Bell Books

The central book in this series Lifemanship:Some Notes on Lifemanship with a Summary of Recent Research in Gamesmanship is a classic for anyone nerous about social encounters. You know the type, the ones who are always suspecting that everyone else is scrutinizing their every word and gesture. Well, according to these books, they are. There is a defense though (and a way to make those others who share the anxiety still more worried). This is one of those that is a good laugh, but not ENTIRELY facetious.

If your knowledge of British humour begins and ends with Monty Python, or if you think Austin Powers really is British, then this book will be an eye-opener for you. Where the Pythons provide an in-your-face, broad, loud, slapstick experience, Stephen Potter is exquisitely dry and understated. He sets about on the thankless and nearly impossible task of teaching us perfectly ordinary people how to lord it over our peers. Or betters, for that matter. Doctors, for instance, assume a state of instant authority and dominance by the simple act of having us remove our clothes first thing. How to counter this age-old tactic? Arrange for a female acquaintance to call you as soon as you're starkers, and engage in a knee-slapping, ribald conversation. Any doctor will have a hard time meeting your eyes after that call! A salesman should never rush a pen into his client's hand, hoping he'll skip the fine print. Instead, read out loud the most obfuscatory phrases ("whereas the party hereinafter called the copyholders shall within the discretion of both signatories ..."), and have a shared laugh as you both try to figure out what they can possibly mean. It's good form to then pat your pockets, looking in vain for a pen. Done properly, the client will offer his own pen, which of course you'll take home with you.

If you're not used to reading the Queen's English, you'd better have a dictionary (preferably the O.E.D.) close at hand. Despite the passing of half a century, some of these ploys and gambits will be fresh and viable today. Mind you, I should avoid any driving advice given by Plaste, tempting though it may be. Though if you're afraid of heights, then the Art of Not Rockclimbing will suit you to a "t". This is all brilliant stuff, though the connoisseur will prefer the all-in-one volume, "The Complete Upmanship: Including Gamesmanship, Lifemanship, One-Upmanship, Supermanship." Highly, highly recommended.

Potter's books are the funniest I have ever read. I go back to each of them regularly.

Potter caqptures the essence of British humor. He wrote circa 1950 and was a master at capitalizing on observations for the purposes of gaining an edge in the most humorous of cicumstances. The British understatement and preoccupation for the unimportant things in life is the starting point for Potter to describe how life should be lived. From how to decorate ones office, how to walk in a museum, how to properly answer the telephone, to what to wear for golf has been reduced to a science so that the other person will ultimately feel uncomfortable and off balance. If one can possibly think British, then this book may be one of the funniest books ever written.

As a high school youth this book was my introduction to subtlety. And as a kid in Pittsburgh I had much to learn on this subject. One would hope that in today crass atmosphere such ploys are still advantageous but I doubt it. In fact I'll wager that there is not one person in a thousand who can identify this book as the source of the popularity of the word "ploy" although the word is widely used. Read it, it's fun.

This book is a true gift -- full of deep, angular passages by thoughtful Christians from a huge variety of times and places. As a pastor, I find myself going back into it while working on sermons. Not for a clever line or for a cute quote by someone famous to give credence to what I want to say. No, these passages bring me deeper into the most profound truths of the faith. They improve my own thinking and praying and preaching.

With great warmth and feeling, "Ordinary Graces" brings to light timeless human need to move from self-love to love of God and of others, from doubt to faith, from despair to hope. One feels connected to an unbroken thread of believers through the centuries. The book made me newly aware that "the body of Christ" links all generations and that the fruit of "the vine and the branches" nourishes every soul.

Ordinary Graces opens with a joyful celebration of the wonder of God's creation followed by a gradual unfolding of the Christian message that culminates in divine union. The passages are carefully selected so that each reflects upon and illuminates those that precede and follow it. As the book progresses, a path of work is traced, its demands increasing in difficultly and deepening in meaning. Kisly's thoughful selections are in an invitation to examine one's life and choose the path of truth. These selections cover 2000 years of Christianity, with remarkable passages that flow smoothly between the centuries. Highly and enthusiastically recommended

