Models Books

This book is basically a collection of monographs, each on a different integral transform (and most by different authors). There are additional sections which are general references, but they are probably redundant to most people who would actually be using this book.

The book is a bit weighted towards Fourier transforms, but I found the Laplace and Hankel transform sections very good also. I also learned a lot about other transforms I didn't know much about (e.g., Mellin and Radon transforms).

This book may be the best reference out there for non-mathematicians regarding integral transforms, especially regarding the lesser-known transforms. There are plenty of other books on Laplace and Fourier transforms, but not so on most of the others.

I liked the worked examples for almost each important property of each transform. For me, that is how I learn these things.

This book contains great materials for engineering, research in mathematics. Every student or profesionnal can find all he needs. A top reference !

Excelente obra que nos muestra la forma en como sacar provecho de los equipos de trabajo en el desarrollo de proyectos de software. Felicito al Sr. Watts. S. Humprey por su visión en el tema.

TSP is a sequel to Humphrey's earlier book, PSP. That text concentrated on the actions of a single programmer or designer. Now in TSP, Humphrey expands the scope, to discuss what it means to lead and motivate a team of programmers. The acronym TSP stands for Team Software Process. But a close reading of the text suggests that you do not have to take "Software" literally. Your team might be a bunch of engineers or architects or financial analysts.

Though, to be sure, the examples in the text and several of the guidelines pertain explicitly to code development. Yet if you are a flexible enough manager and team leader, you might be able to generalise those guidelines to your situation.

Humphrey makes several remarks that some readers might cheer. He suggests that knowledge of specific tools and methods, while useful, is secondary to amassing an experienced and capable team. If you can do this, then they will surely be able to quickly pick up expertise in those tools or methods. If you have looked at job postings, you have undoubtedly come across those with a laundry list of detailed required skills. Some of which are mundane and low level. But try convincing that company's HR department of this!

On the subject of team building, he dumps on commercial team building exercises. You know. Where some consulting firm charges your company a huge amount for taking your team to an offsite location for a day of artificial exercises. While these may indeed build some espirit de corps, typically these is no relation to the actual work environment and real issues facing your team. But because team building is such an intangible thing, and impossible to quantify, the team wastes a day and the consulting firm makes money.

These two examples are actually minor parts of the text. But they really struck me (and perhaps you) as being very cogent analysis. Somewhat cynical maybe, but Humphrey has his wits about him.

I work in the mining industry and most activities which are carried out in the mining industry involve an element of risk. Decisions must be made in a climate of uncertainty and the outcome is dependent on circumstances & events that in many cases are simply beyond the control of the decision-maker. The subjects of uncertainty and risk are thus highly topical in the mining industry today. This book is an excellent starting point for geologists and engineers who wish to get to grips with the conceptual and philosophical basis of uncertainty assessment as well as a sound source of information about the specifics of modeling and other techniques.

The authors use of the word 'policy' should not be a deterrent: this is a fundamentally technical book. They use the word policy to mean '...to evaluate, order and structure incomplete knowledge so as to allow
decisions to be made with as complete an understanding as possible of the current state of knowledge, its limitations and its implications'.

The book is set out logically and comprises:

1. An overview including philosophical frameworks, an extended discussion of the nature, types and sources of uncertainty, and an introduction to the required probability and statistical theory (Ch. 1-4);
2. A good summary of the state of research about 'human judgments of uncertainty' and performance of probability assessments (Ch. 6-7). The psychology of uncertainty assessments, notions of subjectivity,
methods of evaluating subjective risk scores, and discussion of the role of 'experts' are covered well. Readers interested in these topics might also want to obtain James Reasons' book 'Human Error' (1990,Cambridge University Press; ISBN 0 521 31419 4).
3. Two chapters on technical tools and approaches. Ch. 8 covers the propagation and analysis of uncertainty, and the following chapter gives good guidance on the graphical presentation of uncertainty.
4. Ch. 10 & Ch. 11 present discussion of large, complex policy models and some specific guidance on software,& are probably least interesting to a mining audience.
5. The final chapter (Ch. 12) is entitled 'the value of knowing how little you know' and includes presentation of methods for establishing the expected value of including uncertainty (EVIU).

The book is clearly written, well-informed and extensively referenced. It's a bargain.

Stochastic analysis, distributions, Monte-Carlo. All buzz-words whose meanings become clear with the aid of this vital tool.

