Electronics Books

Good read. Solid perspective.

Guinan, ahead of his time at publish date, provides a look into what the remainder of the internet boom culture forgot - the internet is not about hype and 'new economy business' - the internet is a more efficient medium and tool for educated people to make educated decisions.

It's a shame more people didn't read this author's work prior to making critical investment decisions based upon the promise of the unrealistic gain of 'the future' but rather based on fundamental investment strategy within the actual markets.

Many should take the time to read this book in the wake of what happened in order to survive in the present market and prepare themselves for the future.

Guinan's clarfies some of the mysteries behind your on-line brokerage firm by providing useful information for both the beginning and intermediate investor.

For internet and investment novices like myself, this book is golden! Helpful, simple, step-by-step instructions put me on a level playing field with the Big Boys. I can't wait to get started!

Well-written & entertaining, Guinan has captured the reader's interest. Informative, I would highly recommend to anyone contemplating the leap into on-line investing. Read it from cover to cover, then jump in!

It's obvious the author knows the ins and outs of online trading. With each chapter it's clear that he's been there and done that! He covers all aspects of trading online. If only I had read this book before I started trading. I could have easily avoided some costly errors...Thank goodness I have it now.

If you have ever struggled with statistical concepts and books that only partially explain the sources of each variable in statstical equations, then this is the book for you. Their constant repetition of statistical concepts with each example case study was VERY helpful in cementing these concepts in my mind.

Confidence levels, 1-tailed, 2-tailed tests and the application of these concepts in real world marketing situations can be quite confusing. This book once again came through with clearly explained examples and scenarios.

Having read many books on database marketing, direct marketing, data mining & CRM as a consultant, I appreciate the story line approach heading up each chapter most. Many books fall prone to teaching "at you" rather than guiding the user along "through the experience of doing it".

A second critical factor to look for - once you've gotten through all the introductory books - is finding concrete info on how-to, best practices providing significant content and knowledge. This is the true value-add from the masters: learning is incremental and there must be true takeaways to get the 5 stars.

This said, the authors have made an extremely broad, detailed and well spun story out of a subject matter that can be to say the least, challenging... Moreover, the disciplines of customer analysis, database management & modeling, data mining, statistical analysis, marketing planning are all the focus of reengineering by many of today's major businesses.

Consequently, this book leads nicely and rather naturally into a major subject of the day for many IT & marketeers -- Analytical CRM. As such it is a must read for anyone interested in understanding how A-CRM works in many companies practicing DBM today.

A great next step would be to go from the marketing-IT function(-ing) to the broader enterprise, long-term (relational) infrastructure & practices preached by CRM. Show how the DBM process evolves in to and is transformed by meeting Customer Mgmt strategies. How would DBM work in a enterprise integration, near/real-time, customer interaction CRM initiative?

Finally, as an aside, in reviewing MANY course syllabi across the world in DM/DBM, I've OFTEN found this book as the course text if not mandatory-suggested reading.

I agree -- for all & anyone wanting a good complement to Shepard's seminal work - you can't do any better.

Buy it ! Good reading...

This book is an excellent tool for direct marketers who need to develop, manage and optimize a database. Tells what to do... what to avoid... I recommend it highly.

This is the first book that covers everything from statistics and database technology to the final marketing application. Perry Drake provides many realistic case studies from his experiences in the trenches as a proven direct marketing professional. His statistical, technical and university teaching background makes this book a valuable read for those just entering the field of database marketing or the seasoned traditional marketing professional.

When I first became involved with database marketing in the mid-1990s, and through my tour of graduate school a few years later, books on the subject fell into two categories: basic and trivial, or advanced and impossible to comprehend. OPTIMAL DATABASE MARKETING is the perfect reference for what is probably the majority audience segment: marketing managers, senior executives, list professionals, data processors, professors, and students who want to understand all the elements of strategic planning and analysis *and* gain practical knowledge to apply professionally or in research endeavors.

In OPTIMAL DATABASE MARKETING, you get a wealth of material on two aspects of the process - for the price of one. Co-author Ron Drozdenko does a great job defining concepts and detailing potential objectives when building files. His coverage of technical specifications and issues is particularly useful.

As for the subsequent chapters: I don't think there has ever been a book written which covers database modeling, and statistical techniques germane to direct marketing, as comprehensively and clearly. Co-author Perry Drake manages to leave no stone unturned and yet convey knowledge in a style that's both understandable and easy to follow. This part of the book is worth the cost alone.

