Supplies Books

Over the years, Sites' clients have turned to him for subtle
insights into power control technology. Many of our peculiar
projects are only successful due to Sites' tweeking. But Plasma at
Work is not only about tweeking this important technology. This book
gives the reader a big picture of the industry from an author
intimately familiar with its nuts and bolts.
I just happened to read this book concurrently with Alan
Greenspan's The Age of Turbulence. There Greenspan notes how difficult
it has been for us to sustain a rising level of productivity year
after year. It made me think that we do so at all only because
engineers like Sites take the time away from their more remunerative
professions to show us the way.
And Plasma at Work shows us the way with short, crisp
chapters on everything from metal cutting to radioactive waste
vitrification. The book ends with seven pages of plasma industry
contacts and industrial associations as testimony to Sites' decades of
work in this field.
It may seem funny to all you techies out there that Sites and
Greenspan now share the same bookshelf. But all great books
transcend their nominal purpose and find their way into the matrix
of science, industry, and art. With this book Sites aint just for
techies anymore. This "big picture" book needs to be in the hands
of the "big picture" people.

George Sites is the expert in this field, his book helps you through the complete Plasma process. He covers many of the applications of the Plasma Arc while explaining the differences between the types of Power Supplies that are used to control Plasma Arcs. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested and or studying about Plasma Arcs.

Mr. Sites has done it again. His easy-to-read; straightforward writing style offers the reader a very good understanding of how the various plasma processes work. More importantly, he differentiates the two basic plasma power supply designs (pulse width modulated and basic phase control) in a manner which gives the reader clear direction as to which power supply design may work best for his application. In this reader's opinion, taking the mystery out of power supply design choices makes this book well worth owning.

This is the book I have been looking for. I'm building a clay studio and wanted advice and tips on how to set it up. This is the only book I've found that gives really in-depth information on these topics. He also covers other topics you would want to know if you're going to be a professional potter.

Not only does he share some of his own horror stories (so you won't repeat them yourself!), but he also includes insets of the stories of other pro potters and their studios. Very helpful. He covers studio needs, selection, etc.; working with suppliers, vendors, contractors; equipment selection; and business practices, marketing and self-promotion (the hardest part of the business for me - and I think for most artists!). He also talks a bit about teaching and it's effect on your work (pro and con). The subtitle of the book says it all: "The complete guide to defining, identifying, and establishing yourself in the craft community".

This book is a must have for any professional potter and will be found very helpful even to hobbiests.

This book is so comprehensive and has answered so many of my initial questions regarding the start of a pottery studio and business. Steve writes in a language the layman and advance potter can both understand. The chapters are coherently laid out with the pertinent topics such as vendors, supplies, electrical needs, studio set-up, equipment making and purchasing, space needs, floor plans; the list goes on and on for the whole book. The back of the book has many vendors, suppliers and web links for reference. Although the web pages of many have changed, it is a great start on connecting with the pottery world. I highly recommend this book.

It is comforting to know that there is a book out there that is well written and primarily intended for people like me, who earn a living from clay. Naturally, most of us have already knocked our heads and come up with some soluations - discussed by Steve, but the confirmation of having made "right" decisions, etc., takes a load off and builds confidence. Had I been able to read a text like this six years ago, I would have had less bruises to my head and my ego! His other book, Raku: A Practical Approach is also a treasure which I notice is not listed here on Amazon - uhhmmmmm! Would be nice to have that as an Amazon selection.

Hunger and poverty are not regional or national issues any more. This book literally changed the way people thought about famines and hunger, according to Robert Solow. Human beings are deprived of food in many ways. Sen points out that food availability dedcline is only one possible cause of occurrence of a famine. Famines can occur even if the food output is sufficient in a region, for example in a situation when certain groups of people become richer and purchase more food leading to a steep rise in the prices, while the poor find the food increasingly unaffordable. Sen conceptualizes these issues in the framework of entitlement and ownership. Obviously, a person gets starved when his 'exchange entitlement set' is a null set, i.e., he owns nothing worth exchanging for bundles of food. A famine occurs when a large number of people in a country or a region suffer from such entitlement failures at a same time. In the second chapter, Sen discusses two alternative methods to measure poverty - the Income method and the Direct method. Both methods essentially represent two alternative conceptions of poverty analysis. The inequality approach to poverty is also found to be very common.

