Simulation Books

While the model formats discussed are the more popular ones, there are quite a few details that were omitted in the book about them. On the other side of the coin, there aren't many books specifically for model formats. All the information that is missing, is easy enough to find with a little research.

Explains some of the more common 3d models and includes an appendix with links about other formats not covered. This book only briefly explains some technologies, like skeletal modeling, and otherwise just tells you what you need to get them rendered.

Just enough to get you started.

An excellent starting point for somebody that knows nothing at all about 3D models, but can only be considered a stepping stone to other books that gloss over the basics.

He starts with a good intro to matrices and quaternions, followed by a good intro to modeling concepts, and then describes a few formats in detail. Unfortunately, he doesn't go into any more advanced discussion on how to put things together... i.e. how to *use* the models. A few pages are wasted explaining how to use some basic "C", but I've seen worse...

Overall, I give it four stars because, if you know nothing of the topic, it is an excellent jump start. If you do have knowledge of the topic, then you aren't the target audience.

This book is more of an overview on how to load 3D models from files more than anything else.

By overview, I do mean quite sketchy.

The file formats talked about are:
.obj (ASCII, poor coverage)
.3ds (3DS Max)
.md2 (Quake II)
.ms3d (Milkshape 3D)
.mdl (Half-Life)
.md3 (Quake III)

(Note that the .obj format was not discussed correctly. The code that comes on CD is actually a very poorly done .obj loader with minimal functionality. The library known as GLM is an .obj loader that is well written and outperforms the authors code by a large margin.)

The .md3 and .mdl coverage is somewhat skant of details.

Overall, this book is not a definitive model format book - you can get the same information on the web for free, with much better written loaders and the likes.

If you can pick this book up for under 5$ go for it, otherwise forget it.

This book covers the loading and handling of 3D models from the programmer's point of view (not the artist's, which may not be immediately obvious from the title). Like other Focus On books, it's short (checking in at just under 200 pages), but doesn't spend a lot of time on introductory material or subjects not related to the main topic.

The model formats covered by this book are Quake 2 (.md2), .obj, MilkShape, 3D Studio Max (.3ds), Half-life (.mdl), and Quake 3 (.md3). All of these formats are covered quite well, with sample code showing how to load, display and (when applicable) animate them. The exception is the Half-life format, for which he just uses the SDK, so there's no real information on the format itself. In addition to the specific formats, there are chapters on skeletal animation and useful tips on working with models.

My only real complaint is that about 1/4 of the book's pages are spent on covering vectors, matrices, quaternions, and STL vectors. Although knowledge of these topics is important for understanding the rest of the book, I'd suspect most readers will already be familiar with them. I would have preferred to have these chapters included on the CD instead, freeing up space for more useful information (detailed coverage of the Half-life format, perhaps?).

Overall, though, I was happy with the book. It's compact, inexpensive, an easy read, and it's nice to have the most common formats covered in one convenient volume. If you're looking for an introduction to using 3D models, or just want a physical reference for these formats to keep on your desk, I'd recommend it.

Very good book I would recommend to Labview programmers who have taken or are about to take the LV Intermediate courses. The early chapters give a concise, but thorough definition of all the key Labview programming structures. Chapter 3 on state machines gave ideas on how to greatly expand the capabilities of a state machine by using an event matrix. Later chapters get into some of the mechanics of activeX and .net. It also discusses using object oriented techniques in Labview. Only problems I had were some block diagram pictures were missing some of their lines, and the examples on the attached CD were based on a much older version of Labview. However, these issues were minor and I would highly recommend the book.

An excellent book for LabVIEW program designers and programmers! Especially for LabVIEW users with several years experience and try to learn more new software techniques. The authors introduced many concepts and techniques in C/C++ such as ActiveX, COM, DCOM etc. The OOA, OOD and design pattern are also combined with LabVIEW programming. There are many useful examples in the book. I recommend this book to all LabVIEW users.

I've been programming for about two years. Most of my training in Labview is by trial-and-error and reading the examples that came with Labview. I've written over 3 dozen programs for my present employer.

As for books, I have many of them. This book in particular, is aimed to the advanced user. Don't expect to learn how to write programs with this book. For a graphical programming language, this book has very little graphics or pictures.

