Models Books

If anyone is interested in knowing more about origins of ships he/she need not look any further. Naturally our knowledge is limited, but this book gives a good account with descriptions of what is known.

Superb!
This is a highly detailed account of the evolution of boats & rafts into ships - lots of detail, drawing heavily on archaeological evidence, without any wild assumptions about the supposed shape of the boats.

This is not a coffee table book, with lots of pretty pictures and large print, but a real source of up-to-the-minute detailed info for the scholar as well as the casual reader.

What is especially good, is that each chapter is written by the leading expert in that field, using the latest available data and supported with lots of photos/drawings to illustrate points.

However, this forces each chapter into a different written style and sometimes this comes across as a little 'heavy', but most are very fluidly written.

I am very impressed with the content, layout, presentation and production of this series (I have 6 of the books so far) and I would recommend this in preference to other comparable books.

Sientificly written book which covers the early tries of mankind on the water to the great travells of the Vikings. You should be familiar with the technicus termini of wooden shipbuilding while reading this fantastic book.

Another "must have" for the scratch-built diorama enthusiast. This hard-bound book has 192 pages, over 200 illustrations (color) and over 100 color photographs. It covers every genre of model building, from armor, figures, planes, ships... even trains. Lots of tips and techniques on buildings, roads, bridges, figure conversions, painting, and detailing. Large page format, and superbly laid out. Great photos and a large pool for ideas! Superior "how to" book for the novice and intermediate builder.

This book covers everything from scenery to scratch building figures and vehicles. If you are into modeling anything from A to Z this is the book for you. It is especially useful for modelrailroaders and anyone who builds dioramas.

Another "must have" for the scratch-built diorama enthusiast. This hard-bound book has 192 pages, over 200 illustrations (color) and over 100 color photographs. It covers every genre of model building, from armor, figures, planes, ships... even trains. Lots of tips and techniques on buildings, roads, bridges, figure conversions, painting, and detailing. Large page format, and superbly laid out. Great photos and a large pool for ideas! Superior "how to" book for the novice and intermediate builder.

This monograph starts from the very basics and develops as it progresses. Its historical notes found all over the book makes it unique and entertaining. As a mathematician aspiring to break through the STREET, I found it very accessible and comprehensive. If you have Brownian Motion and Stochastic Calculus at Shever/Kaaze's (how ever you spell their name) level, you will skim through this book with in weeks. But if you don't, don't panic, you will still be fine with some introductory level measure theoretic probability course.

You will enjoy it as I did.

The Essentials of Stochastic Finance: Facts, Models, Theory by Albert N. Shiriaev, et al offers a clear treatment of both theoretical and emperical Finance. Shiryaev presents not only the essentials of probability as it is applied to finance,but he also covers recent develpoments in Mathematical Finance. It is very well written and it can be covered in one year (depending on the audience). Each topic moves from the specific to the general, beginning with one or more examples to lead into the theoretical results. This is the most comprehensive book out there. It covers Mathematical Finance, Martingale, Markov Thoery... to Econometric ARCH GARCH FGARCH ...to theory of Finance CAPM APT... PART II of the book requires a good knowledge of Stochastic Calculus at Karatzas and Shreve level...
Outstanding...

This book is typical of Shiryaev, who is a representative of the Russian school of probability theory. Not only the book explains the technical details clearly, but also it explains the "bigger picture" as to why this particular mathematical set-up makes sense and it is a good approximation of reality. The book reflects the (admirable) Russian style of teaching: explain the origins of theory, which are usually some specific problem; then carefully develop a mathematical theory tailor-made for the given problem; finally, disclose the essence of the problem and produce a beautiful result.

Before reading this book, I have been quite familiar with stochastic calculus and semi-martingale theory. What interests me most (sometimes puzzles me most) is the way how theory is applied to financial math problems, esp. the justification of certain "conventions" (e.g. we always start with discounted process, play with martingale measures, and do certain standard "rituals" in pricing and hedging). Sometimes people abuse those conventions when the theory's set-up is not quite appropriate. Shiryaev's book shows the justification and limitation of theory, by clearly explaining the origins and specific contexts of theory. This is especially helpful to getting a true understanding of the subject. I would say after reading his book, my mind has achieved a harmony.

