Society Books

Excellent series of interviews with still pertinent movers and shakers in the realm of spiritual activism. Incredibly inspiring. Very very relevant for today, though written in the late 80's.

This book will inspire you to begin making the changes in the world that you desire to see. It includes inspirational and down to earth interviews with some of the greatest activists that ever lived. Always remember change is possible if we take action and pursue it with love. Highly recommended.

Now in a newly revised edition enhanced with a new foreword by Arun Gandhi, and featuring interviews with Mubarak Awad, Ram Dass, Thich Nhat Hanh, Cesar Chavez, H.H. The Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Joan Baez, and others, In The Footsteps Of Gandhi: Conversations With Spiritual Social Activists is a collection of deeply contemplative and insightful essays written by a diverse roster of contemporary spiritual and social activists. Touching on an impressive array of modern social issues ranging from AIDS, to apartheid, to the Israel/Palestine conflict, and more, this seminal tribute to the power of (and desperate need for) nonviolence is emotionally moving, morally relevant, and enthusiastically recommended reading for anyone concerned with how best to address the rampant social issues of our time.

Catherine Ingram's beautifully constructed book presents interviews of spiritual social activists that serve both as a historical record and, in our current world climate, an inspiring reminder that it is important to take action in line with our beliefs and principles, and that the word "spiritual" can include engaging oneself in crucial social and political issues that affect us all.

As an avid reader, I was entranced to find this hiddent gem among my collegue's recommendations. It is a beautifully written intellectual soujourn that probes the past advances and compares them to the current day technological advances. Sounds dry?? It's not. It's a poetic journey about what inventive advancements have meant in the past, and what they mean to the modern day intellectual. If you are in the mood for something that stretches your mind and enriches your soul, treat yourself to this rare gem of a book.

This book is a direct relative of Pirsig's "Zen etc" although neither author may agree. This author pens the words that are already in your mind.

This book was a beautiful read. The subject matter,comparing the Computer Age to the Industrial Revolution, was extremely interesting. It was fascinating to see the economic, cultural and technological similarities. As an added bonus, the author has a beautiful way with words, and therefore reading this book was a pleasure as well as being intellectually stimulating. I was captivated from the opening chapter on Alexandria. Highly recommended, and I am hard to please!

With careful research and amazing insight this author details for us, through the work of various people through the caenturies, how our present day computers were born. Through charming and poignant vinettes we learn of their lives and their work. From there, the author brings us to the delimmas the Information Revolution poises for us. A delightfully good read; an excellent liberal education. The vignettes are inspiring; the dicussion of the economics involved is thought-provoking. An outstanding first book.

This book was a wonderful resource to me. I had been asked to install the officers in an organization to which I belong, and I was searching for the perfect ceremony. I came upon this book by chance, and it proved to be a lifesaver. All of the ceremonies are easy to follow and complete, and I had many rave reviews over my clever ceremony. Thanks for writing this book.

I have found this book to be an excellent resource for non-profit and volunteer organizations of which I am a member. With 26 different installation ceremony ideas offered, it's easy to find something relevent to your group or organization. The ceremonies are set-up for a standard grouping of officers, but can be easily adapted if your oganization does not have the same positions. I have been present when at least 6 of the different ceremonies were used, and they have worked well. It can liven up a portion of a meeting agenda that can become dry without something to add a spark.

After hearing the same two installation ceremonies for many years, it was a delight to find this book with its many unique and easy to do services. It's just what every organization needs. Each ceremony is complete from start to finish.

A good addition to church or public libraries, as a well equipped resource for civic clubs, religious and women's groups. Instructions for ceremonies are simple and complete from start to finish, providing creative ideas for installations of all kinds. Everything you need for an innovative and meaningful installation ceremony.

