Departments Books

This book is an incredible story that is beyond entertaining. This series of books details the incredible adventures of men trying to keep our country safe during a time when this is a very important issue. The threats are real and reading this book, I feel the the story and action could be real. The characters are grounded in real life and I think thats what makes it so appealing.

Harriman is a super writer and has a keen wit. I just finished this and really enjoyed the story. This is a page turner, and set in SW US border area. Book is very into (accurate) detail such a the gear the ex-seals carry and geography of the area. Strongly advise this book for you action adventure types. Part of what I like best about the author is a happy ending.

A page turner, granted it's nothing really new if you read Marcinko, McNabb, Weisman... But you get what you came for. The shopping list gets a little tiring though, brand name dropping at every chance.

This in some ways was better than the debut novel.

I will be very much looking forward to reading more from this series. Hollywood execs need to take a close look at making this into a series of movies.

If you are a fan of action and adventure - then this one should be right up your alley.

While we watch 'The Minutemen' and debate their worth, illegals of all calibres are slipping into this country at an alarming rate. With Homeland Security unable or unwilling to stem this flow, 'Home Team-Hostile Borders' tells a frightening tale of what can easily be our next worst nightmare.

The wealthy in and around Philadelphia's main line are termed The 400; they are the elite class or the black Bourgeoisie. Set in the 1950's in the town of Ardmore, Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia, CHASING THE 400 by Sheilah Vance highlights the working class Marshall clan of Ardmore and more specifically Vera Marshall, the oldest of ten children.

High school senior, Vera Marshall's dream is to graduate, move into Philadelphia with her wayward Aunt, and somehow join The 400. She sets her sights on snagging an available member of The 400 and marrying him. Throughout her high school days, Vera uses her sex appeal to lure the boys for whatever her heart desires. Promiscuous, brazen and sassy, she constantly causes havoc at school between both sexes, blacks and whites. Also, her brother Bobby, a chemistry whiz, dreams of attending college and making a better life for himself. Both have the same dream but use different methods to achieve them. While Vera is calculating and cunning, Bobby is planning and organizing.

The author was reared in the area depicted; however her writing comes from the storytelling of relatives and friends who experienced this era. The imagery used is detailed as the reader travels through several small towns, in addition to Ardmore, which make up Philadelphia's main line, allowing you to visualize the homes and surrounding landscape. CHASING THE 400 provides historical insight into a class of people whose shortcomings are exposed by their greed and snobbery and a working class of people whose desires manifest themselves through manipulation and also, honest work. CHASING THE 400 is a fast-paced and enlightening read with lively characters that you will find yourself cheering on through their struggles and triumphs.

Reviewed by Dawn R. Reeves
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

I was pleasantly surprised with this book. The characters are very believable and they certainly do suffer the consequences of their actions. But they seem to rise above the obstacles and succeed!
It was really a good read!

I haven't read a novel in years. I can honestly say that this book warrants an "I couldn't put it down"rating. Every opportunity that I had I immersed myself in the imagery of this novel. My mind was made happy. Some of the inner workings of the plot not provided to the reader were very well spun! I look forward to this novel being translated into a movie! Let's make it happen with positive reviews.

Reviewed by Mary Simmons for Reader Views (10/06)

Vera Marshall is the type of woman who doesn't take any crap from anyone. She has her goals and plans for her life and she will do anything to make them happen. Strong, gutsy and sexy, Vera knows what she wants and she knows how to get it. Her brother, Bobby, is just as ambitious in his own way, but he is quicker to admit defeat and turn his goals in another direction.

Both Vera and Bobby have big dreams, but they recognize the social barriers keeping them from easy access to their goals. While Bobby works hard trying to make his own way in the world and create his own success for the betterment of himself and his family, Vera thinks only of herself and what others can do for her.

These are two of the characters you will meet when you pick up "Chasing the 400," the debut novel of Sheilah Vance, a Pennsylvania writer who sets her first work of fiction in the Main Line and Philadelphia area where she has lived most of her life. Vance takes us back in time to the working class colored section in the Main Line community of Ardmore where the Marshalls live, work and play. The story commences in 1955 as Vera is set to graduate from Ardmore High School and draws a picture of what it must have been like in the region during the early years of the civil rights movement.

