Vision Books

Most people who have had someone close to them die long to know they are well. This book confirms what the bereaved know in their hearts - that their loved one still lives. This book contains reassuring confirmations of this belief through dreams and other exper\theiences of a variety of people in a variety of experiences with a common belief that there is a life to come where we will be reunited with those we love.

This is a beautiful book for the soul. Vera Glenn's collection of people's personal loving encounters with heavenly visitors will give comfort to all who have lost loved ones. I recommend this book for everyone, not only because of its hopeful message, but it is a delightful adventure to read.

This book is a wonderful primer on the basic approach to strategic decision making. Professor Giglio writes in a lucid, humorous style, providing the reader with wonderful insights into strategy.

If you care enough to read even one book about why transportation matters to the economy, what's wrong with our transportation network, and how to fix it, this should be the one.

Kirkpatrick Sale has written a vision of the future that should be drilled into politicians' subconscious and taught in grade school. Sustainable, sane, ecologically minded bioregions. I was particularly struck by his definition of "querencia"--"a deep, quiet sense of inner well-being that comes from knowing a particular place of the earth, its diurnal and seasonal patterns, its fruits and scents, its history and its part in your history . . . where, whenever you return to it, your soul releases an inner sigh of recognition and relaxation." Sale is a wonderful writer, balanced in perspective, and able to distill complex problems into a form that the average mind can comprehend, despite all the arguments pro and con. Read it.

If you've come to suspect that most of the world's problems--pollution, warfare, crime, transnational piracy, mental illness--are inherent in a civilization in decline, you might like this vision of small, face-to-face communities living in respectful accord with the natural world.

The author makes the same point as ecopsychologists and the great whale researcher Roger Payne: built by millions of years of evolution to live in close contact with the wilderness, we who have penned ourselves behind fences and buildings carry with us a ten-thousand-year-old wound....a self-inflicted wound of aching alienation (hence our tendency to alienate--to marginalize--other people).

Read this book, then tour the decidedly un-zoolike San Diego Wild Animal Park while seeing how you feel there. For some this might offer a glimpse of a sanity so centering that you can feel it throughout your body.

I met Lorna at a recent conference (April 2004) in Tucson and saw some of her works. We talked briefly and it occured to me that this woman is truly in tune with "Godness." I was inspired to go out to her website and begin reading her books. I started with this one.

She takes us beyond the metaphor of religious myth and to the realities of where science and spirituality truly need to meet.

Her work is not to be taken lightly. Her work is of grave, serious, and immediate import. I believe that every person who influences decisions affecting our mother Gaia need to seriously review what Lorna has to say and make decisions accordingly.

I haven't yet found what she has to say about the serious moral problem of competitive greed and the destruction, and I look forward to what she has to say about this too.

Without a doubt, Lorna Green is one of the prophets of the 21st century. I believe that her vision of God, humanaity, and all earthly phenomenon living in unison and connected by consciousness is an invigorating and ground-breaking concept, worthy of much praise. In this day and age, over-complex and and arbitrary explanations, systems and philosophies steal the show for out-lining reality.

"Earth Age" has to be one of the best books around for sharing truth, knowledge, wisdom and love, all of which are essential to understand because they lie at the very foundation of life. Nature and consciousness are linked eternally, and as a scholar of the sciences as well as a brave woman, if there is a way to prove our eternal connection to consciousness, I have complete faith in Lorna Green's ability to do so.

On a personal note, Lorna is one of my best friends because of her loving kindness and most intriguing beliefs. I would advise anyone I meet to read "Earth Age," especially young people like myself (I am age 21), and also those who have had difficulty trying to make sense of overly complex, scientific explanations. Lorna's book will clarify so many things for those who search for truth with unsatisfying results.

Her book, "Earth Age," can be a step toward illumination. If enough people read this book it could quite literally save us from a terrible earthly tragedy that would be our own fault. We have the power to design new strategies for living, and the first step, I believe, is to read "Earth Age" by Lorna Green.

(Reviewer's age: 21)

This book was originally published in hard cover in 1993 and is quite expensive. This is a paperback reprint and the price is much cheaper. The essays collected in the book were written over a period of more than forty years. They show other concerns of Drucker other than his achievement in management.

The writing is as great as ever by Drucker, I don't understand why this book is less popular than others.
For example, the essay on Japanese culture and why Japan will fail economically was written almost ten years ago, and it is the deepest and best analysis I have seen. The time was 1993, everybody in Japan including the monks that Peter talked to was talking about economics, yet Peter rightly sensed that the problem of Japan was cultural and social rather than economic.

This book is incredible and could very well change your life!

Unlike other works on permaculture and ecological agriculture, which discuss simple principles derived from ecology, Jakce dives into the real workings of forest ecology and humanity's role (and potential role) in this ecology.

While technically impressive, the real merit of this book is the quality of writing. It reads like a novel while conveying complex ecological ideas and their practical application.

It truly offers hope for a beautiful and delicious post-petroleum food production system.

Check it out now!
And then get gardening like the forest!!

This book adds depth to the existing research in agro-ecology. It provides new information and examples specific to temperate, especially warmer-temperate climates. It also highlights applications of this information in the first section: "Vision." The authors have put together a massive work that will certainly serve my reference for years to come. This work is primarily an information-packed textbook that includes much in the way of strategies and principles which apply to all biological development of landscapes. In this regard the book can serve as a text in any regenerative landscape studies.