If you look for a empirical and graphic illustration of cyberspace, this is not your choice. This book is intended to contribute to theoretical founding of cyberspace. So most pages are devoted to reviewing and elaborating various existing theories, researches. That is, this is a meta-theorizing. His founding theoretical orientation is not fashionable postmodernist but Giddens¡¯s theory of structuration, particularly the knowledgability of actor, and modernity. The author manages to bring about a persuasive extension of Giddens¡¯s approach to cyberspace. He argues there is no reason to see that online community is not that different from offline day-to-day life from totally discrepant angle as postmodernists claim. Online community also assumes the development of the integrity, trust and shared stock of knowledge. What is needed to assess the experience of this brave new world is the proper theory of media and modernity.
The overall outline of the book is like this:
Ch.1: dealing with the nature of ¡®risk society¡¯ depending on Giddens and Habermas.
Ch.2: illustrating the technological and institutional features of internet.
Ch.3: theoretical founding of internet as media based on Thompson¡¯s conception.
Ch.4: arguing that the virtual community is not that far cry from actual (offline) community. So we can cope with it based on existing framework.
Ch.5 arguing that mobilizing IT into organizations like the enterprise, i.e., restructuring, should be reconsidered in the light that IT changes the settings of interaction for IT is a form of media. This chapter tackles the cases of government and NGO¡¯s IT adoption too.
Ch.6: focusing on how the internet enriches and transforms the nature of the self and experience in everyday life. His position is like this: ¡®the self is not being transformed by forces that operate exclusively behind the backs of individuals¡¯.
Below are comments I posted on the bulletin board of a graduate class. Most are complaints. Yep. It¡¯s not fair to the author. But the reader I presumed are those who already read the text. So there was not much reason to recapping the text and writing down praises. And some are not that relevant to the book directly. But I think it would be helpful to get what is like the real line of the book.

1. (On Ch.1) This introductory chapter on founding concepts borrowed from Giddens and Beck, in the tint of Frankfurt¡¯s conception of life world, is much more graphic than Castells¡¯s. But the sketch of time-space distanciation or modernization, in the light of uncertainty and risk is not figurative. And that, there is no definition of ¡®risk¡¯. Yep. Risk is well known concept and widely used. But the writer mixes it with life world in the sense of Frankfurt¡¯s. he should have suggest the definition of those concepts to place in the context. And worse, he omits various ancillary concepts like danger vs. security, disembedding vs. reembedding, ontological security and so forth. Yep. Recapping whole line of ¡®The Consequences of Modernity¡¯ is not reasonable. But such a skipping causes confusion.
2. (On Ch.3) I can¡¯t understand why the author uses the ambiguous concept of culture, while he devoted a few pages to theoretical problems of that concept. He doesn¡¯t substantiates the intangible word at all. I¡¯m not sure what would be his object in this chapter. Frankly, I couldn't distinguish Geertz¡¯s conception from functionalist¡¯s. For that reason, Giddens expelled that word from his theorizing. I couldn't see any benefit to use that word. Culture is no more than a conceptual umbrella, at least in sociology, which unjustifiably conflate seemingly compatible phenomena, though actually discrepant in practical research. Its notoriety doesn¡¯t fall short of one of ¡®society¡¯. For this reason, Giddens restrains himself from the temptation to sue that word, rather confined it only to ¡®the locale of interaction¡¯. Thompson¡¯s analytic framework of ¡®cultural transmission¡¯ is awesome. In my opinion, his framework is wholly compatible to Giddens¡¯s. For Giddens himself doesn¡¯t offer sufficient theorizing on media or technology, his framework could complement the shortfall. But I don¡¯t think Giddens¡¯s stratification model, especially power, could go hand in hand with culture. Instead, why not replace ¡®modality of cultural transmission¡¯ with ¡®media¡¯ ? I suspect author¡¯s use of ¡®culture¡¯ is no more than the inflation of concept.
Besides the conceptual glitch, the intention of ch.3 seems successful: to link the internet to publicness or public sphere. It has been discussed for long. But the author¡¯s attempt to theoretically found it has a point in sketching out the field.
3. (On Ch.4) On the first section of ch.4, I wonder why the author simply ignore the very condition of those various citations he bombarded. Didn¡¯t he fail to be reminded that it could cause confusion? I won¡¯t say he should have reproduced the emptiness of postmodernists, but he should have sensitized, at least, and articulated what is his opponent. It¡¯s the way of discussion. Yep. He illustrates their position in ch.6. but ch.6 is not ch.4.
4. (OnCh.4) the author follows the line of Giddens to attack the babbles of postmodernists. As well known, postmodernists take the stance of poststructuralists in the conception of the self. It has some points in the sphere of philosophy. But it¡¯s hard to be so in sociology. As Giddens puts it, the agency should be conceived as knowledgable actor. This is the point of late Wittgenstein too. In this vein, the babble of postmodernist should be rejected. In this regard, author¡¯s sketching out of IRC, in the fashion of Goffman, is much more persuasive than empty discussion of postmodernists.

