Publications Books

I have found this book to be helpful in my quest to play the penny whistle. When I started I could not read music or carry a tune. In the past few months I have taught myslf to play over 20 songs and am getting the hang of reading music!
This publication was delivered early and in A-1 condition

I recomend this book, and the seller.

A best buy, especially considered the low price. Nice collection of tunes, suitable for all instruments and most importantly nice arrangements and chord settings for an excellent selection of useful songs for the beginning or grown musician. You simply can not go wrong investing 6quid here, whatever you're background. Get it while still in print and a big hand to Williams for providing us this treasure of Bluegrass, Irish and traditional British tunes along with useful introductions to each number. Put short; an excellent book of reference value to any folk based player out there.

It's great to finally receive this book. The seller was prompt, payment easy, and on the whole a pleasure to do business with.

Good book, with a slew of old tunes, but if you are a beginning whistler, check out Bill Ochs " The Clarke Tin Whistle." Then buy this book. Whistle on!

The author provides a spectrum of good selections and some solid advice on performance. Many of the selections translate well to fiddle too. Over the years I have bought a number of different books, but this is one I keep coming back to.

Heard this story as a child from my grandparents who were on German background. This story is just like they told it. Beautiful illustrations complete the story that swirled in my head so many years ago!!

Ok.I HAVE NOT READ THIS BOOK.I hope that you don`t hurt my reviews for this,but in a way,I HAVE read this book.I am in this play,so I have read this script.And since the play is going to be on Saturday,(5th) and Sunday(6th) and also for the next weekend,I have to read this script over and over and over again.I think that this book is a very good book.In the play I am Miss Applebee but I think that this book is very good it must be.

When I was about seven-years-old a family member gave me a recording, (78s) of the Pied Piper of Hamelin narrated by Ingrid Bergman. As I listened, I could see the characters in my head and never tired of the story.

A month ago I bought the book for my eight-year-old granddaughter who lives about eight hundred miles away from me, because I was afraid with the passing of one more generation, the story might be forgotten.

It is a lovely book, written by Robert Browning more than a century ago. The drawings are perfect, given the dated language used in this book. And the story has a simple message, about honoring our promises.

Sadly, my granddaughter glanced at the book and was clearly not interested. I wanted to read it with her, intending to make clear the English used by Browning.

So, a tale almost twelve hundred years old bit the dust, at least in our family it did.

But if you are a lover of this fable, it is worth your time to try it out on the children in your family. They will be the richer for it.

This book would be a wonderful treasure for the pictures alone. Kate Greenaway, noted children's illustrator, has created a magical world of beautiful children, innocent faces, and romantic, nostalgic costumes. The colors on these pages are breathtaking, and the details (although Greenaway is always faulted for not drawing hands and feet well) are superb. This story is not for very young children, as it contains some troublesome themes. For the older child, perhaps 7+, the story might provoke some interesting post-read family discussions about honesty, trust, and the actual state of the children at the end of the tale. This is even a beautiful book to give to adults, as the messages about human nature can be appreciated on a deeper level.

"Rats!
They fought the dogs, and killed the cats,
And bit the babies in the cradles,
And ate the cheeses out of the vats,
And licked the soup from the cook's own ladles,
Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
Made nests inside men's Sunday hats,
And even spoiled the women's chats,
By drowning their speaking
With shrieking and squeaking
In fifty different sharps and flats."

Robert Browning (1812-1889) first published his poem "The Pied Piper of Hamelin, A Child's Story" in 1842, based on an old German legend which may or may not have had some basis in historical fact. Browning was a serious poet; even in a poem filled with playful rhymes written specifically for children, he did not "dumb down" his language, but expected his readers to do a little work in understanding some of his "big words."

