Science Books

The day I got this book i couldn't put it down. It was very interesting and had a great history of the science of finding time of death. It's a great intro book if this is something you like to read about. Great book, can't wait to read her other book! Read this book and I promise you will enjoy it.

Not for those with weak stomachs, but great for those with any interest in death investigations. Pin pointing time since death has always been a thorn in the side of many a prosecuter. This book gives a very nice detailed history of how we started trying to determine T.O.D to where we are now. I recommend this book to anyone in the field of forensic science or with a interest in criminal justice and death investigation.

If you want to know the latest in the field of forensic sciences, this is your book. Sachs follows the roving eye of those scientists who, most seemingly accidentally, get roped into murder investigations where time of death determines everything: from the indentity of the victim to that of the killer. The liquid in the eyeball, bones, fatty acids, maggots, weeds, germs and pigs all come in to play. More entertaining than CSI and Kay Scarpetta put together.

I couldn't put this book down. It is a must read for anyone interested in science, death, anatomy, or just the bizarre aspects of decomposition! Really interesting stuff in here and the writer is at turns witty, serious, and altogether a prolific story-teller. A definite favorite in my own collection of books to read and re-read. GREAT!

Learning the time of death is crucial in many cases of unnatural death, yet it's still not an exact science. Jessica Snyder Sachs handles the grisly topic with confidence and a conversational tone. The book takes you through the history of determining time of death and then details the recent and current science of it without once slipping into dry academic style or overwrought drama. She uses many anecdotes that bring the topic to life (if you will excuse the expression), and her word sketches of the scientists involved shows the human side of science. Sachs is an accomplished science writer, and it shows. The book is fascinating, not for the faint of stomach but not deliberately grisly either. It's an excellent, readable work, one you'll find hard to put down.

I met Ms. Sachs last year, and interviewed her for a review of the book on another website. We sat in her back yard, talking about death and writing. She is gracious and knowledgeable in person, and her personable manner comes through in the book. As someone who has studied criminal justice in various forms for over 20 years, I highly recommend it.

I had heard good things about this book when I picked it up, but I didn't expect to fall in love with it. The style is delightful, the characters dynamic, and the story creative and new. I look forward to seeing more from Jessica Day George.

This book is great. The story was easy to read but kept my attention the entire time. If you like fantasy, this is a great find.

This book was the best book I've read in my whole entire life!! I love the characters Creel, Prince Luka, and Shardas! I loved it when Creel knocked out Princess Amalia! I was also very annoyed with how Larkin just took Creel's shoes without asking and just gave them to Amalia! You would love this book if you're into adventurous, funny, fantasy, and action books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
________ Lael sommer !!!

CREEL IS THE HEROIN OF THIS STORY. AFTER HER AUNT TRIES TO MERRY HER OFF TO THE LOCAL LORD'S SON BY BEING A DRAGON'S CAPTIVE SHE DECIDES TO GO TO THE KING'S SEAT AND TRY HER LUCK AS A DRESS MAKER. IN EXCHANGE FOR TALKING THE LORD'S SON OUT OF FIGHTING THE LOCAL DRAGON THE DRAGON GIVES HER A PAIR A DRAGON SKIN SLIPPERS, SLIPPERS THAT CAN CONTROL DRAGONS (UNKNOWN TO HER). WHEN SHE REACHES THE RATH FOREST (I THINK THAT'S WHAT ITS CALLED) SHE GETS ATTACKED BY BANDITS, WHEN SHE CRIES FOR HELP A GOLDEN DRAGON DROPS A GLASS WINDOW ON THEIR LEADER'S HEAD, PICKS HER UP IN HIS CLAWS, AND TAKES HER TO HIS LAIR (SHE FAINTS WHILE IN HIS CLAWS). AFTER SHE SPENDS SOME DAYS WITH SHARDAS (THE GOLDEN DRAGON) HE FLIES HER TO THE KING'S SEAT. TO FIND OUT MORE YOU SHOULD READ THE BOOK OR ASK SOMEONE WHO HAS. F.Y.I. IN THE SECOND LAST CHAPTER CREEL IS KNOWN AS THE HEROIN OF THE DRAGON WAR. AND THE KING TRIES TO MARRY HER TO HIS ELDEST SON MILES. (THOUGH CREEL PREFERS THE SECOND AND YOUNGEST SON LUKA).

