Publications Books

Book offers a wide range of details and styles that are described in an easy to follow format. Patterns are not difficult and user friendly.

Excellent book with beautiful pictures. Leaves plenty of room to your own creativity. Desciptions are straightforward. It's hard for me to say if it would be good for beginners, since I'm trained in dressmaking and patternmaking, but it seems easy to figure out. I can't think of any book I'd rather use when making doll clothes - it has everything.

The Dolls Dressmaker Book is the most complete pattern book I have ever found. It includes everything one could want to dress their doll. Clothes, underwear, accessories, hats, shoes. Excellent instruction information on assembly, mix-n-match pieces. Great rcommendations of trims, laces, etc. All full size patterns grouped by size, easy access in back of book.
I Very Highly recommend.

Detailed patterns, clear explanations and completed with the needed illustrations. Also some tips to modify the lengths of the patterns or to adapt the suggested model in order to create other dresses. Well done.
I was looking since a while for these kind of books till I discovered the Amazon.com and his large choice of books related to 'Dolls' dresses and furniture and am very satisfied about the quality of their service and deliveries.

Before buying this book, I would buy patterns for doll clothes. Sometimes I bought patterns from big companies like Simplicity and sometimes I bought patterns from small outfits. Of course, they were very specific patterns for only a few outfits for only a few limited dolls. Ms. Dodge's book is like owning every pattern for every doll ever created! She provides many basic pattern pieces in a variety of sizes. It will be up to you, however, to design your doll's outfit. Don't worry--the book will show you how! You will also make your own custom pattern pieces in order to get the right fit. This book covers baby dolls, girl dolls and even boy dolls. The only doll that is not represented is the womanly-figured modern fashion doll, but once you have mastered what is covered in this book, you will be able to dress those dolls too. The author provides lots of good, detailed photos and beautiful line drawings of possible outfits to inspire you. My confidence in dressing dolls has increased a hundred-fold. Now I know that if I can dream it, I can achieve it. And you can too!

If you're interested in Tibetan Buddhist iconography for whatever reason you can't go wrong with this detailed book. The author's original illustrations provide a wealth of examples of images in Tibetan art, and the text provides rich historical and doctrinal background for understanding why the symbols are important. Highly recommended.

Recieved the book promptly and in the condition promised. The book is an excellent source book. It does suffer from being without an index, for which the author apologizes. A source book without index is less than it should be. Still the images are excellent, and I assume the text is accurate. The author has spent a good portion of his working life in preparation: studying with Tibetan artists and craftspeople; and, becoming accomplished at rendering the brush drawings in an authentic manner. A good compaion book, especially as this does not have a index, is the "Handbook" by the same author

It's a more interesting and authoritative reference for this subject matter. This is due to Rinpoche being a qualified (I emphasise the word 'qualified') Lama and Tibetan scholar. Also at no point does Rinpoche compromise Tibetan Buddhism by giving away restricted information.

I love this book. Having found it a few years back at a tattoo shop in Santa Cruz, California, I was only able to look at it for a short time but I was able to gain so much knowledge as to the wealth of designs and deep meaning found in Tibetan art. This book stayed in my mind thereafter. Here it is a few years and a couple tattoos later and the book resurfaced on Amazon. Great price, great condition and prompt service. This book is great for one who has interest in Tibetan art and it's symbolic nature. The concepts are well articulated and with each 'type' placed into a different chapter it makes refrencing quite simple. If you are interested, get this book!

Great book, with lots of details. If you are interested in tibetan handicrafts, here you can get any tibetan design you can imagine.

This review mostly concerns the Enquiry. The Letter is primarily a defense of Hume's earlier Treatise of Human Nature, while his Abstract is an anonymous review of the Treatise. It strikes me as very funny, though not surprising, that Hume would review his own work. Funny because any author would give his right arm to get at least one favorable review when all the other critics are completely missing its point. Unsurprising because Hume was probably one of the only people alive at that time who could truly grasp all the facets of his radical philosophical claims.

The Enquiry was written after the Treatise. Hume, though he claimed the opposite, seems never to have really recovered from the blow he took from seeing his Treatise "fall dead born from the press." As a result, his Enquiry is far more cautious in the steps it takes. (For those of you who have read both, yes, I swear, Hume IS more cautious. Compare the claims.) A more robust philosophical stance is taken in his Treatise, while a more focused stance is taken in his Enquiry.

