School Time Books

This book does much to advance the marginalist-subjectivist paradigm in economics. Most economists treat time trivially in their analysis. Some, like Gary Becker, correctly recognize the need to examine how people allocate the only non-renewable resource- time. The Becker approach uses static equilibrium models to address this issue. This represents an advance over the rest of mainstream analysis, but holds the data that people acquire through time constant. This makes convergence on equilibrium conditions possible, if not certain.

Following the work of Mises and Hayek, the authors of this book examine the implications of how knowledge develops through time. As people interact, they learn and change data relevant to their economic plans. We learn and create knowledge simultaneously, and do this differently depending upon the choices we make. Consequently, convergence on equilibrium conditions in markets is not inevitable, and may not even be possible. This makes the concepts of 'real time' and 'ignorance' that the authors discuss relevant to all economics analysis.

This allows us to consider information problems other than second best rational ignorance. We not only know that we do not know some things. We face gaps in our data concerning what we consider finding out about.

This does not mean that equilibrating forces do not exist. It means only that we must consider open ended processes in markets. This is not a new proposition. Adam Smith, the founder of economics as a distinct discipline, thought in evolutionary and process orientated terms.

If there is anything wrong with this book, it is that the authors might be a little too dismissive of conventional economics. Conventional notions of supply, demand, and equilibrium help us to understand economics more than the authors will admit. This approach simplifies many real world complexities. The static approach is not entirely unreal, and does contain enough reality to play an important role in economic analysis. Mainstream economists should, however, be mindful of the extent to which static optimization models fail to explain real world phenomena.

This book is one of my daughters' favorites, and one that I enjoy as well. The illustrations show children of different ethnicity and abilities, and the story teaches problem-solving skills.

The evocative, stunning illustrations and text certainly accomplish their purpose. Young readers will glimpse the majesty of the Grand Canyon and learn something about its past and present inhabitants. But I must confess, my children don't particularly favor books that describe natural scenery in straightforward detail as in "A ringtail cat drinks from a slower side stream", etc, etc.

Well, well. We finally have a piece of work that deals honestly with G-d and culture and the ways of growing up. Adam Palmer does a magnificent job of attacking subjects such as the meaning of life, our relationships with
G-d, family, ourselves and others, how to deal with parents and siblings and friends, temptation, and the future. One of the most refreshing aspects of the book is that Palmer doesn't just stay in the arena of ambiguous abstraction when dealing with big issues such as temptation and relationships, but he comes down to the concrete, here and now, our world experiences when dealing with subjects like sex, masturbation, rule of law set up by the parents, school, homework, etc. This book is most definitely a breath of fresh air designed to get the conversation going between a student and his/her parents. If you are a teenager, or a parent, please get and read this book.

This book and another book called SURVEY OF 300 A+ STUDENTS
by Kenneth Green, are the two best books on study skills,
in my opinion.

'I Wonder Why the Sun Rises' would be a fine book for elementary school children who are inquisitive and of curious nature. The book would be an extra enjoyable read for those children who are scientifically inclined. On nearly every page is a question immediately followed by its answer. Colored pictures with captions are plentiful throughout the book,giving it a greater appeal to the average young reader. The pictures that show how the earth's rotation about its axis and its simultaneous orbit around the sun are responsible for our days,nights,and seasons are especially well-illustrated. Also of interest are pictures of an ancient Aztec calendar and one of a sundial, which is a flat stone clock that indicates time by a projecting rod that casts a shadow over different numerals on the clock depending on what time of day it is.

American artist Jackson Pollock lived a sometimes troubled and ultimately tragic life, despite his success in popularizing revolutionary methods of creating art. Clare Oliver's contribution to Scholastic's "Artists In Their Time" series does not sugar-coat or contradict the reality of that life, one of frequent reclusion and alcohol addiction but also containing periods of both failure and success. It also does its best to make the abstract expressionist movement understandable and accessible to young readers without passing any sort of judgment on its merit. Instead, the reader is given a clear picture of the place Pollock's innovations held in the history of art. Background information on the era in which Pollock lived and worked is helpful, but not intrusive. Illustrations are excellent.

I'm sure many millions of Americans and Canadians remember fondly those little Reader's Digest Condensed Books, which held sway in mostly hardback form in millions of home libraries until fairly recently. This kind of book is now called "Select Editions," but it retains the old idea of four books condensed into one thickish (600 page) tome.

But times have changed, the public's taste has changed, and the new book adheres more closely to the modern preference for genre fiction like sleuth or "chick-lit" tellings instead of fiction that claimed -- not always successfully -- to have some claim on posterity. I notice that my parent's bookshelf holds a Condensed Book from 1960--three novels and Booker T. Washington's memoirs. That would not happen today because the Washington bio is non-fiction and because it is too serious--possibly too challenging.

The first book in Volume 279 (2005) has elements both of chick-lit and of whodunit: Tami Hoag's KILL THE MESSENGER. An innocent bicycle messenger is threatened and drawn into a conspiracy against his will. To his help come a police dept. neophyte Abby Lowell, and a grizzled detective, Kev Parker. The plot is suitably fun and jiggy, but the relationship between the two leads is a little on the routine side. Still, the Los Angeles locales are well rendered here; it's that kind of local detail that often gets left out of substantially abridged tomes like this one.

THE QUEEN OF THE BIG TIME by Adriana Trigiani is truly an epic: it follows a lonely prairie woman from 1927 to 1966, her travails, her relationships and loves. Perhaps a little more self-consciously "sprawling" than it needs to be, but the author's heartfelt admiration of her pioneering character comes through.

MURDER AT THE B-SCHOOL by Jeffrey Cruikshank was probably the most successful book of the four in its original full-length release. It is essentially a 21st-Century "cozy" set in New England. When a Harvard Business School instructor is ordered to help a family whose son was just murdered(?) on campus, he finds out the family live in baronial splendor and he isn't able to "help" the way he was ordered to. The mystery holds up pretty well, but I suspect the shape of this classic whodunit worked better in the original. There are, however, sincere attempts to capture the ambience of Harvard and of downtown Boston.

Jennifer Connely's A NORTHERN LIGHT is classic "chick-lit" if ever I saw one. Mattie, a deserving young woman from a poor background has as her chief desire in life the ability to attend college. But [here I borrow from the jacket], [W]hen tragedy strikes at the lakeside hotel where she works, Mattie discovers just how powerful words--and dreams--can be." Not really my cup of tea, but Mattie's voice remains passionate and intelligent, and she stays in character.

A discerning shopper can get some real deals from Amazon. My copy of Select Editions -- in paperback!-- cost $26.00 by the time I paid tax and S&H. By contrast, new and relatively recent examples of this series can be had on Amazon at less than half that price, perhaps a tenth for a used paperback.

This compact pocket-sized book is an ideal introduction to the world around us for beginning readers. The book is divided into 12 chapters that cover subjects like space, animals, our body & even dinosaurs. The text is simple & conveys information clearly. It is also well illustrated & is just the right size for smalll hands despite its 320 pages.

A good mystery for the grades 3-4 audience. Four African-American middle school students investigate tunnels under their school for ghosts of the Underground Railroad. Slightly unbelievable that middle school kids had never heard of the Underground Railroad or that their dog digs them out of trouble. However, middle elementary should enjoy the suspense.