I always preview any books I purchase for my grandchildren. I give this an A+ for its style of writing and for keeping it light enough for young minds. The storyline has action, is fun, and has some core values instilled in the actions of the chatacters. I was entertained and finished the book with a feeling of having had a good adventure. I wanted more.

It is beach and beer season, and I need easy-read books that are nevertheless well-written and absorbing. This one fits the bill perfectly. Author Kevin Ryan knows how to write a page-turner, and for those of us who love the "Star Trek" universe, it does not get much better than this.

This story is set in the "Original Series" Star Trek universe in which Captain Kirk and all our other favorites are engaged in the Enterprise's five year mission. Unfortunately, the Federation is on the brink of all-out war with the Klingon Empire. The Klingons are infiltrating surgically-altered spies, who can pass for humans, to assassinate key Federation and Starfleet figures. This story is told from the standpoint of one Lt. Jonathan Anderson, who is one such Klingon operative assigned to infiltrate the Enterprise and assassinate Captain Kirk.

Author Ryan knows the Star Trek universe, and this is a pretty good yarn. The Klingons are always interesting, and Ryan's interpretation of how the Klingons behave is the best I have read in any of the many Star Trek novels. Plus, his characterizations of Starfleet personages are quite good. This all comes together to bring a very engaging read to the reader. This is the first installment of a trilogy (really, two trilogies) and it is a fine read.

I bought this series via my Kindle. It was great being able to finish one novel, and instantaneously download the next installment thereby continuing through the series uninterrupted.

Three stars because while this is a page turner, come on, it is not great literature either. (If I give this one five stars, what do we give "Dune" or "Old Man's War?") That is not a put-down: there is a place in literature for easy, quick, and engaging reads, and this series does the job in, well, a stellar fashion.

I've recently gone back through all my TOS novels, and I have almost all except the rarest from the 60s, and read them in the order written. To my dismay, around about the late 80s the books seemed to lose their heart.

Then I got around to this novel. Oh how I loved John Ford's The Final Reflection, and didn't expect to like this in comparison. I'm not a huge Klingon fan either, but to my surprise I fell in love with this book. It embodies everything I love about the Star Trek series, the camaraderie and sense of connectedness, the introspection and sense of learning, the adventure and courage men and women show under the bleakest circumstances, the respect for all points of view, and the way people change when faced with all of these.

What amazed me was that the book really didn't contain much of my favorite characters. It was about the red shirts, and a Klingon who infiltrates them (yes, there are plot holes, but they're forgivable ones). It's original in its scope, and it's fascinating to see it all through the eyes of a being from another culture. We learn a lot about the Klingons and about ourselves.

This was the rich sort of experience I want from Star Trek books. If you're like me and love all those older stories, I heartily recommend picking this one up.

This book was very enjoyable. It shows how Kell, a Klingon infiltrator, learns that the humans are not as cowardly and deceptive as people may think. He learns that Captain James T. Kirk is not a coward as his people think, and that Kirk has the same honor as Kahless. Once Kell learns this, he dreads completing his mission, which is kill Captain Kirk.

A superbly well-written story, that sucks you in and gets you seeing Star Fleet through Klingon eyes a little more. Only 1 major beef: it took 3 years to get the sequel trilogy to the newstands!(Errand of Fury, Book 1 Seeds of Rage). Definitely a great Star Trek book for Original Series and Klingon fans. The way he starts the buildup to Star Trek V is masterful. Lots of good battle stuff, and NO HOLODECKS or overly sensitive politically correct Picard-crew types.

Love ANY Star Trek and this series is very good!

