Perspective Books

This collection of letters, journals, newspaper accounts and interviews of the young girls who worked in the Lowell Mills is balanced off by the thoughts of the Mill owners. Great background for the study of Lyddie, by Katherine Paterson.

Essays, journals, letters, and an interesting piece of historical fiction tell this story of the young women who worked in the textile mills in New England. Timetable of the workday and Boarding House regulations of the day are enlightening - especially if you think life is hard today!

This is an excellent study of the roles of men and women in Old Testament, New Testament and Inter-Testamental times. Roles covered include family life, commercial, managerial, govermental and religious. Except for the inter-testamental period, the analysis sticks strictly to the scriptures and is very objective. When the subject of religious roles is discussed, the author, who is a member of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) denomination, is careful to define modern church offices in terms of their New Testament counterparts.

Mr. Hurley is well qualified for this inquiry since he has a doctorate in Pauline Theology and also extensive experience in marraige counseling.

I found the book to be very helpful as I went through the process of deciding whether ordination of women was an approved biblical practice.

Hurley does a fine job of surveying this contemporary theological issue and providing conservative answer.

Rightly concludes and sides with Jesus and Paul in the order of creation and its application to headship in the family and church.

Also, provides interesting question and answer section on the gray areas in applying this biblical principle.

I will not be as lengthy as the other review (to date) because it is outlined and described well. What I will add is that I have read many, many books about change (throughout career and in Masters program at BYU for Organizational Behavior) and this one is hands down the most practical and applicable to real life I have found. You will NOT go wrong buying this book, even at full price!

One of the many benefits of visiting Amazon.com's "Books" section is having the opportunity to check out Customer Reviews, many of which include suggestions for other sources. The Amazonians themselves include a sub-section which I consult daily and greatly appreciate: "Customers who bought this also bought..." I mention all this at the outset because I think it is a serious mistake (or at least silly) to characterize any one book on a given subject as THE book to buy. This is especially true of the subject of change agency. Without any effort, I can immediately think of at least 10-12 which are brilliantly developed, eloquently written, and of enduring value. I include this book among them. Does it ask most of the right questions? Yes. Are all of its answers definitive? No. The subtitle is precise and accurate: This book offers a thoughtful and cohesive guide to "developing high-performance people and organizations."

After an introductory chapter ("Becoming a Change Agent"), the authors organize their excellent material within three Parts: Beyond the Smoke and Mirrors; then Philosophy, Practice, and Responsibilities of a Change Agent; and finally, Integrating Resources, Roles, and Competencies. By the time I reached the end of this book, I realized that one of the greatest benefits to be derived from it is especially relevant to owners/CEOs of smaller companies. A majority of those I have worked closely with are the only change agent in their respective organizations. This book will help them to develop change agency competence among many of those whom they supervise. Of course, the book will also be of great value to senior-level executives in large organizations, including non-profits.

For me, one of the most entertaining as well as informative chapters in the book is Chapter 4 ("Beware of Flying Monkeys and Poison Poppies") in which the authors suggest correlations between the adventures encountered by Dorothy and her companions en route to the Emerald City and what all managers encounter in today's business world. "Flying monkeys are those unexpected characters, events, and situations that jump up and attack you at the most untimely moments.....Flying monkeys come in all shapes, sorts, and sizes. They can be people, events, activities, and attitudes....Perhaps the most important potential monkey for you to be aware of is the cultural flying monkey. [As the authors have explained earlier in the book], culture is defined as the underlying beliefs, values, and assumptions held by members of an organization and the practices and behaviors that exemplify and reinforce them. In other words, 'the way we do things around here.'" In Figure 4.1, detailed information about "Miscellaneous Flying Monkeys" is provided within an ingenious grid. With regard to "poison poppies", the authors suggest that so many change initiatives fail because managers are "seduced by the promise of a quick fix", a short-cut, etc. Time and again when retained by a corporate client to help solve problems, I find that the client's managers are preoccupied with the symptoms of problems rather than focused on determining the causes of those problems. Stated another way, many managers seem to think that wet highways cause rain.