What you can expect is to hone your applications so that they are easier for the end user, easier to maintain and separates `working' VIs from `expert' VI. Many little tricks in this book (such as setting preferences, using state machines, and yes, Active X) will make your applications run faster with less overhead.

If you're looking for a book to show you more programming techniques, with actual examples, I'd opt for Essick's "Advanced LabVIEW Labs" (an intermediate book) or Johnson's "LabVIEW Graphical Programming" (more advanced). If you're looking for ways to separate yourself from programmers that make `working' VIs, then this book by Bitter et al. is for you.

First off, about first 60 pages are wasted with a very introductory description of the various Labview palettes. So you'd think it's a newbie friendly book... Forget it ..Later on, it presents interesting tricks but you got to be really advanced yourself to "get it". Not quite the "step by step" other referals praise so much. But I admit, the tricks are neat, and if you're beyond the basics and good enough to think about architecting large projects, I would highly recommend the book.

This is an excellent intro into some of the advanced features of LV. It covers basic features, state machines (one of the best chapters), application structure, drivers, exception handling, multithreading, OOP, and unfortunately Active X (chpaters to skip). The info is excellent, and I think it is well worth the cost and time to read. It also comes with a great CD.

The only bad part is more than 20% of the book is devited to Active X. This is a huge kick in the pants to platform independence. While I am working on NT (by force, not by choice) I try to avoid any technonogy that supports ... you know, the M word.

This is a very readable text that essentially parallels and expands upon the LabView Users Manuals. If you have read through all or most of those manuals you may find yourself rapidly skimming through Bishop's book as nothing more than a refresher. Newbies will appreciate the simplistic step-by-step approach but anyone beyond the basics will likely be disappointed. BTW, you can download the related files from the LabView site to get an idea of the content.

After reading all pages of this book and practicing all programs and exercises inside it within a few weeks, I become a proficient in Labview and I can develop any project easily. The only thing missing of this book is its CD which has all of its examples, but one can download it from its official website without any problem. Overall this book is great for any one who is new in labview and also for any one who doesnot have any programming skills and going to use it within his/her job.

Gives you the basics to get started if you are a new timer.

Good book except that you really need to purchase or have the Labview student version. The book does not ship with a CD containing the demo files it refers to so often in the text. Makes it difficult to follow without the files.

This is a really great book! However, there is also a package of CD and book which I do not see offered here. The CD includes LabVIEW Student Edition. The referenced .vi's (virtual instruments) are available for download but, not the complete CD. I have been unable to locate the CD individually, only in bundled packages.

The interface of the Version 5 is really so similar to the Ver 4.1. So user of version 4.0 or above should find no trouble using the latest version 5.

This is definitely a very good tool to learn about circuitry and such. I have to admit i only bought it because i was forced to for a class. And i did find it very pricey, seeing as we only used it for like 4 weeks! Nevertheless, it is still a good product. Definitely recommend it.

Fairly useful program for building logic circuits and getting a visual of timing aspects, but program seems too buggy to totally recommend. I only bought it because it was required for a class.

If you have access to a Windows machine (Windows 2000/XP/NT 4.0) this is excellent software to learn digital concepts and simulate digital circuits. It's also a pretty decent schematic editor for simple circuits although I'd recommend DesignWorks Lite/Pro from Capilano Computing (capilano.com) as a better editor. LogicWorks software was originally developed on and for the Macintosh OS but version 5.0 doesn't support the Macintosh. For that there is LogicWorks 4.5 available directly from Capilano Computing ([...]) which supports MacOS 9 and X but doesn't include VHDL support.

I have used LogicWorks4 in a computer design class with fair results - (very good for small jobs - starts to get shaky with a thousand gates or so).

So far in my testing, LogicWorks5 has improved on most of the features I've tried. I think it also offers an excellent way to get started in VHDL (jury still out until I try it in a class). A bit flaky still with SP1 in a few areas.

Anyway - highly recommended.

This book was easy to understand and contained clear practice problems. During my first semester of nursing school('07), the book helped to understand the different conversions, and I able to pass the drug calculation test. It also offers a laminated conversion sheet that was helpful during class and study sessions. It has three different units. The first unit contains basic math review, which can help any student to review important math problems that is basis for understanding drug calculations. The second unit goes into the different measurement systems, which is important for understanding drug administration. The third unit is the most important part of the book, which goes into drug calculations for oral, parenteral, IV, critical-care, solutions, and pediatic care. It is thorough book, and gives detailed instructions on how to solve a specific problem. It offers end of chapter reviews, and answer section to evaluate your work.