As a graduate student of Dr. Gapenski's at Univ. of Florida 7 years ago I cannot begin to say how well this book prepared me to carry out sophisticated financial analysis for an $8 million revenue physician group, but also to refresh my memory of concepts to share with nonfinancial managers. A great text, complements his Intermediate Financial Management textbook perfectly. Also see books by William Cleverly at Ohio State and Ernest Pavlock (wrote the bible on physician group financial management).

Gapenski's book is the lead resource for the University of Texas "Alliance for Medical Management Education" modules on Health Care Contracting and Accounting and Finance. The book is an excellent resource, and is readable enough to be covered thoroughly and read by the physicians who comprise the student body.

EXCELLENT BOOK FOR REFERENCE LIBRARY. GREAT SET OF THREE VOLUMES. SERIOUS BOOK FOR SERIOUS COLLECTORS.

If you've been looking for a book that offers BOTH wartime photographs AND multi angle/ close up studies of uniforms from actual collections, this book (and the two other volumes from that trilogy) is EXACTLY what you need. More than just a splendid coffee table book, it is an outstanding source of information about the history/construction and regulation for each and every variety of uniform issued to the various branches of the SS ( both BEFORE and DURING WW2) and it is worth every single penny I invested in it. As a militaria dealer, I could simply not afford not to add it to my collection. If you are interested by that subject and don't have those 3 books, then you are missing an essential resource. If on the other hand you want to know the subject in depth and do not plan to buy each and every book on the market, you have to get THAT serie. My only regret is that Mr. Michael D. Beaver is no longer among us to share his amazing knowledge of German Militaria.

Gordon L. Rottman's US AIRBORNE UNITS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATER 1942-44 presents the first of three titles to examine the US airborne divisions of the second world war. The history, makeup and engagements of these early forces would change the outcome of the war.

The book was published by: Osprey Publishing. It was well written and is informative on the order of battle, training, unit organization and operations for the Airborne units that participated in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, during WWII.

Steven J. Zaloga's US FIELD ARTILLERY OF WORLD WAR II tells of a new generation of field artillery weapons and tactics born in the 1930s and used in World War II. With vintage photos and plenty of technical detail, US FIELD ARTILLERY OF WORLD WAR II provides a fine survey essential to any in-depth coverage of the equipment and strategies of the times.

The Field Artillery arm was one of the few areas that the US Army started out ahead of the Axis powers and stayed there. The Germans occasionally had bigger cannons, but the US system of command, fire control, and mobility allowed the American Army to mass fires from several units on a single target within minutes of receiving a request from front-line units. In this book Mr. Zaloga takes a technical look at the US Army's Field Artillery arm with much of the focus being on the weapons used. I ususal Osprey style the detailed text is supported by multiple photos, charts and several full-color drawings. The result is a one-stop reference on the guns and tactics used in WW2. The book is easy to read and well organized, the author is a recognized expert in military affairs and the price is quite attractive. Highly recommended to military historians, WW2 buffs, wargamers, and model-builders.

David Salsburg is a statistician with a good knowledge of the foundations of statistics as well as being a practical statistician with a great deal of clinical trials experience. In Chapter 1 he discusses randomized controlled clinical trials. Chapters 2-5 deal with foundational issues in probability and statistics. It leads to the conclusion that hypothesis testing is appropriate for clinical trials and statistical power against alternatives is an important concept for choosing appropriate test statistics but (1)for most practical problems uniformly most powerful tests do not exist and (2)powerful tests can only be found if one is able to meaningfully restrict the class of alternative hypotheses being considered.
In Chapter 6, Salsburg makes the case for restricted tests by providing a real clinical example. Special methods are then covered in the remaining chapters. Chapter 8 deals with resampling approaches including permutation methods and the bootstrap. In Chapter 10, Neyman's often neglected theory of restricted chi-squared tests, is presented.

This is a well written and unusual book that covers methodology not seen in very many biostatistics books. However, these techniques are very relevant to the clinical trials commonly conducted at pharmaceutical companies. It is an important reference source for biostatisticians.

Those interested in statistical theory and its foundational issues will find clear and concise coverage in the first 5 chapters. However if you want more, take a look at Salsburg's new book "The Lady Tasting Tea" which just came out in 2001. In that book he raises all the same issues and more in the context of discussing the great statisticians of the 20th Century.