Kate Greenaway (1846-1901) was one of the most famous and popular illustrators of children's literature in the latter part of the 19th Century. She had grown up loving Browning's poem, and shortly before his death she requested and received his permission to republish it accompanied by her own illustrations. This edition was initially published in 1888 under the imprint of George Routledge & Sons, which was at that same time in the process of splitting between Routledge and Frederick Warne. Starting in 1889 all subsequent editions carried the Warne imprint. The book continued to be popular, and Frederick Warne has issued reprints from time to time, well into the late 20th Century. This Warne edition is not in print at present, but used copies with various reprint dates are available from Amazon Marketplace sellers.

However, two different reprint editions are currently available, each with the complete original text and illustrations, and each presented with loving care from an eminently respectable publisher, in well-made but modestly priced editions. The Dover reprint (ISBN 0486296199) is full-size, in a sturdy paperback; the Alfred A Knopf/Borzoi/Everyman's Library reprint (ISBN 0679428127) is part of their Children's Classics series, in a very sturdily constructed hardcover with sewn sections that will not crack with use, but the page size is somewhat smaller. Both are beautiful books, and either is an excellent value.

As noted in the Editorial Reviews above, there have been other editions of "The Pied Piper," with different illustrations, and at least one seems to have been issued with the poem itself "retold" to make the language simpler; neither of those reviews is discussing this original version. Some readers may prefer one or another of these different versions. But anyone wanting to stick with Browning's original full text and Greenaway's original charming, muted and subtle illustrations should choose between the Dover or the Everyman's, or visit Amazon's Marketplace sellers to look for a copy of the Frederick Warne.

The "big boys" learned long ago how to create networks and gain visibility through "personal publicity," aka "toot your own horn!" Women generally show far too much humility about their talents and skills. If we want people to value our skills, we must first show that we value ourselves -- by making sure our accomplishments are visible to targeted audiences. If we want people to hire us, promote us, buy from us or invest in our companies, they have to know who we are, what we have accomplished and why they should do business with us! Self-promotion isn't bragging. It is a valuable business tool that career women must add to their strategies for success. (from Marion E. Gold, award-winning author of "The Personal Publicity Planner: A Guide to Marketing YOU")

Playing With The Big Boys reveals the success secrets of some of the most powerful, notable women in business, revealing top Fortune 500 women who reveal how they climbed to the top. They come from different backgrounds yet have shared traits which others can learn from in this revealing, reality-based guide.

I read this book from cover to cover. It's packed with insightful and useful advice for anyone who wants to climb the corporate ladder. It's great to learn from these women who have reached the ranks we all aspire to. Their wisdom and timely advice gave me valuable tools to use in my own career every day. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to get ahead.

This is the next era version of "Games Mother Never Taught You", a book that gives the real life road map of what it takes to get to the top. The book is easy reading with excellent examples of real role model top executive women. There are so many great ideas in this book I am sure it will help many women move ahead. The back has a self assessment. Besides interesting it is highly practical and inspiring!

In Playing With The Big Boys: Success Secrets Of The Most Powerful Women In Business, Debra Pestrak offers candid, emphatic advice, encouragement, and critical skills required on the part of female entrepreneurs and corporate executives seeking to be successful in a male dominated business world. Pestrak draws upon top Fortune 5000 female executives to reveal tips, tricks and techniques any woman can use to achieve business success in today's highly competitive and globalized market place. Replete with true-life stories of women who have joined the upper echelons within a corporate America, Playing With The Big Boys offers the tools women need to successfully accomplish personal, economic, and entrepreneurial achievement and prosperity.

This is the textbook for my portfolio development class. All I can say is this is one of the best investments I've ever made. It initially seemed costly, but it is completely worth it. It gently talks you through the process of setting up your portfolio, and gives a ton of ideas for a stunning presentation that will leave an impact.

I don't think that I can say anymore than whats alreasy been said about how ABSOLUTELY GREAT this book is.

It really is a great resource to own. It has everything from layout (which one is the best and which ones aren't), to resume, to interview information. It also encourages you to think out of the box a bit by showing you what everyone wlse os doing.