The Enquiry is mainly a work of epistemology and as such, scrutinizes our methods of acquiring knowledge. Making perhaps the most radical (and poignant) claim in all of modern philosophy, it posits, and supports, that there is NO causation, only conjunction. That, for example, when we see a glass drop and break, we cannot say we know gravity caused this (in the way we know two plus two equals four). All we see is constant conjunction. The connection is lacking, i.e., it is not inconceivable that the glass wouldn't bounce, turn to ash, or dissolve into sand (the way it is inconceivable that two plus two equals five). This, in effect, nullifies all the so called "laws" of nature that are formed by science. (Note that this does not state that there are no laws of nature, just that we really can never make the claim that we ever really know there are laws of nature.)

This could be thought of as the philosophical shot heard round the world. Agree or disagree, Hume must be answered. Hume has historically been charged with creating an intellectual and philosophical cul-de-sac with his skepticism. To paraphrase Bertrand Russell, Hume makes a claim which none can refute, but at the same time one which none can accept. In effect, Hume's philosophy seems to bind the human mind, stopping its journey of discovery and ultimately accomplishing what his predecessor, John Locke, set out to do, i.e., map the extent of human knowledge.

However, where one may see Hume's philosophy as shackles and fetters in the search for truth, one could also equally see his philosophy as liberation. Implicit in his philosophy is the idea that ANYTHING is possible. There are no shackles, no fetters, no limits; only those that we create for ourselves. Our limits are self-imposed, constructs of our observance (and inference) of connection. In this way Hume appears in the same light as the Eastern masters seeing that reality is not what we have (through experiential knowledge) believed it to be. It is something much more wondrous. In Zen, our causal thinking is the only barrier between the person and enlightenment. Hume could be seen as implying that when the idea of causality is removed, with only conjunction remaining in its place, the state of true knowledge and wisdom (true zen) is achieved.

This, of course, is only idle speculation. But it is stated so as to demonstrate the richness and immense possibility Hume's philosophy possesses when seen in the correct light. Instead of saying, "Nothing is certain," after reading Hume, one can say, with equal validity, "Anything is possible." The first statement approaches philosophy with despair. The second approaches it with a sense of childlike wonder and hope at the immense possibilities of reality. It approaches life as a beginning, not an ending. It approaches life as the philosopher approaches it.

If one accepts the methodology of Descartes in applying scepticism to reason and the senses, in effect denying the existence of all things but a "thinking thing," two entailments are logically consequent: Either Berkeley's idealism or Hume's scepticism. I don't accept Descartes' starting point, so I find the entailments confused and incoherent. But if one does accept Descartes' starting point, then the two extremes must be heeded. If for no other reason than observing the absurdity of either man's conclusions, it is valuable to read both entailments. But in their confused process, both men bring certain salient features to light.

Hume accepts Descartes starting point, making it his own. But to Descartes method, he adds Pyrrhonist scepticism: That all reason leads to infinite regress, and that all sensations (or impressions) can not be trusted.

Hume begins with the conclusion that all sense perception is either an impression or idea. Even memory and imagination, two other faculties of the mind, are conflated into these two species of perceptions, as impressions. Their difference is one of degree (vivacity), not of kind. Hence, Hume is the author of what is known as the "Copy Principle." Instead of unmediated, direct perception through the ordinary senses, all perception is mediated by the imagination into impressions and ideas. From this follows certain resemblances, contiguity, and causal associations between impressions or ideas, and from this association we develop a sense of self. But even the notion of causality here is one of implied inference, not of actual inductive reason. Hume denies there is any real causality that can be known, although we operate "as if" we infer cause from effect. Even probability is reduced to a mere association of ideas and/or impressions; because neither reason (which always leads to infinite regress) or senses (which can always be deceived) can actually be true. The Enquiry also treats of miracles and the testimony of others derisively; but don't we rely on the testimony of others who claim the earth is round rather than flat, just as we rely on others who testify to miracles in a byegone era? After all, few of us have direct experience with a spherical earth (Popper makes this observation).

Hume's method incorporates five kinds of scepticism: (i) methodological, (ii) conceptual, (ii) nomological, (iv) explanatory, and (v) reductive empiricism. His commitment to scepticism is not without some capitulation. While he denies absolute causality and inductive inference and probability in an actual senses, he relies on them for practical purposes. One can't remain a pyrrhonist for long; some elements of reason and some degree of confidence in impressions is necessary for ordinary life. But if one starts with Descartes' starting point, extreme scepticism is a necessary entailment. Which, after seeing Hume deny so much intuition, is it really worth starting with Descartes' scepticism? Answering that question is what makes Hume interesting.

David Hume was perhaps the leading light in the Empiricist movement in philosophy. Empiricism is seen in distinction from Rationalism, in that it doubts the viability of universal principles (rational or otherwise), and uses sense data as the basis of all knowledge - experience is the source of knowledge. Hume was a skeptic as well as empiricist, and had radical (for the time) atheist ideas that often got in the way of his professional advancement, but given his reliance on experience (and the kinds of experiences he had), his problem with much that was considered conventional was understandable.

