Burke Books

this was such a cool book. i mean, i never really thought about the beginnings of these famous things before, but now this book got me thing. 3 thumbs up!

this was the best book i have ever read in my entire life! it really made me think about were all this stuff we use in our everyday life comes from. 3, no 4 thumbs up!

If your child is heading off to higher education, or is just looking for a book that has some great information for a middle to high school book report, a parent can't go wrong with the book "Inventing Modern America: From The Microwave To The Mouse" by David E. Brown (2002, MIT Press, 209 Pages).

One of the features that grab the reader right off the bat is the fact that the book centers upon modern innovations, such as that friendly little gadget that makes home computer use such a joy--otherwise known as a `mouse'. Another great inclusion is the contributions of Black inventors, such as Dr. George Washington Carver and Garrett Morgan. No, we are not talking about just a `paragraph or two', we are talking about royal treatment of each of the inventors contained within its covers--including glimpses at other inventions by featured inventors.

Of course, to a real info-junkie, the book is too short. However, it does provide a lot of inspiration to those who have the talent and the drive to invent. It is an encouraging work, as it talks not only about the successes of each inventor and innovator, the book is full of diagrams, photos, and pictures of many other inventions by those selected for discussion.

If you are looking for a book to encourage and uplift your future inventor, you can't go wrong with presenting a copy of this work to your son or daughter--or even as a gift for yourself, if you have that hidden desire to want to create a better mousetrap; or even improving upon something that already exists. It is a reference book that will keep on giving, and inspiring long after its purchase. I highly recommend it.

Mike Ramey

I read this book for months and months and months. It is a rich investigation into the history of Mexican art /its creators/ and the confluence of cultures that brought it about.

In Mexican Art Masterpieces, Marcus Burke showcases forty-eight unique and fascinating pieces of Mexican art that range from ancient ceramic statues and mosaic masks from the Mayans and Aztecs, to tomb facades and interior temple reliefs. Also represented are feather pictures, monstrances, classically inspired paintings by artists of the viceregal period (including Baltasar de Echeve Orio and Juan Rodriguez Juarez); 19th-century masterpieces by Obregon and Velasco; and 20th-century favorites including works by Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, Frieda Kahlo, and others. Burke combines scholarship with passionate storytelling in each of the forty-eight essays that accompany the works and reveal the complicated connections between Mexican politics, society and art. Mexican Art Masterpieces is especially recommended for students and enthusiasts of Mexican history, art and culture.

Whenever such a subjective titile is chosen such as "Mexican Art Masterpieces" there are bound to be ommissions and unlikely selections. For the most part this book is a good,quick study, covering in abbreviated form the art of Mexico in four sections: Prehispanic,Viceregal or Colonial, briefly the Nineteenth Century and more extensively the Twentieth Century. Most of the art featured is familiar to those who have even the most remote understanding and scope of Mexican Art. With just under fifty color plates to cover some 3,500 years of monumental art, as previously stated, this is a good introduction but by no means an exhaustive study. One of the strengths of this book is the one page synopsis given to each piece that gives a history lesson covering the social and political climate,a biography and an interpretation of the art piece pointing out the little details and nuances. The information provided is not earth shattering but helpful nonetheless and is not overly analytical and very easy to follow. The other strength is the magnificence of the chosen pieces, reflecting both ancient and modern themes by Mexican masters. I found it curious that missing from the Prehispanic section were such items as the wood carved Aztec drum or huehuetl from the Toluca Basin, considered by many to be the consumate representation of artistry achieved in woodcarving by the Aztecs or the figure of Chacmool, which is found throughout Mesoamerica, most notably in Chichen Itza and Tenochtitlan. From the Colonial period there is not an oil painting by Cristobal de Villalpando , who along with Juan Correa is considered to be the most represenative from the Baroque period. Surely his "St. John the Evangelist and Mother Maria de Jesus de Agreda" is worthy of being featured. The image of the revered La Virgin de Guadalupe is also missing from this time period. Miguel Gonzalez's exquisite oil, gilding and mother-of -pearl inlaid masterpiece,"Virgin de Guadalupe," which is housed in the Museo Frantz Mayer in Mexcio City should have been included in my humble opinion. From the Nineteenth Century Rodrigo Gutierrrez's "The Senate of Tlaxcala", housed in the Museo Nacional de Arte in Mexcio City, is also missing. With it's luminous light on the orator and Romanesque posturing it is truly a masterpiece. In the Twentieth Century, Francisco Goitia, considered to be to be the most Mexican of Mexican painters is nowhere to be found. His landscapes reflecting the turmoil, pathos and beauty of Mexico are absent from this collection of masterpieces. With many works to choose from, his masterpiece"Tata Jesucristo"(Father Jesus) is one that could easily have been included. These minor discrepencies and personal observations aside, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the art history of Mexico. This is a good introductory book to the masterpieces in Mexican Art.