Once agian excellent resource for up-an-coming fashion designers/students and even those who have left and are returning to the fashion industry.

I purchased this book to help me with my portfolio layout for acceptance to the Fashion Institute of Technology. Although I needed to follow FITs guidelines, I feel that I gained a lot of great knowledge and excellent ideas and inspiration by referencing this book before submitting my portfolio to FIT. I am proud to say that I was accepted and will now be referencing the book to put together my portfolio for interviews in the industry.

For someone who loves to sew and is looking on how to bring their designs to the next level, then this is the book for you. It chocked full of great tidbits and even provides several portfolio options for the novice beginner. For great inspiration, it features sketches from up and coming designers and the established guard before they were on the map. Great reference book for hard core design fashionistas!!

A great book for more advanced Designers, show you different presentations of portfolio...Great but I wish that the pictures were in colors not in B&W.

This was really like a videocam on somebody's private life. Just that it gets turned on and off randomly. It makes sense, if you just keep in mind that this guy is never up to any good, whatever he's doing.

Someone had left this on the seat in the Red Line when we got stuck the better part of an hour on the bridge. There is a limit to how long you can sit and look at MIT so I began reading it.
It seemed to be a pretty quick book, the kind you would hide behind on the subway to avoid any kind of contact with the other passengers. But I ended up reading the whole thing, finishing late that night while my upstairs neighbor was dancing to a Bruce Springsteen CD.
I cannot describe the sense of grief I had after finishing this book. Taking Merlin Black's (i.e. Miles Davis) final affair as its starting point, the author picks up various points in the trumpeter's life, using psychological rather than plot connections to explain who this man really was. Talk about an anti-hero! And yet you accept Merlin's sleaziness as his natural condition, rather like dealing with a life-long disease. It becomes impossible to judge him.
I would highly recommend this book.

This book is an interesting life story. I felt that the author had valid points to make about the character, who as I understood it, is a disguised version of a now deceased jazz musician. This was a man who was not really in control of himself, however talented he may have been. It was gripping enough to read as the author managed to endear the character to me even though few would consider him admirable.
I don't know why so many intelligent authors today feel they must stick explicit descriptions of sex acts in every twenty pages or so. This book was recommended to me by a fellow church member as an example of how a very intelligent individual can go through life, getting no better and no worse, if they pay no attention to religion. I suppose the sex was there just to show, Merlin did not have his own best interests for eternity at heart.

One thing I do, on the road, is track this man Miles. I have been everywhere, this man has been. Every nasty dive that's now a parking lot, every apt. bldg., if he was there, I've been there. And sometimes I stop in a library, NYPublic by Grand Central usually, and look up the newest book on Miles. Until this book, which is kind of rare, I never got further than twenty pages.
Now this book fit with the pattern that I can see, going the places he went, and thinking of his music, which I memorized, all of it. I've talked to some people who actually knew him, but not big light people, and the picture you get is like the one drawn by this man Walter Ellis. He wasn't a nice guy, but mad all the time and even kind of violent when he wasn't too messed up to kick. This is the real picture. And Ellis starts the story when Miles was flopped, a sorry rich man who hadn't played trumpet in five years. By flashbacking to all the separate times he got somewhere and then got down with the dogs again, he gets you into this man's mindset, which was failure and all kinds of ways to fail in dealing with failure. And when you understand that, you'll understand the music.

We had to read "fiction" about an African American artist for the Black History Month assignment, but they would not let us do Rap. I got this from the assignment sheet and I did not want to but had to because I had been out sick the day of the first picks. The teacher said it was about Miles Davis, even though the wrighter calls the dude Merlin Black. I had never heard of either one, but a friend of mines stepfather says he knows who he was sure. He playde jazz, which is slow, I thought.