Hume's major work, 'A Treatise of Human Nature', was not well received intially - according to Hume, 'it fell dead-born from the press'. Hume reworked the first part of this work in a more popular way for this text, which has become a standard, and perhaps the best introduction to Empiricism.

In a nutshell, the idea of empiricism is that experience teaches, and rules and understanding are derived from this. However, for Hume this wasn't sufficient. Just because billiard balls when striking always behave in a certain manner, or just because the sun always rose in the morning, there was no direct causal connection that could be automatically affirmed - we assume a necessary connection, but how can this be proved?

Hume's ideas impact not only metaphysics, but also epistemology and psychology. Hume develops empiricism to a point that empiricism is practically unsupportable (and it is in this regard that Kant sees this text as a very important piece, and works toward his synthesis of Empiricism and Rationalism). For Hume, empirical thought requires skepticism, but leaves it unresolved as far as what one then needs to accept with regard to reason and understanding. According to scholar Eric Steinberg, 'A view that pervades nearly all of Hume's philosophical writings is that both ancient and modern philosophers have been guilty of optimistic and exaggerated claims for the power of human reason.'

Some have seen Hume as presenting a fundamental mistrust of daily belief while recognising that we cannot escape from some sort of framework; others have seen Hume as working toward a more naturalist paradigm of human understanding. In fact, Hume is open to a number of different interpretations, and these different interpretations have been taken up by subsequent philosophers to develop areas of synthetic philosophical ideas, as well as further developments more directly out of Empiricism (such as Phenomenology).

This is in fact a rather short book, a mere 100 pages or so in many editions. As a primer for understanding Hume, the British Empiricists (who include Hobbes, Locke, and Berkeley), as well as the major philosphical concerns of the eighteenth century, this is a great text with which to start.

Hume, I and many others think, was the greatest philosopher to have written in English, and this is the book to pick up if you want to introduce yourself to Saint David's distinctive brand of classical empiricism. This is a must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in philosophy, and it's hard for me to see how anyone interested in the history of modern thought can avoid reading this book or the corresponding sections of Hume's Treatise.

As is well-known, the Enquiry concerning Human Understanding was intended as an encapsulation and popularization of the views Hume defended in Book I of his magnum opus, A Treatise of Human Nature. Hume assumed that book's commercial failure could be accounted for by its length, difficulty, and lack of accessibility, and so, being a man who desired literary fame, he hoped to acquire commercial success by presenting the same ideas in a more appealing and accessible manner. Unfortunately, it seems Hume misunderstood what the literati of his day were looking for in a philosophical treatise. For the Enquiry, like the Treatise before it, didn't bring him the fame he sought. Still, Hume did understand what goes into writing excellent philosophical prose, and consequently this book is a much easier read than Book I of the Treatise. Indeed, this book constitutes an excellent introduction to Hume's thought, and, except for maybe Berkeley's Three Dialogues, I can't think of another primary source that would serve as a better introduction to classical British empiricism.

Now, let's get to the ideas here. Hume, like the other classical empiricists, was primarily concerned with the psychological question of the origin of our concepts. About the answer to this question, the empiricists were all agreed--our concepts are furnished by experience, which includes both sensory experience and introspection (i.e., the experience of our own mental states). And the empiricists also agreed about the way we can justify our beliefs. Some beliefs are true (or false) in virtue of the ideas they contained, and we can know their truth (or falsity) simply by thinking about them; other beliefs are true (or false) in virtue of how the external world is, and we can know their truth (or falsity) only by drawing on our experiences of the world. According to Hume, all substantial conclusions about the world fall into this second category. That is, the truth (or falsity) of all substantial claims about the existence and nature of things in the external world can be discovered only by checking those claims against the evidence of our senses.

The traditional way of placing Hume within the story of empiricism goes something like this. Hume takes up the empiricism of Locke and Berkeley and pushes it to its logical conclusion. Whereas Locke and Berkeley hadn't been wholly consistent empiricists, Hume, the true believer, demonstrates that classical empiricism leads to a pretty thoroughgoing skepticism. Since he's wholly convinced of the truth of his empiricist premises, Hume is willing to accept the skepticism that goes along with them. However, those who aren't convinced of that his empiricism is obviously correct think that Hume has actually demonstrated the implausibility of his empiricism. If this is where empiricism leads, they think, then it's clear that we need to reject empiricism. Indeed, some, like Thomas Reid, view Hume's arguments as constituting a reductio ad absurdum of his sort of empiricism. On this interpretation, Hume's philosophy essentially presents a dilemma for all future thinkers: abandon empiricism, or accept empiricism along with Humean skepticism.