I read Shiryaev's book on probability (GTM 95) many years ago. It was a pleasant experience. Now I'm happy to have this kind of experience again. From lines of the book, you can see the author's passion and deep understanding of financial math.
I only regret I didn't read this book much earlier.

I don't really know why this book didn't sell as well as some of the other standard books in evolutionary algorithms. It's much better in many respects and presents a balanced view of the entire field, including evolution strategies, evolutionary programming, and genetic algorithms. Anyone who is interested in evolutionary algorithms should have this book....

In comparing this book with, say Goldberg's "Genetic Algorithms..." (may be the most popular genetic algorithms text), this book reads more like a German habilitation thesis (which I imagine it may have served as such), where as Goldberg's book seems more of a light introduction for the mathematically uninitiated. Indeed, Back's book seems quite scholarly with lots of useful references, and gives a good introduction to not only genetic algorithms, but also to evolutionary strategies (a paradigm that is most applicable to Euclidean-type search spaces) and evolutionary programming
(simular to ES and not to be confused with genetic programming).

I found Chapters 1 and 2 quite good, in that Chapter 1 presented the biological motivations for evolutionary computing along with a brief introduction to the theory of computation and computational complexity, while Chapter 2 gave a very good introduction to the above-mentioned evolutionary computing paradigms. The remainder of the book reads more like a report on the author's experiments in evolutionary computing.

It is important to note that Goldberg's book does not cover Evolutionary Strategies, which I have found to be a more fruitful approach since it is specifically designed for Euclidean space where many if not most interesting optimization problems are formulated in.

Finally, I offer bit of advice for those who plan to read through this book. Some of the definitions are stated with such generality that they seem very opaque upon first reading. It is very important to understand them, so do not give up! Once the defintions are understood, the algorithms will seem much easier to comprehend. In fact, the algorithms have a very simple outline:
i) initialize population
ii) while the terminating condition is not yet met: recombine to form new population members, mutate the population members, select the most fit population members to form the next generation.
The partial analyses provided for the algorithms can be skipped on first reading.

Although this book is much less popular than Goldberg's and Mitchell's, it is the most complete reference on evolutionary algorithms in my opinion. If you're looking only for an introduction to EAs, this may not be the perfect book for you (the 2 other ones are more concise) but if you're seeking a detailed review of foundations of EAs, this book is excellent. It provides mathematical insight, and examples of how to implement such algorithms.

When I saw a copy of this book I was immediately pleased with its appearance and organization. My interest was fully primed so I purchased the book and began to read. I discovered that the book was very pleasant and easy to read. The new organizing principle set forth in the book provides a beautiful and convincing flow of relationships which carry the reader to the conclusion that a very acceptable explanation has been given for the existance of three quark-lepton families.

Gerald Fitzpatrick's book addresses what the physics community has called "The Family Problem," i.e., why did nature choose to create the basic building blocks of matter in triplicate? All known matter in the universe is made of the subatomic particles which are called quarks and leptons. Quarks bind together strongly to form protons and neutrons while the familiar leptons, namely, the electron and the elusive electrically neutral (electron) neutrino experience only electroweak interactions. But nature didn't stop there. These particles are found in three families despite the fact that the known matter in the universe is made of only those particles that are members of the first family. The second and third families consist of two additional quark doublets plus the muon and tau leptons as well as two additional neutrino flavors. In the words of the famous physicist I. I. Rabi when confronted by the discovery of one of these EXTRA PARTICLES (the muon) " Who ordered that?" The otherwise highly successful description of the sub atomic realm "The Standard Model" is unable to shed any light on this mystery. This" Family Problem", is the problem that Fitzpatrick addresses in this book. Fitzpatrick's approach is a unique application of the Cayley-Hamilton theorem (for matrices) that extends the so called fermion-sector of the standard model. Using this theorem he develops a simple but compelling mathematical structure to expand the standard model to incorporate these "extra" particles. This mathematical approach utilizes a Lorentz 2- space that naturally accounts for nature's triplication of families. Postulating an eigen function, utilizing the standard model's fermion number as the eigen value, the author derives all the quark and lepton Quantum numbers as an intrinsic feature of his theory. In addition, based on the mathematical structure that Fitzpatrick utilizes in his theory, a topological distinction is revealed between the first family and the second and third families. Based on this theory the first family may be thought of as having a cylindrical topology while the two higher families have a Mobius strip topological configuration. Finally the author summarizes possible connections of his theory with Planck level physics and Supersymmetry. Fitzpatrick's book is a must read for anyone who has a curiosity about the wonders of the subatomic world. The author's style is clear and straight forward and every facet of his theory is explained in adequate detail. Throughout this book the reader will find himself on an adventure of mathematical beauty and profound physical insight.