Can poverty analysis be put into a policy framework? Sen answers this question in the negative pointing out its difficulties. Sen says that a policy definition is based on a fundamental confusion. But at the same time, Sen fails to answer the question of how then the problem can be solved. Famine Enquiry Commission of 1945 had argued that the famine was due to cyclones, floods, fungus diseases, loss of Burma rice, etc., etc. The essence of these theses was that the famine was mainly an outcome of a food shortage. Sen in his analysis of the famine contests this. Point by point, with the use of statistics on food production and other parameters, he states that although there was a decline in food output in Bengal in 1943, it cannot be accepted as a prime cause as there was a still higher decline in food output during 1941 which did not cause any famine. The per capita food availability in 1943 was also higher than that in 1941. The major cause of the famine was the inability of the British government to forecast the shortfall in food. Sen uses his own 'entitlement theory' to describe the famine. The major cause of the famine was shrinkage of the E-mappings for individuals resulting from spiraling food prices and the prevailing inequalities among the population. The situation was not different in the case of the Ethiopian famine of 1972-74. There also there was not any evidence of a major shortfall in the food output; in fact Sen argues that there was indeed a slight increase in the food output vis-à-vis the preceding years during the famine years. The overall consumption of food at the peak famine period was actually normal. But the purchasing power of the people was low resulting in inability to command food from outside. As in the Bengal famine, the highest casualities were among the agricultural workers. But in contrast with Bengal famine, the food prices rose only very little in Ethiopia and were not very different from those prevailing during the pre-drought periods. Sen explains this phenomenon by understanding it in terms of the entitlement failures of various sections of the Ethiopian population.

The next case study is that of Sahel famine in Africa during 1968-73. This resulted in the decline of food availability that eventually led to the famine. An analysis of region wise food output revealed that in the regions where the output was low, the effect of the famine was actually lower comparatively. Firstly, it makes the farmer more dependent on the market forces for his basic food requirements. When one has an ability to command food in the market legally, then market approach may work.

Sen's major argument in the whole book is that against the popular feeling that famines are caused only due to the decline in availability of food (the FAD approach). He puts in a number of arguments against it citing specific case studies of the above famines. Arnold (1988) pointed out that there were a number of famines in history which were actually caused by food output decline and thus to project entitlement as the major cause of famines was incorrect. Patnaik says that the entitlement approach, while rejecting the FAD theory, takes an unduly short run view of food availability. While agreeing that during famine periods food availability is a major issue, she argues that the long term trend in per capita food availability is also of utmost importance, which Sen does not consider in his entitlement approach. These trends could set the stage for famines even though famines do not thereby become inevitable. There are arguments following Devereux's words that one can not discuss famines without constantly taking into account the aggregate supply of food (Bowbrick, 1986). There are some other major authors also who have come out against the entitlement approach of Sen for that there is nothing 'new' in Sen's approach (Srinivasan, 1983; Mitra, 1982).

Poverty and Famines have remained to haunt the dreams of many underdeveloped countries. The issues, as the book, still live on. As Castro lamented at Rome - "The bells that are presently tolling for those starving to death everyday will tomorrow be tolling for all mankind if it did not want, or did not know, or if it could not be sufficiently wise, to save itself".

References

Arnold, D., (1988) Famine: Social Crisis and Historical Change, Basil Blackwell, Oxford. Bowbrick, P., (1986) "The Causes of Famines: A Refutation of Prof. Sen's Theory", Food Policy, 11. Mitra, Asok., (1982) "The Meaning of Meaning", Economic and Political Weekly (Reviews), 27 March. Patnaik, Utsa., (1991) "Food Availability Decline and Famines-A Longer View", Journal of Peasant Studies,19. Srinivasan, T.N., (1983) "Review of Sen", American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 65.