But a different view of Hume, one of Hume as proposing a wholly naturalistic account of the human mind, has recently emerged as a competitor to the general conception of Hume's place within philosophy sketched in the previous paragraph. This interpretation downplays Hume's skepticism and emphasizes his professed intentions to provide a positive account of the operation of the human mind that appealed to nothing beyond the evidence of our senses. According to proponents of this interpretation, Hume is most interested in a description of the operation of the human mind. He's describing what human nature allows us to know and what it doesn't allow us to know. Furthermore, he argues that our nature is such that, where it fails to provide us with the resources to acquire the knowledge we might want, it provides us with a natural habit of forming the right conclusions anyway. Even though our nature limits our knowledge of the world, it ensures that we possess the habits of mind needed to make our way in the world. Hume dubs all these habits of mind "custom."

If this view is correct, then Hume has abjured many of the normative aims of traditional epistemological inquiry. He isn't attempting to show how we can answer a skeptic or why we have good reason to believe what we think we know. Instead, he wants us to stand back from our everyday beliefs and think about the natural processes that result in them. How, exactly, do our minds operate? How do we come to think what we do about the world? Hume thinks that this sort of inquiry will lead us see that, at some point, the explanation of why we think what we think reaches certain brute facts about the operation of the human mind. When we reach these points, there is nothing more to be said. We simply can't help thinking in these ways, and we lack the resources to demonstrate that these ways of thinking constitute an accurate way to represent the operation of the external world. And, Hume claims, it turns out that many of the fundamental elements of our conception of the world--the belief that things stand in causal relations to one another, the belief that we can know that there is a world outside our minds, the belief the future will resemble the past--end up not being open to ratification by experience. With respect to beliefs of these sorts, we ultimately have to appeal to custom in order to explain their existence and popularity. Hume, then, can be seen as demolishing the pretensions of reason in order to make room for a wholly naturalistic account of human thinking.

First I would like to commend the excellent review of this book by CT Dreyer in which he correctly shows how Hume extended the empiricism of Locke and Berkeley to the point where skepticism seemed our only honest way of thinking about our knowledge of the world. Hume's questioning of induction, of how we can be sure tomorrow will be like today , his questioning of how we can trust our senses to know the outside world, his questioning of how we can hold our world logically together when analysis reveals that there is no necessary connection between ' cause' and 'effect' in everyday life action means he wakened not only Kant from his dogmatic slumber but Philosophy itself from the sense that it will provide absolute understanding.
Hume is a very clear writer. I remember reading the famous billiard ball account of causality in which our common sense view of ' before' and ' after' is questioned and taken apart. I believe Hume says after this account, something to the effect and ' still when we leave the room we leave by the door and not by the window'. A friend of mine in this class when the class ended opened the window ( on the ground floor ) and went out that way.
This is difficult and great philosophy. I do not pretend to understand it or its implications fully. A test of the mind and a necessary read for anyone who would know Western Philosophy.

This was a great buy. Much cheaper than purchasing in the school store.
Delivery was fast and reliable. This book is a great investment for anyone in fashion design or any other form of the fashion industry.

This book is a great source for aspiring fashion illustrators. I would highly recommend it. Teaches you how every aspect from shading, to creating fabric folds, to drawing lace, and plaids. In addition to this book I would also recommendDraw Fashion Models! (Discover Drawing Series), which briefly goes into how to draw flats.

This book is great. It's excellent help for anyone interested in sketching fashion figures or going into fashion.
Bina Abling has published lots of books, but each edition of this Fashion Sketchbook keeps getting better and more refined.

This book was exactly what I needed for my fashion illustration class. I received it in perfect condition. I really like it!

This is The authority on illustrating for fashion. Abling's attention to detail and artistic ability make her a perfect tutor on the topic, and every explanation is clear--it's the sort of thing where you look at the example, and it clicks in your head, "Oh, Now I see!".

The book goes over Everything you need, but in case you want to know exactly what is inside, here is a quick summary:

Ch 1: Fashion Figure Proportions
Figures on grids broken down in several ways, extensive work on proportion. Abling divides figures into geometric shapes: foot, head, hips, chest, upper arm, thigh; she then puts them together, showing how they fit and relate to one anther. It then goes further and shows how different poses and types of movement affect the torso (upper and lower), as well as different types/shapes of figures, from the elongated fashion figure to petite and full. The chapter also features a figure map, interpretations of anatomy, different poses and artistic approaches, balance, and movement.

Ch 2: Basic Figure Forms
Drawing legs, arms, feet, shoes, hands, fingers, and foreshortening. There are so many helpful diagrams from multiple perspectives, numerous poses.