Every page of this book was in perfect condition.

Very, very pleased with the book! It was practically new!

As a new nursing student I have found this book very useful. There is a very comprehensive introduction which allows the student to relearn some of the math skills that may have been lost over the year. I also really like the fact that the book comes with a removable laminated card with conversions on it. I'm sure that this will come in quite handy when I begin my clinicals.
My only real complaint is that I have found a couple of mistakes in the fifth edition. I found at least two mistake in the answers provided for the chapter review on apothecaries' measurements. I would recommend that the publisher check their material a little better so as to prevent confusion for students.

A great little book which is user friendly and concise.I would recommend it for any nurse wanting to learn more about drug calculations ! It gets the thumbs up rating !!

1.32 - 16.84 (1.32 minus 16.84) is a negative number (-15.52)! Not +15.52! (See page 47). When you subtract a larger number from a smaller number, the result is ALWAYS negative number. This book makes this same mistake over and over! See pages 29,30,31,32, 34, and I'll bet there is more! Nurses watch out! Do not use bad math! How did the publisher release this book with out reviewing the math?

as an architect, i find this book fascinating. but it is not in any way limited to the practice of architecture. its relevance extends to all fields of design, and probably into fields of which i am not familiar. its a 'must have' in my opinion.

The book updates the latest trend and concept of architectural actions. I find it very useful tool to have.

This book provides a general idea about scripting and algorithmic design to those interested in this new medium of design in architecture. I personally have known the authors and they're experts in this field.

Aranda/Lasch provide a glimpse of what algorithmic techniques in architecture are capable of producing. Spiraling, packing, weaving, blending, cracking, flocking, and tiling are briefly defined, and their conceptual application in architecture is explored.

Although interesting, the discussion is left at a highly conceptual level, and the book could benefit from more detailed exploration and explanation. A website promising programming code to accompany the techniques has yet to be developed (and 2 years from date of publication probably never will) and does not appear to require the purchase of the book in order to access if it ever does go online.

A better discussion of algorithmic architecture can be found in Kostas Terzidis' Algorithmic Architecture, which not only shows better developed architectural projects but provides an analysis of code scripting.

This book looks at scripting from a conceptual point of view. I enjoyed its form and content. The examples of work were inspiring.

Why do I give this 3 out of 5 stars? I feel slightly miss led. On page 94 the authors write "Scripts from tooling experiments are available at www.arandalasch.com/tooling". Yet the site doesn't exist! The authors have yet to create this accompanying site that could give more tangible insight into the nitty-gritty of scripting. I assume it won't happen as its been more than a year now since the book was published. Too bad, because there are really few books that get into the details of scripting without becoming "programming books". Aranda and Lasch could have been pioneers in this area as they seem to enjoy the hands-on aspects of making stuff. Instead, they have dropped the ball.

The book is full of pseudocode which is fine if you already know how to program. But for DIY beginners like myself, its just not enough...

This advanced undergraduate or introductory graduate level text on statistical mechanics is clearly written by a master and perhaps visionary teacher. Statistical mechanics remains, in my opinion, the only truly rigorous science of emergent phenomena. As the scientific community in general focuses more on complex systems, it is likely that the techniques developed for the theoretical study of the statistical thermodynamic properties of matter will find widespread applications from biology to banking. In this spirit, this book is written to educate the next generation of scientists rather than as a text focused solely on existing applications.

While the subject matter of this book easily devolves into mathematical gymnastics, this text is wonderfully written to simultaneously build up an intuitive grasp along with proficiency with mathematical concepts. Introductory chapters on "What is statistical mechanics?" and "Random walks and emergent properties" are deceptively simple: the mathematical techniques employed in these chapters should be immediately accessible to senior level physics and engineering students. Yet by the end of Chapter 2, one finds oneself deriving a simple one-dimensional Fokker-Planck equation--a nontrivial application in statistical mechanics with applications in chemical kinetics, transport phenomena, mathematical biology, and finance.