To the first-time users of both the Arpanet and Milnet in the birthing days of the Internet, it was clear pretty early on that this new technological development could very well become a potent force in society's processes. Sadly, academic exploration lagged in its tracking over the years, apparently favoring instead a focus on technological advances in the new medium.

Slevin's work goes far in correcting the shortfall between books that teach us how to approach the Internet and those that speak of how the Internet approaches-and changes-us. He feels the Internet is a new media that informs certain social forces transforming modern society, and that our human relationships re-sculpt themselves in an emerging arena of "manufactured uncertainty" and "manufactured risk."

From this thesis, Slevin goes on to do something quite valuable. He creates a new vocabulary, perhaps even a language, which names these often contradictory forces that push and pull our communities with new social tensions and technological innovations. We respond to these tidal flows, of course, both consciously and unconsciously. The point Slevin makes in this is, "we ignore them at our peril."

While Slevin's book certainly cannot be described as a fireplace-and--shawl reader, it is, nevertheless, eminently readable for both the specialist and interested layperson. The textual flow is relentlessly outlined, tracking the changes in society from the early days of hand shaking computers through the emergence of today's world wide web. With the careful introduction and naming of each social development, a mental game board emerges, on which one can see how each transforming force dynamically plays out in our human uncertainties.

Slevin carefully negotiates the quagmire of describing the Internet in moral terms. He turns away from the battle between doomsday prophets and ecstatic acolytes of the electronic altar. True to the post-modern dilemma, he views the Internet through a multiplicity of lenses. His diopter may not always be accurate, but his focus is unusually clear, particularly on a swirling subject that refuses to be interpreted in linear fashion.

In reading through Slevin's careful foundation necessary for a useful vocabulary, one can sometimes lose the sense of raw power for transformation the Internet carries within itself. Slevin seems to counter this by describing how our core institutions, never big fans of any kind of change, creak and groan at their very roots. In fact, he makes a good case that certain organizations are responding to the Internet in a fitful reflex of denial or embrace, perhaps even an odd combination of both, unconsciously sowing the seeds for their own destruction or transformation.

On the other hand, his views on emerging virtual communities are quite tantalizing. While he agrees it is not productive to trade a real life for a virtual world, the Internet does offer the potential for relating to one another through continually changing social practices. If so, one consequence of the Internet might be a whole new sense of community as both real and imagined. This thought is crucial as Slevin considers what groups of people might find themselves qualified or marginalized in the new cultural arena.

On the whole, Slevin articulates an understanding of our emerging future as carefully as a medical student lays out a skeleton in anatomy class. Generally, he succeeds by offering the reader a number of "windows" (the allusion is intentional and well explained in the book) through which one can view the Internet and the new social experience it mediates.

One doubts this is a book for the ages, but it certainly is one for the present and immediate future. As one who is fast wearing out a perfectly good pair of eyes on fuzzy fonts, I approached the book through a weary ennui. I found myself quickly captivated by a rigorous and perceptive thinker offering a new language for interpreting what is for many of us an anxious experience. While Slevin sometimes falls into jargon, he quickly gets back to a thought that is fresh and original. The writing of this book was a wonderful effort, and well worth the read.

Terrell Seaton is a student in the Ph.D. program for Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA.

As a doctoral student in Mass Communcation at the University of Texas in Austin studying the social impact of the Internet, I was glad to find a text that discussed the Internet from a social and cultural perspective. It was so refreshing to find that someone recognizes that the impacts of technology are broader than just the "online culture."

I was also inspired by Dr. Slevin's active approach recommendation to technology, rather than the passive approach or wait-and-see approach, or the technozealot/technophobe approaches that are prevalent in current literature. I, too, feel that the impact will be the sum total of various pros, cons and indifferences of the medium and that only through a coherent study of technology and an analysis of communication and sociological theory will we be able to grasp its opportunities and consequences. I plan to refer to this book and the resources on the associated Web site as a key resource in my dissertation process.

