Models Books

The authors are very keen on this area. The book is suite for the researcher.

I found it to be an excellent reference for Elasticity and Inelasticity material. It is a good addition to my library.

I was an acquaintance of Professor Y.C. "Burt" Fung when he wrote his classic Solid Mechanics book - "Foundations of Solid Mechanics." He had just left Cal Tech to work in the field of Biomechanics at UC San Diego. This book contains much of the same material, updated to the present time, with very nice historical writings about the founders of Solid Mechanics. This is an excellent reference for anyone that considers themself a solid mechaniker.

A great bible in solid mechanics created by 2 excellent masters from China, which have fundamantal contributions to contemperary mechanics and FEM.
In first part, you will read the complete methodology in classic solid mech. While in second part, the outline of FEM has been demonstrated clearly.

Dr. Dan and Kate Montgomery plant their feet firmly in the soil of Trinitarian Christianity and out comes a model that is, from a theological viewpoint, rock solid. They show Jesus in humanity without compromising an ounce of Deity. How often have we told others to be 'like Jesus', but outside of praying, witnessing, fellowshipping, and reading more Scripture we felt a little clueless on how to lead people? Compass Psychotheology brings it home. If you want to grow and teach others to do the same, don't go another day without this book! Raymond D. Anderson, Ph.D., M.Th, LPCC, LADAC

"Fascinating. Concise. Pastoral counselors and therapists will find this book by Dan and Kate Montgomery a helpful and refreshing guide for looking at the task of helping people find wholeness. Compass Psychotheology presents a dynamic paradigm for understanding the human predicament, while at the same time outlining a strategy for intervention leading to growth.

This is a thoughtful study based on a strong commitment to the authority of Scripture with a recognition that a personal, redemptive, actualizing relationship with the Triune God is essential for wholeness."

Raymond F. Pendleton, Ph.D., Professor of Pastoral Psychology and Director of Clinical Counseling.

Dr. Montgomery's new book explaining his Compass Theory is one of the only books I've read that gives both sound pyschological theory with deeply rooted faith growth equal ground. This book doesn't just attempt to layer piety over problems, but helps the reader (and the counselor) see how spiritual and emotional problems are intricately entwined. Striking a useful balance between theory and practicality, this book is well worth a read if you want to not just understand your behavior and the behavior of those around you, but develop methods that actually create life-long change.

Dan and Kate Montgomery do not attempt to integrate psychology and theology by beginning with a state of disintegration and then attempting to create a synthesis or a state of collaboration between the two disciplines. Rather, Compass Psychotheology begins with a model of human wholism based on the ontological intimacy that God intended by endowing humans with personal being that reflects the divine image.

In their Self Compass model, a comprehensive view of personality disorders, both psychological and spiritual, are shown to have a common source in defection from an original state of wholeness. Spiritual growth and psychological health result from a rhythm of being and becoming.

This is a stunning and stimulating contribution to the literature on integration. I recommend it as required reading for integration courses here at Fuller Seminary.

Ray S. Anderson, Ph.D., Senior Professor of Theology and Ministry.

My husband just recently purchased a 1976 Triumph TR6. He is going to restore it and has used this book everyday since we got it! He loves it! The guy we bought the TR6 from highly recommended it to us.

My new E-Mail address is mytr6@home.co

My new E-Mail Address is mytr6@home.co

I have used this book to rebuild my car. It is by far the best manual on the market. It goes into detail on all areas and give a step by step "how to" on all repairs. A must for any TR6 owner.

This book is a superb introduction to the modern analysis of biochemical systems. It is the first real introductory textbook, indeed, that I found on the subject, and I found it very well written and clearly structured. I like the fact that the book introduces mathematics really very slowly and comprehensively. This is a major plus, since in my experience many biology and medical students become immediately scared if they encounter complicated formulas right at the very beginning of a book. The gradually increasing complexity in mathematics makes it an ideal textbook. As an introductory text to canonical modeling and to analyses with S-systems it is also superb for scientists and researchers who have had little exposure to models of biochemical systems and to the corresponding mathematical background. The software PLAS is very helpful and makes it fun to work the examples and homework problems.