Simply better than the first... and it's on my bookshelf now.

I got this book from a local bookstore. Only one was available and the cover was not in a very good condition. But I find the content stunning... the combination of photographs and no faults with the manipulations/modifications done could have easily fooled many in earlier days. Today we know such mastery is possible powerful computer software.

This book eye candy to me.

Paintbox No.1 shows the power of image manipulation. With a simple digital pen these artists blend together images that will amaze your eyes. Pages upon pages of eyecandy!

This book is chocked of photographic pictures that are skillfully modififed to blend seamlessly. Some of these may be done by using plug-ins, but others require more effort, skill and thought. For example, you cannot just mask an object and paste it on another photo; need to consider shadow, lighting, etc. and I think the pictures here involved such considerations. Great work. When I look at the pictures, I think, "That's great..." and a great challenge to me to produce similar results.

I am also intending to get "Paintbox No. 2" !!

Sometimes we come across advertisements (eg. posters) that catch our attention and make us wonder---"How REAL!!" and amaze us. This book is filled with wonderful pictures, carefully designed, composited, etc. with consideration of details such as shadows to make things realistic. Everything in the pictures blends well with other elements in the pictures. With the power of today's photo editing software, some of these may not be difficult to produce but for the rest, they seem like wonders to me. Imagination and skills are essential.

If you are in advertising and designing, it would be a great challenge to yourself to try to produce similar effects in the book. Or if you are just looking for a book that shows you great pictures in advertising, you will find this book to be an eye-candy. However, this book does not teach you how to produce the effects; which, I think is not the aim of the book.

I am happy to have a copy of this book.

First off, I'm a bit bias. Dr. Saadat was my professor and we used his book. The book was really easy to follow and had great examples. I actually learned a lot and retained it.

One of the best Power Systems books. Very simple and clear examples. Excelent for students and experts.

The 2nd edition is almost the same as the first edition. But the book still the best power system book I have ever seen. The book is well written and organized with lot of practical examples. The author has a detailed Matlab codes for T.L. parameters, faults, load flows, optimal dispatch, and stability including the Kron reduction technique for multi-machine system. These codes can mange up to 200 bus power system. The only thing missing in this book is the protection part.

I found this book excellent. The author has gone through so much work to develop such a well written text. I have been studying power systems for years and I certainly recommend this text to all those who are seriously considering a carrier in power systems engineering. The use of MATLAB to perform analysis is original and very useful.
Well Done!

The author's presentation of power system analysis is very appropriate for those studying the subject for the first time. Concepts are presented clearly and the examples illustrate well the discussion in the text. The mathematical level is easily within reach for senior electrical engineering students. One very helpful feature of this book is that answers are supplied for practically all of the end-of-the-chapter problems. Also, the author makes good use of MATLAB even from Chapter 1, and SIMULINK on the book's latter part.

Feature Driven Development (FDD) is a highly disciplined approach to software development. Because it requires so much discipline, it's not really something you can pick up from a post or two on someone's blog. You really need depth of information. I attended a seminar by one of the originators of the methods, Jeff De Luca. This book, while not recommended by Mr. De Luca, does seem to track very well with the information he presented. If you can't afford to attend one of his seminars, but you're still interested in a practical method for streamlining development and helping to ensure a repeatable process, you can certainly start learning from this book. It may not hold all the answers, but it does provide a very solid foundation from which to build.

I have been doing feature driven development for over 3 years. It is an effective, efficient process. Many times I wished that I had a definative source on that topic. Finally one has arrived.

The three part approach to the book makes it easy for you to find the topics you need to get your job done. Part 2 defines each of the processes in detail. Chapter 5, which covers reporting/tracking progress gives a good feel for the control you have in producing project deliverables, and reporting on the true progress of the project. Realistic, acurate reporting.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is a slave to their process, or even those that are new to process. This one works!

Since there already three very complete customer reviews, I just wanted to add a couple of points for people who, like me, haven't used this approach to project management before.

The authors stress that feature-driven development, as they describe it, is intended for a very specific type of project. There's nothing new in the book, except the way the authors have combined tried-and-true techniques to handle very large business application development in a consistent and low-risk manner. The smallest headcount that could justify the overhead is about twenty, although it could scale up almost indefinitely. Palmer and Johnson describe their methodology as light but, on a scale of five (heavy) to one (agile), FDD rates about a four.