The focus on the arguments of Giddens, Thompson and Baumann strengthened the position of the author and grounded the work in sociological theory. Slevin realizes that we must not assume that traditional theory will apply in this new medium, but that we must analyze existing theory and understand that the unique dynamics of the Internet might modify or even rewrite theory. This work is powerful and insightful in its ability to integrate and apply multiple perspectives. I only wish that I could have written this book myself!

Good books about the Internet are rare, but Slevin's book is certainly one of them. It approaches the Internet from a social point of view, and describes the Net as a completely new medium, which covers aspects of all other existing media, and which, being so varied, has some major advantages over single, separate media (like newspapers or television). As Slevin argues, the Internet differs from a single, separate medium in that it does not merely have a push role, but can give people so much information as to make a real difference and a huge impact on society. Slevin might, as such, have named his book 'Internet is Society' rather than 'Internet and Society'.

The book is a good introduction to the origins and definitions of the Internet. It describes how young people basically grow up with the medium and how other people are spending more and more time and money to explore the Net. The book also deals with the Internet's possibilities and, not unimportantly, with the risks that are involved. These risks being a hot issue in society at the moment (risk management in organizations), Slevin's book provides some new insights into handling the Internet, both online as well as offline. So the book is a kind of a SWOT analysis of the Net and I am very impressed by this book!

René Kalsbeek M.A.Communication Studies, University of Amsterdam

Into the Heart is a book written by Kenneth Good, an anthropologist. Good went to the rainforests in Brazil to live among the Yanomama. He went there to study their way of life. He discovered how different these people are from the people in the United States.
Their diet consisted of what they hunted and things they planted. They worked very hard and lived off the land. These people never complained no matter how bad a situation was. Unlike our society, the only transportation they had was by foot, they slept either outdoors or in houses with large open rooms with many people, and they did not have medicine or doctors.
During his stay, Good learned the lifestyle of the Yanomama. He learned their ways and accepted the things they did. While there, he met a very young Yanomama girl. He gradually fell in love with her. Even though they had major cultural differences, the two of them left the rainforest and came to the United States where they were married.
This is an excellent book to read. There was suspense not knowing what was going to happen next. It was extremely interesting to see how other people in the world live as compared to our own traditions. Plus it had some romance mixed in by the marriage of this couple from totally different cultures. I would recommend that everyone read this very interesting book.

An anthropologist spends many years (multiple trips) amongst the Yanomamo Indians of the Amazon, who had had very little contact with civilization, and only a limited amount of its goods (e.g. some matches, a few better axes). He eventually marries one of the tribe, who returns to the United States with him. Anthropologist's faculty advisor is a real villain. The account is personal, rather than scholarly, although Good did write scholarly papers, and he refrains from much abstract analysis or generalization. The Indians have strong human emotional attachments for children, and family, and are not very violent, but the society is very sexist, tribes are prone to get mad at other tribes, and there isn't much concept of an abstract morality. It is a utilitarian morality, and tribe members are not likely to stick their necks out to protest unfair treatment to others. Disapproval does carry weight.

This is a truly remarkable book, much different from most anthropological literature. Although Good sets out to do a very mainstream anthropological study, he gets drawn in to the community, and what ensues is a fascinating tale, a touching love story, and hopefully, a major change in people's beliefs about so-called "primitive tribes". As Good becomes more and more frustrated with the competitive and stuffy world of academia and more connected to his Yanomama tribe, he truly begins to change his life. Remarkable!