The approach of the book is based on canonical modeling techniques and differs significantly from the classic way biochemical systems have been presented until now. I wonder whether the student unfamiliar with these classical kinetic concepts (law of mass action, enzyme kinetics, glycolysis, etc.) would have difficulties switching to this approach. However, I suppose molecular biology students would probably have that background or could easily pick up the classical concepts from other sources. In a future edition, the author might want to think of a brief inclusion of classical approaches, pointing out in more detail their disadvantages in comparison with the S-system method. This is the only minus that I feel the book might have. Otherwise I find it super. I am sure for somebody who is interested in analyzing biochemical systems this will be the book to start with.

The book is very well structured, and I can only recommend it to all those interested in understanding the complexity of biochemical systems and their associated dynamics. As for myself, I will be using the book for parts of our course in molecular medicine.

Niko Stilianakis, PhD, Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

This book is a superb introduction to the modern analysis of biochemical systems. It is the first real introductory textbook, indeed, that I found on the subject, and I found it very well written and clearly structured. I like the fact that the book introduces mathematics really very slowly and comprehensively. This is a major plus, since in my experience many biology and medical students become immediately scared if they encounter complicated formulas right at the very beginning of a book. The gradually increasing complexity in mathematics makes it an ideal textbook. As an introductory text to canonical modeling and to analyses with S-systems it is also superb for scientists and researchers who have had little exposure to models of biochemical systems and to the corresponding mathematical background. The software PLAS is very helpful and makes it fun to work the examples and homework problems.

The approach of the book is based on canonical modeling techniques and differs significantly from the classic way biochemical systems have been presented until now. I wonder whether the student unfamiliar with these classical kinetic concepts (law of mass action, enzyme kinetics, glycolysis, etc.) would have difficulties switching to this approach. However, I suppose molecular biology students would probably have that background or could easily pick up the classical concepts from other sources. In a future edition, the author might want to think of a brief inclusion of classical approaches, pointing out in more detail their disadvantages in comparison with the S-system method. This is the only minus that I feel the book might have. Otherwise I find it super. I am sure for somebody who is interested in analyzing biochemical systems this will be the book to start with.

The book is very well structured, and I can only recommend it to all those interested in understanding the complexity of biochemical systems and their associated dynamics. As for myself, I will be using the book for parts of our course in molecular medicine.

Niko Stilianakis, PhD, Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

This is a well-executed entry level ODE solver the authors have included into a system of pull down GUI that make the process much easier. Standard time series analysis using ODE including phase plane, flux, and eigenvalue analysis are all incorporated under one beaker sort of speak. The most disturbing feature is the lack of a print command in the pull down menu and the index. Fortunately the main text is read by MS Word and will print from there. The graphs must be printed out through Excel, which is good given its greater flexibility. After the construction of a few well-directed Excel macros this problem disappeared. Direct insertion into Matlab through their Excel link allows Plas to be used as a DDE extension in parallel programming. The Insert feature (table) in Mathcad provides the same avenue. However Plas is so easy to use I find myself going to it rather than one of the bigger programs. The GUI interface table for the steady states and eigenvalue are just too easy. Obviously the more one knows about this type of analysis the more one appreciates the product however by the same token if one does know more they are probably using more sophisticated techniques. The really good part is the book however. An exceptionally well written and clear text, it would be good as introductory material in any computer (using a computer for dry lab scientific work) modeling environment without the freebe program. The methodology is suitable for Biophysics as well as Economics because the basic Plas method is a universal solution set whose methods deals with systems (ODEs). The authors refer to them as the S system, but they are simple cascaded linear ordinary differential equations. The reader was able to model a biophysics retinal adaptation model using 5 equations and 2 feedback loops involving amacrine, cone and in about 15 min. to check figures against one done in Matlab and Mathcad. The same models can be built using 1st and 2nd order difference equations with iterated range variables in the two math programs. This program uses somewhat different ODE algorithms (the linearized part of Taylor's expansion) which is similar in numerical values to your basic Runga-Kutta. While the book material and program are written more for the linear analysis done in today's science stuff (referred to as `the steady state') the subject material of main concern of this reader is the non-linear events and deterministic chaos where all the really interesting stuff is located. The built in graphing mode of Plas allows for 2 and 3D phase projection and eigenvalue analysis which is the basic required inputs for bifurcation and limit cycle analysis which makes this book and program a best buy. If bigger stuff (example, stability by Hankel reduction or system state conversion to zpk optimization) is on your list the "readability of its files" doesn't cause obsolescence

This work is an excellent, thorough presentation of a methodology for modeling and simulating biochemical systems. The book intelligently avoids the twin perils of being too superficial (website listings masquerading as bioinformatics text books) and being too academic (theoretical models that cannot be applied by biologists without a second PhD.)