Poverty and Famines: An essay on Entitlement and Deprivation

The Nobel Laureate (1998) Amartya Sen needs no introduction. But poverty and starvation are better known than he is. Better still, the author is in full realisation of this fact. So, no self-elevating adjectives or poignant criticism can be found in the book. The book focuses on starvation in general and famines in particular. At the very outset, Amartya comes out to be a Keynesian in approach rather than a classicist. As his critics would put it - "This paper is not concerned with long-term food policy". This is true to some extent but the author here is trying to fit in a jigsaw puzzle with two or more puzzles thrown in at once. The book can be further divided into three parts for reading purposes: * For layman [Chapter 1-5,10] * Case Studies [Chapter 6-9] * For the erudite economist [Appendix A-D] This is what sets the book apart - a simple treatment of such a complex subject! For an issue as basic as hunger, you do require a simple treatment that masses can understand and not only a Master at some reputed economic school. The first and second section can be read by anyone slightly concerned with the word - Poverty while appendices are for the more learned. Chapter I introduces the elementary concepts of his approach to starvation - "The Entitlement Approach". He clearly distinguishes between the food availability and the relationships between a person and the food available. According to him, a person can get food to which he is legally or socially entitled. He can exchange his owned entitlements for other entitlements. Thus, even if plenty is available in author's words - "Starvation is seen as the result of his inability to establish entitlement to enough food". The second and the third chapter deal with concept of poverty, its identification and aggregation. He presents various methods of poverty evaluation and a critique of each- 1. The most usual head count method (i.e. relative number of poor) 2. Biological and nutritional approach (i.e. minimum amount of nutrition required). The aggregation is dealt with by advocating the axiom of "Ranked Relative Deprivation". This deals with the relative poverty amongst the 'poor'. Chapter III brings out the difference between starvation and famines. It sets a stage for discussion of famines in particular. He distinguishes both on - 1. Time Contrast (Long term and Short Term) 2. Group Contrast (Endemic and Specific Community) Chapter IV critically examines the entitlement approach with explanations of endowment and exchange. He examines the limitations of entitlement approach. The author seems to be very much aware of this e.g. '....some transfers that include violation of entitlement approach as looting'. The Case Studies cover the- * Bengal Famine of 1943 * Ethiopian famine of 1972-4 * Sahel Drought and Famine of 1968-73 * Famine of Bangladesh in 1974. The case studies chosen are of widely different nature and lend credit to his work. He goes about justifying the entitlement approach both in times of low food availability and adequate food availability. The Bengal famine case has been taken to illustrate the failure of FAD (Food Availability Decline). From the data of Famine Inquiry Commission of 1945, he proves that actually per capita availability rose about 9% form 1941-43. Since rural workers were as a community affected the most, exchange entitlement could have been a reason. The 'class-basis of destitution' further corroborates the food entitlement approach. The causes of sharp movements of exchange entitlements in this case can be briefed as- 1. Printing of currency leading to inflationary pressures 2. Speculation and Hoarding (A typical Keynesian!) 3. 'Indifferent' winter crop 4. Prohibition of cereal export 5. An uneven expansion of income and purchasing power 6. Impoverishment of groups not directly related to food production He further examines the bad policy of Bengal govt. at that time. The policy was largely FAD approach based and believed in merely creating supplies of food in the affected region, which, obviously, did not help much. The critics have strongly challenged the validity of Famine Commission report (Sen too is aware of that) and actually contend that crop availability was less than that reported (a large upward bias). This hits at the root of his analysis as he works on the initial analysis that there was actually a rise in food available. Also, the critics lay claim to inefficiency of PDS used to funnel the food into Bengal. To quote-"...and what was put on the market vanished without a ripple". They further proved that the inflation was pretty much the same throughout India. So why this should have only hit Bengal. Sen has neglected the infrastructural breakdown. The Ethiopian Famine, again, according to him proved the validity of entitlement approach, as there was little price rise of commodities. But in Sahel famine decrease in food availability was the causal factor. Sen analysed region wise food output to declare that the effect of famine was actually lower in food deprived areas. The approach of Sen seems to be of a short-term nature but does, indeed, subtly propose a long-term vision too. The focus of govt. should not only be to concentrate on food availability but as Sen points out towards ensuring no sudden changes in exchange entitlements. He advocates govt. intervention in these situations (Keynesian approach!). The critics who oppose the above may please note that that at no time does he propose to completely eliminate the FAD approach. Rather, in opening lines of Chapter I he says- "Starvation is characteristic of some people not having enough to eat. It is not the characteristic of there being not enough to eat. While the latter can be a cause of the former, it is but one of many possible causes". In conclusion, the book is a must read for everyone. This is a simply written book with lots of conviction and healthy refute of the theories he disposes of.

