Models Books

Great book sources wellwritten. I loved it and took time reading. Great for those who want to use it as a source

Like most reasonably well-educated, cogent homo sapiens I was fairly convinced that what I had been doing with my brain lo these many years was logical, critical "thinking." But Coralie Koonce's book "Models, Myths and Muddles: Thinking Toward Survival" has made me "think" otherwise. It was a bit disconcerting - not to mention humbling - to realize that the every-day thought processes I had adopted over the years and believed were effective, smart and uniquely mine were actually not - most of the time. This book was a mind-blower on so many levels - a revealing look at how we think and how we must learn to think if we are to survive as a nation, a society, a civilization and a species. Its content is extremely relevant in these most turbulent of times and should be required reading in every high school or college classroom in America. I could go into details about actual content but I would rather not make this review any longer than it needs to be. Besides, that's what book jackets, chapter headings and tables of contents are supposed to do for us, right? The book is very well-researched, balanced, enlightening and full of content-appropriate, timeless and often surprising quotations from an eclectic range of sources and kept me engaged from cover to cover. The only negative point I can make is a minor one. I would have preferred Ms. Koonce delve a bit more deeply into the subject of "context" since this is a big issue for me. Our national fondness for "sound bites" without context concerns me greatly especially in an election year.
But lest you are thinking, given the subject matter, that this book might be an intellectual author's lofty ego-trip, think again. It read more like an easy, open, warm, witty, intimate conversation with a wise woman who has had a life based on the same every-day experiences and relationships we all have. But it is Ms. Koonce's perspectives on these that gives the book its richness and charm. It would be a guilty pleasure, perhaps, to invite her over for tea and cookies some rainy Sunday afternoon and just indulge in the very human but lost art of conversation.

In the interest of full disclosure I must admit to having written more than a few published pieces myself but, while I am unappealingly jealous of Ms. Koonce's gifts as a writer, I look forward to reading the final two books in her series. This one is a keeper.

I was pleasantly surprised to see several of my toy concepts presented in Ms. Baker's book, "Modern Toys". As Vice President of Product Concept & Development for Creative Playthings of CBS Toys, in the late 70's, when the broadcast giant also delivered quality educational and learning toys and games, my group birthed what I now frequently grace the tables of flea-markets and yard-sales. One series, "Block Family", is represented in the "Who-Sit?" category, to which I quickly responded with patent details for Linda's "next book", which I sincerely hope she may produce. I grew up with many of the classics in her array, and applaude her for preserving, at least in print, memories for millions of youngsters, of a more simpler period in childhood-Americana.

Mattiene'Moustakas Industrial Design & Invention Box 251-University Station Syracuse NY 13210-0251

This book has a selection of toy pictures from all the big toy manufactuers, with an extensive section on Fisher Price, both for little people and their earlier push toys. A great book to go to for reference when I am checking on a set's piece count or number. The color pictures are wonderful, but coverage can be spotty....that is, not all toy manufacturers and their lines are as fully represented as I would like them to be. Nevertheless, this is one of my main toy reference books. Feel free to email me if you would like to know how well a certain manufacturer is represented, and I will be happy to look it up for you.

This book is excellent. It covers a wide variety of topics and areas of interest, including the theory about finance and development, econometric evidence, and institutional issues. It is a great service to the economic profession and to any one interested in what a growing financial system means to the developing world. Unfortunately, it does not cover the important topic of financial crisis, which is clearly relevant to the developing world today; but it offers a solid and broad look at the arguments and issues of financial development in tranquil circumstances.

99

If you've read any other Cooper Ellis books, you'll be familiar with Wendy Lee Nentwig's incredible talent for writing. Cooper and her friends Alex and Claire are back, along with Josh, Cooper's boyfriend hopeful. While Josh seems, at times, genuinely interested in Cooper, why does he appear to continually be hiding something from Cooper and mysteriously running off somewhere else? And then there's the pretty little redhead Reagan Josh keeps showing up with, even though he's just asked Cooper to the spring dance. At the same time, Cooper's modelling career is flourishing, with getting a job with a hot new photographer. But though his work is very professional, Cooper's just not comfortable around him. Meanwhile, between Cooper's modelling and her struggle to define her relationship with Josh, her friendships with Alex and Claire seem to quickly be drifting away. In this funny episode with Cooper, you'll experience a lot of laughs and a few times of seriousness and contemplation. It's easy to get into this book and hard to put down! Believe me, it doesn't take long before you feel like you're right there. If you liked Cooper before, you'll love her now. Check out Moonstruck in Manhattan!

i'm a picky reader but i couldn't put this book down. when i read a book i like to relate to it and this book i could totally relate to. i highly recommend you read this book.

A must have for the 1/1200 scale ship modeler, and a great read as well

This copy has a lot of interesting subjects compare to John Bowen first book (Miniature Merchant Ships).
If you are a maniac of 1:1200 scale ship like me, and you like building those small scale ships, this book is a must, mainly for the plans and tricks on how to build them.
Took me 8 months to finally get this book in my hands, and it was worth it.

"Motorcycle Toys : Antique and Contemporary" is a rich exploration of motorcycle toys through the years, showcased in text and color photos, including current values. Toys represented include cast iron, tin windup, battery operated, friction, rubber, plastic and wooden toys. A wonderful reference and a great conversation piece.

Great for the beginning collector of toy motorcycles and very useful for the long-time enthusiast. One of the few books to focus exclusively on toy motorcycles. A must for the serious collector.

This book is a great resource for projects in art for children. You could say that I was the test subject for a lot of what's in this book. Willard was my grandfather. This book is a treasure that every elementary school teacher should have. My grandfather would take me to the university to work on projects and then put them in the book. What fun that was. Share this book with your children as my grandfather enjoyed it with his son and grandson.