Although racial barriers are being broken down and the Marshalls attend an integrated high school, segregation is still a very real part of their lives. The streets in their communities are drawn along racial lines, white and black students do not interact with each other in the halls of their schools and department stores cater exclusively to preferred clientele. Within the black community, class distinctions are drawn. Vera, who is the daughter of a plumber, dreams of becoming a member of the 400, "an exclusive, informal collection of Philadelphia's black bourgeoisie, the talented tenth, the doctors, lawyers and other successful colored businessmen and their wives...they had to work twice as hard as whites to be considered half as good, and the 400 wanted to be considered not just good, but a credit to their race."

"Chasing the 400" is an interesting glimpse into a period of American history that cannot be ignored. It examines the motivations, struggles and successes of the people who lived and dreamed during the fight for racial equality. You will find yourself rooting for Vera and applauding her courage and confidence while wincing sometimes at her methods and attitude. She is a saucy character who makes the reading of this fascinating novel that much more enjoyable.

Chasing the 400 is an entertaining read. Vera, the book's cheeky protagonist, visualizes a life of unrestrained opportunity and excitement after graduating from high school and sets out to claim her newly gained independence with determined and enthusiastic resolve. The book absorbs you in eager anticipation as Vera's destiny unfolds. This is a perfect piece of escapism for summer reading or a morning commute.

Princeton Review: Gourman Report of Graduate Programs, 8th Edition: A Rating of Graduate and Professional Programs in American and International Uni versities ... in American and International Universities)Princeton Review: Gourman Report of Undergraduate Programs, 10th Edition: A Rating of Undergraduate Programs in American and International Universities ... in American and International Universities) As an educational professional for over thirty-years, I have used Dr. Jack Gourman's guides to select my graduate schools, to help my children select their undergraduate and graduate schools, and to help my students choose their colleges and universities. As consumers of collegiate products, most parents just accept what a school says about how good they are. Dr. Gourman (Univ of MI) furnishes us accurate information to measure school quality vs. price. Given the impact of these decisions on a child's education, Gourman has done a great public service by publishing his evaluation. It shows how far from accurate are the evaluations contained in popular "news" magazines which many depend on to make this momentous decision. Gourman's guidea are easy to use but they also contain a discussion of the methodology he uses in his analysis. This is key information for parents concerned about getting what they pay for.

I've used several major ranking references. I have found the Gourman Report to be the most accurate in rating educational institutions in terms of faculty quality and library - an often over-looked yet the MOST important resource for research in graduate schools and professional schools such as med schools, business schools and law schools.

By contrast, other ranking reports tend to put too much emphasis on subjective opinions (mostly gathered via opinion polls) in their ranking calculations. Some put almost no emphasis on the size of the library; and some calculate a "library size to student population ratio", making a lousy library of a small school seems better than a good library of a big school.

I have encountered many disenchanted students at small private universities who are disappointed at the lack of library resources and the small selection of classes in their particular programs. Their research is slowed down or made impossible because of the inadequacy of these resources. They would have avoided such disenchantment if they had used the Gourman Report.

Jack Gourman is a former professor from the University of Michigan who compiles his rankings by calling professors in various departments at different schools and asking them which programs they think are the best in their field. Not a bad way to rank schools and programs if your sampling is statistically valid, but since Jack is vague about his methodology, we'll never know that. What we do know is that his rankings are noticeably skewed in favor of large state universities and especially the University of Michigan. For instance, most observers rank Harvard Stanford and Yale among the top three law schools, with Michigan between fifth and ninth, but Jack consistently ranks the Wolverines in the top three. (Hey! They've got a great football program, haven't they?)

This approach produces ludicrous results in his rankings of undergraduate institutions (a separate book), but is less of a problem with graduate programs which are (1) the province of larger universities, and (2) subject to fewer constraints in their acceptance of out-of-state residents.

The book is especially useful as a checklist of all of the major players in a particular discipline. Just remember to move all Big Ten schools down one to two notches, and the University of Michigan down three to four, and you'll end up with some pretty decent rankings.