Despite the phenomenological success of the "standard model of
quarks and leptons" in providing a framework for analyzing high
energy particle experiments using particle masses up to the highest
energies currently available in accelerator laboratories, it remains
"ad hoc" in a vital respect. We have found three
generations of quarks and leptons, which fit together in the way that
the standard model provides, but there is no generally accepted reason
why the sequence should stop at three. Gerald Fitzpatrick goes
slightly outside the usual model by generalizing the scalar
"fermion number" to quantum numbers in a two-dimensional
real space attached to each fermion or antifermion. To do this he
invokes an "organizing principle," which accomplishes
precisely what is needed to solve this "family problem"
posed by the observational cutoff at three generations. In so doing
he provides a parsimonious formulation of the quantum numbers of the
standard model, consistent with all currently known facts. At the end
of the book he even provides speculative reasons why his model could
be the low-energy consequence of some theory which takes the final
step of unifying gravitation with the strong, electromagnetic and weak
interactions covered by the standard model. I sincerely hope that
some young theoretical physicist will have the courage to step just
slightly beyond conventional approaches and explore the path
Fitzpatrick has opened up. Rich rewards could lie down that
road.

H. Pierre Noyes
Professor, Theoretical Physics

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
END

The book contains interesting topics regarding the mechanics of composite structures. It is a useful tool for specialists involved in the framework of composite, as well as for students which need to practise with the main aspect of composite structures. The book analyzes in detail different aspects of composites such as Viscoelasticity, Bucking, Free Edge Stresses, Micromechanics, Damage mechanics, Delamination, ect., introducing examples and applications very easy to understand. All the subjects of the book are presented in detail from theoretical point of view introducing new concepts currently analyzed in the research. Moreover, very useful numerical examples based commercial programs to explain typical problems of composite structures are reported.
I really suggest this book.

The new book by Professor Ever J. Barbero, is a very useful addition to the library of any specialist or student in the area of Composites. It contains in 10 Chapters (Mechanics of Orthotropic Materials; Introduction to the Finite Element Method; Elasticity and Strength of Laminates; Buckling; Free Edge stresses; Computational Micromechanics; Viscoelasticity; Damage mechanics; Damage Model for Fiber Reinforced Composites; Delaminations) very well organized information, enriched by the author's experience in teaching and research. The formulation for each subject is presented together with useful information on numerical implementation, and a fair number of examples and proposed problems. The book is excellent both for course reading or self study.Finite Element Analysis of Composite Materials

The book is an excellent text of composite materials analysis for graduate students and practising engineers. After an initial introduction to stress analysis and to finite element method the chapters introduce to the reader how to model composites with FE codes.

Each chapter is about different aspects or mechanisms that appear in composites (buckling, laminates, failure criteria, delamination, damage, micromechanics, etc.). The text mixes the theory with very useful examples. The examples permit to assimilate concepts (for the student). Also the examples become an perfect guideline to solve actual problems (for the engineer or the professional).

Therefore, the text provides a practical framework that allow the reader to improve and learn in several aspects: FE modelling, composites, ... and, also, to learn how to implement engineering problems in ANSYS and MatLab. The book is completed with the facilities and software that the author have available in the web site of the book [...] with source code of examples, solutions of the problems for instructor's, and videos to help the reader to implement the examples in ANSYS whit the Graphic Interface User.