In returning to favorite quotations I choose those passages in which the authors express personal experiences of grace. Having the courage to write from the inside out reveals an authenticity which the selections that are intended to alter another's behavior do not. The last entry in the book, one of several included elsewhere by Meister Eckhart demonstrates this beautifully. "The eye in which I see God is the same eye in which God sees me. My eye and God's eye are one eye and one seeing, one knowing and one loving." In like manner the champion of little graces, Brother Lawrence confesses, "I turn over my little omelet in the frying pan for the love of God. When it is done, if I have nothing to do, I bow down to the ground and adore God from whom has come the grace to make it." Petru Dumitriu, in the chapter The Sacrament of Presence admits, "My own humble experience is not that of ecstacy. I do not levitate, I am not somewhere else, nor outside myself, not with God-nothing of that. Just a poor brute suddenly stopping halfway down the stairs, or slowly taking off his glasses. But those two or three minutes in the life of a man, are the reason why I shall not have lived in vain." And finally, Julian of Norwich ".....I was filled with an everlasting security that supported me completely, and I was without fear. This feeling was so blessed that I experienced nothing but peace and rest, and there was nothing on earth that could have disturbed me." No 'thou shalt's in those entries. Thank you Lorraine Kisly for this rich collection crammed with Ordinary Graces.

This book is beautifully conceived and executed. It is a rich collection of Christian spiritual writing rather loosely organized by general themes such as repentence and transformation. The selections are marvelous. There was nothing familiar (this is no "greatest hits") and there is astonishing breadth and quality. A constant surprise: selections that sounded very 'modern' in their psychological penetration are often from an obscure writer from the sixth century. So much hits home. I came away proud of my Christian heritage, determined to tap into it further, and inspired to take advantage of all the 'ordinary graces' available to me (and to everyone!).

This is a great book for anyone who loves to ride PWCs and a must-have for anyone new to the sport. The detailed information on specific locations tells what to expect there, as well as hotel and campsight names and phone numbers. I found the chapters on Equipment and Planning and Preparation especially helpful in evaluating how ready we are for a trip. The whole book is packed with useful information. We refer to it often.

This is a great book, I just got done reading it just before the season starts and water gets warm. I found this book very informative and it gave me many NEW ideas for places to go this summer. Intra-Coastal Waterway and Caddo are places that I had never heard of riding and after reading this book I know how to get there, were the best place to load and unload, were to eat, were to get gas and what to expect. It also gives the Texas Water Safty Act which is also very helpful so this year I won't get a $150 ticket. I would suggest this book to anybody that has PWC's or is planning to buy one.

Today I read your book ont he plane while returning from Portland, Oregon. I cannot tell you how long it has been since I read something so pleasurable as your book. I found your advice so valuable. You grought up things that i haven't even begun to think of. What a great resource. My greatest challenge is deciding which trip to do first! Thank for all the research, time and effort you must of put into this fine book.

Patrick Fitzgerald Genreal Sales Manager Federal Signal Corporation

Thom wrote this book in a language everyone can understand. He includes everything you would want to know about each location he covers. Very user friendly.

This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to learn more about the safe use and enjoyment of personal watercraft. It is especially handy for Texas watercraft enthusiasts because it contains so much useful information on places to go in the state and what to expect when you get there. The author also does an excellent job in the areas of preparation and planning, equipment, maintenance, and rules and regulations.

I bought the book three weeks ago and have already been on three of the author's recommended adventures. They were terrific! This book will add a whole new dimension to your personal watercraft experience.

I hope that Thom Bell will follow this guidebook with another one full of even more fun trips and adventures!

Karp, author of the brilliant book Indispensable Enemies, comes through again in this fascinating history book. Karp's underlying premise is that polticians start wars to destroy internal reforms wanted by the people. Here he shows how the Progressive movement was stymied by the Democrats and Republicans, with war as their chosen instrument.

Part I is a history of the Spanish-American War and here Karp shows how both parties colluded to bring on an unnecessary war. He firmly disagrees with the traditional historians who blame the war on the press. Part II continues this analysis, applied this time to the years leading up to another unnecessary war, World War I. Karp shows how Wilson drags the country into war, while all the time talking of peace. Once again the motivation is the same: thwart reform at home. Once the war has begun, Wilson uses the fake threat of German treachery to suppress the press and free speech of the American public. The last chapter is particularly chilling, as Karp gives the example of a woman jailed for saying the government is for the profiteers.