The second point is that the techniques used assume very heavy customer involvement and clearly understood business rules. For example, the original project that inspired the book was a banking system in Asia. The procedures wouldn't be well-suited to innovative product development in a competitive environment. This is no alternative to extreme programming.

Lastly, the methods used aim to get good results from inexperienced employees. Despite a reminder that highly-ranked programmers are better value than entry-level personnel, this type of project often relies on an army of tightly-controlled programmers, led by a few experienced team leaders. Although the authors differentiate the FDD organization from the old Chief Surgeon model, this is still basically just a variant on that theme.

There are also more than a few hints that the book is not intended solely, or even primarily, for US readers. We are abjured to speak in English and leaders are advised to use a soccer whistle to control meetings. As beautifully as the authors describe how to divide up a large project by feature (and it is beautifully clear and simple), some of the advice in handling personnel leads me to hesitate before recommending it without reservation to every potential reader, which is the criterion Amazon requires for a 5-star rating.

Feature Driven Development is a lightweight iterative software development process promoted by TogetherSoft that occupies the middle ground between heavyweight, high ceremony processes like RUP and lightweight programming-focused processes such as Extreme Programming.

This book is packed with good advice for developers and those involved in managing software development, and is clearly written by people with real world experience. The authors do a good job of explaining the issues in software development and how FDD helps address them.

The book is highly readable and should be accessible to those who currently have a limited understanding of formal software development processes. One of the themes carried through the book is an ongoing dialogue between the two authors and several other persons, including the project manager of a software project for a car dealership that is worked through in the book. At first I found this dialogue distracting, I guess because they were initially dealing with material I am already familiar with, but by the end of the book, I looked forward to these sections, and felt they gave the book an overall coherence.

FDD is most radical, in its approach to management (reporting), by dispensing with Gannt charts and estimates of task completeness (most people are aware of the 90% complete, 90% of the time, syndrome), replacing them with measuring features complete (as in 100% complete!) as a percentage of all features to be built. I am familiar with why Gannt charts and Microsoft Project style planning doesn't work for software projects, but the book would have benefited from a more detailed discussion of what will be the hardest part of FDD for many to accept. The book's only real fault is several digressions into software quality and online help, that it was hard to see the relevance of.

I recommend this book to people, including managers, who want to understand why we need software development processes and the issues involved in selecting one. The book, naturally enough, points out the issues with widely used processes such as RUP - too heavyweight, and XP - questionable scalability, and these criticisms are IMO largely valid. The book explains in a straightforward way, how FDD works and how it satisfies all the main requirements of a development process, especially scalability, manageability and getting the domain model (shape) right as early as possible, minimizing the need to refactor later.

The Feature-Driven Development (FDD) method proposed and described in this book is elegant in that it combines simplicity and power, and effective because it will deliver applications that support business requirements.

Although the approach is based on object-oriented development, and the book is focused towards that approach, it can be refactored into function- and procedure-oriented programming environments. Moreover, the book is written to fit within agile methods, but the approach can be fit to any development life cycle approach. This is because the focus is on features, which translate into what the business *needs* from an application. This is where elegance and simplicity comes in. By focusing on the features needed applications are less apt to be 'gold-plated' with unnecessary features that developers may think is nice, but add little business value. In this respect the time to deliver is shortened and what is delivered is going to reflect genuine business requirements.

The power of FDD comes from the highly structured approach that i based on the ETVX (entry-task-validation-exit) framework. Entry criteria is typical: requirements, authority to proceed and other 'quality gates' that must be passed before a development project is initiated. The tasks follow a five-step process as follows:
(1) Develop the model, including scope, validation in the form of walkthroughs, and peer reviews. The approach described in the book assumes an object model, but in a non-OO setting this can be realigned to first cut system diagramming in the form of block- and data flow-diagrams,and first-cut design.
(2) Build the features list. The OO approach is domain partitioning based on the model; in a non-OO setting this is where the team maps functional requirements to features.
(3) Plan by feature. This step, in my opinion, shows FDD to be a legitimate software engineering method. Feature prioritization, dependency analysis and effort estimation occur here. Done properly this step will make the difference between success or failure. I do have one issue with the book at this point: the prioritization is done by the technical team - it should be done with the business stakeholders.
(4) Design by feature. This is an iterative step that feeds back into step 1 (build the model) wherein class ownership is determined and the original model is refined based on the design approach. In non-OO environments this would loop back into the first-cut design and trigger trade-off analysis and design refinement.
(5) Build by feature. This is where the application is actually developed on a feature-by-feature basis within the context of the defined architecture (model).