I've been in IT for over 25 years, and in that time I've read a lot of technical books. "File System Forensic Analysis" is not only the best book I have read on computer forensics, it's probably the best technical work in ANY field I've ever read. It's thoroughly researched, clearly written, and contains virtually no fluff. The numerous rave reviews it has received are well-deserved.

My only quibble is the short, but seemingly gratuitous section on hexadecimal and decimal arithmetic. If you're ready for this book, you'll already know this stuff. But, that's only a few pages in a book that's otherwise packed with real substance.

I can't say enough good things about this book and author. The material is beautifully laid out and the writing style is fluid and effortless. The author has a real talent for using metaphors and figures to illustrate elusive concepts.

All but the very rarest file systems are covered, and numerous 'screenshots' show how to use the Linux command prompt and get your hands dirty exploring disks on your own.

While this book is a gold standard for digital forensic examiners, it would also be valuable to the computer enthusiast who's interested in things such as what happens to their hard drive when they format it, exactly what happens during the boot process, etc.

I've had 3 courses in digital forensics, and this book gives an in-depth discussion of disk level concepts (HPA, FAT, MFT, etc) that were merely glossed over in my formal studies.

Great resource on file systems and file system data structures, although I wish it covered Apple's HFS+.

Thanks a lot, we are very happy to have this book in our library!

Great Book. Great job Brian. A must have in your bookshelf if you are serious about computer forensics.
It only lacks two things to be perfect: a reiserfs and a HFS+ sections.

Only an error. GPT partition schema isn't used only in big servers. New Intel Macintoshes use it by default for their boot drive.

This is an excellent book. The quality of the pop up pictures are wonderful. It is a real collector piece. Definitely worth buying if you are anyway interested in Elvis

My friend and I purchased this for our "Elvis fan" for Christmas. This book is is so much fun. It has great pop up pages that are interactive, such as a little photo album with pictures, or the kitchen page you can open the kitchen and cabinet doors. It was much more than just a regular pop up book. Our friend loved it! I recommend buying it for those true fans.

I'm not a big Elvis fan at all, but my MIL is, so I bought it for her. As soon as it was opened, I sat and read it cover to cover! I loved the details and the stories that went with each page and feel like I don't need to go and take the tour, now! (I once drove by Graceland, but didn't take the tour.) Fantastic, interesting, well-made book. I agree with another reviewer that some pages have to be turned carefully to prevent pop-up parts from bending, but that was a rare thing and only applied to the smaller pieces, like a corner of a table and a candlestick in the livingroom.

Cool book! Worth every cent...

GRACELAND: AN INTERACTIVE POP-UP TOUR is a must-have for any Elvis fan. I bought one for a friend, and it was such a hit that several of her friends have purchased them also. The pop-ups are well done, and the book gives a lot of information about Elvis and Graceland. It makes a great birthday present and will be the hit of the party.

I bought this for my mother, a huge Elvis fan, and she loves it. The pop-ups are very well done - lots of detail, and lots of little extra flaps and such to open. Each page features a different room - kitchen, jungle room, etc., and the book discusses the significance of each room in Elvis' life. In a slightly morbid twist, the last page is the grave of Elvis and his parents. Also included are a cardboard pair of Elvis' famous gold sunglasses that you can wear! This book far surpassed my expectations.

After reading this book I was left with a pretty vivid conception of Middle Eastern politics and society. The author does a good job connecting various events and figures together, which makes conceptualizing a holistic picture much easier than treating them as distinct.

Organizationally, the book was easily navigable by region/chronology. This also contributed to the coherence of the text as I never felt the author was jumping around, but rather moving in a progression.

I also enjoyed the simplicity of the author's language, it was concise and precise. At the same time, the author avoided dry writing, and never managed to lose my interest.