And man this is a real surprise. This is the kind of dude I want to be, because he is a bad mother in many ways but really good. He held off some pretty bad racists and always did his own jobs. He was not nice to his women but there were a lot of them and he always felt sorry. I got my friend to get some cds of this Miles from his stepfather and I really liked some of his music eventhough some of it really is slow.
Also the book is short. I didn't want to read a long one.

Principles of Electrodynamics by Melvin Schwartz is a very well written, very didactic book. The principles of Electrodynamics are clearly shown and the author explanations and demonstrations are rigurous but easy to understand. The book is a very good reference for certain topics of Electrodynamics not so well covered in other text books.

This book is somewhat famous for its heuristic derivation of the full Maxwell's equations using Lorentz invariance, but every topic is covered in an exceptionally lucid manner, on a par with Feynman at his best. The book is also a neccessary antidote for the excessive detail and overgeneralization of Jackson.

C'est de loin l'exposé le plus clair sur le sujet à ma connaissance. Quant au rapport qualité/prix, on voisine l'infini

This book is the best introduction to advanced electromagnetic theory I have ever encountered. The author does a masterly job at simplifying the mathematics without over-simplifying the physics. If you're looking to gain a deep understanding of electromagnetics and its relation to the theory of relativity, this book is for you!

Bref, c'est tres bien sauf que beaucoup d'erreur se sont glisses dans le livre. C'est le probleme principal de ce livre est que l'audience est tres restreinte aux eleves de secondes. J'en appelle donc au serieux de l'auteur pour se relire quand meme.

Il est ecrit que Integrale infinie de la derivee est egale a la fonction identite, non c'est faux. la constante a disparu. Beaucoup d'autres erreurs similaires sont surprenantes.

This is volume 1 of a two-part series. I have been studying tai chi at YMAA Boston for the past 3+ years and this video is absolutely fantastic. Master Yang clearly demonstrates take down techniques for about 16 different postures from the tai chi form starting from the crossed hands position. Just as important, you get to see several of his senior students executing the techniques and Master Yang making corrections. If you have an interest in the martial applications of tai chi, this is an excellent. Also don't forget to get volume 2 which reviews the techniques starting from the parallel hands position.

I have to admit I wish I had read this book before some of the other books I've read. While this book is heavy on theory and only has a couple of exercises to offer, it is an essential and must read book for anyone pursuing Taoist alchemical practices. The author explains in clear and easy to read language the theory behind Taoist energy work. I felt like a lot of peices that were missing or that I didn't have context with, were supplied by this book. I definitely plan on picking up more of his books.

The actual practices are brief, but the author does an excellent job of explaining how to do the breathing and the practices work.

I hesitated quite some time buying "Qigong Meditation - Embryonic Breathing". I wondered whether it would be worth reading (and paying money for the privilege to do so). Everything I read _about_ it seemed generic and uninformative, but the book itself is marvellous, as I know now.

I have read other reviews and came to the conclusion this book is not for everyone, some reviewers even cited sentences next to the key sentences and complained about it lacking detail. It does not. Some things are simply hard to convey and describe...

Today, thanks to the publishing of a lot of books suggesting that you apply techniques early on that may have been esoteric, inner circle and hidden knowledge, a lot of people think that they are in the know. In fact, in terms of real written knowledge they may be. Small Circulation / Microcosmic Orbit meditation seems to be easy enough.

The problem is that key techniques need some time to develop and need to be developed properly. Guiding Qi without being able to properly sense its whereabouts, concentration and impact may or may not benefit and may or may not do damage. Fact is, you simply may not know that you put "fire to the devil" when you practise incorrectly as you have no way to measure or determine your progress.

So when you practise such techniques without actually being able to properly judge how well you are doing them, this book seems to contain bad advice and little help. In fact it is only tailored to a more advanced, perhaps early-intermediate reader that has mastered the early stages of the practise, how to begin to regulate body/posture, breath, emotion and mind to a certain degree, can keep concentration, and can sense movement and stagnation of Chi. Without this a lot of the stuff written herein seems theoretical or lacking detail.