No political history has ever been done better. I am proud to give this book a 5 star rating and encourage anyone interested in history or politics to read this book.

This book is most provocative in its treatment of the generally revered Woodrow Wilson and the story of how (according to Karp) he cynically engineered our entry into WW I, motivated by Anglophilia and a messianic (and in Karp's view delusional) conviction that he could bring a new era of peace and justice to the world.

A number of books have made similar allegations about FDR and our entry into WW II, but at the end of the day, who cares? Does anyone really think the world would be a better place if the U.S. had stayed out of World War II?

WW I was quite a different kettle of fish, as Karp points out. It was not in any way clear that the U.S. had something to gain from involving itself in a sordid struggle in which neither side held the moral high ground. And Karp argues rather convincingly that Wilson was played for a fool -- he tipped the balance to Britain's Lloyd George and France's Clemenceau, only to see these enormously cynical and skillful politicians torpedo his "just peace" in favor of viciously punitive terms which ultimately led to the rise of Adolph Hitler.

Karp also discusses Wilson's suppression of free speech and his aggressive use of propaganda in favor of the war effort.

Karp was a frequent contributor to Harper's magazine who unfortunately died quite young a number of years ago. This little-known book should be read by anyone interested in America in the WW I era and in the development of modern American political culture. It's also worth studying if you want to understand better why U.S. public opinion was so resolutely isolationist up until the attack on Pearl Harbor. Wilson got his war, but the experience left a very bad taste in the mouth of the American public.

I am a student of history and enjoyed this book. It gives a real good look at behind the scene at political manipulation on a national level and you can draw comparisons to the present administration.

This is one of the best history books I have read in a long time.The first part of the book is about America's involvment in the Spanish American War and is very interesting,but it is the rest of the book,which deals with America's long slide into WWI that makes the book great.Karp totally demolishes all the old fairy tales about "peace loving" Woodrow Wilson being reluctantly forced into declaring war on Germany in 1917.Instead we see a Wilson who worked tirelessly for three years to drag the US into the war against the wishes of the vast majority of his nation's people.As Karp shows,Wilson and his ambassador in England,Walter Hines Page,virtually committed treason in their efforts to get the US into the war,routinely ignoring British violations of America's neutral rights and generaly putting the interests of England ahead of their own nation.The resistance of the American people was able to block Wilson's ambitions for almost three years,but in the end the wishes of the people didn't matter and the politicians(plus the press and Wall Street) got the war they had been hoping for.Sounds familiar doesn't it?

Walter Karp's "The Politics of War" is simply the most concise and powerful study in history I've ever read. Simply by sticking to the premise that history is made not by anonymous "forces" but by men of power acting out of self-interest, Karp turns stuff that was frankly dull in your high school textbooks - you remember the names: the Progressive Era, the gold standard, William Jennings Bryan, the Lusitania - into something not only gripping, but eerily reminiscent of what our nation is currently experiencing. Karp's portrait of Woodrow Wilson as a self-deluded, self-righteous, vainglorious would-be messiah determined to drag an unwilling nation into war to suit his own dreams of glory is especially powerful and damning.

The final chapter, "The Old America That Was Free and Is Now Dead," is simply the most powerful piece of writing I've ever read in a nonfiction work, comparable only to the conclusion of Hannah Arendt's "Eichmann in Jerusalem." No one could ever accuse Walter Karp of hating his country; he hated what a few people had done to it, and that, as all too many would like us to forget these days, is something very different.

This contains the clearest presentation of the evidence for non-locality that I've seen. The other chapters on the implications of this are a little more challenging but worth it.

In this delightful read, Maudlin goes through an array of topics revolving around non-locality, relativity, and the mathematics involved. However, although I didn't find any "new" ideas in the text, I was amazed at how quickly & clearly he explained the said topics. Without exaggerating, in 80 pages of this book I attained what had taken me an entire stack of now useless books on quantum physics (particularly Bell's theorem), relativity, linear algebra, and philosophy(don't read Philosophy of Physics by Lange, you'll get it all out of this)

Anyone who has a prior introduction to Quantum theory will love this. I'd suggest Quantum Reality by Herbert, But there are lots of good ones out there.