Verification is accomplished using traditional methods. The authors introduce what they call 'feature-based testing' which is no different than product test (also called functional qualification testing, and in some circles, acceptance testing). Verification procedures are thoroughly covered in the book, further adding to the software engineering approach that is incorporated into FDD. Exit criteria is when the sponsors accept the system.

What makes this book important is that is gives a straightforward approach that is based on deliverables (features) within a process context (ETVX). This approach is consistent with best practices in software project management and has the additional benefit of assuring that what gets designed and built is what the customer needs. Bolt FDD onto your favorite methodology and you'll probably see quality increase, and costs and time to deliver decrease.

I learnt refrigeration from the 1961 edition of Principles of Refrigeration. So when I was asked to instruct junior staff members in this subject this book came to mind. I purchased one copy to see how it handles SI as well as imperial units and then purchased another six for the students. As always Amazon provided an excellent service.

In understanding the refrigeration cycle, Roy Dossat had 25 years in the field before teaching at the University of Houston. I was fortunate to attend the course taught by him in the 70's. It showed the man had much to offer even to the less experienced technician who needed to start on the basics. This book is easy to understand and a nice read for those who need answers to the complicated use of refrigerant and applications that drive the business. Refrigerant application is in constant change as environmental demands alter our lives. This book is a fundamental foundation and should be on the reference shelf of all engineers and technicians that want a straight foward understanding of the refrigeration cycle. debien@flash.net

This is the best refrigeration book in the market, highly technical but still easy to understand, come with a very good explanation about food preservation methods and spoilage factors, the refrigeration aspect are deep, slightly conceptual but mostly practical, a most have for anyone that want to gain true understanding of refrigeration and thermodynamics.

A great reference book for all HVAC technicians,interested in the entery-level refrigeration repair area .Relates the basics,in full detail.An excellent review of refrigeration hardware and applied principles.Rather than guessing at the chapter questions ,it does have an answer-checker,to verify your homework.Although,I don't think you would want to carry this around,in your trunk.It's a good library study-guide and for trouble-shooting residential refrigetaion non-operations.

This book covers all the details! I use this book everyday as refrence material. It covers everything from the basics, but also gets into complicated 2 stage design, and other design areas. From A-Z this book has it. If you are a refrigeration Engineer/ Operator this is a must for the text collection.

This book really helped me to have a kickstart to become a professional access programmer.... it contains the best tricks to do whatever you want with Access....Besides the writer has writen the book in a way that is very comprehensive for every one....After this book I`m a real fan of Rick Dobson...He knows how to lead you to make you professional....

Being a seasoned Access Veteran, I found the book most helpful in explaining ADO (New in Access 2000), explaining class modules and using Access with SQL Server. Most MS Press books in the past that have dealt with Access / VBA have been fairly "light" on these subjects, but this one goes in depth on these subjects. Also the chapter on XML does a good job introducing the platform to novice developers.

Next to The Access Developer's Handbook Series by Litwin, Getz etc..and F. Scott Barker's Power Programming, I would say this is a "must have" for any serious Access Developer.

This book builds on Dobson's prior book "SQL Server with Access 2000" and ferrets out good solutions to some everyday needs like image processing and dynamically populated combo boxes. I'm a small business owner whose time is precious, but needs to get big picture solutions so not to be reworking stop gap efforts to streamline my operations.

Being pressured to grow my application to many users (both trusted LAN and anonymous Web) and being comfortable with the graphical interfaces of Access, I found the the need to learn about programming ADO recordsets, Data Access Pages and ASP while determining the best solution. I have been overwelmed by the flexibility of MS solutions and options that are possible and needed some guidance in plain language to explain such terms as Objects, Properties and Methods, and what they meant to be programmed. Chapter 2 does a good job of that which is followed by a useful summary of the ADO library. Data Access Projects are lined out well along with some practical tips to incorporating SQL Server 2000 as a data source. He further builds upon this model and shows how to dynamically (!) create web pages from the Access Project using MS Frontpage XP, the resultants being Active Server Pages! I have found while the Access 2002 graphical tools are helpful, Dobson explores how to control the code behind the power of the XP Office release.