The realm you enter with the practise of Embryonic Breathing is the one of inner self-awareness, starting out from body awareness. It is a crucial skill, not developed easily, not a simple subject. Anyone interested to developing this before tackling this book should try a book like Bruce Frantzis' "Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body" first. Yang's book only gives you strong hints about it, but is focused on the theory, framework, context and practise of Embryonic Breathing - no surprise there.

If you know the basic skills, this book delivers everything you need to know to go on. On which points/cavities/nodes to concentrate, how to locate those, with which techniques to manipulate them, and what end result to produce, and what this end result means in the overall context of longevity and enlightenment meditation and different Qigong schools.

It is first book (I know about) that discusses something I wondered about in Qigong exercises - is the Lower Dantian at the navel on the Conception Vessel (the Qi reservoir running down from tongue root, frontal chest navel to Huiyin/Perineum), or is it located within the body's center inside the lower abdomen. Qigong literature is very unspecific about this, and depending on context names one or the other as the Lower Dantian.

Yang clarifies that the navel location is the "False Dantian", which can store some but not much Qi, and helps store some in the real one at the center of gravity. He gives full anatomical and self-awareness instructions where to locate which and how they are most likely constructed anatomically in the body (the bio-battery concept of layers of conductors (muscles/tendons) and isolators (fat/fasciae) is introduced here for the lower abdomen). Yang's discussion of bioelectricity and a possible working of the Qi / bioelectricity system in the body is well-written, most-interesting and intriguing.

Yang introduces deeper knowledge about the inner layers and details of the Qi circuit, such as the Yang core in the center of the Sea of Yin (in the center of the Real Lower Dantian) and the Yin Spiritual Center (in the center of the brain / Upper Dantian, where important glands reside). He relates this knowledge back to the Taiji symbol and shows yet another way for it to symbolize an important concept.

First you develop the ability to locate and feel the places mentioned, to concentrate and how to lead Qi, and the breathing techniques. Then you train the technique and practise it to achieve the given goal, for example storing ample Qi for a later step. And then you can advance to the next practise. Nothing is missing here. It's just so that this book does not repeat all preliminary skills necessary, and I for one do not demand that from it. I prefer a book with depth such as this over one with breadth, since those are available in reasonable numbers to satisfy anyone.

Breathing is of course discussed thoroughly, and how its different techniques should be trained and can be applied to achieving certain goals. Breathing becomes a tool and the way for achieving different stages of practise, a context lined out really well during the middle part of the book, with a lot of detail of a complete "religiously" Daoist / Buddhist meditation program for achieving enlightenment.

A lot of books have been written about meditation and breathing, but this practise and its intricate placement within context and theory makes this book a treasure. If you read carefully you may have answered enough about your questions about breathing and Qi to be sure you are practising properly and be able to monitor your progress.

These techniques may be the key tools for experienced meditators to put in the missing pieces into their practise, and for novice meditators to lay a sound foundation for their future practise. (Novices to sitting meditation maybe, but surely not to Qigong...)

It is one of the few books that leaves you with the feeling that there is a roadmap for practise and you don't have to stumble about in your search. It relies on many sources instead of citing a single master.

One especially rare treasure is the section containing translations of selected Chinese texts about the topic. As Dr. Yang points out, one needs a strong understanding of the context of Qigong, of Chinese culture, Taoist philosophy and technical terms to be able to comprehend and translate without loss of meaning such original sources. Else the output could be flowery and incomprehensible poems obscuring the real content (possibly with intent) hidden within.

I can truly recommend this book to everyone interested in deeper energy meditation practise and Nei Gong. You won't regret, I'm sure. The writing can sometimes be redundant, dry and lengthy, but the knowledge is better given in a most detailed way instead of the most entertaining. Depending on your predisposition you may prefer Yang's writing style over others, don't take my or anyone other's word for it.