The only thing I felt was missing from this text was the inclusion of more North African countries, which although may not be geographically the "Middle East" still has strong connections to Middle Eastern culture and politics

Given that it's only around 480 pages, this is about all the author could possibly cover. Excellent book, and not biased IMO.

for the amount of history that is compacted into this work it still admazes me at how little is left out. the meat is left, and even though the fat gives the taste, it is the meat that we need to live off. for all it is a must read on what the middle east is and why. i require it for all my soldiers who want to make rank. this is a work from the highest of scholary men.

Cleveland's history of the Middle East is a superb summary of events that span the time between the formations of the Ottoman Empire and the Gulf War while weaving in the influence of Islam and the challenges of capitalism and imperialism. Cleveland brings his skill as a writer and analysis to bear on explaining the historical basis for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, and a dozen other conflicts in this volatile region.

Cleveland's presentation of Middle East history is a 5-star work of art and analysis.

This is one of the best overviews of the Middle East I have found. IT is distinguished in that it manages to keep to its topic of the Middle East instead of losing focus and revolving everything aruond the state of Israel. While it includes this in the history there is a lot more that has taken shape here and continues to take shape. All in all a very good overview.

If you like comic book deities even a slight bit, or even modern or ancient human deities, then this book is for you. Struggles are all of cosmic proportion. I love the reference to all Earth's ancient religion gods as gods who are but a drop in the bucket compared to some of the forces at work here. Even though its a comic book, it tells it like it is. Us, as human beings, can lay no claim to even comprehend the magnitude and sheer myriad of benevolent and malevolent forces that constantly struggle on planes of existence much higher than ours or any of our perceived gods. Religious zealots would do good to read this book and give them a better understanding of how small their religious texts are in the grand scheme of things.

This is a fantastic series and one of the first comic story arcs that really got my attention and kept it all the way through.

I admit that I may have had an unfair advantage, as my appetite was plenty whet from the Thanos Quest prequel books (mini-series), which is among my favorite collections to this day.

The beauty is that you don't have to be that interested in comics to enjoy this. Even a casual fan will appreciate the story that Starlin has laid out here, which is layered and compelling.

But for those looking for a more detailed synopsis...

Thanos, now equipped with the complete power of an all-powerful god takes on what seems like the entire Marvel universe in an epic battle that at times if flat out bizarre. I don't want to spoil anything, but let's just say you'll see more than a fair share of Marvel characters enduring strange fates indeed.

The beauty of it is that all of Thanos' efforts are to win the cold heart of his lover, Death. Therein lies the beauty of Starlin's entire Infinity series - its core villain's ambitions are in the name of something that is all too human.

An Awesome book because it is full of many heroes and many villians in the marvel universe.

As something of a comic book aficionado, I have to say this has always been and continues to be my favorite comic mini-series of all time. Well written, compelling and engrossing this is a must read. `nuff said!

When this originally came out i was big into the Silver Surfer, and read most anything with him in it. Then out of what seemed nowhere came Thanos. I'd never seen him before and didn't know his past with Captain Marvel and his love of Death. (the entity and embodiment) I only needed to read a couple surfer comics and the first two issues of this series to realize Thanos is the most evil and interesting villain in the marvel universe. In this collection he has attained god-like powers. (as told in the silver surfer trade "rebirth of thanos") Hes used his powers to thin out half the universes population. Whats left of the mightiest heroes earth has assembles with Adam Warlock and Silver Surfer to confront Thanos once and for all. And the result is one of most climactic battles ever put to print. I cannot recommend this book enough. If you like marvel and space oddesys it seriously DOES NOT GET BETTER THAN THIS. Its been around 15 years since this came out and i can still pick it up and read it any time. You'll be glad you bought it.

I just finished this book and it was thoroughly enjoybable, although a bit on the scary side. Not that I am frightened by science fiction stories, it is the fact that this book ties so much together that is going on in the world today.

I had always struggled with the Book of Revelations in the Bible and this book is almost like an analogy that paints it in a picutre that is easier to understand. Once you understand it you wish you hadn't, because the story it tells mirrors things that are going on right now, although many people are unwilling to admit it.