This appeal to potentially broad applications is part of what makes this book unique. While a great number of important physical concepts are developed, this is really not an ordinary physics book. Instead, the tools and techniques of statistical mechanics are developed from an exceptionally broad perspective.

While I have worked very few of the problems, the end-of-chapter problems sets present deep and detailed questions that are critically integrated into the text. A reader who has the time and dedication to do the problems will gain much more than one who does not.

The book Statistical Mechanics: Entropy, Order Parameters and Complexity by James Sethna is excellent. I have used it as the main textbook in my course on Statistical Physics for first year graduate students at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil. The students and I liked it very much.

I think that the main quality of the book is that it presents Statistical Physics as a very dynamical subject, interconnected with several subjects within physics, as well as outside it.

Since the book is aimed for a one semester course on the subject, the author had to make important choices. I really liked his choices. For instance, the book does not discuss approximate methods used to treat systems with interacting particles, instead the author has chosen to have a chapter on Calculation and Computation. Although these methods have played an important role in the past, nowadays the study of the relevant problems in the field require computer simulations. The chapter on Computer Simulation is excellent. Instead of only discussing how to perform a Monte Carlo simulation, it proofs mathematically in detail (except for the Perron-Frobenius theorem) why one ends up with an equilibrium probability distribution after a number of Monte Carlo steps. Another important subject covered in the book is that of Abrupt Phase Transitions. For most Statistical Physics books, only Second Order or Continuous Transitions exist. The exercises are also another very important and interesting choice made by the author. They are very different from the usual exercises one can find in a regular textbook on Statistical Physics. The exercises are in general very intelligent and they appear in a broad range of difficulty, from those which can be solved by inspection to those that are small projects. I recall two great examples, exercises 5.7 and 5.10, where it is shown in a very clear and clever way that, when we know the system from a microscopic point of view, its entropy does not increase, whereas if we know only a coarse-grained description of it, then its entropy does increase. Some exercises lead the reader, in a secure way, through aspects of the theory that are not covered in the text. For instance, Landau's theory for phase transitions is presented in a very nice way in exercise 9.5.

Perhaps, the aspect that I have enjoyed most in the book is that the author does not shy away from discussing one of the thorniest points in the fundamentals of Statistical Physics: what entropy really is. The book discusses in some detail Phase Space Dynamics and Ergodicity. It presents some physical situations where the ergodic hypothesis breaks down. Usually this problem with the theory is swept under the rug in most textbooks. One very interesting case is that of the entropy of glasses. A subject the author himself has worked on. If a liquid is cooled down very fast it may become a glass, undergoing what is called a glass transition. When the system is in the liquid phase its atoms are diffusing and the system goes through all different possible configurations, that is believed to be the cause for its entropy (ergodicity). When the liquid undergoes a glass transition, the atoms cease diffusing and the system is jammed in one (a single one) structure of the liquid that generated it. If the system is not anymore going through all the possible configurations available what has happened to its entropy? No heat is released in this transition, therefore, one does not expect a change in its entropy. A hardcore purist would answer that the glass is not a system in equilibrium and, therefore, the entropy is not well defined. The point is, it may take much more than the age of the Universe for the glass to reach the final equilibrium and become a crystal (reported changes in glasses of ancient churches are urban legends). The question about what has happened to the entropy of the liquid remains there, despite the purist's answer. The experimentalists can measure very well the residual entropy of a glass. For the author, for me and fortunately nowadays for many others, the satisfactory answer is that the entropy of a glass is the missing information about the system. Another example of residual entropy can be found in the ice cubes in your refrigerator.

At last but not least, I would like to comment on a misconception of a previous reviewer about Shannon's Information Theory. The entropy proposed by Shannon is a measure of the uncertainty of a set of possible messages that can be exchanged, regardless the content of each message. Therefore, this entropy is related to the probability distribution associated with the ensemble of possible messages, regardless of their content. If there are any doubts, I would suggest reading the first chapter of the book Mathematical Foundations of Information Theory by A. Ya. Khinchin. In section 5.3.2 of the book, the author is just analyzing the properties of the Shannon entropy of a probability distribution using a humorous example. The probability distribution can be associated with anything, even with a key lost by a careless room-mate. This entropy is a property of the probability distribution, independent of any possible meaning attributed to it by a human being.