Having entered popular Western consciousness, the subject of Qigong is currently awash with fluffy, vacuous verbiage from pompous self-styled experts whose only real interest is cashing in on a lucrative New-Age trend. This volume, although dense and difficult, reveals much authentic and vital knowledge to those who have had some experience of Qi and are not afraid of patient study and experiment. Dr. Yang is one of a handful of authors in this field who is both qualified and willing to share significant teachings that have heretofore been kept secret or deliberately obscure. His material is presented in a format that, while extremely concise, assiduously avoids being cryptic. If you are a lazy dabbler interested in yet another mealy-mouthed, feel-good text weighted down with pseudo-exotica, promising everything and delivering nothing, avoid this book. But if you have perceived a little of the reality of internal Qi and desire to systematically expand your practice and understanding, you will probably find this volume unusually rewarding.

I am disappointed with newest Jwing-Ming book. There is a lot of scientific and theoretical reflections about all stages of Qigong, unfortunately practical ground is covered only at the beginner level.
There is almost nothing written about practice of "Kan-Li" (i.e. conceiving the Spiritual Embryo by mixing fire and water Qi at Huang Ting cavity to produce Elixir). Author just sends you to his next book. I am probably not the only one who waited especially for this issue! Regarding practice - you will find detailed description of reversed and normal abdominal breathing plus its variations (Griddle and Marrow breathing). You will not find anything more (practical) in this book. There is also nothing about practicing "internal vision". I would like to cite example of how Jwing-Ming writes about recognizing Yin Center of Upper Dan Tian "To recognize this point through feeling, you must first rid yourself of all emotional disturbances and also the external attractions of your mind. In this case, your mind will be easily search for the location. If you search for it sincerely, it will take only a few days for you to recognize this point" (p.330). That's all, but how can I find this point if I don't know what feelings are associated with it? Recognizing feelings play special role in Tai-Chi or Qigong. Why are they not covered? Summarizing, this work is too much academic for me.
Citations from old scriptures are major advantage of "Qigong Meditation", however I would like to read more ancient Qigong classics instead of mere repetitions of what was said before in previous interpretations.
Conclusion: If you look for theoretical background of Qigong practice, you can buy this book - it's probably best in this field written in English, but if you are mainly a practitioner and you look for "Kan-Li" or anything else, and you know other Jwing-Ming books, then you can skip this one.

This story is so good that I still remember how good it was and I read it many years ago. I too lent my copy out, never to return. But today I found many copies for sale on [...].

I can't find words for this book. It's the best one I've ever read. It's simply the best!

I first read this book when I was 16 and to this day I regard it as the best 'non-classic' piece of fiction I've ever read. Unfortunately, I loaned it to all and sundry and lost my copy. Since then, I've felt compelled to tell everyone how fantastic it is, but they can't possibly understand unless I tell them the secret of the ending (which, of course, I cannot). Buy it. Read it. Marvel at it. But don't think of lending it to anyone, even your closest friend!

this is one of the best books that no one knows about. it is a great thriller/suspense murder mystery that you will never want to put down. even if you don't like mysteries you'll like this one.
it may be hard to find, but you should still try to find it. it will be worth the work!

I read this book over 17 years ago. I couldn't put it down. I would love to read it again

"A modern classic. Dewey's lectures have lost none of their vigor...The historical approach, which underlay the central argument, is beautifully exemplified in his treatments of the origin of philosophy."--Philosophy and Phenomenological Research

"It was with this book that Dewey fully launched his campaign for experimental philosophy."--The New Republic

Dewey's philosophy is hard for some people to get into, or take seriously, because his whole body of concerns and ideas are present behind every sentence-- so, even though his language is plain-spoken, it is "saturated with meaning," to use one of his phrases. So it takes real work, and he doesn't always succeed in keeping the foreground clear, while remembering the background. It's DOING philosophy, rather than merely writing ABOUT it. This book is a great example -- what does philosophy do for us, how does it contribute when it is woven into the other enterprises of life, and what ideas in philosophy stand it the way of its making a living contribution. The book is full of dramatic, and even radical thinking, but in quiet, reflective language that requires relaxed, persistent attention.