I was assigned to develop a stochastic model for air pollution (well, back to 3 weeks before, I had no idea what time series analysis was !!!). After spend some time searching around for an easy-to-understand textbook dealing with time series data, I found this book is the best. It is comprehensive and clearly explain with many good excercises. What you need is some basic knowledge in ARIMA (which could be find from general econometrics textbook or SPSS guideline) and simple linear regression and then you will love this book as I am now.

Being a noive to Box Jenkin method, the clear, and well organized exposition of this book took me step by step to a firm understanding of the method within a short time span, and keys to practice it. After finishing reading a copy from the library, I find it worths to purchase one for reference.

It is an excellent book for understanding time series analysis, well written and clearly explained. Readers should have some knowledge of univariate ARIMA model but no expertise is required. The book focuses on how, why, and when to combine the effect of other variables and the univariate ARIMA model. The suggested methods are demonstrated by a well-explained example. The author describes each step in the analysis in detail, this greatly helps in understanding the logic. Therefore, I highly recommend this book for students or persons who have a preliminary knowledge of the time series analysis technique, and who want to develop a more in-depth understanding of the subject. In addition, it is a must-have reference book for all time-series analyst.

If you like sexy shaved young guys or love Freshmen magazine, you will love this book. It has lots of pictures of sexy gay guys and some writing. If you are a gay male this book is a must have.

This book has much variety of young men staring longingly at the camera. All in living color to your great satisfation. Each picture captures the unique personal style of each model. I would certainly recommend it to anyone that is into young men.

You will love this book ... I would suggest to any of my friends to buy it ..

I found the book easy to follow and I've found that Kurt Schreckling and Keith Thomas have made an excellent job of bringing the complexities of the gas turbine to a level the average person can understand and learn from.

This book by Kurt Schreckling is very informative, and I could not have built my engine without it.

I had always been in the dark when it came to jet engines, and with one of my phD siblyings only telling me little of what I really wanted to know, I asked a some modelers what book they would recomend to get started. Each pointed to Kurt Schreckling's book and now I point to it as well. He gives a basic introduction into thermaldynamics and other information that is needed to understand the "why's" of the book, but always keeping in mind teh truth that most people who read it are not enginers or physics majors. The book also gives explainations of the asembly prossess the tools one would need, the parts, and in the back of the book: the plans. The book cold almost be called "The Jetmodelers Cook Book"

A medical doctor recommended that I (a statistician) use generalized additive models on a project that he was involved with. We were pleased with the results of the modelling as they gave us some new insights on his topic and it was very rewarding

Because we were so impressed with the results, we both took the above book out of the library to read. I started the book with some trepidation as I feared it was going to be a complex topic and in some respects I was right. However, right from the encouraging quotes in the preface and into the text itself, I felt the authors were making a great effort to make the book readable.

The medico found that the explanations and examples were well written. His comment was that even a non-statistician could grasp what was going on but that there was enough theory that a statistician would be happy too!

Believe it or not this important topic in applied statistics was developed by Hastie and Tibshirani when they were graduate students, a sure sign of greatness to come. After their graduation this highly acclaimed book came out explaining both the theory and pratice of generalized additive models in a clear and concise way. Generalized additive models are similar to generalized linear models in their additive structure but the form of the additive functions is much more general.
Both Hastie and Tibshirani are now Stanford professors in the Statistics Department and both have written other excellent books including their joint publication with Jerry Friedman "The Elements of Statistical Learning" and Tibshirani along with Efron wrote an excellent monograph on bootstrap.

Believe it or not this important topic in applied statistics was developed by Hastie and Tibshirani when they were graduate students, a sure sign of greatness to come. After their graduation this highly acclaimed book came out explaining both the theory and pratice of generalized additive models in a clear and concise way. Generalized additive models are similar to generalized linear models in their additive structure but the form of the additive functions is much more general.

Both Hastie and Tibshirani are now Stanford professors in the Statistics Department and both have written other excellent books including their joint publication with Jerry Friedman "The Elements of Statistical Learning" and Tibshirani along with Efron wrote an excellent monograph on bootstrap.