Instead, a single modeling methodology called Biochemical Systems Theory is completely presented, from basics to advanced case studies of biological applications. The author begins by presenting a graphical method of modeling biochemical systems, then logically proceeds to explain a useful and powerful mathematical approach to simulating the behavior of modeled systems by using Power-Law methods. Finally, the modeling and simulation techniques are applied in several case studies, showing the reader what is most important: what can be learned about biology by the intelligent application of a computer simulation. Installable, working software is distributed along with the book, providing readers with instant access to the tools and models used in the case studies.

As any reasonable, experienced scientist or practitioner can attest to, every modeling approach to a problem has strengths and limitations. The author, a well known and established pioneer, demonstrates high integrity and candor in acquainting the reader with all of the challenges, as well as the power, of this particular modeling methodology.

What makes this book so important is its presentation of a complete methodology for modeling and problem solving. Readers who are truly interested in innovative yet proven methods for understanding the dynamics of real world biochemical systems will find this work extremely useful and relevant. Those who are looking for a broad survey of current methods should probably consult the literature for an updated review of the latest developments.

And finally, those few individuals who are quixotically pining away for "the perfect model" will probably need to relocate to the parallel universe where such impossibilities may actually exist. ;) In this universe, the best we can do is apply useful models and methodologies to gain real insight into the hard questions--with help from useful and well written books like this one.

This book is fantastic! It's like a more "fleshed out" version of Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs - 2nd Edition (MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science). It uses a neat (if somewhat weird) language called Oz, which has a number of interesting features, which are used to demonstrate the concepts of the book. Much like SICP, this book is a real masterpiece, elegantly composed and explained.

Modern programming has become fragmented into a variety of computational models (OO, functional, imperative, etc), and a variety of languages supporting those computational models. Neophyte programmers are typically introduced to just one of these models, and only learn the other, "less natural" models later. With CTM, Van Roy and Haridi take an alternative approach. They teach programming as an integrated discipline, and demonstrate the underlying links between the different computational models. By the time the reader is done with the book they will have a much better understanding of the discipline of programming, and will be well-equipped to decide which model is best suited to the task at hand. Reading CTM is an extremely worthwhile experience for anyone wishing to achieve a deep understanding of the art and science of programming.

CTM has been compared to Abelson and Sussman's "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs". They are similar, in the sense that they both provide the reader with a deeper understanding of programming than most programming texts. However, the content of both books is quite different, and it is definitely worth reading both.

Another book that I feel makes a good companion to CTM is Hoare's (sadly hard to come by) "Unifying Theories of Programming". It covers a lot of the same material as CTM, but in a much more theoretical sense. Where CTM is concerned with practical programming, Hoare is concerned with mathematical underpinnings. The two complement each other nicely.

In 1976 Edsger W. Dijkstra elevated programming to an intellectual discipline and taught us how to reason about what we now call "imperative programming". To illustrate his methodology Dijkstra solved challenging problems with unforgetably beautiful, yet simple and powerful example programs that are as relevant today as they were forty years ago. Since then, programming has splintered into paradigms, methodologies and suffers from baroqueness, perpetuation of obsolete conventions and other practices that restrict the full expressive power of programming "as a whole".

In 2004 Van Roy and Seif Haridi have given us a glimpse of what programming can be like without unnecessary restrictions imposed by paradigms and other heavy baggage caused by politics, ideology and historical inertia. Using the remarkably mature implementation of the Mozart system and the conceptually clean, simple, elegant, yet powerful programming language Oz, Van Roy and Haridi show us how dogmatic heavy baggage falls away when we can look at programming as a whole and choose the best programming concepts that the solution of a problem requires. Such a program becomes simpler, more elegant and therefore less error prone than an equivalent solution that is restricted to a specific paradigm.

This book is a real mind-bender that illuminates paths for computer design at both the conceptual and practical levels I'd never travelled down before.