I would recommend this book to anyone just for the story, but as an added bonus you can learn from it too. If you haven't read it, do so. If you have, get it for your freinds and family. They won't be disappointed!

Just by the cover I knew this was going to be a good book but it turned out to be better than "good"; it's excellent, with a capital E! If what this author writes about is in store for society, then we all need to clean up our acts real quick. My eyes were opened when I read how the apocalypse will come down. Read it and see for yourself. I'm not one who gets online and writes reviews but I was so taken by this book that I wanted the world to know about it!

This novel made me think about where my life was going. Just by the cover you can see it has to do with choices of right and wrong, hell and heaven, God and satan. Professor Ben Abram had a life-threatening decision to make about his beliefs, and it got me thinking that we can't re-do our past but that we can step in the right direction for the future. This is a magnificently written story, and a jolting plot. Yep, satan is there, front and center, just like he is in our daily lives. If you like to read about end-times and prophecy, this is the book to read.

Okay, the image of the devil was enough to make me wet my pants, but the story itself will have you under the covers of your bed. Talk about the New World Order and all its evil...while, guys, here it is, in this incredibly well done story with great characters and a heart-wrenching ending. My mouth dropped opened in shock when I got to the end. But if you want to know what's in store for us in this world, read this book. The author has done a lot of research and a lot of Bible studies, and somehow, she managed to get it all together in one consuming story. Read it; you won't be sorry.

What a trip this book is. I have college friends who are reading this and are as engrossed in it as I was. My boyfriend's parents are even reading it. What a fantastic story; what a great writer!

This is a sweet story but I found the narration by Jimmy B. and his daughter a little lacking. I'm a Jimmy Buffet fan no doubt. I just don't think voice overs are his thing. It is cool to hear him doing something with his daughter though. Like I said, it's sweet but I don't think we will pull this one off the shelf very often.

When I read the initial literary review, I had to laugh. The story is not weakened by the Jolly Mon's lack of efforts! Hah! The story is about the Jolly Mon's total surrender to his own destiny. He sings, the fish jump out of the sea, a musical instrument comes his way, he tries to play and makes a discovery. He trusts nature. He takes the opportunites that come his way with faith and grace. He uses the gifts he was given to the best and highest purpose. He does as he is asked to do. The book is a metaphor of faith and surrender. Besides that, it is beautifully illustrated, the music is lovely and my 2 1/2 year old son asks for it again and again. And, yes we are all parrotheads...

Anyone who is familiar with Jimmy Buffett understands ~ fantasy and fun are important parts of life.

This book & CD get the dream underway...

When I ordered this book I didn't realize it was a children's book. But when it arrived I read it then mailed it to my grand daughters. So it didn't go to waste and it was at least read/heard by three people in my family. I have loved the other Jimmy Buffett books and songs.

The quality of the printing, the beautiful 'semi-true story', the bright and well done colorful pictures and the bonus CD of Jimmy Buffett's song, aka The Jolly Mon, make this an excellent purchase for anyone with young children in their lives. It can lead to laughter, clapping, dancing and giggles!

I have to admit I did not expect to find this book as interesting as it turned out to be. I was only interested in identifying some species within my yard and discovered quite a bit about ants. This book won't make you an expert, but it has made me see ants from a whole new perspective, so much so that I have come to like them instead of disliking them. I can also see why it is possible to kill a colony so easily. Never knew that once the queen is gone, there is no colony. I think if ants had atom bombs they would have destroyed the earth by now - killing each other. I had no idea they were so aggressive towards one another. Anyway, great book to read.

Apart from being a great book for all kind of reader, it was, for me (eight years ago!), a start point and it was probably the cause I focus my career nowadays in these small insects. It's quite nice for a child (then better with adult, not to read alone) or young people interested in natural sciences.

I loved this book. After reading it I spent the next night telling my wife all I'd managed to remember.

Journey to the Ants is a shorter version of the authors' monumental The Ants (1990), a 732-page tome aimed at professional biologists with a lot of technical language and a clear encyclopedic intent. This book, as Holldobler and Wilson explain in the Preface, is of "a more manageable length, with less technical language and with an admitted and unavoidable bias toward those topics and species on which we have personally worked."