I have found the code to be tight and well commented. I'd urge anyone interested in harnessing the full power and speed of deployment of Access 2002 and the Office XP suite to add this book to their "How To" library.

This complete reference book is actually three books in

one. It is the clearest available introduction to VBA

coding. It provides explanations with a huge collection

of Access VBA code. And it is a thorough presentation

of what is new and powerful in Access 2002, especially

concerning integration with SQL Server.

This book is just the thing for anyone who wants to

become a serious Access user or developer. It is the

answer to the prayers of many Access users who have

wanted a reference that would finally take them from

the limited GUI Access interface into the more full and

flexible features of VBA coding. The coding in this

very large book is so extensive that I bet you could,

if you wanted to, do every future Access project with

just code and without reference to the GUI interface.

You can tell that Rick Dobson loves to code and to pass

on what he has learned.

The explanations are very readable and give you the

background necessary to actually understand why things

work the way they do. Much attention is given to

keeping you out of trouble by conveying a very clear

understanding of operational issues not covered

elsewhere. This includes successful integration of

different versions of Access and SQL Server, getting

the reference libraries correct, and even using Access

with FrontPage (now included in Office XP

Professional).

If this reference indicates the way Microsoft Press

books are headed, then I am going to look to add more

of them to my reference collection in the future.

Clarity, comprehensive, and Code, code, code!

I have read your book and applied some of the programming methods mentioned in it and found it very helpful.

I have 20 years of software development experience mainly in the
mainframe area both here in Sydney, Australia and Boston, Mass. I recently decided to start my own consulting firm and develop business applications using Access. In the past four months, I have used your book to learn Access in order to develop an
inventory and billing software package for one of my clients. I can honestly tell you that I learned a lot from your book, and I can even say that without your book, I would've not been able to finish the project.

Written with the student in mind, this book gives an excellent introduction to density functional theory, many-body quantum theory, and their application to the physical system now known as the electron liquid. Given the current interest in electron liquids, both from an applied and a theoretical standpoint, this book serves a need for those who want to educate themselves on the different techniques and strategies used to study the behavior of electron liquids, and general many-body systems. The authors of the book emphasize modern developments, and give many references for those readers who want to pursue the subject in even more detail. An understanding of both the physical and mathematical ideas in the book require concentrated effort, but anyone who has decided to read such a sizable book realizes that true insight into any subject only comes from such an effort. The authors understand this, and they do not hesitate to elaborate on sophisticated concepts when they arise. But they also interject informal and colloquial language in many places in the text. This serves to set the reader more at ease, and makes for even more enjoyable reading.

Readers (such as this reviewer) who have a background in high energy physics or relativistic quantum field theory will find many of the concepts used in these fields find application in the theory of electron liquids. In addition, many of the concepts used in high-energy physics, such as the idea of spontaneously broken symmetries, arose in condensed matter and many-body physics. The symbiosis of ideas between these different fields has been a fruitful one and this will no doubt continue in the years to come. An example of this is the Chern-Simons theory, which arose in the context of quantum chromodynamics as a theory of the strong interaction, and finds its way in this book in the discussion on the Laughlin theory of the fractional quantum Hall liquid. This theory, as the authors point out, is based on a careful choice of wave functions, and therefore cannot be viewed as systematic in its strategy in finding solutions. The Chern-Simons theory is brought in to provide a more systematic approach. It is a fascinating strategy, for using it one maps the problem of the two-dimensional electron liquid into an equivalent many-body problem of interacting composite particles. One can then use a mean-field approximation on the latter system. This approach is somewhat similar to the "duality" phenomena found in string theories (although the analogy is somewhat loose). The Chern-Simon theory also finds its place in purely mathematical contexts, such as topological quantum field theory and the theory of knots, and readers with a background in this area will see familiar constructions in the author's discussions. The authors derive an expression for the electromagnetic response function for a system of composite particles that satisfies Kohn's theorem, but point out that it does not have the correct scaling properties.