EAGERLY DEVOURING EACH LEAF OF LITERATURE IN KENNETH GOOD'S INTO THE HEART, READERS ARE CATAPULTED INTO MYSTICAL, UNSEEN EXPANSES WITHIN THE VAST AMAZON RAIN FOREST. WE READERS VIRTUALLY BECOME AN ANTHROPOLOGIST'S TRAVEL COMPANIONS AS GOOD EXPLORES A LAND BLANKETED WITH A PEOPLE KNOWN AS THE YANOMAMI. CIVILIZATION IS RARE IN SUCH VIRGIN TERRAIN, NEIGHBORING THE PIRANHA-INFESTED ORINOCO RIVER. YET, INTO THE HEART, PUMPING WITH THE LIFE-BLOOD OF SURVIVAL, EXPOSES HOW ONE PRIMITIVE CULTURE SUBSISTS WITHOUT A SPARK OF TECHNOLOGY OR MODERN CONVENIENCE. RAYS OF INSIGHT EMANATE CROSS-CULTURAL AWARENESS AS WE REALIZE THAT A DISTANT VENEZUELAN COMMUNITY SHARES CERTAIN QUALITIES THAT INTERCONNECT ALL HUMAN BEINGS, HOLISTICALLY. INSTITUTIONS, SUCH AS MARRIAGE, AND KINSHIP RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THE YANOMAMI EXEMPLIFY CROSS-CULTURAL SIMILARITIES. OTHER UNIQUE ASPECTS DIVERGE FROM THIS INTEGRATED OUTLOOK, HOWEVER. IMAGINE SPORTING ONLY A MERE LOINCLOTH OR DRINKING A POTION, ITS KEY INGREDIENTS BEING YOUR LATE GRANDFATHER'S ASHES. tHOUGH CULTURE-SHOCKED INITIALLY, THE HEIGHTENED COGNIZANCE WE HAVE ACHIEVED THROUGH THIS EXOTIC TRUDGE THROUGH THE AMAZON OVERSHADOWS ANY HARDSHIPS WE HAVE ENDURED. GOOD'S JOURNEY INTO THE HEART HAS FOREVER IMPACTED MY LIFE. WE DEPART FROM THIS MEMORABLE EXCURSION WITH OUR DWELLINGS CARPETED BY GIGANTIC ANTS, OUR TOES NIBBLED BY RAVENOUS VAMPIRE BATS, AND OUR BODIES STRICKEN WITH STRAINS OF MALARIA. AS PASSENGERS ON THIS UNFORGETTABLE VOYAGE, WE READERS HAVE ABSORBED A TRUE UNDERSTANDING OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL FIELDWORK. FOR MORE THAN A DECADE WE HAVE WATCHED AN ANTHROPOLOGIST FULLY EXAMINE A CULTURE DIFFERENT FROM OUR OWN. THROUGH KENNETH GOOD, MANKIND ACROSS THE WORLD HAS BEEN INTRODUCED TO THE YANOMAMI, A REMARKABLE PEOPLE WHO BOLDLY LEAD US INTO THE HEART OF HUMANITY.

"'Introduction to Fall Protection' by J. Nigel Ellis, is a masterpiece in the art and practices for fall protection. Excellent resource packed with useful information. The great value in this book is that it simplifies an otherwise tough subject! It will, no doubt, save many lives. How much more worth could you get than that?"

"'Introduction to Fall Protection' by J. Nigel Ellis, is a masterpiece in the art and practices for fall protection. Excellent resource packed with useful information. The great value in this book is that it simplifies an otherwise tough subject! It will, no doubt, save many lives. How much more worth could you get than that?"

Introduction to Fall Protection, Third Edition
J. Nigel Ellis, Ph.D., P.E., CSP
514 pages

This book is an excellent source of comprehensive technical information written in an easy to read and easy to understand style by a leading authority in the field of industrial and construction fall protection.

The 12 chapters, 7 appendices, and 80-page glossary of terms and references are logically arranged. Over 240 illustrations and tables help readers understand concepts. The 9-page index helps one quickly locate material.

I like the format and the fact that it almost doubled in size, as compared to the 2nd edition. This contains a wealth of useful information relating to falls and fall protection.

The book addresses various Fall Protection Codes of Practice including the OSHA standards and the ANSI standards.

It is most helpful guide in learning about falls and fall protection, and is valuable reading for all people and organizations concerned with falls and fall prevention, such as contractors, people in trades with fall exposures, property owners, builders, and attorneys.

This book is on the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) list of Safety Resources recommended for use in preparing for the Associate Safety Professional (ASP) or Certified Safety Professional (CSP) exams.

Book Review by Richard Dresser, CSP, CET, Deerfield, IL, USA. (...)

The Importance of Properly Using Fall Protection.

Fortunately, serious injuries from falls occur only rarely, because falls only occur rarely. The chance of a person falling while exposed to heights is remote, which may lead to complacency.

A person may not use fall protection for many reasons.....I've been doing it this way for years and nothing happened; I'm too tough; I didn't know; it takes too long; it is uncomfortable; etc. The person receives positive reinforcement by the fact that they didn't fall. Every time a person doesn't fall while performing a job unsafely increases the positive reinforcement, and makes it more likely the same task will be again performed unsafely.