The authors begin Chapter 11 with a quote from John Kotter ("A good rule of thumb in a major change effort is: Never underestimate the magnitude of the forces that reinforce complacency and that help maintain the status quo") and then use Figure 11.01 to illustrate what they call a "Holistic Model for Change Agent Excellence" featuring the brain, the heart, courage, and vision. All are necessary to overcome the aforementioned "forces." More specifically:

1. Provide strong, highly visible, and personal leadership

2. Institute employee involvement early and often, at all levels

3. Build a clearly articulated, shared vision

4. Provide frequent, consistent, and open communication

5. Leverage talented, and trusted employees as co-change agents

6. Set measurable operational and behavioral goals

7. Celebrate successes and re-address shortcomings

The authors carefully explain each of these "Seven Keys to Successful Organizational Change" in detail and then shift their attention to what they characterize as a "list of absolutes in the quest to develop gained wisdom": Tap into the wisdom of the "elders" in the organization, build a wisdom war chest", patiently and progressively wield your wisdom-based influence on an organizational level, and finally, share wisdom with others on an organizational level. The authors no only explain how; they also explain why.

Appropriately, the authors conclude their brilliant book as follows: "As in [italics] The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy's vision was to somehow return to her beloved Kansas. By casting her eyes on that goal, she was able to energize and solicit support for friends and foes alike along her journey. In the end, she achieved her goal, as you will in your effort to [italics] becoming a change agent." Through their book, the authors can accompany you on your own journey. The Yellow Brick Road to high-performance people and organizations awaits. Let the journey begin!

To be published in English in paperback in November 2003 by Fordham University Press, this important book explores the central role of historical thought in the full range of Heidegger's thought, both the early writings leading up to "Being in Time", and after the "reversal" or Kehre that inaugurated his later work.

fIRST PUBLISHED IN 1989, THIS BOOK HAS BEEN OUT OF PRINT FOR ONE YEAR AND THERE ARE NO PLANS FOR ITS REPUBLICATION IN ENGLISH. AN UPDATED GERMAN TRANSLATION WILL APPEAR IN THE FALL OF THIS YEAR THROUGH KOENIGSHAUSEN UND NEUMANN, WUERZBURG UNDER THE TITLE: HEIDEGGER UND DER HISTORISMUS. SINN DER GESCHICHTE UND GESCHICHTLICHKEIT DES SINNS

This book is one of a kind. It affords an integrated perspective of traditional high school mathematics, making explicit the intimate relationships between arithmetic, algebra, and geometry. Additionally, it indicates and suggests lines of development that are pursued in undergraduate courses. Both purposes - showing the unity of the subject, and indicating further development - are accomplished by placing traditional high school topics in a broader conceptual and historical perspective.

The book is divided into two parts; the first, titled "Algebra and Analysis with Connections to Geometry", deals with numbers, functions, equations, polynomials, and number systems. The second, titled "Geometry with Connections to Algebra and Analysis", deals with congurence, symmetry, similarity, area annd volume, axiomatics, and trigonometry.

To give some idea of coverage, the second chapter (on real and complex numbers) discusses irrational numbers, a proof of the irrationality of e, the nested intervals property of the reals, countable and uncountable sets, and the diagonal proof of the uncountability of the reals. The chapter on equations briefly discusses cubic and quartic equations and states the unsolvability of the general quintic; the names of Gauss, Ruffini and Galois are mentioned. The chapter on integers and polynomials discusses induction, recursive definitions, simple diophantine equations and the fundamental theorem of arithmetic. It also indicates the analogies between the integers and the set of polynomials (both are integral domains). The chapter on number system structures discusses modular arithmetic, the Chinese remainder theorem, and gives examples of number fields other than the real and complex number systems (e.g. quadratic fields, and finite fields).