The notion that one language can be so flexible as to accomodate both the syntax and semantics of so many different computational models, or paradigms, took some unlearning of bad programming practice before its power, elegance and potential began to sink in.

It also explodes the myth that "pure" languages -- i.e., pure OO, or pure functional, etc., languages--have some kind of innate advantage over so-called "hybrid" languages. In fact, "hybrid" (or as the authors would prefer to call them, "multi-paradigm") languages come out of this book looking even more powerful than the "pure" ones, insofar as they allow the programmer to use the right model for each task, instead of trying to make OO fit, for instance, in places where it doesn't fit so well.

The idea here is that each computational model represents a completely different way of approaching a domain problem. Used by themselves, each has its niche. For instance, everybody knows OO is good for domain modelling and busines objects. Prolog-type languages are good for applications that need to apply rules over a set of data. Functional languages are great in mathematical applications. And so on. What is new here is that one can program in an environment in which all of these tools are available in a single core semantics that seamlessly weaves these computational models into a complementary whole. Used together judiciously, with an eye toward program correctness, they make things possible that have long been considered very hard -- for instance, constraint programming.

Mozart-Oz, the underlying technology, is a strange language when you first look at it. It's hard at first to get used to concepts like "higher-order programming" or "by need execution" or "lazy execution" if you are the programming grunt in the field of most modern IT shops, forced by bosses to code in your standard fare -- Java, C#, VB, etc. If OO in Java is like the hammer that makes everything look like a nail, in Mozart-Oz you have a language that is like walking into Ace hardware store, a swiss army knife of a language (conceptually speaking) that challenges you to become a highly skill code craftsman, not just a programmer.

But, if only for the personal growth you will experience grappling with the concepts in this book, I recommend it very highly even to "non academic" programmers (like myself) as well as to any advanced student of computer science. It may be painful, you may scratch your head in places where the concepts just seemed to leap over your cranium, but if you are patient, do the exercises (and at least think about what it would take to tackle some of the research projects), you will grow.

Unfortunately, you may find the languages you work on to be rather confining, and maybe even boring, after you get a whiff of what multi-paradigm programming can do. More likely, however, is that you will grasp very clearly how the language you code in today works, and that can only make you a better software engineer. So do it-buy this book!

Mat really did a great job with this book. I fell back into modeling after about a 25 year layoff. This book goes though all of the various space models there that are out there. You may find out about them by searching eBay all the time, but it will take a very long time...

Through this book you go on a wonderful illustrated journey through the space age (and beyond),
the twist being, it's within the model world of spacecraft, not the life sized versions.
The author Matt Irvine, well known among Doctor Who and Blake 7 fans as one of the long serving FX guys (20 years), really shows off his love and knowledge of the subject.
Here's a brief synopsis of contents, 352 pages with 500 photographs, 170 in full colour.
And listings for 250 modeling subjects and 300 model manufactures.
Some Examples, Revell, Monogram, Strombecker, Airfix and many more.
The era's covered in detail are World War 2 and the Nazi built V2's all the way through to the International Space Station, with everything in-between.
Chapter twelve called; "Beyond the Infinite" goes from Roswell to 2001, not surprising since the foreward is written by the late great Sir Arthur C. Clarke, CBE.

This book was a much anticipated addition to my library. As a webmaster of a Apollo website, I'm often asked questions about space models. This book has it all with great descriptions and color images of space model kits. The table of scales of each type available is very useful for collectors.

If you were a male child growing up in the 1950s or `60s, the chances are very good that you will remember many of the models that author Mat Irvine describes in this fine volume covering an obscure aspect of spaceflight history.

"Creating Space" consists of two parts of approximately equal length. The first half is full of nostalgia, at least for me. Logically organized into 12 chapters covering, for example, "Early Dreams," "Rocket Planes and the V-Weapons" and "The Visions of Wernher and Willy," the first 200 pages include superb glossy color photos of assembled models and, stirring even more pleasant memories, their boxtop art. All of the models I built as a kid growing up just down the Florida coast from Cape Canaveral are covered in detail here: Strombecker's RM-1 Lunar Rocket Ship, Revell's XSL-01 Manned Space Ship, Lindberg's Lunar Lander, Monogram's Space Taxi and Passenger Rocket (designed by Willy Ley) and Hawk's Convair Atlas Space Station. The early rockets and guided missile kits are well represented also. Remember Revell's X-17 Research Rocket and Aerobee-Hi (with its exquisite set of decals), Adams' Honest John "Atomic Rocket" and Renwal's Terracruzer with Mace Missile? They're all here, along with hundreds of others. Closer to today, there are chapters devoted to current Space Shuttle, Mir and International Space Station kits, and a whimsical chapter covering U.F.O.s (such as the classic "Adamski Flying Saucer") and cinematic spacecraft such as those from "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Destination Moon." The quality of the photos is superb, and the extensive text describes the kits in great detail.