A very persuasive acount of the famine problem is displayed by Nobel Laureate Dr. Sen. Contrary to all expectations, is a very readable book, because all the formulas and elaborate economic theories are confined to the appendix section.

Before the appendix, Dr. Sen displays the famine cycle in many parts of the world during this century and highligth the Bengala famine during World War II. Also, he explains the causes and effects of the famine cycle on each case presented.

So, if you want to know how a famine is "made" and "administrated" this is the book you must have.

From my point of view of practising engineer Dr. Wakilleh covers the subject of harmonics in very straightforward manner mainly the subject of harmonic filter design. It help me a lot.

I received excellent service when I bought the book. It arrived very quickle and that was exactly what I needed. Thank you

This Book deals with useful in power system harmonics studies. Unlike most other books the book have a detailed harmonic studies for actual multi-bus power system. This includes filter design and selection, harmonic injection, effect of system equipment rating change on the harmonics, and more other topics. The book also covered power system components detailed modeling for harmonic studies. The main book shortcoming is that it's doesn't cover frequency dependent models, and most of the models used in the studies are pure impedance based models. But in general it's a very good book for introduction to power system harmonics.

This book is a must read for anyone willing to remain updated in the microwave field . It is very clearly written and has a very good balance between theoretical aspects and practical examples for today's modern times.

These books were written by two well-known lectures in the RF/MW field with many years of teaching experience. Their goal was to provide a practical exposition of circuit design in the RF/MW field that appealed to students, academicians, and design engineers. They certainly succeeded. The reader will find that fundamental and advanced principles are properly explained with emphasis in CAD techniques. While the mathematical manipulations are kept to a minimum, the associated results are well referenced and extensively discussed.

Volume I:
This volume focuses mainly on passive circuits and systems. The first two chapters provide a review of RF/MW circuit fundamentals. The emphasis is placed on topics related to RF/MW circuits, such a resonance, series and parallel conversions, quality factor, power transfer, transmission lines, reflection coefficients, and mismatch loss. Chapter 3 describes several radio systems and illustrates how the system's specifications relate to the various individual components. Receiver's characteristics are discussed, such as receiver noise and sensitivity, nonlinearities and dynamic range, and automatic control. The chapter includes the analysis of a CDMA handset from a system point of view. Chapters 4 and 5 describe the use of S parameters, the Smith chart, impedance matching networks, and bandwidth considerations. Many impedance matching design examples are provided with their associated frequency responses. Both lumped and microstrip matching circuits are considered. Chapter 6 shows the use of CAD programs for RF/MW circuit design. This chapter underlines the major key areas in CAD, such as linear circuit analysis, electromagnetic simulation, tuning, synthesis, optimization, non-linear simulations, and statistical techniques. Passive component models are discussed in Chapter 7, which include RLC components, distributed components, transformers, crystals, dielectric resonators, and surface acoustic wave resonators. The authors show how actual parts affect the behavior of a design, and how to account for them in the final product. Chapter 8 gives an overview of passive filters and the techniques used for their design in the RF/MW area. Such topics as the Richards' transformation, Norton transformations, and Kuroda identities are discussed. Chapter 9 is an overview of the major differences and similarities between RF and high-speed digital systems.