This book helps us realize the importance of knowing why to use fall protection (education) and how to install fall protection (engineering).

The principles in the book should be used to train all workers exposed to falls. If a person doesn't catch on, retraining is necessary, or perhaps enforcement. This should be done before the biggest negative reinforcement happens, serious injury from a fall.

I am the site safety manager for steel erection for a large steel erection company. We are following a 100% fall protection over 6 feet. Very interesting with ironworkers that are used to working at much greater heights without fall protection. I am able to use the principals I learned from Dr. Ellis' book!

An Introduction to Japanese Society is a book no serious student of Japan (or East Asia generally) can afford to pass up. It affords an unflinching and incisive look at the nature of Japanese democracy by a Japanese scholar who pulls no punches. While quite a few Western scholars have characterized the Japanese elementary school classroom, for example, as less authoritarian than its American counterpart, Sugimoto contends that authoritarianism is pronounced but subtly pervasive throughout Japanese society. Instead of accentuating top-down coercion by authorities, as Korean and Chinese societies do, Japanese authoritarianism is more subtle, relying heavily on indirect controls such as small group pressures, extensive surveillance, moralistic ideologies, positive reinforcements, mythologies of benevolent leadership, and pleasant rituals to mask underlying and potentially coercive power. As Sugimoto persuasively demonstrates, "Japanese friendly authoritarianism does not normally exhibit its coercive face." But when all else fails, it can and does exercise the full measure of its power. Sugimoto's book should inspire more Western scholars to take a closer look at the informal mechanisms of control in Japanese society. If Sugimoto is right, Japan has far to go before it becomes a full-fledged democracy.

In a world of Inside/Outside, it is refreshing to get a view form the inside. YOSHIO SUGIMOTO'S "An introduction to Japanese society" is probably the most functional addition to the limited number of books which give a wide-ranging coverage of Japanese society fit for an preliminary Japanese society course, and more sophisticated students will find much in it as well. As a counterpoint to myriad of books and thesis, which show Japan as culturally homogenous, and predominantly white collar, Sugimoto zeroes-in on Japan's multiculturalism and class distinctions which he posits are more akin to other highly industrialized societies. The Japanese "everyman" (term mine) he posits from the get-go is not a highly educated "salaryman" working for a large company, but rather older woman with less education maybe working for a smaller company or family firm. What is important to note is that Japan, with a dropping birth rate, aging population and more emphasis on individualism in education and work, Japan might be even more like other countries.

Sugimoto manages to cover a large selection of the essential issues that affect Japanese society at present time and its historical development. Furthermore, Sugimoto presents a balanced perspective of the weaknesses and strengths of the Japanese system. In Chapter 2, dealing with the issue of "stratification", Sugimoto explains that while class distinctions have become less apparent in the post-war period, inequality is actually on the rise. Chapter 3, Sugimoto discusses regional disparities, the positions of minorities, regional variations, and the influence of Tokyo on the more peripheral regions of the country. This section is insightful as it is pedagogical - Sugimoto's treatment of ethnic diversity is clear, concise and balanced.

Chapter 4 deals mainly with the economy. Sugimoto examines the rupture between those permanently employed in the large corporations, and those with less secure jobs in small enterprises. Chapter 6, focuses on women's exclusion from the permanent employment sector of the job market (either by exclusion through education or other means), despite what might seem like equal opportunities legislation. Chapter 7 engages in the discourse of discrimination, namely that against Koreans. Burakumin, the Ainu in Hokkaido, and Japan's now substantial number of foreign immigrant workers. Perhaps the most important chapter in dispelling the homogeneity myth, this chapter explores what is apparently a long and complex discourse of race and race relations in Japan.

Most interesting to Sociologists and Japanese Studies majors is Chapter 8 on the Japanese establishment, and the close and often dubious 3 way links between bureaucrats, politicians and business leaders. For a more detailed but less compelling dissertation of this issue, you can also examine MIKISO HANE'S EASTERN PHOENIX - JAPAN SINCE 1945. Chapter 9 leads in with "Internationalization" and is clearly related to the discussion of popular culture, which includes karaoke, pachinko, the sex industry as well as new religions. For those looking for a Japan textbook, this is looks to be the definitive account of a sociological experiment with it's primary focus in stratification. It does cover a lot and from my discussion above, looks to be a long book. It is not. Much like MIKISO HANE'S book it is well worth the read.

