Departments Books

Good coverage of all relevant topics. A full-service document for controllers. It will be on my desk for years to come

This book is really so interesting, I could not put it down! I have shared the book with some of my students and they all agree that it is worth having your own copy. I also agree on many of the points that are stressed in the book. Cognitive & learning in doing are the key words here. I found this book very useful to aid in my lecturing.

This book is great for learning about jobs. It gives info on what jobs somebody might be considering, plus a lot of new ideas.

This is a very good introduction to Dr Maria Montessori's teachings and ideas. It gives an account of how she derived many of her methods and the materials she used. The book is filled with details and interesting encounters with her little charges which makes her an endearing educator. However, it does not contain enough information for the actual exercises the child is supposed to practise.

The book is for the Rumsfeld follower. If you looking for a compilation of public addresses by Rumsfeld, this book is for you. If your looking for something with a little more narration, check out the Rumsfeld way.

I was impressed with this book's scholarship, but after looking into the sources for the chapter on Forrestal's death, I have had some second thoughts. James Forrestal fell from a window of the 16th floor of the Bethesda Naval Hospital in the wee hours of the morning of May 22, 1949. The authors relate numerous details of the Forrestal's actions prior to his going out the window, but none of them are sourced directly to any of the witnesses, the various medical personnel who were on duty that night. Rather, the strongest assertions that support the popular theory of suicide, which they endorse, turn out to be from sources that I was unable to trace, even using the services of the Library of Congress in person.

The best source to start with would have been the official investigation, the work of a review board convened by the head of the National Naval Medical Center, Admiral Morton Willcutts, which took the testimony of most of the witnesses (with a few notable exceptions). Hoopes and Brinkley unforgivably neglect to tell the readers that at the time of their writing that testimony was still being kept secret. They also fail to tell us that the conclusions of the review board were released in brief summary form almost 6 months after the conclusion of the board's work, and that summary concluded only that Forrestal had died from injuries suffered from the fall. It did not conclude what caused the fall, that is, it did not conclude that it was a suicide, and it made no mention of the cord that was tied tightly around Forrestal's neck.

On my third try, I obtained the report, including all testimony and most of the exhibits, using the Freedom of Information Act. It contradicts almost everything that Hoopes and Brinkley have to say about Forrestal's actions prior to his death. (...)

This book was an interesting history of Ct. geology and the human history associated with it. Many interesting factoids about Ct's history and how geology shaped it. You see geologic processes and human history combined.

I read this book, available for free reading on internet.The author was murdered, following Mussolini's orders.
This book not only is 100% correct, but also concise.If you want to read a first hand, a real witness of Mussolini's first year on power, this book must be read.
Today some believe that Mussolini was a regular man.He just thought that Hitler was going to win the war.Nonsense.Mussolini was a bad man.If you read this book, you will see the first chapter of fascism.Mussolini ever was a bad man and this book shows you this fact.

The photos in this book just blew me away. I mean, we all knew about the firefighters' bravery on 9/11. This book shows how this tradition of bravery, of heading into the flames, goes all the way back to the city's early days. Just look at the faces of the firemen fighting the slum fires back in the '60s. A real trial by fire. And the chapters give a good solid look at the department's history, not dumbed-down but also not too long. If you were going to buy just one book on the FDNY, this one has it all.

Basics: 2006, softcover, 150 pages, 132 species, 194 color photos, 15 habitat photos, range maps

This is a nicely done photo guide covering all the reptiles and amphibians of Arizona. The specimens in the photograph have been digitally removed from their backgrounds and placed onto a blank white page. These photos are of very good color, quality, and size.

Each species is typically shown with just one photo; although some receive two photos where there is distinct differences in age, subspecies, or to show the ventral coloration of some of the earless lizards. Another 20+ black-and-white illustrations are included to show unique scale designs on the head of the Crotalus or on the sides of various lizards.

Extra effort went into the range maps to show detail. This detail makes it obvious as to where the various mountain sky-islands, rivers, or arid desert habitats are located for the niche-specific species.

Each page reviews 2-4 species with text that is mostly dedicated to identification and field marks. Brief, but descriptive text is also given for the habitats and behavior.

This book will help the herpetologist identify most of the species encountered in Arizona. I say "most" because the great variation in the whiptails is one of the weaknesses of this book. Only one of the 11 species has more than one photo. There can be notable differences with the extent or boldness of the spotting and striping of this group, affected by age, range, and individual variation. None of this variation is shown in the book and is only briefly noted in the text.

Overall, this is very good book and should be added to your libary.

I've listed several related books below...
1) The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians
2) Amphibians and Reptiles of Maricopa County, AZ by Brennan/Holycross
3) A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians by Stebbins
4) Handbook of Lizards of the US and Canada by Smith