This is one of those most interesting books I have ever read about graphic design, you expect it to be filled with Paul Renner's work, but instead it goes much deeper than that, describing his philosophy and ideas, which is what essentially graphic design is.

This is a rare achievement as it gives interesting insights into both the aesthetic achievement of a designer, and the culture milieu in which he lived and reacted to. As this same background--the German speaking world from about 1890 to WWII--was very fertile creatively in many fields, the book is of interest far beyond Renner himself.

Interesting book -- Renner, along with Herbert Bayer and others of his era, created typography and design that still looks modern decades later.

This book is both an overview and focused point of view to Project Management. It is a good option to understand the hole context of a Project and how to improve your knowledge and results during the life cycle of the project and for your career.

This is an excellent treatment of the vast body of knowledge that comprises project management. The author does a great job of explaining all the principles of project management in sufficient enough detail for a new PM. Of course, it is not a thorough, in-depth treatment of the field and the author makes no such claims. There are examples and exercises used throughout that make the book even more valuable.

Even though this is an especially useful book for new project managers, I think even experienced ones will find some benefit by having it in their PM library. Refer to Dr. Harold Kerzner's book 'Project Management - A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling' for an advanced treatment of the subject. Refer to Rita Mulcahy's 'PMP Exam Prep' to prepare for the PMP exam. A good book for beginners is 'The Little Black Book of Project Management' by Michael Thomsett.

The only book I would say is comparable to this one at an Intermediate level is 'The Complete Idiot's Guide to Project Management' by Sunny Baker and Kim Baker. It is a slightly better book and less than a third of the price of this book! Bottom line, you can't go wrong with this book if you have the money to spend on it.

Rory Burke is in my opinion the world's number one in project management. This latest book proves it yet again. We use his project management techniques daily on our software development projects. This book tells you what you need to know in an easy to read style. Nigel Willmott, President, Online Marketing Limited.

This book can be appreciated by anyone who is "falling apart"...whether it be from the stress of work, illness, or any loss from death.
My group of widow friends like to use it for discussion groups to help us face our new reality, to respond to the depression, and to learn to reconnect to God, to self and to others.We found it offered a "spiritual prescription" to take daily as we begin a new journey.This treasure-trove gives hope that the sun will break through the clouds and a rainbow promises new life.

I just loved it. I couldn't put it down. I only wish
Andrea Yates had had a friend like Sylvia.

This sweet book, this helpful book, this realistic book, this book that has so many answers.....Christian help for depression, yes, but it also gives us a lot of hope, a way out of so many tough spots, a way to look at ourselves that can help in so many ways. Give it to a friend who's going through a bad patch, who needs healing after 9/11, who just needs to look at himself and God and see that the connection is always there. Ms. Burke writes from experience, and shows that is it, indeed, a wonderful teacher.

Dedicated to preserving the old ways, Tynan Thorn had led the austere life of a recluse. He had never laid eyes on a woman until the ravishing Amara swept into his spartan bedroom to change his life forever.

Daring and uninhibited, Amara set out to broaden Tynan's viewpoint, but she never expected that the area he would be most interested in exploring was her own exquisitely sensitive body. Nor did she guess that his lack of experience would be more than compensated by natural talent.

Master of self denial and mistress of sensual delight, Tynan and Amara were a study in contrasts. But as their bodies united in explosive ecstasy they discovered a whole new world, where together they could soar among the stars.

Original and steamy romance! if you can grab a copy i suggest you read it!!

Amara Greer is a pilot working for the Alado Corporation. When war is threatened, she is sent to escort Tynan, a famous philosopher to an important peace negotiation. Little does she realize that Tynan is not the elderly man she once imagined, but a handsome hunk, whose only experience of women is what he has seen in videos and books!

I really enjoyed Rapture's Mist. I especially liked the heroine Amara who is a kick butt career-minded lady who'll let nothing get in the way of achieving her goals- including Tynan. Though at times, I found Tynan to be a bit petulant, he was at heart quite generous and loving. This was a great story, and a keeper for those who like futuristic and enjoy experienced kick-butt heroines.

an insomniac, I rooted for something pleasant to read during the night and found that genre of books - romance, historical - futuristic etc, I ended up reading lots of them - this one however is by far my favourite, I absolutely LOVE it, and if I could I would turn it into a movie. For me, it reads "romance pure",- plenty action, no gaps and the characters really lived and pictured in my head , it has everything I ask of "entertainment".

Marshall Hodgson was a scholar of rigorous and detailed precision. He gave no easy answers. In fact, he argued that in the science of history, above all other sciences, there can be no easy answers. What was necessary of historians was a total and unrelenting commitment to uncovering every possible detail on top of every possible detail in the study of earlier ages.....and even then, the historian would be truly lacking, but the effort MUST go on.