This book is great, if you've already got an advanced physics degree and want a new/fresh look at Statistical Mechanics with a modern bent. The problems are very long and wordy, but that ususally means there's a lot of explanation...which is because none of it is explained in the text.

This books is reader friendly and very interesting. In the chapter about correlation function & linear response theory, the demonstration is very clear and self-consistent. As a student who is new to this topic, I think this chapter is even better than Chandler's book on this topic( I love Chandler's intro too). The problem set seems to be stimulating and may need more time than learning the main text. And more, the appendix is on Fourier Transform, a saver to the chemistry student like me.

I immensely enjoyed studying this statistical mechanics book. I think that the author, James Sethna, has a "Feynman-like" ability to explore his subject matter with much depth, insight, and many playfully creative excursions. The exercises cover such topics as the thermodynamics of Dyson Spheres and black holes; of how many shuffles it takes to fully randomize a card deck; and of whether an advanced, intelligent being or civilization can, from a thermodynamic standpoint, manage to process an infinite number of thoughts before the heat death of the universe, or whether they are limited to a finite number of thoughts. I think that there is a lot of wisdom and insights in this book which is missing in other books I've read on statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, where I often feel overwhelmed by a zoo of partial derivatives and thermodynamic equations with little guidance given on how the entire structure fits together. I strongly recommend this book for anyone who has studied some statistical mechanics and/or thermodynamics in a lower-level undergraduate course, and is looking for more advanced upper-level undergraduate or graduate-level text.

I am a mathematician and economist interested in how human brain works. To me, (so far) this is the best book using equations to describe the overall picture of brain functions. Even though it might not touch in-depth research topics, I am sure it gives anyone interested in neuroscience very solid foundations on which more advance topics are built. (It actually invites me to more in-depth research topics, such as reinforcement learning, reward-punishment system, etc.)

If math is your familiar language (says, system of differential equations and Bayesian probability), and you are interested to know, in technical details, how the brain functions, this book is for you. Then, I think, you can go into research topics of your interests after finishing reading this book.

"Theoretical Neuroscience" is an in-depth introduction to modeling of neural systems from the chemical/electrical processes within neurons, up through small networks of neurons. It is a little dry, but provides a wealth of information on modeling the electrophysical and computational properties of neurons.

This book covers a wide range of different and important subjects of this field and provides by this a good overview to students new in neuroscience. On the other hand side, the topics discussed are not described thoroughly, but stay on the surface. This maybe no big problem for undergraduates who try just to understand the basics but certainly this is not satisfactory for more advanced students or researches.

In my opinion, this book blurs the view of the reader by presenting results about experiments and theoretical models side by side in a way that no fair and solid discussion is provided indicating clearly the limitations and problems of current models. By this, one could get the feeling that the presented models are more than tool to analyse data. However, exactly this is not true for most of the models as can be seen by the fact that these models can also be found in other areas than neuroscience with other interpretations.

This text will become a standard course book for Graduate Schools in Computational Neurosciences. You need to know advanced engineering mathematics & probability theory to be able to understand this book. Dayan & Abbott model primary visual cortical, MT, LIP, and Motor cortical neurons as single units, but also as populations (clusters) of firing cells. They discuss Bayes Theorem, probability theory as it applies to the brain, and parietal lobe function as well. They derive all the equations associated with these models for the student so that more advanced parts of the book are comprehensible. The book is not meant to be a general Neuroscience book, but rather a course book about neuronal modeling, computational neurobiology, and neural engineering. It serves these three purposes well. In my opinion, this is the best written account of neuron modeling out there for the graduate student and researcher. Methods in Neuronal Modeling by Christof Koch is the other great book on this subject. If you own these two books you should be able to advance in high level neural modelling. There are numerous equations and formulae of interest throughout each chapter in these two volumes. The price of 39.00 USD for the hardcover is really quite a bargain.

This book is certainly the most thorough textbook currently available
on many aspects of computational neuroscience. It works very carefully
through the fundamental assumptions and equations underlying large
tracts of contemporary quantitative analysis in neuroscience. It is
an ideal introductory book for those with a quantitative background,
and is destined to become a standard course book in the field.