There are many books which discuss the issue of quantum non-locality and discuss its connections to relativity theory. The vast majority of them, however, are either un-serious popular pap, or serious tomes written by professional philosophers who are at least as confused as the authors of the pap.

Maudlin's book stands out like a beacon of light in this fog of confusion and muddle-headedness. It is accessible to anyone with a basic high-school education in math and physics, yet surpasses the vast majority of technical papers on this subject in depth, clarity, and (most importantly) correctness. If you want to understand the issue of non-locality that makes some people worry so much about quantum theory and its consistency with relativity, read this book -- study this book -- and this holds whether you are a Joe Schmoe off the street or a famous Professor from (say) Boston University.

This is a great book - captivating, a bit technical in places (but you can easily avoid the technical details and still understand the theses), and ultimately somewhat disturbing in the best sense of that word (it will knock away a lot of your presuppositions). Quantum non-locality (QNL) has been experimentally verified and there is no question that it exists. Particles too far apart to "communicate" at speeds less than the speed of light nonetheless do somehow "communicate". Lorentz invariance, a cornerstone of relativity, has also been well verified experimentally. Yet Einstein's philosophical underpinning of special relativity, the democracy of all reference frames, seem to be radically called into question by QNL. The author goes through every theory put forward so far to reconcile special relativity (with its philosophical underpinning intact) with QNL, and shows that none can cut the mustard. Trying to reconcile QNL with general relativity leads to even worse conundrums. Science is in a deep quandary! This book will blow your mind if you let it.

It's no coincidence that those writing the clearest books in the philosophy of physics are also those doing the best work in the field. Maudlin's book is a perfect example of this. It is also remarkably self-sufficient, providing a review of special relativity, and a brief and lucid presentation of the foundations of quantum mechanics in the appendix. As a result, it should be readable by anyone with a high school education. Those already familiar with the physics and/or the issues may want to skip parts, though I should note that I found a couple hidden gems regarding things I was unfamiliar with or mistaken about even in the introductory sections.

The bulk of the book examines whether and to what extent quantum mechanics entails four superluminal phenomena often taken to be ruled out by relativity: superluminal matter transport, superluminal signaling, superluminal causation and superluminal information transfer. Maudlin convincingly argues that only the latter two of these are entailed by quantum phenomena. The book ends with an critical examination of the various theories put forward to circumvent these difficulties, and provides a brief discussion of how these issues hold up when we move to General Relativity and Quantum Field Theory.

This is a work that in its day was seriously underrated because of what was considered its "unbalanced", "confused" structure (a mix between genre comedy with an attempt with serious historical reconstruction and Biblical criticism). But then it is actually a "premature" postmodern novel, reflecting good humouredly on the relations between truth and lie, history and legend, reality and writing. Therefore the fact that what could not be fully appreciated in the late XIXth Century, and that it should be universallt praised in the early XXIst. Century.

It is closing time at a New York Museum. Two brothers are lost in the long corridors and hallways of the big museum. They find a stair case leading to the dark subbasement. One boy pleads not to go down, but the other says that they are going. Then they go down, not knowing they will never return. This is a very good and very intense. If you are into horror and suspense, read it! It is not for the squemish, and it is very long read. It is told in such detail that you feel you are in the story. The movie and book have no compare, the book rocks, and is the best read i ever read!

Actually, I just want to correct the first on-line review about Eça's The Relic. That review or whatever that is does NOT refer to Eça's book. There must have been some kind of mistake. There are no brothers, haunted museums or anything of that sort in Eça's Relic which I, as a Portuguese enthusiastic reader and...professor of Literature, have read several times and studied/taught in College. Eça is unique, his writing equals only Saramago and Pessoa and he is the best possible approach to the Portuguese masterpieces of literature. I discovered his work when I was in my early teens and that decided my career. Please try to find a good translation of The Maias, Cousin Bazilio, The Sin of Father Amaro, The Illustrious House of Ramires or The City and the Mountain and bring them to the american public. I know some good translations by Carcanet Press in Manchester, UK. But please,correct your on-line review!

This is not, in my opinion Eça's best book. But for me everything he wrote has to be "5 stars" rated. it's a shame other books of his are not available on amazon.com. I consider Eça de Queiroz to be the best Portuguese novelist so my suggestion is that you discover his magnificence through those I consider to be his best novels: (I'll translate them but I'm not sure these are their titles) "Cousin Basílio", "The Maias", and "Cousin Basilio" (you can see this is my favourite). If you want to know about the Portuguese society of the late 18th century you'll find it all there. It's not that it had much to be proud of...