For me, the most valuable aspects of this book are:
-the articulation of integrated design principles (so many good one's under one cover)
-the masterful graphics (who did them all?)
-the development and refining of new language for thinking about agro-ecosystems. E.g. they've taken out the word "invasive" and use the word "opportunist" instead; advancing our approach in this perennial challenge and contextualizing it in a more proper problem-solving/use-based approach, as opposed to the useless conservationist/alarmist approach that can't find the leverage.
-the case studies, although I wish there were more.
-The "top 100" plant list for temperate climates = awesome resource.
-the depth of research (which is fairly mind-blowing) including aspects such as cross sectional mapping of root systems, nutrient flows in agro-ecosystems, and much much more.

It is obvious why this book has taken many years to produce.
I am left with several confusions/questions. One is the name: "Forest" gardening. The authors show the differences between forest and woodland systems (as in % canopy cover) and are clearly explaining strategies for WOODLAND gardening with some light coming in through a partially open canopy. "Edible Woodland Gardening" would make more sense and the term Forest is a bit misleading. (This is not a book about mushroom cultivation, or understory crops alone). Maybe it's simply that woodland is a fairly unused term in the States.
Another frustration is in the case studies/examples. The case studies are few and examples of strategy applications are brief. They are also only from fairly warm-temperate sites: southern England, North Carolina, etc. I did not see any from New England, for instance, where both authors reside. Of course there are not an abundance of sites to use as examples, but there are many more than are shown. I wonder why the Bullock Bros. woodland garden in a temperate region of the US was not highlighted or referenced, for instance. I am hoping that Volume II has more of these case studies.

Overall an incredible work of research with an applied focus and a super useful source of ecological design principles that are crucial for any student in any field connected with biological landscape development.

Ben Falk
Whole Systems Design, LLC
Moretown, Vermont, USA

I look forward to the "Edibles" calendar every year. The photography is always exceptional and oh-so beautiful!. I get the new version every year for my kitchen wall. Robert Kaufman does some of the best food photography that I personally have ever seen. A great gift for any "foodie" or vegetarian in your life!

The calendars I hang in my kitchen used to be the same, boring pictures-of-coffee-cups-or-roosters year after year, until I discovered Kaufman's "Edibles" -- probably 6 years ago now -- while looking through a catalog of cookbooks. The uniquely photographed perspectives of otherwise-mundane edibles like bunches of grapes or asparagus spears or mixed fruit makes you see them in ways that give new meaning to the word "fresh produce". If you don't think pears can be "moody" or radicchio can look as frilly as Spanish dancer, or if you didn't know an artichoke is actually a flowering plant, you haven't seen them as photographed by Robert Kaufman. This calendar has 12 large, beautiful, glossy images suitable for framing even WITHOUT the calendar. In fact, all of the photographs ARE available as signed originals prints -- but I still love looking at them in my kitchen throughout the year.

This was a wonderful book to read.
Elsie's family decides to vacation in Nantucket for the Summer. It turns out to be an even better trip than they first thought. Captain Raymond is at home to watch over his children, instead of out at sea. But the storms that are raging could hurt a few members of Elsie's family that are out on a boating trip. The family just has to keep faith that God will protect their loved ones. With just enough positive, fun events to override those accidental-prone events, it makes the vacation season have just enough flavor.
I know you'll absolutely love this charming book.

PLEASE TRY TO FIND ALL THE ELSIE BOOKS. WHEN WILL THE ELSIE AT NANTUCKET BE AVAILABLE? CAN YOU FIND THE OTHERS (PAST GRANDMOTHER ELSIE)?

I love all of the Elsie Dinsmore books, but this is one of my favorites. Elsie Dinsmore Travilla makes a wonderful Christian parent along with her husband Edward. Their children are not perfect, just like all of mankind, and yet they train their children in a godly way. As always, one can see how Elsie puts her faith in God, especially when the Ku Klux Klan attacks their house in the intent to harm her husband, and when her eldest child, Elsie, becomes very sick. Also, she learns to grieve for herself and for others, yet rejoice for those who are Christians and have only gone before to that wonderful place called heaven. I recommend this book to girls and ladies of all ages, mothers, married, and single.

"Elsie's Motherhood" is one of my favorite Elsie books. Elsie is a good mother to her children, and her children are very virtuous and obedient. I think Elsie handles her children's problems very well. I enjoyed reading this book, and it is very well-written for girls of all ages.

There are many great examples of basic image processing techniques in this book. Topics like Image Filtering, Edge Detection and also some Wavelets. There is both theory and detailed examples which really helps when trying to get the DSP in a symbiotic relationship with Matlab, CodeComposer Studio and MS Visual Studio.

There is a logical flow in how information is presented. First a basic description of the algorithm. Second some Matlab or pseudo-code. Then third he describes exactly how to implement it on the c6x dsp. Not only are there implementation details but also interfacing explanation for both Matlab and Visual Studio.

Overall this is an excellent book for getting a project up and running in a timely fashion.

This is an extremely well laid out and understandable text. The coding examples are easy to understand and can be easily demonstrated on the TI DSK's. As a current TI employee with little experience with the C6x line of DSP's, Qureshi's book allowed me to learn a large amount of image processing background in a short time while becoming familiar with the workings of Code Composer Studio and the DSP. The book starts very simply and has clear instructions on how to obtain the tools to run all of the code samples on real DSPs.

Starting with an overview of the tools involved and the C6x architecture, Qureshi moves into simple image processing concepts, such as contrast stretching and window/level processing. After clearly explaining the concept and the implementation, the reader is led through the process of optimizing the code for the DSP environment. Later topics, such as edge detection and wavelets leave the reader with a clear understanding of the fundamentals of image processing, as well as code examples that make implementation a breeze.

Overall, an excellently written book and a must for anyone interested in image processing, whether on TI DSPs or not.