I bought this book for my partner who absolutely loved it and said it was the best thing I ever bought for them! I would highly recommend this to users of any 3D modeling program such as Bryce. I build reconstructions on my website and also for an online community site. It is important to have a good resource to use, and this book defintely fit the bill.

This volume is the best and innovative book of the world about these topics (also because is was written in 1996 !), as prof. Colin Renfrew said in the presentation. Moreover it includes new and original contributions from many important international archaeologists; in fact I know that it has a great success in all the european countries.

This volume is the best and innovative book of the world about these topics (also because is was written in 1996 !), as prof. Colin Renfrew said in the presentation. Moreover it includes new and original contributions from many important international archaeologists; in fact I know that it has a great success in all the european countries.

Far from being a definitive collection of illustrations of the ancient world as it was, this is a vastly overpriced volume filled with mediocre reconstruction's {some computer created, some not} supported by adequate text. You will find the average National Geographic archaeological article featuring far richer reconstruction's of the past than this work. Only for the most dedicated builder of an archaeological library.

There are only a handful 'virtual renderings' of the ancient world in this book. And, although written just a few years ago, most of these renderings look plain when compared with any contemporary simple computerized design drawing or even computer games, though the latter don't have to take into account real world physical constraints. Technical information on the virtual images is lacking for the most part.

I see the author foresaw interesting possibilities for computer reconstruction of past cultures, including virtual traveling 'inside' buildings and surveying vast areas from multiple points of view. This could be very interesting not only to the archaeologist but also to many people in other fields, from sociology to architecture, history, decoration and just travelling. But the still images don't convey a convincing picture of the final result.

I had unmet expectations about this book. It's more of a general account of some recent explorations grouped partly on a time basis and partly by region. I felt also an unbalanced mix in the final product, concerning virtual (little of this) and non virtual imagery, and also on the sites selected.

Summarizing: the book appears as a progress report on current archaeology investigations, with some reference to new techniques. The book title is misleading.

It is so good to have someone talking about this game. It is by far the best of all time. I don't know what lawyers got involved in it coming of the internet with its final owner AE but the folks at Kesmai are great. My salute to all of you.

Cliff Dunn...Llady

Flew as "Llady" with the AirMafia Squad on "AirWarrior" for many, many years from 1995 until the last night when "Air Warrior" was grounding and removed from the Arts Entertainment web site. That last night...I had a Air Warriors party at my shop with 3 members of our squad here with me for the final salute and goodbye to the greatest game and thousands of good friends around the world wishing we were not seeing the end. At the end Air Warriors from all lands were even flying around and not killing each other. Just honoring each other for our time together with this game. I even tipped wings to other AirWarriors from the lands of A-Land B-Land and C-Land~!

Air Warrior 3 was the best ever online flight sim, I've read over and over how so many people would love to have it back, I would like to see some private citizens put together the funds and the means to get the old KESMAI/Gamestorm set up and server software and bring it back to so many of us who loved ....... AIR WARRIOR 3.

someone has the software and it's just sitting there waiting for one of us to get the kahonas to make this idea a reality.

Someone out there has big $, buy it and put it back online, you will make money for years to come with a good user/membership base that's just itching to fly.

And save me a free lifetime membership for my thoughts and ideas in bring back our game!

SlayR

<((>< Air Warrior MV was by far the best flight sim available online of all time. The book is useless now until the day that somebody picks up the ball that "ELECTRONIC ARTS" (EA) dropped.
After enjoying a 7-8 year life on AOL, then Gamestorm, then EA, it was dropped leaving thousands of gamers looking for a decent alternative. There ARE alternatives, but the AOL keyword is "DECENT" ;) Don't buy the book unless it's for nostalgia, or unless you know something that we don't!

.....phish

One word. Outdated. There are many, many combat flight sims out there that simply blow this out of the water.

For many years, Air Warrior has had the reputation of being the best online air combat simulator; and even with the newer, more graphically spectacular sims available today, the appeal of AW3 exceeds them all. The controls are very handy, the flight models the best around, and the selection of planes is excellent. The online environment provides real challenges for players at every experience level, and for offline play, there are dozens of preprogrammed missions as well as a mission editor that allows you to create your own detailed flights. Now, with 3D graphics and the capability for custom added "skins," AW has a look to match its performance. Top recommendation.