Ch 3: Model Drawing
Gesture drawing, exercises on isolated sections of the body, angles, and more; balance line, supporting leg (where the weight is distributed so the figure looks planted to the ground, not floating around or unevenly/awkwardly perched), arms.

Ch 4: Fashion Heads
Faces, different ethnicities, facial features, dissection of the head with a map on the placement of eyes, nose, lips, etc. The head in different positions, from different angles; techniques to maintain proportion and balance: diamond technique, working with angles and planes of the face, shading/highlights/shadows. Hair: styles, hairlines, period styles.

Ch 5: Drawing Men
Comparison to female figure, legs, arms, hands, hair, gesture, dressing the figure, suits, and details on how the fabric falls, where to put certain features like the cuff, armhole, etc. Proportions, classic menswear techniques, fashion croquis technique, vintage styles.

Ch 6: Drawing Children
Proportions by age, with many dissections and comparisons, tons of helpful illustrations and examples. Infants, toddlers, children, tweens; heads, facial expressions, hairstyles, arms, hands, legs, feet, vintage styles.

Ch 7: Garment and Garment Details
Necklines, collars, sleeves (different types, lengths, etc), skirts (folds, fall of fabric, gathering, flaring, volume, pleats), pants (folds, gathering, lengths, fit), blouses, blazers, jackets, coats, ruffles, smocking, shirring, cowls, fur, quilting, formal gowns, applying the concepts to garments.

Ch 8: Accessories
Jewelry and how they sit on the body, eyewear, hats (male, female), belts (types, fit), trims, notions, closures, handbags, shoes (different angles, heel heights, types).

Ch 9: Basic Rendering Techniques
Working with stripes and other fabric types/prints. Shading, highlighting, rendering with marker, fall fabrics, more fabric types: shiny fabrics, flat/matte, sheers, layers, velvet, satins, chiffon, etc. Working with all black fabrics.

Ch 10: Color Rendering
Chapter features color renderings to show skin tones, menswear with marker, children; using gouache, using watercolors, rendering hair in color.

Ch 11: Drawing Knits
Necklines, knit patterns, treatments/embellishments.

Ch 12: Designer Sketching and Fashion Illustration
Poses: I-pose, S-pose, X-pose, T-pose. Attitude, "look" and feel, style, emphasis.

Ch 13: Drawing Flats and Specs
Layout styles, freehand sketching, proportion, chart on measurements by size: Women, Men, Unisex, Belts, Hats, Socks. Gathering, buttons, closures, top stitching. Mixing croquis and flat drawings.

Ch 14: Layout
Combining multiple drawings, elements, or figures; groupings,

Appendix
More necklines, collars, sleeves, armholes, tops, dresses, skirts, pants, jackets, coats, sleepwear, underwear, design details, ties, hats, waistlines, pockets, handbags, shoes, collars, cuffs.
One of the neatest sections in the book is titled "problem spots" and features examples of the right and wrong way to do various details. Showing examples of how amateurs or beginners make mistakes and then showing the correct way works So well! Better than explanation, this simple and clear approach is crucial.

This book is filled with immensely helpful diagrams, exercises, and demonstrations. Every part of it is useful to students and designers, and because it is so comprehensive, this could be the single most important book in fashion illustration. If you could only have one book on the subject, get Fashion Sketchbook by Bina Abling.

Napoleon Hill is the recognized expert on all things success. In this book, Hill reveals how you can grow rich, and keep your mental act together at the same time. Typical of Hill's writing style, the book is easy to read, and features numerous examples from his real life experience. Specifically, this book covers, among many other things:

Success while being yourself.
Developing a healthy ego.
Finding friendship and love.
Getting the job you want.
Turning challenges into success.

This book focuses on achieving success through positive relationships and a healthy mental attitude. For more information on achieving financial success, you may want to read "The 17 Principles of Creating Wealth," by Phillip Collinsworth.

This is a wonderful work of heart in which the author combines true, upllifting philosophy with practical advice. I get inspiration from rereading it.

Although Think & Grow Rich is the most famous book that Hill wrote, Grow Rich With Peace Of Mind is surely the most under-rated of all of Hill's books.

Grow Rich with Peace of Mind offers information not in Hill's other books and includes discoveries made by Hill after he wrote Think and Grow Rich. Grow Rich with Peace of Mind offers foolproof techniques for achieving power to earn a high income and to enjoy genuine inner peace at the same time.

Grow Rich with Peace of Mind can help you reach your all of your goals and enjoy it.

