the entire Industrial Age from this single, comprehensive little manual.

The book comes in two volumes and consists essentially of solicited articles on various topics central to or important in institutional and evolutionary economics. The books therefore have entries on topics such as lock-in effects, Thorstein Veblen, old and new institutional economics, etc generally written by people who are active in research in that area.

The book is terrific for orienting oneself in these growth areas of economic research, and would be an important reference for university libraries. At the price, it would be prohibitive for most students but would be useful for academics specializing or developing an interest in this area.

The entries are followed by a bibliography to assist you in chasing up further levels of detail as required after reading an entry of interest.

Some entries (Eg Macroeconomics) have several entries from several authors, and it is quite interesting to see the different points of views taken.

This dictionary is an invaluable source of information for the translator of technical terms. It as also a must for any manufacturers library to ensure that requests for information, quotations and technical descriptions from all customers can be understood and actioned immediately. The dictionary is very simple to use and cross reference system is an excellent idea. I would receommend this reference manual without reservation.

Cynthia has recorded an artful path with specific tools to help you make very real changes in how you are in the world. She is a gentle guide that coaches a comprehensive way to get from where you are to where you want to be in realizing your dreams. Cynthia combines guided meditations, helpful suggestions and a vision of abundance. I highly recommend this tape for individuals that are feeling stuck or need a boost to create greater properity in life.

I love this book. All the normal religious mumbo jumbo is missing from this book. This book is about a new process of partner assisted meditation called a "Dyad". Meditation alone is not enough to break down sterotypes and mind games. The properly trained partner can help in the navigation to the true inner self. The Dyad process is used at 3 day Enlightenment Intensives to reach personal bedrock truth. This well written book will allow you to understand Enlightenment Intensives on a practical level that you can use and not just read about. This book is what our culture has needed for years.

This is a good book to learn about Estimation of Distribution Algorithms (EDAs or also called DEAs or Iterated DEAs). These algorithms are similar to evolutionary algorithms, but do not use the crossover or mutation operators of evolutionary search. EDAs instead create a probabilistic model of good solutions and use the model to generate new search points. It's a nifty idea and it works.

Most of the chapters of this edited collection were authored or coauthored by the editors. So, algorithms developed by other people do not get a lot of attention. However, the editors (or is it the authors) manage to include chapters on combinatorial, continuous, and discrete optimization.

There is a section on machine learning applications that is OK, but the last chapter on training neural nets with EDAs is very weak (look ma I used this and it worked...). Except for this chapter, the rest of the chapters in this section use careful experiments and statistics to make their points.

Making the source code available would have improved things and would make it easier for people to try these algorithms.

Ethics in the Workplace: Tools and Tactics for Organizational Transformation is for any middle-management business executive who seeks an interdisciplinary text considering ethical change agents and their work - and for any college-level course on the subject. It uses ethical research results from social science, psychology, social psychology and more and provides modern case studies based on recent events. Plenty of room here for in-depth classroom discussion and debate.

Professor Lawerance H. Keeley research into Microwear Analysis is brilliant. A pioneer in this field. Out side of Archaeologist and Anthropologist few people realize just how much information can be obtain about the past by studying ancient stool tools. One can determine the use of Stool Tools from studying the flint tools under magnification of 100's to 400's, the polishes, striations and breakage patterns. Its amazing to me studying these tools and the technologies of ancient man. A important discovery was the correlation between detail patterns of microwear on flint tool edges and the material worked by that edge. I love this book! It is a great resource for my research.

Technical, easy to read, it has alot of good information. Good job.