One has to be very cautious when reviewing this book, since there is much to give away about the plot and then ruin the reading for people. Teodorico Raposo becomes orphan as a child and is sent to Lisbon to live with his aunt, a terrible, unlikable and tyrannical religious fanatic who terrorizes everybody around her with her puritanism and obsessions. But she happens to be very rich and Teodorico her only relative alive. So he has to pretend ALL the time that he is just as fanatic as her aunt, while living a double life of pleasure and sin. One day, his aunt decides that before dying someone has to go to the Holy Land and get her some authentic relic of Jesus' times. And guess who she chooses to go there.
So Teodorico embarks towards Egypt and Palestine in what becomes a very funny adventure alongside his companion, the wise scholar Dr. Topsius. To go further would, as I said, risk giving away parts of the plot which are really unexpected and good. Suffice it to say that the travel includes a wonderful, colorful and vivid narration of the day when Jesus was crucified. It turned out to be a very enjoyable book by one of the best writers of the XIX century.

This book was highly recommended by the instructor of a typography class I'm taking - and it's out of print. Please encourage its update and reprinting soon!

As a design student, I need this book. I've been looking for it for 2 months. Being able to identify typefaces by their distinguishing characteristics is a valuable resource in the decision making process. My instructor had a copy, that's how I know about it. Is there any way we could get; a) Christopher Perfect to re-edit and update the book, or b) get the publishing house to re-issue it?

This book allows you to determine what typeface was used to print a book, magazine,etc. By systematically identifying the characteristics of a typeface you can determine what style it is (Venetian serif, Old Style Serif, etc.).Then by examining specific characteristics of certain letters you can determine the exact font. This is the only book of its kind that I know of. Unfortunately since it hasn't been reprinted for a while some of the newer typefaces are not listed. Buy it if you can find a copy.

Excellent resource for professional typographers trying to identify a typeface. Definitely needed in any competent print shop.

I am a professional typesetter and use this book to find types and their names. I don't know how I could function without it.

As an accountant, I really appreciated the financial planning section of the book. It has helped us to realistically assess different properties in making our investment decision. This book is a must for anyone seriously considering a bed and breakfast or a small inn. Being able to estimate costs and revenues up front is imperative for success.

You betcha!!! My middle name is Innes (no joke!!!!!) but it might as well be "inns"(!!!!!), that's how much I wanted to be an innkeeper, and Mary Davies' book is "inn" (!!!!!!) the right place "inn" (!!!) my bookshelf. No, but seriously, with my sense of humour and my wife Marjorie's overly solicitous manner and ability to project her prurient judgmentalism and dissaproval wordlessly, we had a headstart in that we were the perfect couple to run a Bed-and-Breakfast. Even the best need a hand though, and this book is a must-read for those who don't want to make a dog's dinner of this rewarding career.

Very comprehensive. Is better for those considering an "inn" vs. renting the spare bedroom.

I read this wonderful book 10 years ago while planning to become an innkeeper. Now that I am a successful innkeeper, I refer to it constantly and am incredibly grateful to the authors. I credit the information learned in this book as a reason for our success. It helped us ask the right questions, particularly about whether or not we had the personalities to make it in this diffficult business. Also, it was invaluable in creating our business plan. Don't open a B & B before reading this.

Michele Cozzens, author of I'm Living Your Dream Life: The Story of a Northwoods Resort Owner.

This book separated the romantic notions of owning a B&B from the business end. It was eye opening and very informative.

Just to counter an earlier review that states

"... he describes a thought experiment of two spaceships joined by a thread and accelerating identically. Like the earlier authors, Bell wrongly believed the thread would break ..."


Actually, the string would break...

* From the launch pad frame the distance between space-ships stays the same,
but the string is Lorentz contracted

* From the space-ship point of view (not a wise choice), they are accelerating and
so their clocks do not run at the same rate... the front space ship pulls away...
(I find it easier to think of them at differing depth in a 'gravitational' field)

I am SO glad to see that this book has been given a second printing!!! Bravo, Cambridge University Press!