Written shortly after World War I, John Dewey's classic RECONSTRUCTION IN PHILOSOPHY offered an introduction to the philosophy of pragmatic humanism, arguing against traditional philosophy by suggesting their fountains in self-justification were flawed and proposing an examination of core values based on other criteria. Published in 1948, this Dover reprint of the enlarged edition is an important guide to any college-level philosophy collection.

Written soon after the First World War, Reconstruction in Philosophy by James Dewey attempts to lay out a program for making philosophy adapt to the needs of a new time and age. As man's experience has changed in the modern era, so must philosophy change; philosophy must evolve in order to explicitly address those issues from which it originally arose - those dealing with the everyday concerns of man. It is contemporary philosophy's (in 1919) detachment from man's real life and goals that Dewey wishes to diagnose and address. Philosophy must break the bonds of tradition and become entirely secular; the scientific method which revolutionized man's life must be embraced by philosophy - the facts and experience oriented spirit of science must pervade the reconstruction of philosophy.

It is the rise of science as the great shaper of human life and culture that constitutes the greatest change in human experience. Pre-historic man's life - which, according to Dewey, consisted of brief periods of food gathering and the rest of long periods of reverie - gave rise to conceptions of the nature of man and the world. As men's culture advanced, so did men's accounts of the nature of man and the world; these developments culminated in the works of the classic ancient thinkers, notably Plato and Aristotle. These were philosophies that denigrated ugly matter and imperfect change, and idealized perfect, eternal forms. These philosophies, and those in modern times which carry their influence, place ultimate value and ultimate reality in otherworldly or extra-sensory things - in the Forms, Celestial Spheres, the Categories, etc.

The Pragmatic method proposed by Dewey seeks to dispense with the old dichotomies and idealizations and transform knowledge and philosophy from the "contemplative to the operative." Science broke the old dogmas about the physical universe and philosophy should similarly make experience the test of our principles; abstractions, principles, generalizations, etc. should service concrete action, not the other way around. "The true is the verified," writes Dewey. This is the method by which logic, epistemology, morals, politics, etc. should base its reconstruction.

Dewey's program, it may be argued, only serves to relocate rather than resolve some of the main issues of philosophy. How exactly the methods of science are to be absorbed by philosophy, and whether philosophy does in fact differ from the sciences only in its degree of generality are unanswered questions. While deriding "fixed and final" end in ethics, Dewey posits "growth itself as the only moral end." And by defining society as "the process of associating in such ways that experiences, ideas, emotions, and values are transmitted and made common," he makes both the individual and the state subordinate to this process. Have we not traded one thing to subordinate ourselves to for another? This is not to say that Dewey doesn't offer a framework that perhaps allows us to offer more satisfying answers to philosophy's issues (which is just what Dewey argues for); its just that he is proposing a new methodology for answering those issues, not (in this work at least) offering specific answers, or defending in a satisfying way the assertion that his program is in the first place tenable. These comments aren't mean to trivialize Dewey's program offhand, but to point out the sort of questions he raises which should be answered.

For a much more fruitful and rigorous defense of a pragmatic-type approach to some of philosophy's central issues, see Susan Haack's Evidence and Inquiry: Towards Reconstruction in Epistemology (for the title of which she borrowed from Dewey). This work by Dewey, however, is required reading for those who wish to study the American Pragmatist school.

John Dewey, as I've heard, was never comfortable with labels. Throughout his career he shifted from and to many rubrics: pragmatism, interactionism, instrumentalism, transactionism, experimentalism. Truth be told, all of these are present in "Reconstruction in Philosophy" and partly because of that, this is probably the best intro to Dewey available.