This is the best book I have ever read. I wish that I would have read it when I was 15 years old, instead of 50. I would have made many different choices in my life. It teaches one how to think and use the mind. I have bought 7 copies and given them to my closest friends and family. Buy it. ;-)

This book is so amazing. I rarely read a book more than once. I will reread this book and plan to read it again about every two months or so after working on my next fear. I did conquer one of my major fears in life while reading this book. I was on vacation and was in the process of flying back home. To say that I hated landings was an understatement. I use to grip the arm rests white knuckled, legs jammed forward, body pressed back in the seat terrified of the plane landing. While reading this book on the plane I was able to so completely over come my fear of landing that not only did I sit calmly in my seat, but as the pilot of the plane allowed the passengers to listen to all the communication with the ground tower, the tower controller made several mistakes that the pilot had to correct him on and then land the plane. All of this happened and I was completely at peace with what was going on. What I experienced was incredible.

This book is truly life altering. I look forward to finding Mr. Hill on the other side after this life and thanking him for this wonderful book.

Nothing to say about this well known book as a hi level introduction to general chemistry.
What it's amazing is to buy such new book at such price !

Rooted in both vigor and simplicity, this chemistry text will amaze you. Pauling is very mindful of how the student ought to recieve information and in that he carefully picks the order of topics. Too often people disreguard the importance of the presentation of information. It's a shame because they are being willfully ignorant to techniques that catalyze and promote learning. Our brains are more responsive to associative learning because biologically that's what goes on in neural circuitry. Anyways, it's best I don't spur off into a tangent. Buy this book. It taught me chemistry.

This is by far the best introductory book I have seen so far. It is very concise and thorough. There are no flashy pictures or cool sidenotes with the practical applications of the concepts. But the basic concepts are very well explained with lots of helpful diagrams. Also, the price of the book is very good. Hooray for Dover Publications for publishing this masterpiece as such reasonable price!

This book will never look old. It’s still much more clear than many (college) chemistry books. In my opinion this volume should be suggested as a reference for a general chemistry college course.

This is an interesting, if somewhat dated and eccentric textbook by the man who was probably the leading chemist of the twentieth century. It is full of interesting insight, and written with real flair, so much unlike the typical textbook today produced by the textbook publishing machines.

Let me give a couple of examples, good and bad, of what makes this book interesting, but also exasperating.

The book is the only freshman chemistry text I know of that has a derivation of the Boltzmann distribution P ~ e^(-E/kT), a very basic relation in the kinetic theory of gases and in fact in all of statistical physics. The derivation is simpler than most, which makes it a real jewel especially at this level, where most people would think it doesn't belong.

On the other hand, the section on chemical bonding, which is actually where Pauling made his reputation, is very eccentric, like the author, so much so that it makes the book unsuitable as the sole text for a course. It is all based on sp3 hybrid orbitals. As far as I can tell, sp2 and sp hybrids are never mentioned. With the sp3 story, Pauling is able to account surprisingly well for some systematics of bond lengths. Whether this is fortuitous or not, I don't know, but it is interesting. On the other hand, without sp2 and sp hybrids, he is completely unable to give the standard, very simple, beautiful account of bond angles. A student learning introductory chemistry from this text who then went into organic chemistry would soon be at a disadvantage without knowing the theory of hybrid orbitals that everyone else would get from any of the standard contemporary texts.

My recommendation: use this text as a very insightful, quirky supplement. The price is certainly right.

The text that comes closest, in my opinion, in seriousness, if not eccentricity, is the contemporary text by Oxtoby and coauthors. It is too highbrow though for most college introductory chemistry courses.

Giving Christ First Place is an excellent work book to focus the reader on how to make lifestyle changes for a balanced life - physical, spiritual and emotional. The enclosed CD is a bonus as it shares Scripture and music to reinforce the need for balance. MJR-Georgia

It is appropriate that the first book is "Surrender". In this time and age when one doesn't know the meaning of surrender, learning it is not from the good sense of being doggedly determined not to fail won't help. To "Surrender" one first must have an adversarial event to surrender to. If everything is handed to you all your life, to what are you surrendering?

The book is a daily study, and if you are not accustomed to daily studies, you have to surrender personal time, of which there is too little to go around already. That takes personal discipline, which most of us have yet to learn. You have to choose to do all that the book requires and find self motivation to keep going. Because this generation is not taught to endure, persevere, or even tough it out, many times the first thing that goes into the trash is our commitment to the one thing that would aid us most in succeeding. Surrendering to Christ.

The lessons are not long, they are not hard, but they get the point across if you choose to pay attention to the real purpose behind what you study and read. If you can surrender your whole life to the concept of surrendering to Christ, the burden of the entire exercise is taken care of. If there is any doubt, then each day the exercises will only get that much harder to complete, because personal pride is the first thing to go in surrender. If you can't do that, then surrendering to Christ will be a chore of fear, regret and guilt, which makes the entire exercise futile, for nothing is learned in an atmosphere of fear.