It is a terrific book, lavishly illustrated with many color plates, line drawings, black and white drawings, photos, etc. Especially wonderful are the color prints of paintings by John D. Dawson showing ants in various activities. His style reminds me a bit of M.C. Esher. Also notable are the many photos taken by Holldobler and Wilson during their many travels and studies. They are both renowned experts on ants around the world.

The text is both informative and entertaining. Wilson in particular is a world class science writer as well as a great scientist, and his clarity of expression and enthusiasm show through. The chapters examine and illustrate how ants live in their colonies, how they hunt prey, tend aphid "cattle," cultivate fungi, raid other ant colonies; how they fight and how they reproduce. Other chapters focus on particular species, like army ants or leaf cutter ants, or "strange" ants. Still other chapters show how ants communicate especially through pheromones and touch. There is some theory on ant origins (about 100-120 million years ago) and their evolution and present distribution. I was particularly interested in and appalled by both the way some ants are parasites and how they themselves are exploited by parasites. Our esteemed authors show how ants, for all their power and evolutionary success, can be the most naive victims of beetles, flies, butterfly larva, etc. simply because they can be fooled by smells that mimic those of the colony and/or because they can be given irresistible concoctions of food or what might be called "drugs" that make them passive and acceptive of insects that will eat their eggs and larva. They are also tricked into feeding strangers on the trail and alien larva in the colony nest!

I purposely first read a couple of other books on ants (The World of Ants: A Science-Fiction Universe (1970) by Remy Chauvin, and Ants (1977) by M.V. Brian), written by myrmecologists of an earlier generation so as to be able to better appreciate this famous work. But you need not do that. Journey to the Ants is eminently accessible to just about any literate person.

While reading I had some thoughts (as Wilson famously has had) on the differences and similarities between ant societies and human ones. Ants are not governed as we are (and as was once thought) in any way by a central authority. (They are influenced by the queen's pheromones and her behavior.) Instead ants are examples of "swarm intelligence," that is purposeful and coordinated behavior that arises from each individual doing what comes naturally to that individual. This sort of intelligence was just beginning to be appreciated when Holldobler and Wilson wrote this book. The phrase "swarm intelligence" does not appear anywhere in the book, and yet it is clear that our present understanding of how this intelligence works was gleaned in part from the work of biologists and ethologists like Holldobler and Wilson.

Ants are famous for doing human-like things that no other animals or few can do, such as gardening, tending herds, making war, and constructing elaborate living spaces. It is usually said that ants do it from pure instinct whereas we use our intelligence and the experience. Humans and ants cannot be defined independently of their respective cultures. What I wonder is, is it an artificiality to say that their intelligence, spread out as it is among the individuals and their genetic endowments, is fundamentally different from our own? Clearly ants are limited in what they can construct, what they can understand, and what tools they can make and use. I read somewhere that ants never developed fire because no ant could get close enough to a sustainable fire to tend it.

A striking conclusion is that perhaps the real difference between us comes from our ability to grow a million times bigger in size which allows us not only to tend fires, but to develop brains large enough to handle abstract thought such as in language, which further allows us to develop and share ideas, concepts, practices, and all the other aspects of our culture in a way that is impossible for ants, whose brain size is limited by their anatomy.

So, although ants were here long before we arrived, and although they probably will be here long after we are gone, it is impossible to say which life form is the more successful. We do have at present the capability, which ants do not, of enhancing our ability to survive through genetic engineering and the development of biologically friendly machines, and even the ability to migrate away from this earth so that our genes and ourselves are not in one basket, so to speak. Should a planet-sterilizing event hit the earth, we could be on Mars and still survive.

But then there is this insidious thought: perhaps the ants, like our resident microbes, will find a way to come with us!

Don't miss this book. You are in for a treat.

There is few to say that has not been said. It is very well written and the information is mind-boggling.