The second half of "Creating Space" is a tabular listing of virtually every spacecraft, rocket, missile and science fiction model kit ever made. Each entry includes a description of the kit, its scale, the manufacturer's reference number and the year it was first released. This is an excellent reference guide which appears to be both exhaustive and definitive. It is sure to be an invaluable resource for the collector or serious retro-hobbyist. There's also a useful dealer's reference, a list of other reference sources and some Internet links.

"Creating Space" is a unique and valuable book. I no longer have any of the space model kits that I built as a child. But I still got immense pleasure from reading Mr. Irvine's clear, thorough and detailed text, marveling at the crisp photos and re-living, for a moment at least, the joys of putting these kits together with tube cement that somehow always seemed to get smeared all over everything. If you're at all interested in the subject, buy this book. You won't be disappointed.

This is one of the most thorough accounts available of the 1940 northern campaigns. Although of vital importance, little has been written about operations in Denmark and Norway during World War 2. The Germans invaded both countries in April 1940 to ensure a continued flow of iron ore from Scandinavia and to secure additional northern naval bases so that their fleet would not be bottled up as it had been during the First World War. The campaign covered a huge area, involved some intense combat and was one of the only German operations to involve all military branches.

The author seamlessly weaves together a narrative of the complex naval, air and land actions of the campaign. The writing is exceptionally clear and easy to follow. The 2D maps are fantastic. They include: an overview of the operational area and initial fleet movements; the invasion of Denmark; the Royal Navy's response to the invasion; land movements from April 12 to May 3; the Battle of Narvik. This is a excellent account of a little known World War 2 campaign. It is also a example of the Osprey Campaign Series at its very best.

Douglas C. Dildy's DENMARK AND NORWAY 1940: HITLER'S BOLDEST OPERATION tells of an assault which represented the first joint air-land-and-sea campaign in the history of warfare, and thus marked a turning point not just in one battle, but in military strategy as a whole. The campaign led to Winston Churchill's appointment as British Prime Minister and was a key event beyond the ordinary: as such this history needs a place in any serious World War II or general military bookshelf.

I have read quite a bit about the Norwegian campaign, but this slender volume covers much that is new to me. Too often, the focus is on the initial invasion and the naval actions. The land side typically only rates brief mention about how the lack of air cover doomed the Allied counter-invasion. However, Doug Dildy instead focuses on the land side, detailing how the Germans managed to conquer Norway on a shoe-string. It is a remarkable story. There are plenty of maps to help understand the complex operation, the 3-D maps in particular being used to show critical actions in detail. He shows how German airpower was actually employed to help decide the battles; but it is also clear that German aggressiveness, tactical superiority and ability to out-maneuver their opponents was not limited to their panzer divisions.

The naval side is hardly slighted and Dildy also covers the invasion of Denmark, something usually completely ignored. It is very impressive how he was able to cram so much in just 96 pages; this book ranks among the best of the Osprey Campaign series.

The German invasion of Norway and Denmark is a fascinating subject in military history that unfortunately has not received a great deal of attention from English-speaking historians since the British Official History was published decades ago. Readers looking for an unbiased account of the military campaign were hard put to find a good single volume reference. However, Douglas C. Dildy, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, provides that sorely needed reference in Osprey's Campaign No. 183. Not only does the author provide a well-balanced summary of the operations in Norway, but he also details the little-known operations in Denmark, as well. This is a very well put together campaign summary.