If you can't surrender the basics of who you are, what you do, what you believe to Christ, then this study is not for you. This is not dogged determination to complete a task. This is surrender, of everything you are to the only one who truly knows you and can heal you.

If you can do that - then the rest will come to you as your personal journey into surrendering to Christ and losing weight dictates. To some it will be easy, to others very difficult. Surrendering to Christ first and foremost will set up the tools needed to figure out the combination of things you need to do next to succeed in losing weight.

Knowing if you fail today, this meal, you can surrender it all to Christ right now, and start over.

These Bible study books are great for helping you focus on the REAL reason for being overweight...not putting the Lord first place in your life and making food an idol.

Carole Lewis is, without question an extraordinary teacher of living a true and deeper Christian life. The studies and messages in all of the First Places series will bring you closer and closer to an understanding of the freedom and faith you can have when you put God first in your life. If you want to truly grow in your relationship with God...make First Place studies a part of your life. It's so much more than a weight loss tool...it's a life tool!

My group has opted to do this book through the summer while other groups in our church take the summer off. Every book has been good but this one is great in taking away our excuses and in pointing out our responsibility for our actions and shows us that when we fall, fail, or fear, He will pick us up, wipe the dust off of us, and set us back on that right road if we will give in to Him.

By telling her stories in the first person, Vila Spiderhawk not only allows you to know the thoughts of her characters but also feel their emotions and share their spirits. This is a book to which all women, especially pagan women, can relate. Vila's descriptions are so vivid that you could almost believe you were there. I ordered this book for my best girlfriend's birthday. I think that she will find it as inspiring as I have. Good job, Vila! We want more!

Review of Hidden Passages: Tales to Honor the Crones, by Vila SpiderHawk

I received this book on a Thursday, started reading it on Friday, finished it the following Friday. I don't even know where to begin. It's a series of stories about women's journeys into the next levels in their lives from youth through to maturity and even death. It deals with the happy times, the challenges we must face and move beyond, and even the dull moments. Vila's stories feel so in tune with each of the characters, they come to life before your very eyes! It was such a pleasure reading each of the stories... even the ones that made me want to cry. Each story takes you on the journey with the characters and you can feel and see and hear the story in your mind and in your soul. I sit here in awe of the beauty and strength in each of the individual stories. They each speak of different paths, different stages of life, each one so very real, so very easy to relate to.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone, especially any woman. No matter what your beliefs, what your path, I do believe there is something in there for everyone. Each story holds something for everyone to take away from it and grow on. Please check if out if this has caught your interest, if you have even made it to the end of this review. It's worth the time and money and is even reasonably priced. It hooked me from the very beginning, and I'm looking forward to getting her second book, Forest Song: Finding Home. Thank you for taking the time to read this. May each day be blessed for you and yours.

Forest Song: Finding Home is a true masterpiece. I just loved Judy and her mother and Matka Lasu and the other characters. Vila SpiderHawk's words took me far away from where I was and put me into the story so that I couldn't put the book down. I found myself re-reading a few of the chapters just because they were such a joy to read. I just loved this book and didn't want it to end! If you liked Hidden Passages: Tales to Honor the Crones. You'll love Forest Song: Finding Home. It really is an amazingly beautiful book!


-- Danielle Crawford

Eight short stories filled with magick and wonder! Share the secrets of the Crone, passed down for generations!!! You Will not be able to put this book down. Again Vila Spiderhawks style of writing will fill your head with the senses of being right there!!! I recommend This Book!!!

Vila SpiderHawk's prose vibrates with poetic resonance as her stories dealing with change, loss and awareness gently, but firmly, guide the reader on different journeys from varied perspectives. Some of the stories may sing to your soul as they seem warmly familiar, perhaps similar to your own life path in the past (or in the future), yet told from a unique perspective. Other tales may be less comforting, but they are great tools for growth and awareness. For example, "Heraulta" may challenge the reader to face parts heretofore unaddressed of one's own intense being while "Mima Po" comforts with the path to enlightenment shown that many switched on souls have perhaps experienced in similar ways. To say that this book is well-written is an understatement; Vila SpiderHawk will always have a reader in me.

^V^
G.L. Giles, Author of V3: The Vampire Vignettes ReVamped

Trust me! I looked everywhere and couldn't find it til I read this book. Now I know that, "I Had It All the Time". Execllent book written by an excellent author. This is a fast read and easy to follow.