Volume II:
This volume focuses mainly on active circuits and systems. The volume begins with a discussion of linear RF/MW amplifier design techniques. The first two chapters deal with stability conditions, stability circles and the various design techniques for transducer gain, operating power gain, and associated gain. Material in low-noise amplifier design and broadband techniques is included, as well as dc considerations. Chapter 3 discusses the modeling of the actual devices (such as BJT, GaAs, HETM, etc). Chapter 4 deals with nonlinear CAD simulations techniques, and their uses. Time and frequency domain methods are discussed and compared. A good discussion of the harmonic balance method is given, including a section on harmonic balance simulation of oscillators. Chapter 5 considers the topic of power transistor amplifiers. The categories of amplifiers are presented and the topics of bias considerations, distortion reduction and predistortion are included. The chapter includes a detailed power amplifier design. Oscillators are discussed in Chapter 6, with emphasis on the negative resistance design approach and CAD simulations. A section is devoted to the description of phase noise. Several design examples are included. An interesting example uses a ceramic resonator, another example involves a crystal resonator, and one example deals with a Colpitts VCO using a varactor diode. Chapter 7 deals with mixers and frequency multipliers. The authors discuss diodes and transistor mixers and their effect on the overall system. The final chapter gives an overview of several wireless systems.

The material covered in these two volumes extends from the basic to the advance. The texts are suitable for short courses in RF/MW circuits, since they provide a comprehensive description of the RF/MW circuit design field. They are also suitable for a course (or courses) at the senior/graduate level in the RF/MW field. The books strongly emphasize design and the use of CAD techniques. Enough information is provided in their CAD examples that the simulations can easily be implemented with one of the major CAD programs available for RF/MW circuits.

These texts contain a tremendous amount of information for RF/MW circuit designers. Especially, for those working in wireless communications. Discrete design is covered in detail-from the individual component specification to the overall system performance. The presentation is clear and well organized. It certainly makes for a good addition to the designer's library.

There is so much information for a practicing engineer;it will take six months to absorb the techniques described. I finally understand what causes oscillation and how I can prevent it when it shows up unexpectedly.
I also appreciate that the math is minimized to the necessary level, without lots of proofs and derivations (I had enough of that in college). What I expected--and got--are techniques I can use in my work immediately.

Protein skimmers and activated carbon are probably the two most misundsrstood or non-understood factors in all of amateur fishkeeping.

This is not a book, it's a pamphlet. But it's a great value when it comes to the information therein

this book is excellent in the details of protein skimming,and what to expect and how to chose the right skimmer for you tank!very very good detalied book

Bob Goemens is a well-known and respected expert in the saltwater aquarium industry for his knowledge and research. This booklet gives some fantastic advice on how to set up and maintain protein skimmers and activated carbon filtration. Goemens presents the information in a very straightforward, easy-to-understand way, providing descriptions and detail without overburdoning the reader with unnecessary terminology. He starts with a brief history of protein skimming, then discusses the verious types of skimmers and how to select the correct one for your system, then continues with detailed information about how to set a skimmer up and maintain it. I found his discussion on foam production and how to maximize it invaluable in making my filtration system at home much more efficient -- and my water is more crystal-clear than ever before as a result! His section on activated carbon is more concise (as there is less to carbon filtration than there is to skimming) but is equally informative. It includes how carbon works, how to select activated carbon and how to maintain it. This is a great reference booklet!

These coin folders make it an easy way to store your coins, they are easy to insert, and hold the coins securely. These booklets specifically are a good way to store the new state quarters.