The projects at the end of each chapter extend the material covered in a natural way, and are challenging. To give some stray examples, the coordinatisation of the Riemann sphere, the Cardano-Tartaglia method for solving cubic equations, Fermat's last theorem for n = 4, constructible numbers, and the impossibility of squaring the circle and doubling the cube.

The chapter bibliographies are annotated, up-to-date, and list excellent books for further study.

I have a few criticisms. The first is that surjective functions are not discussed, and in this connection the Schroder-Bernstein theorem does not get mentioned or proved. A second and more serious criticism is the slender coverage of analytic geometry. Only five or six pages are devoted to this. As a consequence, the authors cannot discuss the rich field of algebraic curves in particular, and algebraic geometry in general. There is also no mention of projective transformations (i.e. projective geometry) or continuous transformations (i.e. topology). Finally, there is no mention of Klein's Erlanger program.

These quibbles aside, the book is well-conceived and well-written. It can join Courant and Robbins' "What is Mathematics", and Stillwell's "Mathematics and its History" as a book that gives a bird's eye perspective of (part of) the discipline.

Professors teaching undergrad courses would want this book on their shelves; it shows some of the connections between high school material and the relatively abstract courses taught at college (e.g. Galois theory, group theory, algebraic number theory, and real and complex analysis). Undergrad students might want this book for the same reasons. High school teachers who want a bird's eye perspective of high school mathematics from a sophisticated point of view might also want a copy; suggested lines of development can be used as enrichment topics.

This is a good resource book. However, I think it would be a good idea to learn from other countries that are more successful in math education. Students from Singapore, Korea, China, Russia, and Hungary all are better than our students ON AVERAGE!!! Generally, of course!! For example, the Russian have many books that are available for those who do not have access to great teachers. Books are important source for self learning. In the high school mathematics, for example, among many of the books available, I will mention one: --High School Mathematics by Yakovlev, ISBN 5030010114. Over 800 pages comprehensive yet concise and lucid!! Take a look and you will seee. They say nothing more than just taking a student to understand math--itself. THEY DON'T SAY MATH IS FUN AND INTERESTING, WHY, BECAUSE...nonsense...! The joy of math comes from the history, the moment when a great problem is solved, the men and women who struggled with it...

Ray Carroll and David Ruppert are well known research statisticians who have published many joint articles on regression, weighted regression and transformation and they have also written an excellent book together on this research topic. Stefanski has recently published several papers on measurement error models with Carroll. Here they have teamed up to write a statistics text on a unique topic. Measurement error models are common and practical when dealing with covariates that have measurement error. Least squares estimation in linear regression is based on the assumption that the predictor variables are measured without error. There are many articles and an excellent text by Fuller "Measurement Error Models", published by Wiley in 1988 that deals with the linear case. Also look at a section in Chapter 5 of Miller's "Beyond ANOVA, Basics of Applied Statistics" that refers to the problem as the error in variables problem. For the nonlinear case this is the first treatment. Well written and well documented, this text provides an up-to-date account of the theory and methods and provides real applications (e.g. the Framingham Heart Study). This is a great reference as are many of the other monographs in this series by Chapman and Hall/CRC Press. Includes bootstrap approaches in the chapter on fitting methods and models.

Ray Carroll and David Ruppert are well known research statisticians who have published many joint articles on regression, weighted regression and transformation and they have also written an excellent book together on this research topic. Stefanski has recently published several papers on measurement error models with Carroll. Here they have teamed up to write a statistics text on a unique topic. Measurement error models are common and practical when dealing with covariates that have measurement error. Least squares estimation in linear regression is based on the assumption that the predictor variables are measured without error. There are many articles and an excellent text by Fuller "Measurement Error Models", published by Wiley in 1988 that deals with the linear case. Also look at a section in Chapter 5 of Miller's "Beyond ANOVA, Basics of Applied Statistics" that refers to the problem as the error in variables problem. For the nonlinear case this is the first treatment. Well written and well documented, this text provides an up-to-date account of the theory and methods and provides real applications (e.g. the Framingham Heart Study). This is a great reference as are many of the other monographs in this series by Chapman and Hall/CRC Press. Includes bootstrap approaches in the chapter on fitting methods and models.