The authors give a thorough overview of density functional theory, with emphasis placed not only on the formalism but also on its utility in solving many-body problems. Readers growing up in the usual formalism of Hilbert spaces will need justification as to the power of density functional methods and how one can still calculate quantities of interest without really using the many-body wave function. And, anyone who has tried to perform numerical computations of quantum-mechanical quantities understands the need for algorithms that are manageable, i.e. that allow the computation of physical quantities in a reasonable time scale. The authors point out though that the Kohn-Sham equations, which result after the minimization of the energy as a functional of the electron density, can be solved computationally on a time scale that increases as a power of the number of electrons. This is to be contrasted with the computation of the solution of the N-electron Schrodinger equation, which depends exponentially on N. However, as in all problems in constrained optimization, there is no free lunch (this has been proven rigorously), and so there is always a penalty to be paid in any solution strategy. For the Kohn-Sham equations, one uses the `effective potential' that is local in space, but has a nonlocal dependence on the density, allowing only an approximate description. Another penalty arises from using the determinantal wave function in the solution of the Kohn-Sham equations does not give a robust approximation to the true ground-state wave function. The last penalty arises because of the "universal" nature of density functional: it has the same form for all physical systems and so does not bring out the physical properties that are unique to a particular one. In addition to these issues, readers who insist on constructive approaches to mathematical proof will reject the proof of the Hohenberg-Kohn theorem, since it relies on proof by contradiction. In physical applications this is a minor issue of course, but in attempts to put density functional theory, indeed all of quantum field theory, on a constructive rigorous mathematical foundation, this issue is of importance. The authors (correctly) have no intention of respecting mathematical rigor, and state so explicitly. Instead they emphasize the physics behind the formalism and discuss the experimental evidence for it. Indeed, the book is full of examples of this evidence, and the appropriate references are given. Most of the discussion on the experimental situation is given in the context of the quantum Hall effect, which seems appropriate given that the authors have made original contributions to the understanding of this effect.

[DISCLOSURE: This reviewer knows the second author personally, but did not discuss this review with him. The opinions above are an honest assessment of the content of the book, and were not influenced, at least consciously, by any personal knowledge of the author.]

A wonderful book: clearly a product of careful thought, and love. It is a timely "Pines and Nozieres" for the new generations. I find myself reading the first chapters over and over again, and always getting something new out of it. In spite of having read numerous accounts regarding subtle issues in density functional theory, I had never properly understood some of the important aspects (e.g. derivative discontinuities) until after reading their original presentation in chapter 7. I agree 100% with the review of R. Pepino, and would only like to add my praise for the lively writing style, which I find captivating: A pleasure to study, or even simply read. Its perfect mix of seriousness and passion, makes of The Quantum Theory of the Electron Liquid a major work that is both authoritative and engaging.

This is a kind of book rare to find nowadays. It seems to be the result of a long and careful investigation of the literature, of reflection, of deep physical understanding. It avoids hand-waving, "phenomenological", jargon and fashionable types of arguments, in favor of well grounded, logical and mathematically solid arguments. It is the opposite of most we find today, that is, it is not a set of "lectures" quickly transformed into textbook; it is not the point of view of the authors, defended by phraseology; it is not a biased book. It is really a wonderful book, very well written, displaying love by the subject, strong curiosity and search for the truth.
Congratulations to the authors! May their book inspire other physicists to search truth instead of glory and fame. May their book inspire the young to avoid the fashion and easy way. May their book become a classic because it truly deserves.

This book is truly a valuable and unique resource for physicists and quantum chemists interested in the structure and dynamics of electronic systems, especially (but not solely) in the solid-state. It presents the standard theories, as well as very recent cutting-edge developments, for example, extensions of density functional theory to time-dependent phenomena and current-densities -- all with elegant derivations and beautiful explanations. The authors have an extremely engaging writing style, which makes the book one of the most enjoyable physics books I have read. Many of the exercises at the end of each chapter are fascinating in themselves, instructive, and clearly explained.
I feel this book will prove to be a wonderful treasure for graduate students, postdocs, and professors.

This is the one of best overall book on the electronic theory of solids. It certainly covers all relevant aspect one could ever want to know about the topic and does a phenomenal job of clearly explaining and demonstrating the material. The best example is the chapter dedicated to the Fermi liquid with the very illuminating explanations of the theory of quasiparticles. This book is easy to read and its lecture does not require advanced mathematical knowledge. It is an excellent textbook and a very good start point for research problems. It is also remarkable the use of state of the art results and the elimination of several common misconceptions. I must say that the exercises are a good opportunity to better understand the material.