The Plain Quarters folder is a good way to store the new 1999 State Quarters. However, I wish Whitman would publish a folder specifically for the new Quarters

What a great way to collect the new quarters with the states on the back. You can collect them as you go!

I teach water harvesting and watershed restoration at a local college, and this book, along with volume 1, is my primary resource when it comes to water storage in the soil. Absolutely a must for anyone seeking to make full use of the water that falls on their land.

Interesting reading on a subject we should all learn about. If you just use the rainwater for gardens and lawns it is a step in the right direction. I am moving to a part of Panama that has a great deal of rain but no real water system. We have to improvise our own. I am planning on using all the ideas I can from this book.

This book deserves to be widely read, not just for people in the desert. I live in a region that gets nearly 45" of rainfall per year, and I can't wait to apply some of what I've learned from this great "how to" manual. Fresh water is a vanishing resource on our planet, and when we send it all down the storm drains, it makes its way from storm drain to stream to river to ocean: gone. To keep from draining our aquifers, we need to capture that water in our landscape, so it can percolate back into the earth, or be used by our plants.

My first project will be to divert some of the runoff from our blacktop driveway into an "infiltration basin", where it can be used by my trees and shrubs, and soak into the earth. "Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 2" shows you how to do this, step by step, and also tells you how to build the simple but effective specialized tools you'll need (such as a "bunyip water level", so you know BEFORE a washout rainstorm where the water will flow).

Other topics include systems of berms and basins; terraces; diversion swales; check basins; and french drains. There are many helpful drawings throughout (whimsical but clear!).

If you're interested in water conservation, this book is for you. It's a tour-de-force on the subject of capturing and using rainwater and runoff in the landscape.

My dyslexic daughter's 3rd grade teacher uses this book with the whole class and the children really love it. They are motivated to learn their lines and really enjoy oral reading in groups. These exercises have helped enormously in increasing my daughter's fluency.

Dr. Jo Worthy convincingly explains why reader's theater is so successful in building fluency. This book is a great resource for educators who want to make reading, and fluency development in particular, fun and purposeful. Practical step-by-step instructions on how to guide students through reader's theater, photos of students rehearsing and performing theater scripts, and the eight ready-to-go scripts in the appendix will help teachers get started tomorrow with reader's theater!

This is a fine introduction to reader's theater in the classroom, with detailed instructions, plus the theory behind how and why it works -- all in a brief, lively, easy-to-read presentation.

I brought a generator over the Internet. When it came, it does not start. Sending it back for replacement will cost about $100 for shipping, also I don't have a way to pack it in its orignal shape -- since I have assembled. In addition, it is over 200 lbs -- way too heavy to box in anything I have.

So I brought this book to try to make it work. I have so far able to adjust the valve to improve the compression based on reading this book. Check the fuel systems and other part. Just there is not enough information from the manufactuer or from this book to be able to tell the carburetor is good or bad, since this book is for gasoline engine and mine is a LPG/NG engine.

Although reading this book did not get the engine started, it is a fine book to read. Recommeneded.

This book starts out with the simplest 2-stroke engines, explaining different carburetor setups, and goes up through more complicated 4-stroke engines. This book would be a great basis for learning about gasoline engines in general... It also has advice on general maintenance and troubleshooting. Very informative book for learning HOW these things work so that you can fix them.

I looked at several small engine repair manuals and I was unimpressed by them. (The Haynes book is particularly disappointing) This one goes into a nice level of explanation of how something (e.g. a carburetor) works, the various types available and then how to trouble shoot it. Knowing how something works is crucial to really trouble shoot an engine.

I am an engineer so I like how this book describes the items function. Obviously some level of technical understanding is necessary to really appreciate an engine manual. But if you don't have that appreciation - you probably aren't trying to fix your own engines. So if you are looking for such a book, I can easily recommend this one.

The knowledge I've gained from this book has also helped with larger pieces of equipment - like full-size tractors. The older tractors (like my John Deere 3010) use the same basic components.