"This book will not have a sequel; to the contrary, it heralds the end of a long and self-diminishing train of thought- the notion that you need to be something other than you are. It will not introduce you to a revolutionary technique; but it will introduce you to yourself. This book will not direct you to a mystical master or exotic gems- but it will assist you to unearth your own hidden treasures and awaken the master within you......The Spirit within you is greater than anything in the outer world. The power of your life is now redeemed to your own hands, where it has always been. You had it all along." (from the introduction)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This book does everything it claims to. It was the one book that I gave all my coaching clients and everyone that has ever read it has raved about how much they loved it. With chapters like....

Let It BE Easy
There Ain't No Future In The Past
If You Can't FIx It, Feature It
First Class Flying
and
I'm Off To Be The Wizard

....You know you are obviously going to have FUN on this journey of rediscovery. With lighthearted wisdom and practical evidence of our internal greatness, Alan Cohen makes self-help a thing of the past and self-worth a household mainstay.

I can't recommend this book enough. I wish I could attach a picture to show you all the flags that adorn its pages. It looks like a rag quilt with all the frayed edges from hours and hours spent revisitng its wisdom. Treat yourself to yourself. Give yourself the gift of this book.

Another great read by Alan Cohen. Reinforces the notion that you already know how to live your life and just need to be reminded (or rather need to reach deep down through the denial).JUST DO IT!

After being a self help junky for the last 15 years Alan Cohen gives good advice and stop trying to fix your self and just enjoy life

I found this book by Alan Cohen much better and different in style than anything written by Wayne Dyer (who is very good) if that helps put my review into perspective. Refreshing, insightful, and uplifting yet down to earth in a spiritual way (which is what are all doing of course).

Not only are my children middle school age, I'm also co-leading a young teens ministry at my church. This book is very practical in helping understand what this age group is going through and how Bernie Schein has approached their challenges in a very untraditional style. Specifically, I've learned how to become a deeper listener and partner in middle school children's development.

Unlike a few other commentors, I had to read through several seatings. The book is filled with dialog between the author and his students; which, I personally find harder to read - not that it's bad, I just have to re-read to fully understand. The conversations do add texture and excitement to the main story. The mini stories, which are written by Bernie's students are written very well, some of which are deeply emotional, some that I've read out loud to my children.

Mr. Schein on pre- and early adolescents, "Certainly he is larger than life, easily outsizing the conventional lens through which we obstinately pursue him; grander, subtler, and more passionate than the conventional mirror we stubbornly hold up to him."

I highly recommend this book to teachers, principals, counselors, mentors, and parents. We need more people on the planet seeking truth and ready to inspire our future leaders.

As I read Bernie's book, and "listened" to these kids incredible stories, I was overcome with feelings of how empty and shallow I was as a young teenager in middle school. If only I, and many others, could half been half as emotionally present as the kids Bernie taught there might be a lot more love, patience and understanding in this world. That is a tribute to Bernie's teaching methods and Bernie.

Read this book. It's still not too late to learn...about yourself.

Catcher in the Rye protagonist Holden Caulfield was a classic example of an introverted child who showed no enthusiasm for his schoolwork. "If Holden Caulfield Were in my Classroom: Inspiring Love, Creativity, and Intelligence in Middle School Kids" is a guide for teachers who want to reach out for these children who are trapped in their own shells. With plenty of tips to approach these children carefully so that they don't retreat further, "If Holden Caulfield Were in my Classroom" grants everything educators need to reach the hardest to reach kids, enthusiastically recommended.

Don't think this book is just for teachers or others in education, this book can benefit anyone. As a student in Bernie's class, he provided me the 2 years of my life that still have taught me more about myself than the other 27 combined. I have always wished that there was some way people in my life, who never had the opportunity to be transformed by Bernie, could in some way. I believe with this book, there is finally a way for those not as lucky as myself, at least in some small way, to as Conroy states in the introduction to the book, "encounter ... a man on fire."

Do yourself a favor. Read this book.

Another mother told me about this book and now I'm sending it to all of my friends who have kids entering middle school.

Bernie Schein's book is amazing not so much for what he tells us about his teaching methods as it is for the quality of the kids he has taught. The writing he pries out of pent up, isolated, bored, and anguishing teenagers (many of whom have learing disabilities)is unbelievable.

Bernie Schein shows us how to drag intelligence and creativity out of young teenagers by breaking down the barriers that block intimacy. His book demonstrates a unique ability to cut through BS and see people for who they really are. Kids trust him because he loves them and he doesn't judge.

This book had me crying shamelessly in a crowded airport but it was also instructive. It helped me to see how I can hang onto a good relationship with my kids. I have 11-year-old boy/girl twins who slip back and forth between youth and childhood and I'm scared of the teenage years, but Schein shows how to get through, how to keep them close by understanding them.

His book is both heart breaking and useful. I recommend it to parents.