Simply put, the interdisciplinary group of anthropologists, physicians, and others at Harvard have been doing some of the most important and far-reaching work in the area of medical anthropology ever. Byron Good's book, initially given as the 1990 Lewis Henry Morgan Lectures at Rochester, is a beautifully written and accessible summation of much of the innovative thinking going on with his colleagues and former students --- most notably folks like MaryJo Delvecchio Good, Art Kleinman, Lawrence Cohen, Pete Guarnaccia, Carol Mattingly, and others. The major controversies facing anthropology and medicine have been legion, and the discipline has, indeed, been put to ethically-suspect use in service to imperialist ends before. However, as Good argues so effectively, there is still much use for medical anthropology to serve progressive ends in a democratically-ordered world.

Simply put, the interdisciplinary group of anthropologists, physicians, and others at Harvard have been doing some of the most important and far-reaching work in the area of medical anthropology ever. Byron Good's book, initially given as the Henry Louis Morgan Lectures at Rochester, is a beautifully written and accessible summation of much of the innovative thinking going on with his colleagues and former students --- most notably folks like MaryJo Delvecchio Good, Art Kleinman, Lawrence Cohen, Pete Guarnaccia, Carol Mattingly, and others. The major controversies facing anthropology and medicine have been legion, and the discipline has, indeed, been put to ethically-suspect use in service to imperialist ends before. However, as Good argues so effectively, there is still much use for medical anthropology to serve progressive ends in a democratically-ordered world.

For anyone with an interest in the history of medicine, this book is a fascinating introduction. It's richly illustrated with museum-quality examples of period equipment, from original Laennec stethescopes to bloodletting instruments. The text is well-written, and shows the author's broad expertise with medical and scientific history. There are many quotes directly from centuries-old source material which help the reader understand the context and mindset of physicians who practiced their art so long before any understanding of anatomy and physiology. The final chapter on medical quackery is a wonderful review of the often humorous (and sometimes sad!) ways that charlatans have learned to take advantage of even well-educated people-- and gives great insight into how these same tricks are still being played.

I would particularly recommend this book for any student entering medical school or thinking of pursuing a medically-related career in nursing, dentistry, or pharmacy. It's beautifully bound and put-together, and would make a great gift.

This is a really fascinating review of medical history and medical instruments. Very seldom does this sort of volume become more than an unread coffee table book, but this book is really fascinating and well written. There is a host of pithy background to flesh out the outlines that you already know, and this is what makes it so enjoyable. I originally purchased it for the information on antique medical instruments. While this is a good part of what is covered, it is less of a primary focus.

In a disciplined and inspired work of analysis, Barnwell has made connections that reveal the mysteries of the Book of Revelations. His intensive study of ancient symbolism, coupled with spiritual devotion and prayerful inquiry, allowed him to stitch together the patchwork of images into a powerful and cohesive message. Seekers of every faith will find information in this book on the rare process of transformation we are exhorted to accomplish in the Book of Revelations. It ain't about the end of the world, folks. It's an inside job. But you knew that....

Mr. Barnwell captured the meaning of life in its essence towards spirituality. Some of the statements and sentences needs to be more simplified like the Bible of different translations. I believe there's a lot to be absorbed from this book. I wish there were enumerated suggestions for the souls (besides prayers), from this book instead of insights.

A very well written and colorful book with detailed yet easily understandable diagrams and figures. The text is written for those with little background in ecology yet is detailed enough not to be vague for those familiar with the science and with Minnesota. It was required reading in some ecology classes at the Univ. of Minnesota, yet is sits well as a coffee table book.

A very well-written colorful book with detailed yet easily understandable diagrams and figures. The text is balanced for those who know little of ecology yet provides enough detail to not be vague for those familiar with the science and with Minnesota. A darn good book for those wanting to know about the natural history of Minnesota. Big pictures. Was required reading in some ecology classes at the University of Minnesota, yet sits well as a coffee table book.