In the opening sections, the author lays out the origins of the campaign and the genesis of the German and Allied plans for Norway. The section on opposing commanders covers 3 German army leaders, 1 naval and 1 Luftwaffe leader, but skims over Norwegian leadership and then describes 3 British and 1 French leader. This section was a bit unbalanced, with French General Bethouart - the only Allied leader who accomplished anything of substance in the campaign getting only a nod (no photo), while British commanders who did little (e.g. Mackesy and Auchinleck) get more than their due. This unbalanced perspective is probably a result of over-reliance on the British official history, which slights the contributions of French, Norwegian and Polish officers while exaggerating the role of people who exercised only paper commands. The section on opposing forces is weightier, with 10 pages discussing relevant air, land and sea forces from all participants. A 2-page order of battle is also included.

Graphically, the volume includes five 2-D maps (Deployment of naval forces, 8 April 1940; the invasion of Denmark, 9 April 1940; Deployment of Royal Navy forces to counter the invasion of Norway, 9 April 1940; the German capture of Southern and Central Norway, 12 April - 3 May 1940; Deployment of forces for the Battle of Narvik, 10 May 1940), three 3-D BEV maps (seaborne assaults in Oslo fjord, 9 April 1940; the battles around Lillehammer, 20-24 April 1940; Allied forces recapture Narvik, 12-28 May 1940) and three battle scenes by John White (the destroyer battle in Narvik Harbor, 10 April 1940; the NBFZ B Heavy tank in the Battle of Kvam, 25 April 1940; FAA Skua attack on the Scharnhorst in Trondheim Fjord, 13 June 1940). The author also provides an excellent bibliography.

The campaign narrative lays out the opening German invasion moves in Norway and Denmark with a commendable level of detail for a volume this size. Coverage of the invasion of Denmark is particularly noteworthy, since few works address this subject (although the author does not really discuss why the troops in Jutland failed to defend the border but the palace guards defended the capital). The author then covers each invasion area in about a half-page, with emphasis on the capture of Oslo. The next sections deals with the Royal Navy's response, the arrival of Allied troops in Norway, the Luftwaffe's air superiority and the recapture of Narvik. Final sections cover the Allied evacuation and the last air-sea battles in Norwegian waters. The photographs supporting the text were excellent throughout the volume.

The author sees the German invasion of Norway as a Pyrrhic victory that crippled the Kriegsmarine for the rest of the war, but "as a joint campaign it set the standard and pattern for all other air-land-sea offensives that followed." I'm not sure that the war's outcome would have been much different if the cruiser Blucher and the 10 destroyers lost at Narvik had survived the campaign - after all, the Royal Navy had the Kriegsmarine outgunned before the invasion, so losses in the campaign could hardly be credited with altering the naval balance. The diversion of numerous divisions to guard Norway's coastline was probably more damaging for the German war effort, since about 10 badly-needed infantry divisions sat on the war on a sideshow front. Overall, this is a terrific effort, with the only significant omission being the lack of data on personnel casualties suffered in the campaign or aircraft losses.

I discovered Designing Powerful Training in 1999 in a graduate program on instructional design. I was a good designer before I began using this book...and it totally transformed my design ability for the better. In fact, it gave me the confidence to become a full-time instructional designer, which I have been doing ever since, and an instructional design coach.

The book focuses, in great detail, on HOW to think about design. It gives a step-by-step process for doing this. Instructional design requires discipline and this book hands it to you on a silver platter. It does NOT address in any detail how to conduct a needs assessment, how to evaluate training, how to work with graphic design, or how to create learning materials. What it focuses on, though, is superb and it has been one of the primary influences on my career today.

This book is exactly what I was looking for to design a more impactful training. I reccomend it if you are looking for a step-by-step approach to get you started.

I have been designing and presenting workshops for many years but "Designing Powerful Training: The Sequential-Iterative Model" by Michael Milano and Diane Ullius is the most crisp, clear, and concise "how to" and "why" book that I've read on the subject. Theory and practice are consistently presented hand-in-hand. I particularly like the way Milano and Ullius honor all varieties of learning styles. They do this in the design process as well as in their explanations. The result is that I felt included as a colleague and as a co-learner. The book has actually motivated me to redouble my own commitment to design training events with the same sensitivity. But what I like most is the presentation of a process that is both sequential and iterative. To me that means a process that is both disciplined and flexible, invariant yet creative. The five point model helped me recommit to the importance of paying attention up-front to writing ! out complete goals and objectives. The authors do a great job of demonstrating why this is so essential. For me, the book functions like a disciplined and experienced teacher. The method demands discipline but within that discipline there is space for spontaneity and fun.