Jack, you really should make your ranking available online. Otherwise, many people will not refer to it and they will miss the opportunity to access the most objective and accurate college ranking!

As an educational professional myself, I can assure that the rating provided by Dr. Gourman is certainly the most objective and well prepared of its kind. Of course, there is no equal to the National Research Council study conducted every 10 years, but the Gourman Report certainly fills the gap.

"Law School 101" is the bible for anyone that wants to enter the field of law. R. Stephanie Good is a New York Times best selling author,
and also co-authored "Aruba. After reading Karl Hungus's review, I realized that he is most likely the guy
that did the same thing on the "Aruba" book. Karl gave it away when he supposedly
analyzed the "Aruba" book in the "Law School 101" comment. Karl stay in Aruba and we will keep boycotting your country. Never knew there was an Ohio, Aruba. LOL

Anyone wanting a book to inform and motivate your career should read "Law School 101"

I would be very suspicious of this book and its author. There are some things you should consider before you buy this book. All of the people who gave this book 5 stars (I think at least, look for yourself), have reviewed exactly two books--this book and a stupid looking book about Natalie Holloway. Each reviewer gave both books 5 stars, and both were written by the author of this book. That should make you suspect that they're either fake accounts made by the author (really slimy) or real accounts made by her friends (still really slimy). I'll never give this tool another dime. Read Planet Law School or Law School Confidential instead. Caveat emptor.

I love the way this book guided me through law school this year. My first year was hell and I found this book and made a huge turn around. It was easy reading and enjoyable, but it was also so informative that my second year was much easier to deal with. I have so many tools now to get me through the toughest things, like communicating in class, taking exams, and even just getting through the day to day stress that all of my friends and I have had to live with. I am focusing on criminal law courses and I really love being there now. Law school is nothing like college and we didn't know that until we got there. If I had it to do over again, I would have found this book and read it before I started. It really is the best one out there. Thanks so much to the author for finally telling it like it is!

This book was being carried around by just about everyone I knew this year. Word got around that it was the first real survival guide to law school. I had read some of the other books and they didn't have the same real life struggles and stories that this one does. I felt like it was written about me and because of that, I was able to follow it and learn how to make law school an incredible experience. Thanks to the author for throwing a lifesaver into the sea of muck and mire!

I bought the book for my brother who was not too happy with his decision to go to law school. He had started his first year and was really struggling. He hasn't stopped thanking me. He just finished the year out and he did very well. He said the book saved him and now he loves law school, because the book made him look at the situation realistically and helped him stay focused instead of letting the pressure get the best of him.

This book is a detailed guide on what to consider when you are thinking of outsourcing to India, but it might leave you with unanswered questions. Overall, I found the book to be a good start in my research. However, I noted that the author omits any anecdotes of project failures in India, and instead he takes the rosy view that all India projects result in lower cost and higher quality. There is little discussion on turn-over rates, which are very high in some fields and negatively impacting projects. (The fact that the author is or was the president of an Indian software association called NASSCOM may explain his positive views). The book also lacks much discussion on in-house outsourcing (using your own employees, but located in India). Finally, the book may leave you with many specific questions, such as infrastructure costs, and requirements for visiting India for business.

This book has several notable strengths. Author Mark Kobayashi-Hillary, an outsourcing consultant, combines detailed information about India with in-depth knowledge of outsourcing markets, processes and methods. He provides an overview of India and a profile of India's outsourcing industry, including the major players in a rapidly changing marketplace, important aspects of cultural awareness and thoughts on how to organize your outsourcing endeavor, including vendor selection and contract provisions. At times, the organizational structure of the book is somewhat disorienting, shifting focus from travel guide to outsourcing primer to nuts-and-bolts analysis of India's outsourcing market and how best to capitalize on it. Occasionally the narrative flow is a bit mechanical, but who really cares? If your company is considering or already has a major investment in offshore outsourcing in India, this book is an outright must read. Despite its structural flaws, we strongly recommend its authoritative blend of practical business, legal and cultural advice.

Sad but true. I read this book when we were first considering outsourcing. It sounded like a dream come true - cheap, compliant labor at bargain rates. So we jumped in, outsourcing our IT dept. and even some of our legal services.