I just picked up a copy of this new book. The author did a nice job of pulling together a book useful for experienced programmers and for beginners. This book is very readable and does a great job with bringing you up to speed on the essentials needed for getting a grip on the new language and sets you up nicely for .net. Highly recommended!

I have been programming in C++. This book was a great way to move to C#. The lessons are concise and easy to follow. Each take 10 to 15 minutes. Great investment of time.

I had never used C# or the visual studio before. This book got me up and running with both. I know some C, no C++, so there was a lot to learn. Examples made it easy. Everythign compiled and ran. Took me just over a weekend to get through the book's lessons.

I'm a VB programmer who has not used C or C++. Wright makes it very easy to get up and running with C#. He doesn't assume you understand the ins and outs of C -- which was key for me!

I have been programming in VB and VBA for the last 5 years. Before that, it was C and C++. This book is all about the language of C#. It doesn't cover XML, Web Services, or anything to do with the internet. What it does do, is give you an excellent background on the language and syntax of C#. I now fully understand the differences between C++, C#, and even VB. I highly recomend this book to anyone who has C++ background. If you have a pure VB background it might take a while to get used to the looping and decision making syntax as isn't covered until later in the book, but it is still useable.

Video games can prove powerful tools for learning and social change: that's the eye-opening revelation in RESET: CHANGING THE WAY WE LOOK AT VIDEO GAMES, which comes from a gaming journalist and concerned parent who examines the myths and stereotypes revolving around video games. From an analysis of the business forces behind these games' development to the unique qualities which distinguish video games from other media and the latest learning research on play and learning connections, chapters extol the possibilities of video games as powerful tools for education and inspiration - if presented properly. A fine choice for education and social issues libraries alike, this will reach college-level audiences.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The book is a spirited attempt to defend the concept of computer gaming. It attempts to draw out and articulate the components of games which offer the potential to revolutionise the learning experience. The primary one being the involvement and identification of game play which `motivates' the user to learn complex subjects without the traditional experience of learning as a difficult and unappealing task.

The strongest elements of the book lie mostly in the author's attempt to `unpack' game-play and relate the different components back to (mostly psychological) research into learning and motivation. His central thesis is that if learning is unstructured and `fun', is it far more productive. Games focus on positive user experiences, and learning becomes almost a by-product of the on-going attempt to repeat the `buzz' of achieving desired tasks. Partly this is because learning is provided within more exciting and interesting contexts, and partly because the user doesn't perceive tasks as `compulsory', but is allowed to learn at their own pace and in their own way.

Whilst this idea is not new:

"Generally speaking, a child's education must be based on the principle that everything must come from his own will. Nothing should be given in a ready made form. One can only give the idea, one can only guide or even teach indirectly, starting from afar and leading him to the point from something else." (Gurdjieff 1928 - Views from the Real World.)

... it has (up till now) never meaningfully challenged the idea that learning (almost by definition) should be boring, hard and laborious.

In my opinion the author does an excellent job of reviewing the important elements of game-play and in showing how much this medium has to offer. He comes close to establishing `computer games' as a potential paradigm shift in the structure of education.

I think this is a book the critics should read!

I'm an avid gamer and I bought this book for my mother because I thought it presented games in a new light. Instead of portraying them as evil, time wasting, and corruptive, it points out ways games can be used in a useful and constructive fashion.

Highly recommended.

Rusel DeMaria is a veteran in the video games business. He's a very connected individual and has had a prolific career writing in-depth strategy guides for key games, and also regarding the history of the business.

His new book "RESET" has changed the way I think about games and their social impact. It's an important read for parents and those that wish to understand the gaming industry from someone who's able to really take a close and very revealing look.

As the parent of a long time gamer, I think this is a terrific book that would be of much value to a wide variety of people; parents, educators, psychologists, gaming journalists, and children's recreational supervisors. It would also be of value to anyone who works in the game industry or wants to work in the game industry, particularly in the business, community relations, executive, legal, or general design areas. Although it's certainly not aimed at gamers, I would say that gamers who have a serious interest in the broader aspects of the field should give it a read. It offers a lot of insights into video gaming, as well as offering up a good many ways that video games can add value and dimension to our personal, educational, and professional lives.