Miguel Llora

This book should be required reading for any introductory course for Japanese Studies. Sugimoto presents a very unbiased view of Japanese society, and covers many different aspects, such as gender, hierarchy (the vertical society), and education that play daily roles in the maintaining of the structure and implement of Japanese ways. Excellent reading for anyone with an interest in Japan, necessary reading for any student of Japanese Studies.

While no book is able to entirely encapsulate a culture, Yoshio Sugimoto's "An Introduction to Japanese Society" manages to showcase the ethnic and economical diversity alongside pop culture and "Friendly Authoritarianism," something that one can see every day in Japan. Scholarly in tone, this is a competent book for serious students of Japan, who want more than can be offered by "culture" books and such.

An impressively wide examination, each of the ten chapters examines a particular face of Japan. Economic class and stratification, varieties in work and labor, diversity and unity in education, minority groups and gender stratification, almost every possible angle is seen. Popular and folk culture are examined in detail, with the "Four Japanese Phenomena" described as manga, pachinko, karaoke and the sex industry. As someone who has spent considerable time in Japan, I can assure that these four areas have more impact on modern Japan than the tea ceremony and the Japanese garden!

Although it is packed with information, "An Introduction to Japanese Society" is also small enough as to not be intimidating. It is only an introduction, but it should be a gateway to those seeking insight into a fascinating culture.

This is a wonderful book on probability theory.
I first used it at Dartmouth in an intro course 12 years ago, and I still find it illuminating.

The level is at once highly rigorous and extremely readable & engaging. I believe anyone can read this book (a smattering of first-year calculus would help to understand the sections on continuous probability distributions).

The paradoxes in Chp 4 are memorable, as is the medical question on false positives / false negatives, which most med students failed.

With a chapter on random walks, this is also the perfect introduction for anyone in physics / finance seeking to study stochastic calculus.

Truly, there's nothing that is
(a) more clearly written
(b) more enjoyable to read (if you like math)

This book is freely available under the GNU General Public License, in PDF format. The GPL allows free usage to anyone, and free modification and redistribution with the restriction that your changes have to remain free under the same license. This is the same license Linux and much open source software is released under.

Try a web search for the authors/title. For a course, you might want to purchase the physical copy anyway.

I am starting on the book now, so ignore my rating of the book itself - I had to include a rating to post.

covers fundamentals well, easy to read, good variety of problems, historic sections are interesting

A good variety of problems, easy, medium, and hard. I was able to read through the chapters and understand the mathematics. The computer programs truly complement the sections.

If you are proud of the role that Orthodox Jews have played in developing the modern Zionist movement, you will love this reader compiled more than 35 years ago (and back in print). Orthodox rabbis and Zionist leaders Yehuda Alkalai, Zvi Hirsch Kalischer, Yechiel Michel Pines, Meir Bar-Ilan, Shmuel Chaim Landau, Samuel Mohilever, Avraham Yitzhak HaCohen Kook and Isaac Reines take up a disproportionate amount of space in Hertzberg's rich work. And for good measure you will find the writings of Ben-Gurion and Jabotinsky.

This is an anthology of works by major Zionist thinkers. It introduced me to the fact that Zionism was primarily a radical project of self-criticism and not a whining diatribe against the Gentiles. The ruthless mode of thought and pitiless self criticism of the founding fathers of Zionism makes one realize that this is our strength in the face of our enemies, who clearly lack the ability to engage in self-criticism. I try to follow in the footsteps of this tradition of Zionist self-criticism in my own book "The Optimistic Jew: a Positive Vision for the Jewish People in the 21st Century"
The Introduction by Rabbi Hertzberg is brilliant and worth the price of the book alone. If you want to know something about Zionism, Israel, and modern Jewish history, buy this book and read the Introduction!

the a hundred page introduction of this work is absolutely essential for people of every ilk who want to undertand the whole zionist idealogy in one fine, easy-read scoop. the rest of this work is a presentation of every important leader of zionism in the course of 19th and 20th centuries with a short description of the writers life, endeavors, and accomplishments in the beginning of every excerpt.
this book serves on two fronts which makes it into a bona-fide classic of zionist literature: (a) someone who wants to throughly understand the conception of the movement must read this book because without it even fine, scurpulous research is incomplete. (b) someone who wants to cursorly scan the movement to form a capsule of the zionist idea in his mind for all practical intents and purposes.
i'm not a zionist, but this book gave me a clearer percpective of zionism. now i'm confident to vouch that i know precisely what zionism holds and so should you!