Now we're facing half a dozen lawsuits. It seems that Indian paralegals don't understand the concept of client confidentiality. They misused some of our client's information and now we're paying the price.

If we can stay in business till '05 I plan to move everything back to Florida. Maybe I can sue the author for the lousy advice his book gives.

Not many books have been written on this subject yet, although it is becoming ever more important to companies in the West seeking to outsource work to cut costs and improve flexibility.

This book helped me enormously to understand the challenges and problems I was likely to encounter. I would recommend it to anyone who is starting to look at India.

I have read other books on this subject which are boring and content-free. This book is very readable and gives an excellent insight into where and how to take your BPO project, the issues you are likely to encounter, and into building the relationships to make an outsource project work.

There is something for everyone involved in outsourcing in this book.

Gangs of Los Angeles is a factural history of the evolution og tangs in the 20th century. It bolsters and highlights the fact that gangs are a serious growing menace and that law enforcement efforts to eradicate gangs should be given top priority by our elected officials.
Carl Fischer

With the American Mafia pretty much out of the picture, its having relocated to more white collar Wall Street crime (where there's plenty of company), the spread of gangs in the country's cities and smaller population centers where there's construction or some type of meat processing work to be had has become a real problem and a bigger threat to city life than ever before.
"The Gangs Of Los Angeles", by William Dunn, is a bit of a knock off of the classic "Gangs Of New York", but no less important or interesting. From the "Tomato Gangs" to the "West Side Story" style gangs of the late '50s, to the riots in Watts in 1965 and up to present day terrors like the Bloods and Crip gangs and Latin gangs like the dreaded MS13, Dunn paints a bleak picture, but also places the blame on lazy parenting, lack of a male authority figure and the nation's most historically corrupt and racist police force as ingredients in this violent stew that has spread nationwide.
The passion is there, the research is fine. The editing and grammar, however, are absolutely unforgivable for a published book. I have never read a book so full of misspelled words, even in direct quotes from other sources, poor punctuation, and italicizing where none is needed or makes sense. While I am the last to criticize his knowledge of his subject or his obvious concern, I recommend any further printings undergo a serious editing job. Such a botched script is insulting and costs the book two points. I'll edit a new manuscript for you, Mr. Dunn at a fair price if you're interested, because whomever your publisher and editor is, they sure aren't doing their job.

good introduction to the corrupt world of los angeles and southern/northern california - through a cops point of view. though bearly scratches the surface as to what is really going on. it felt a little biased at times and is historically inaccurate in some cases. LOTS of type-0's. almost completely neglects the asian community in the book for some reason. but all in all a good read if you are or were from LA.

I was expecting Mr. Dunn's 2nd book to be about his CRASH (LAPD gang unit) experience, similar to 'Boot' a book about his probation experience. 'Gangs of Los Angeles' is so much more. It is history, anthropology, sociology, philosophy and psychology combined with old fashioned police investigation. Mr. Dunn has contributed greatly to the study of Gangs that no academic or policy maker can ever replicate because Mr. Dunn (as well as other LAPD officers in this field) is at a vantage point not too many people are privvy to. I hope Mr. Dunn writes more books.

The US Marines have a required reading list, the LAPD should also. For any current coppers or those in the lengthy application process read (and watch):

1. Warfighting (USMC)
2. The Small Wars Manual 1940 (USMC)
3. Boot: An LAPD Officer's Rookie Year by William Dunn
4. Gangs of Los Angeles by William Dunn
5. The New Centurions by Joseph Wambaugh
6. The Choirboys by Joseph Wambaugh
7. Danger, Duty, and Disillusion: The Worldview of Los Angeles Police Officers by Joan Barker

8. Badge of Honor: An Insider's History of the LAPD (DVD)
9. LAPD: Life on the Beat (hopefully they'll come out w/ a DVD series, but for now you'll have to watch it on youtube.com or through reruns)

I read Mr. Dunn's first book BOOT and loved it. My son is a police officer and it gave me great insight. So I thought I'd read this when I found he wrote a second. he is a wonderful writer, and he brings back 1940's and 1950's Los Angeles, and the way the gang stuff was going, just as I saw it. This is a fine book and i recommend it to anyone who doesn't know anything about gangs but wants to become an expert overnight. Now i know why we have a War on Gangs.