Dewy has a bone to pick with traditional philosophy. Not only has it lost track with real, as opposed to academic, problems (anyone walking down the street can tell us this) but it never really was that good at depicting real questions and descriptions anyway. Take comcepts like Plato's ideal forms and Kant's a priori. Neither of these are teneble in any realm of experience; rather, they were a misguided quest to explain the permanance and stability of the world.

Dewey's book is an attempt to pull the carpet out from under their feet; science and inquiry using its methods shows us that the world changes and if anything, stability is something that is felt by us - not inherent in the world. Thus a prioris, ideal forms, seperation of the noumenal and phenouminal amongst other current 'problems' in philosophy - all based on the idea of permanant/transitory dichotomy - are not only wearing thin, but are fast showing to be irrelevant. From this, he builds the groundwork of a philosophy in between rationalism and empiricism. Taking from rationalism an admiration and recognition of reason's power to direct action and combining it with empiricims fascination with experience, Dewey creates a philosophy that puts the spotlight not on one or the other, but on both as leading to and taking from eachother.

The first chapter are a philosophical survey of how philosophy went wrong; particularly in Ancient Greek and early Christian philosophy (both having a love affair with absolutes outside of experience). The second chapter focuses on the mistakes when philosophers, like Francis Bacon, widened the chasm between the real and experiential and the ideal and rational.

From here, Dewey proceeds piece by piece to show what was wrong and how to fix it by making clear tht scienctific inquiry (the equal interaction between subject and object) leaves no room for absolutes, forms or a prioris (or at least, not in any pragmatically useful sense). By extension, things like formal rules of logic above experience, non-experimentalism in moral or political theory and psychology that includes the individual without an equal part of the social; all of these become little more than unfounded but continually persisting glorifications.

For the reader interested in Dewey, naturalism, instrumentalism or the implications of pragmatism, this is a great introduction. From here, I suggest Dewey's "The Quest for Certainty" followed by "Experience and Nature", topped off with "Human Nature and Conduct".

This book is easy to use, yet provides the information that you need. Its color pictures make it easy to identify the coral that you see in the book out in the field.

For scuba divers, these volumns are unparalleled. There is so much to see under the sea and so many corals look very similar. Paul does an excellent job of helping you differentiate among species. Of course you have to use your memory or your camera to compare it to the guide book after the dive, cause the book does not tolerate depth very well. ;) Highly recommended book!

A field guide to coral, especially by Paul Humann, is essential to your collection of ocean field guides. Hundreds of coral species are listed, including: sea fans, hard corals, soft corals, and mushroom corals. The book also explains the many diseases that possibly afflict many species. The coral entries have excellent, detailed explanations beside them, concerning species depth, range, and abundance. The photograph transfers are above average, showing enough of the coral for identification purposes. The photographs are of course very beautiful, containing various, colorful hues of these animals. Buy the waterproof, annotated version of Reef Coral ID to bring along in the ocean on a scuba diving trip. The book has been updated twice since it was published, with the original print still floating around here on Amazon.com. The second edition is far superior, containing many more listings and more beautiful photos. Completely essential field guide for a private collection.

Don't take my word for it, go to a handful of dive shops and this author's name will come up more than once. An excellent book, I haven't come across anything I like better. The others in this family are just as good.

This Reef Coral Identification book is THE definitive guide. In brief there is not a better guide out there. It thoroughly covers each type of coral and gives identification information as well as full color photographs. In addition to all the corals it covers other plant life likely to be encountered while snorkeling or diving. These include grasses, weeds, algae and coral diseases. With a plastic cover and the pages treated to resist water it can be taken to the beach or onto the boat without much concern about the water damaging the book. For each item the book also discusses any danger to divers that the particular coral may represent (such as fire coral).

This book can also be purchased as part of a three part set that also includes the Reef Fish Identification and Reef Creature Identification texts, each of which is equally as excellent as the Reef Coral Identification book.