What is modern Zionism? Is it Jewish nationalism? Is it simply an ideology of human rights for everyone, including Jews? These are questions that I hoped would be answered (and are answered) in a book that contains articles written from 1843 to 1948 by about three dozen leading Zionists.

A doctrine of human rights for all would permit any group, including Jews, to bid on land in and near Jerusalem and (upon obtaining it) pass laws ensuring their rights of life, liberty, and property there. As well as continued immigration. I wanted to see if most Zionists saw it that way, arguing that there are many Jews (and many Jewish nationalists) and that Zion is the Jewish homeland, with Jerusalem its capital.

Moreover, I wanted to know if any of these thinkers said or implied anything like the following:

1) We Jews don't care for Zion, but many non-Jews do, so we'll buy Zion and displace those who really love the land.

2) We Zionists love Zion, so we'll steal it from the rightful and legal owners.

3) We don't care about human rights. We want special treatment, so we can have privileges that are denied to non-Jews.

Not one of these authors displayed any of the above three attitudes. None of them advocated wastefulness, greed, destruction, theft, or unfairness. They did indeed argue for the rights of Jews to be equal to those of other nationalities. And they went on to discuss Jewish culture, Hebrew universities, Jewish religion, and the need for a people to have a common language and a state. These days, when the international information supply is saturated with antizionist misinformation, it's worth noting all this.

In this book, we see Theodor Herzl say that the Jews are a people, one people. A people that he thinks "will not be left in peace." And, most important, that he is not aiming to arouse sympathy on behalf of the Jews: "All that is nonsense, as futile as it is dishonorable." Those who ask that we make the dubious stipulation that Zionism is merely a claim of sympathy for what has happened to the Jews of Europe might want to note that!

We then see Ahad Ha-am say that he wants to focus on a national culture, with Zion providing merely a "secure refuge," rather than starting with a state and relying on it to produce a national culture. That's a good answer to those who ask today what Ahad Ha-am would have said about Israel's desire to continue to exist as a refuge for Jews.

Two other authors who are often quoted by "post-Zionists" are Judah Magnes and Martin Buber. I'd advise reading what they say as well. In particular, Buber splatters Mahatma Gandhi's argument that the Levant "belongs to the Arabs" by pointing out that "God does not give any one portion of the Earth away." A powerful comment for those who might otherwise think that the Jews, not the Arabs, are the ones who are regarding the Levant as theirs by Divine Right!

Vladimir Jabotinsky is often given as an example of someone who favored Jewish greed over Arab need. Guess again! Here we see him speak forthrightly about there being "no question of ousting the Arabs," And that Arabs will be a minority in Israel, but that is no hardship. And that he asks "only for the same condition as the Albanians enjoy."

If you want to learn something about Zionism, read this.

If you like Jim Collins "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't", "Joyworks" is a must read. While "Good to Great" is from an observer's angle, "Joyworks" is from the man who achieved it. This book was written in a witty and warm tone, which reminds me a lot about the good old days at Marquette. It's a remarkable culture that not only builds great products, but also builds great people with characters. Unleash the creativity of people is the key to the success of Marquette's innovative products.

A great book for a great look into one of America's great companies through the eyes of the man who founded it. Witty and funny. This book is an example of what is possible to achieve in this great Country with a little smarts and some courage.

This book is written with wisdom, warmth and humor. Both a memoir and a business how-to, it's a must read for young entrepreneurs. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend.

In this book Michael Cudahy remembers the long path to success taken by Marquette Electronics. The early days are given a great deal of ink, demonstrating the determination Mr. Cudahy is known for, including his childhood and young adulthood. The story continues through the 1970's as MEI broke new ground in the medical electronics business. As the company develops into a major force with acquisitions on two continents, the issues and problems of growth are discussed in depth. Mike spends time discussing the various leaders in place prior to the GE buyout and his reasons for selling the company. As a prologue he brings the reader up to date on his activites since MEI.