I just happened to find this very book written by such a very experienced educator and professor. I have not yet got a chance to read this book, but I know the authors so well that I believe this book must be great! The authors had extensive experience in grad school education and had recruited and taught many bright, outstanding students, some of whom are among the best of our days now. I was lucky to be the one he picked up among hundreds of candidates and he had unfailing confidence on me so that I could perform exceptionally well, partly due to his far-sightedness in recruiting and continual support and partly due to my advisor's strong support. I am so glad to know the author could share his experience with us and I believe his book should be a must read! I will definitely read it and provide more comments later. Please feel free to write to me if you have any questions about the authors.

I just happened to find this very book written by such a very experienced educator and professor. I have not yet got a chance to read this book, but I know the authors so well that I believe this book must be great! The authors had extensive experience in grad school education and had recruited and taught many bright, outstanding students, some of whom are among the best of our days now. I was lucky to be the one he picked up among hundreds of candidates and he had unfailing confidence on me so that I could perform exceptionally well, partly due to his far-sightedness in recruiting and continual support and partly due to my advisor's strong support. I am so glad to know the author could share his experience with us and I believe his book should be a must read! I will definitely read it and provide more comments later. Please feel free to write to me if you have any questions about the authors.

I was disappointed to find this book geared more towards students who were returning to school rather than to the undergraduate seeking a higher degree. There were certain areas that were extremely helpful, while other sections were almost discouraging to the prospective student. There were sections that provided some insight into writing the statement of purpose and financial aid sources, but still seemed to be geared towards either students seeking Ph.D's or students returning to school after a period of time. I have to say I was a disappointed.

This book is perfect to give you a first glance of what is grad school like, how the admission process works and which are or are not good reasons to seek a higher degree. There is information, specifically about the admission process, which does not exist anywhere else. The only problem with this book (and others of this kind) is that it intends to cover too much and does not go deep into any topic. For example, it goes through Med school admissions, for which there is better information on many other specialized books. On the other hand, if what you're looking for is a true overview, this might be perfect for you.

If you're looking for the real thing in Ph.D.'s and M.S.'s the book you need is Robert L. Peter's "Getting what you came for". It is even recommended by the authors of the Grad School Handbook.

It goes without saying that deciding to take graduate course is one of the most serious decisions in your life. It means you decide the path the rest o life will follow. For such a critical matter, any amount of information shouldn¡¯t be enough. You should do your best in collecting information to decide whether to enter the graduate program, which school you would enroll, how you could get into that school. It¡¯s not easy task at all and demands your time and money. This book is written to help you in that process. This book opens with recommending reconsidering whether the graduate program is the right one you should choose Once you are determined, you should think what will lie in your way such as how to fund your course, how to choose the right school. And then you should prepare to documents such as application form, the statement of purpose (SOP) or essay, transcript, recommendation and GRE or GMAT score. These papers are decisive in whether you could get into wanted school and there are some rules you should keep.
This book offers you how to start the process. Yep other similar material would help you get through it. But the beauty of this book is this: this book show you how those papers would be considered in the department. In other word, this book illustrates the process from the insider¡¯s view: who read the papers and how they evaluate them. Knowing the criteria of your reader is definitely helpful to win the admission notice. And that, authors took interviews of professors and students to depict the real process.
This is a small book and you need other books to win the process. For example, you¡¯d better read some other book on writing SOP. But this is ultimately the right place to begin with.

Good little book that covers quite a lot. Gives good information on those plants in the wild that can be used for food. Along with this it gives excellent clear color close up pictures of the plants with a description of their botanical structures, habitats and distribution, edible parts and other uses such as making baskets, rope, medicines, etc. Also gives good photo descriptions of the most dangerous and poisonous plants and how to identify and recognize them.

While the book informs us about edible plants, it warns that there are similar plants that are poisonous -- and doesn't give any description for them! I'd have to be really, really hungry before I would risk using this book.