David Salsburg is a statistician with a good knowledge of the foundations of statistics as well as being a practical statistician with a great deal of clinical trials experience. In Chapter 1 he discusses randomized controlled clinical trials. Chapters 2-5 deal with foundational issues in probability and statistics. It leads to the conclusion that hypothesis testing is appropriate for clinical trials and statistical power against alternatives is an important concept for choosing appropriate test statistics but (1)for most practical problems uniformly most powerful tests do not exist and (2)powerful tests can only be found if one is able to meaningfully restrict the class of alternative hypotheses being considered.

In Chapter 6, Salsburg makes the case for restricted tests by providing a real clinical example. Special methods are then covered in the remaining chapters. Chapter 8 deals with resampling approaches including permutation methods and the bootstrap. In Chapter 10, Neyman's often neglected theory of restricted chi-squared tests, is presented.

This is a well written and unusual book that covers methodology not seen in very many biostatistics books. However, these techniques are very relevant to the clinical trials commonly conducted at pharmaceutical companies. It is an important reference source for biostatisticians.

Those interested in statistical theory and its foundational issues will find clear and concise coverage in the first 5 chapters. However if you want more, take a look at Salsburg's new book "The Lady Tasting Tea" which just came out in 2001. In that book he raises all the same issues and more in the context of discussing the great statisticians of the 20th Century.

Three people experience the most frightening event in their lives when they are doing ordinary things until a strange storm with odd lights appears without warning. They become unconscious; when they awaken they find no one in sight.

Former model Helen Krause had just been turned down for an assignment and her son informed her he is moving to New York. Mechanic Mitch Kent planned to propose to his girlfriend. Attorney Conner Hunter has his daughter Rachel for the weekend. This trio separately realizes they are alone until they meet and compare their experiences. Each hears shadows whispering and soon believes they are under surveillance of sorts. Soon they conclude that the observers want to separate them and keep them from meeting others, but do not know why, who they are, and what happened to everyone else.

Readers will understand why this is the winner of the 2006 Operation First Novel contest, Each of the key characters has issues that they kept pushing off hoping to ignore; which proves prophetic as the VANISH supersedes their seemingly minor previous problems. The threesome are in many ways similar yet distinctive and fully developed as they wonder how they landed in the Twilight Zone; the truth will shock the audience as Tom Pawlik provides a strong thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Wendy Cleveland for Reader Views (6/08)

Let me begin by saying "Vanish" was a very scary novel. It centers around three main characters: Conner Hayden, a divorced trial lawyer is spending the weekend with his daughter Rachel; Helen Krause, a middle-aged model is having dinner with her son Kyle who is leaving for New York; and Mitch Kent, a mechanic, is about to meet up with his girlfriend to ask her to marry him. During the course of the evening, a mysterious dark clouded storm takes over Chicago. Not remembering anything about the previous evening's events, each of them wakes up and discovers that everyone else has disappeared. Afraid and wanting answers each sets out to find other survivors. During the course of the novel, we discover that each of them has an event in their past that they can't seem to forget.

Conner's son, Matthew, drowned in their swimming pool while under his care. He seems to keep appearing in visions since the storm. Mitch's mother died from cancer when he was young, and his father called him before the storm to tell him that he was also dying. Both of them appear in visions to Mitch. Helen's son Kyle appears blistered and burned in her visions. Not only do they have to face their pasts, they each encounter faceless beings who whisper to them only at night. Eventually, the three cross paths, and decide to take a road trip to Indiana to seek out other storm survivors. In Indiana, they meet up with a strange farmer named Howard. This is when it starts to get really good. The ending was like something out of a Twilight Zone episode. You are just waiting for Rod Sterling to peak out from behind the curtain.

"Vanish" was the Winner of the 2006 Operation First Novel Contest sponsored by the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild, and it is evident why. Jerry Jenkins was the co-author of the "Left Behind" series, which this novel reminded me of. Just to think that something like this could really happen is very unsettling. It makes you not want to take anything or anyone for granted, and to make the most of every moment you have on this earth.

I highly recommend "Vanish" to anyone who is a fan of the "Left Behind" series as well as books by Ted Dekker. You won't be disappointed. Watch out the next time you see a storm coming.

Good book with different modelling techniques.Contains a special chapter on figure painting. Tips on how to paint fleshparts, and some types of uniform are very helpful for both novice as experienced modeller.

This book not only shows the endless possibilities in this hobby, but also incorporates many easy to do tricks and tips to make your model just a little bit better. It also includes a dioramabuilding chapter which is easy to follow and very helpfull