We used this book as a textbook for my Elementary Education Art Methods & Materials class. It is jam-packed with projects to do with children. Highly recommended.

This text is a classic for understanding the mechanics of muscles and the movements they cause. From the mechanics of actin and myosin bridges to limbs as levers, it covers the full spectrum of mechanics in a technical but readable way. I had this as a textbook for a class in biomechanics that was excellent, I would recommend it to anyone wanting more than the simple gross mechanics of lever systems most treatments of this subject get. Be aware that to get full use out of this you will want to sharpen your calculus.... :)

This book presents its title subjects in a clear analytical style. While it is a textbook, it is quite accessible to the educated lay reader; the prose is nontechnical and can be easily understood without reference to the equations. The numerous diagrams are clear and aid understanding.The first five chapters describe the biochemistry and mechanics underlying muscular action. The next two chapters cover how the central nervous system controls and coordinates muscular action. The final two chapters cover the mechanics of locomotion, with particular attention to how size and shape relate to movement. McMahon presents the most current scientific thinking on each subject, along with a brief history of earlier theories.As a ballroom dancer and engineer, I found the book fascinating.McMahon is a professor of Applied Mechanics and of Biology at Harvard University. Some of the material presented in the final chapters of the book stems from his own research and theoretical work. This work was used by Harvard University to design and build a 'tuned track' to increase runners' speeds, on which a number of record times were promptly set.

The White and Johansen approach to "network analysis" provides the framework for unparalleled examination of sub-national political behavior. This tool for nonlinear dynamic analysis encourages detailed assessment of highly decentralized self-organizing local governance structures otherwise unavailable through state level scrutiny. Those involved in the study of comparative politics will come to appreciate the meticulous findings exacted through use of this "network" construction. Additionally, examining the interaction of inter-governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, or transnational advocacy networks with state government infrastructure becomes far more precise, compliments of White and Johansen.

White and Johansen's "network analysis" is entirely different from the "network analysis" that was a rage for a while in the 1960s and 70s. In the 1960's many anthropologists and sociologists looked for "social structure" as a unitary system that encompassed and controlled people in society. When they could not find any real phenomenon that fit this description they shifted from the idea that society was a "structure" to the idea that it was a "network," creating what they called "network analysis." Network analysis in that sense, like "structural analysis" and "structural functional analysis" before it, was simply description "as if," and the basic problem was that it was wrong. Society is not a network any more than it is a structure. The metaphor added nothing but a false sense of coherence, easily deflated by closer inspection.

Network analysis as White has been developing it and as he and Johansen apply it here is not based on a common sense image of a net but on formal graph theory. Nor is it just one technique or method developed on this basis but a whole armamentarium of them, united under a system of general and powerful conceptions of social organization as such. It is such an enormous advance over what anthropologists called network analysis in the 1960s and 70s that it is almost a type of negative advertising to call it by the same name, yet there is a connection. White and Johansen actually deliver what those earlier analyses only promised-and then they keep on going.

Bertsakas's Network Optimization is probably the most challenging graduate textbook on network flows and optimization. Besides the chapters on classical subjects as shortest path or max-flow/min-cost problems, (which are very rigorously dealt despite their very standard nature of the subjects) I've found especially the Auction Algorithms chapter very throughout and inspiring. The next chapters, Nonlinear Network Optimization and Network Problems with Integer Constraints also are good; these are not usually included in other graduate network optimization books. In each chapter, Author digs into almost all theorems, propositions or notions and don't miss the related proofs or demonstrations, which is usually omitted in other books. I guess it is an important feature for those who want to see theoretical background of the subjects. Its bibliography is very rich and sufficiently up-to-date (until 1997, not bad since it is printed at 1998!). I've found the exercises very challenging, one should consume a very lot of time to do the necessary proofs. These are not as numerous as in Bazaraa's or Ahuja's books, but their quality is by far superior; the author hasn't filled the book with the standard/classical exercises which can be found in all books. Since it deals in detail with the theory, the presentation of the subjects sometimes appears difficult to capture. I also advise to get the errata from book's homepage since it may create sometimes difficulties. The graph theory notions come usually omitted in the book, so one may need a graph theory title to accompany it. Also its appendix that contains a mathematical review somewhat less extensive than in his "Nonlinear Programming" book (almost a separate monograph!), which I recommend highly also. Thus the book comes devoted and concentrated solely on the Network Optimization theory and algorithms, and in my opinion, it became highly successful. I strongly believe that may become the standard title on the subject of the following years. For those who may find its presentation difficult, I suggest to use it along with Ahuja's "Network Flows" which has a more general structure and presentation. But I found the book clearly superior to that book or Bazaraa's "Linear Programming and Network Flows" whose Network Flows chapters are messy. Finally I may say, it is a highly successful book is very worth of its price.

This is a well-explained, well-illustrated introduction of some of the most important aspects of network flows. (Note: This is an Internet-centric review, even though the book is not about the Internet.) Although the treatment is theoretical rather than specific to the Internet, it is especially relevant now that traffic engineering is being applied to the Internet. Of course ATM and telephone networks have employed this for many years, but there is a need to go back to fundamentals when applying these concepts to the Internet (or other areas). The book starts with the shortest path problem, which is familiar to the Internet community. Then max-flow and min-cost problems are introduced. These are central to traffic engineering. Thereafter non-linear network flow optimization and discrete problems are attacked. Linear programming techniques such as the simplex method are also described. Is excellent training material for those having to wrestle with traffic engineering problems.