The book is small and easy to pack. Each plant has a color photo, and in most cases there is a listing of the region(s) in which the plant is found. There is a separate section for poisonous plants.

lots of good info if you spend a lot of time in woods ,or if you don't and find yourself lost ,this book might keep you alive.

The Illustrated Guide to Edible Wild PlantsThis book is very informative on edible wild plants. Recommended to those who are serious about wilderness survival and disaster preparedness.

This book was exactly what I needed. I haven't taken the test yet, but it's a great resource for studying and I have confidence that it will help give me at least a basic idea of what to expect. Shipped quickly. I'm very satisfied.

This book is accessible and covers much of the exam material in the depth you need to know it. However, it glosses over plant biology (a very major component of the exam) as well as much of the animal physiology and evolution material it contains. It was very frustrating on exam day to see all kinds of information not covered in this book -- and I'm not talking specifics here but GENERAL CONCEPTS. If your undergraduate biology study was more focused (i.e. you haven't had development or plant bio or physiology or evolution or cell bio), you're probably better off taking an in-depth review of the Campbell general biology textbook (an older edition of which I'm sure you could get cheaply and not feel bad marking up). Also, if inconsistent diagrams and lapses in text editing aren't really your cup of tea, this book might not be for you.

This is one of the best GRE subject books for any person trying to score high on the GRE exam in Biology. It covers everything you need to know in detail. The illustrations, the diagrams, the graphs, the charts, are all very helpful too. They even show you some basic math to help you understand everything better and for it to make sense for you. It has three sections Cellular and Molecular Biology, Organismal Biology, and Ecology and Evolution. I could not put it down it was so helpful and I understood everything that they wrote down. This book is very specific and as mentioned above and thorougly explains everything without you saying this is too much. There are about 14-15 practice questions at the end of each section and the answers are explained fully. The end of the book there are 200 questions that cover everything that you read in the book and the answers are again fully explained at the end. I am not a good multiple choice test taker but after reading about 10 pages on a certain topic I answered the question correctly at the end. I highly recommend this book you will definately score higher on the GRE subject. Even if you are not a good test taker you will most likely get a higher score! The book might I add is interesting to read too and is very thought provoking.

After taking the exam in December 2006, you would be better off buying and reviewing the latest version of Campbell Reece 'Biology' textbook to study for the GRE Biology Exam. This Kaplan book needs a revision as it is misrepresenting a lot of the information that was presented on the exam.

I would say that this book is good reference for a high school biology teacher.

You might as well buy any version you want for a test you will take soon, but I did find this book very helpful for reviewing without much time to do so. The situation will change when the test goes electronic, however. In that case the old versions will likely be obsolete.

This book is the only one that I can say has truly changed my view of software development.

The premise of this book matches my experience: technical communication with people is critical, and harder than communicating with the machines. Knuth carries that idea forward by one bold, logical step: in Literate Programming (LP), the main goal is to get technical ideas across to people. Programs are a co-product of the description process. This inverts the premise of JavaDoc and the like, in which human communication is incidental to the code.

A literate program, by the way, reads like a standard human document, whether an essay or an IEEE standard specification. JavaDoc output reads like an HTML dump of a cross-linked tree data structure - which it is. JavaDoc serves a valuable purpose, but does not permit system description in the order required by human reasoning.

My own experience with LP (a custom system) was very happy - I actually reached the "impossible" goal of true requirements traceability. I unified the system requirements, design, multi-language implementation, configuration control, and even tests under one document set. With HTML output, traceability was made real using interactive links. Anywhere else, traceability is mostly wishful thinking shared by the many owners of physically disconnected documents. (Process gurus - I hope you're paying attention.)

LP practice, however, has not caught on. LP, in today's form, does not support programming in the large. What LP does to the compilable form of a program brings C++ name-mangling to mind. I don't know of any WYSIWYG LP systems, so today's window-icon-mouse-pointer (WIMP) programmers will have nothing to do with it. And, ironically, the people who need the most support in communicating with their peers are the ones most resistant to tools for effective communication.

It's a grand vision and an exciting experiment. LP deserves more attention.