This book is not destined to become a classic-- because It IS a classic ALREADY!! It is just one that hasn't been widely recognized yet.

That's only a matter of time.

Nowadays everyone and their uncle seems to be talking about Quantum Communication this and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen that-- and I guess with good reason, for we are now starting to see practical applications of this most esoteric of physics subfields.

However, it seems that the more non-intuitve and interesting a topic is, the more obfuscation (both intended and accidental) is written about it. (I'm not just talking about laymen and mystics, but physicists too!) Or, said another way, the more people talk, the less they really understand.

Forget all the rest of the junk out there. Cut to chase. Read about the ESSENTIALS of what QUANTUM MECAHNICS really MEANS from one of the Masters of the field in about 15 short, lucid, crystal-clear essays.

There is some math here, but not much. That is the beauty and the danger of Quantum Mechanics-- because calculations are not that difficult in this field, people are lulled into thinking they really understand what it is they are calculating.

Well, most don't.

If you really want to get a grasp as to what it all MEANS-- forgetting the calculations for a moment--- you must read this book.

Feynman said that nobody really understood Quantum Mechanics.

That may be so...

But John Stuart Bell came the closest.

You can't meet him at a conference anymore (he died in 1990,) but you CAN have him tutor you personally in this short, brilliant masterpiece.

You can see from the other reviews here that this is a fascinating book. Many of the essays discuss 'unorthodox' interpretations of QM like Bohmian mechanics and wave-collapse models. The introduction by Alain Aspect was very interesting as well, and discussed the experimental advances in what he calls the "second quantum revolution." If you are buying an older edition of this book you may not get this introduction.

The previous review "Small Caveat" is a little misleading. Bell does explain that if the spaceships are accelerating slowly enough, the tension in the string will cause the system to contract as a whole, and the string will not break. But if the spaceships maintain a constant distance apart in the frame of the observer, the string will most certainly break. If you don't accept Bell's main argument that the electric fields between the atoms contract, transform to the accelerated frame of one of the ships and you will find the other ship receding away.

But don't listen to me, read the essays yourself! Even if you don't agree with the arguments, you will not be sorry for the thought provoking experience.

After reading lots of commentaries on Bell's Theorem, this book
is where you finally get to read the actual paper. Worth it.

I agree with the enthusiasm shown by other reviewers (see also the first edition) for this book's treatment of interpretive issues at the foundations of quantum theory. However, chapter 9 unfortunately titled "How to teach Relativity" shows that Bell's expertise in quantum theory did not extend to special relativity, which he seriously misunderstands. Drawing on an old mistaken paper by Dewan & Beran from 1959, he describes a thought experiment of two spaceships joined by a thread and accelerating identically. Like the earlier authors, Bell wrongly believed the thread would break, showing the Lorentz contraction (again wrongly) to be a "real" effect, rather than an apparent one manifested only in another relatively moving inertial frame.
Despite the fact that, as he mentions in the book, all his CERN colleagues contradicted him, he nevertheless included this old "chestnut" with a false interpretation that can only do harm to the general understanding of STR.

I love this book with all my heart. It always makes me smile and laff. It is like magic.

Mrs. Bean's daughter grows to be tall and strong like the vegetables in her garden, and her efforts in her garden produce wonders which become a family affair in this story of gardening delights and a small girl's special talents.

I just read this book to my son's 3 year old nursery school class and everyone loved it - the children, the teachers and myself. The teacher even asked for the title so she could get it to read to the kids. It is fun to see all of the veggies in such big proportions - the boys respond to the forklifts, chain saws etc.

I have been looking for a book on gardening and growing things for young children and this is just the thing. Adding magic to a child's love of gardening works because gardens can be magical. I'm using this in a storyhour for 3 - 5 year old children.

Good folksy fairy tale where the protagonist is a girl not scared to get her magical green fingers dirty. My two year old immediately loved the story of a young baby growing into a little girl and "doing something wonderful." I like that there are lots of opportunities to identify and name vegetables in the exciting if not overly refined illustrations. Also, I really recommend this book for its sense of community -- when the village comes together to harvest and eat Scarlette's giant vegetables, it's great to notice that women drive forklifts, priests sit down to eat with tattooed bikers and neighbors come in all shapes and colors. These details are not at issue in the content of the story, but added for discovery in the ilustrations.