I have been in the training profession for about 15 years and have looked for a resource like this for a long time. As a training professional I have been asked to develop training materials for numerous learning styles and levels and have struggled to interpret what my customers are needing. This book details very simply what it takes to develop training materials and how to be an effective consultant in a timely manner. I found the concepts to be extremely effective and realistic and usable. I manage a training department of 8 trainers who have tremendous training responsibilities. Because this book is such an excellent resource I purchased it for each of my training consultants and they have used it many times over. I really appreciate the creative methods detailed by the authors in creating that "powerful" training program that our customers expect.

The DOM these days is available in a multitude of programming languages and environments. Not so many people have the knowledge to properly handle the topic, moving back and forward across different languages and implementations, Joe Marini is definitely one of the few. As a matter of fact this is the first book ever available on the subject, and long awaited one! Joe covers much more than just DOM programming for browsers and the books contains a few gems like coverage of Xerces, Dreamweaver's API, generic DOM algorithms and a dedicated chapter on the future of DOM. A must have for anyone doing sophisticated client-side programming for web browsers, this book will be also very useful to anyone dealing with the DOM in any other environment

I have a great deal of interest in the document object model, as it is the basis of HTML and XML documents. Anyone interested in working with HTML, XML, DHTML in an advanced way should read this book and learn from it. This isn't a book for people with a passing interest in slapping together Web pages in Front Page, but it will give you a solid knowledge of the advanced topics of DOM manipulation using JavaScript.

The book starts with some solid theory and explanation of the DOM API, but quickly moves to some practical examples, such as some useful debugging tools, and some HTML interface components (popup menus, in-place list editing) which will get you off on the right foot thinking about how you can implement your own interface elements. That's really the strongest aspect of the book -- getting you to think in new ways.

I read through this book in detail, and I must say that I learned a lot about the DOM that I had previously glossed over. The DOM spec is much more powerful and interesting than what most folks assume. This book gives you insights on building real-world applications using the DOM, as well as helping to deal with cross-browser issues. As I said, it's a great resource for both web developers and web-based application developers.

This book rightfully deserves 5 stars. Is it revolutionary in the sense of "unleashing" DOM? No. If you love reading HTML documentation you can get pretty much the same scope at the W3C site (which the author himself acknowledges). It is more of a wake-up call for web developers.

The ideas presented in the book are very elegant which makes them very valuable. The author explains subtle and obvious differences in the DOM support as implemented by different browser vendors. It has been of great help in my work since I read this book.

Part III alone ("Practical Uses of the DOM") is worth the time and money for its real-life applications of DOM!

For those of us who admire, collect, make and renovate 1920s and 20s-inspired art dolls, Susanna Oroyan has written a thoughtful volume focusing on boudoir dolls from the Art Deco period. Although the topic is covered better visually in another of my favorites, "The Magic and Romance of Art Dolls" by Stephanie Farago, the strength of this book is in Oroyan's excellent research, writing and wonderful storytelling ability. Her fresh and fun-loving writing style shines in this book (the illustrative drawings also are quite good.)

Unlike her other fine books, which focus more directly on the art, design and mechanics of doll-making, this book is a loving tribute to a period, aesthetic and style of doll that she very much values, appreciates and knows well. And for that we can be thankful, as Oroyan has contributed so largely to the doll-making world, with her vision, her instruction, and her art.

Highly recommended as another fine book to add to the resource library of "students of the doll."

In Dolls Of The Art Deco Era, dollmaker Oroyan provides a survey of the history, makers and collectible items of the art deco era, providing both a step-by-step set of instructions for reproducing the style of doll popular in the era and covering the history of dollmaking during the era, and restoration techniques after. Packed with ideas crafts and collectors alike will appreciate.

a real authentic and easy way to understand and MAKE dolls.
mrs.Oroyan must be a magician to write so many books,so variabile & so full of culture & reserch that is related to the art, craft, etc...
the book is reach, easy and wonderfull for the dollmaker! even
for the beginer! www.geocities.com/pushadolls/

there is no other book that gives so much information on bed dolls called boudoir dolls. This is like a "bible" for doll collectors. You do not need another book if you have this one.