Writing computer programs is easy, writing programs that are useful is hard and writing programs that are very useful as well as correct sometimes seems impossible. Knuth takes this truism even further and offers up the radical notion that the very best programs are so profound that people will one day read them as one would a piece of classic literature. If the idea of curling up by the fire with a copy of The World's Greatest Programs and spending the night in a state of rapture seems absurd, you think as I did. However, after reading this book, my mind now concedes the possibility does exist. After all, most of the great works of literature describe actions, conditions and solutions (algorithms) to problems of human-human and sometimes human-god interactions. Science fiction writers and readers have known for a long time that computers are very interesting objects. Buildings, paintings or other works of art are often admired not only for their subjective beauty, but also for the talent that it took to create them. Programming ability can be admired just as easily.
However, an extremely large technical barrier exists, in that programming languages are literal, terse and lack flair. Knuth works to eliminate this problem by combining the programming and documentation languages into a structure called a WEB. He also adopts the reverse paradigm that a program should be an explanation to humans of what the computer is doing. The result does wonders for readability and introduces a bit of flair. Certainly, this is a good first step towards Knuth's ideal.
The development of TEX is chronicled in great detail. It is personally comforting to read about some of the errors made in its development. Learning that the great ones make errors provides emotional security to all who hack for fun and/or profit. Some classic programming problems are used to demonstrate exactly what literate programming is meant to be. Jon Bentley, author of the `Programming Pearls' section of "Communications of the ACM", contributes two chapters that were co-authored with Donald Knuth. These pearls demonstrate the applications of literate programming to common coding problems. All are presented in a clear, easy-to-understand style.
A bit of clever humor is also used. A WEB program is constructed from two distinct components. The Weave part explains what the program is doing, and the Tangle component produces the program. Of course, this suggests the line from Sir Walter Scott's poem Marmion, "O what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive."
I do not know whether to consider this book the product of a dreamer or a visionary. The truth, like most of the work of pioneers, is no doubt somewhere in between. My opinion is that it is more vision than dream. And is that not a common theme among the greatest works of art and literature?

Published in Mathematics and Computer Education, reprinted with permission.

There's a common misconception that Webs are analagous to technologies like Javadoc. The latter is effectively a fancy prettyprinter. The former is that, and more. A well-written web actually presents a program in a way that makes sense to the reader while providing a means to make that program also make sense to the computer. The idea being that you would be able to write code that looks like: for(i=0; i@; } so that you can defer exactly what processing an array element entails until a point where it makes sense. Since these redirections are handled by a preprocessor, there's no cost at run-time for doing that like there would be if the code were written with a function call.

This book is a collection of articles Prof. Knuth
wrote about programming. He promoted a particular
programming methodology called "literate
programming", which weaves comments into codes and
make them more readable and easier to maintain. This
book was published in 1992, but Chapter 4, "Literate
Programming", was originally published in 1984,
which was an idea way ahead of his time (JavaDoc was
first released in 1998, 12 years after the Knuth's
article). Chapter one is Knuth's Turing Award
lecture and still worth reading for his view on why
programming is an art. I was wrongly impressed that
Knuth is a very theoretical people and doesn't do
much programming. As you would discover from these
lecture and other articles in the book, he indeed
did a lot of programming and arguably in a very
clever and beautiful way, "the program of which I
personally am most pleases and proud is a compiler
I once wrote for a primitive minicomputer that had
only 4096 words of memory, 16 bites per word
(pg. 10)." The discussion about the "goto" statement
in Chapter 3 is not relevant in today's programming
and computer environment. The last few chapters are
more like manuals of the WEB and CWEB programs (C
version of WEB), which are the programs generating
documents and source codes. These manuals may not
interest readers unless they are well motivated to
write program "literally." One gem should not be
missed is is Chapter 10, "The Errors of TeX" (and
the accompanying Chapter 11, "The Error Log of
TeX). Seeing how Prof. Knuth meticulously documented
all of his bugs in TeX is just amazing. Overall this
book is more of historical value and for people who
love Knuth and his work on literate programming.

Excellent analysis of control structures in the classic article "Structured Programming with goto Statements." Invents the literate programming style of program documentation. Convincingly demonstrates the literate programming style with six example programs. Includes an independent program criticism and an error log. Highly recommended.