It is for this reason that I must respectfully disagree with an earlier reviewer. Hodgson's writing is not dreamy poetry....this is true. But every one of his sentances is jam packed with information. It only takes effort from the reader ( a reader truly interested in LEARNING) to decipher the incredibly important message Hodgson is trying to convey.

Part of this message is that there is only one global history, not an "Eastern" or "Western" history ... not a history that sets one history up to put another history down. Efforts to reinforce these generalizations are manipulative and, under closer scrutiny, factually incorrect.

In this book, you will find a truly fascinating philosophy of history as told through modernity and the Islamicate.

Hodgson was the pre-eminent Western historian of Islamic societies, as set forth in "The Venture of Islam." In "Rethinking," Hodgson's widow has seen to the publication of a series of broader essays on the philosophy of history as applied to the world at large. Part 1 tries to get outside Euro-centrism as best as an Occidental can. Part 2 considers Islam in a global context, and Part 3 discusses commonalities and differences that make for meaningful comparison, decompositions, and aggregations in regional and global history.

The most interesting chapter is entitled "Modernity and the Islamic Heritage." Here Hodgson inquires whether it is possible for a society to be Modern yet not Western, given that the presuppositions of Modernity reach deep into the Medieval Occident. For example, "with an effort of the imagination, one can guess what the institutions of Modernity might look have been like if it had developed, for instance, in Islamic society... The nation-state, with its constitutionalism, its particularist characters of rights and responsibilities, stems from the corporate conceptions of Medieval Western society. From the very different legal conceptions of Medieval Islamic society, with their abstract egalitarian universalism, there might well have developed, instead of the nation-state, some international corps of super-ulama, regulating an industrial society on the basis of some super-sharia code." This tension between Western-ness and Modernity is palpable in the West, but elsewhere it is a defining issue running through politics, economics, and warfare. It is especially evident in the violent Islamist organizations, where Modernity is used to combat Westernization.

The successful resolution of those tensions, in the Islamic world as elsewhere on Earth, will be the only way that civilization of any kind can continue at all.

This book is a posthumous collection of Hodgson's essays on world history, Islamic history in particular. Much of the book was unpublished at the time of Hodgson's sudden death. Consequently, the book reads as if Hodgson was thinking out loud. The prose is very dense and he often pounds home points over several pages that could have been made in a paragraph or two. Nonetheless, many of the ideas presented by Hodgson were advanced for the time, and a necessary correction to William McNeill, his fellow University of Chicago prof. Hodgson's main thrust is to set right the place of Islam--or what he calls the "Islamicate"--in world history. This argument should be well-heeded in view of the overly Eurocentric tone that much work on world history has taken. Specialists on Islam will appreciate the book the most, and anyone interested in world history can benefit from it--but it is a very tough read that could easily be pared down to a precis.

After a three year absence from Notes, I needed to get up to speed fast on the new revs. At the time I purchased this book, I also purchased Mastering Lotus Notes R5 by Haberman & Falciani. From an intermediate level users standpoint, I found the Sams book adequate but nearly every question that I needed answered in some depth I found in Mastering. In a nutshell, I could have saved the money for the Sams book since Mastering provided everthing and much more. This was especially true in setting up Internet accounts and Locations as well as understanding how to manage databases.

All technical books should be this clearly written. I really liked the fast paced and yet thorough approach the authors achieved by going through the various aspects of using Lotus Notes R5 in 24 chapters. Everything an end user needs to know is in this book.

The authors advise in composing an email to make your most important points first as readers may not read to the end of your document and they follow their advice in this book. Most readers will get what they want from the first chapters while more demanding users with more specialized needs will find more of what matters to them as they continue reading.

There really is nothing here for a Notes Administrator except to find that this is THE book to recommend to end users to answer their questions effectively. There is a wealth of information here on using short cuts and formatting documents to produce more appealing presentations. And the authors also do a great job of suggesting ways to improve collaboration and workflow in a team environment.

The information on subscriptions was too brief and I think it would have been helpful to warn users that sometimes you just need to shut down Notes and restart it to get some things to work properly.

If you need to be more efficient in your communication and documentation in a Notes environment, this book will help.

The ease and effortlessness needed to learn this topic were presented in such a way that it didn't seem like work. I enjoyed the well written facts needed to help me complete my work with a brand new product. I don't want an explaination just show me how it works. These authors take the time to explore every detail and teach me the ones I need to succeed. Thank you Jane and Dorothy for making my "Notes" simpler.

The brevity and easy outline of the processes on the topic have made me want to put aside my NLP books and others I've looked at by Dr. Erickson and focus on Dr. Burke's method. I found myself getting too caught up in technicalities in other books and not applying the methods. Just today I took 5-10 minutes in the car before a career fair, and don't see it as a surprise that my state during the fair mimicked my mental rehearsal of things going exactly as I wanted! After applying these methods, I'll incorporate bits of other learnings.
I also appreciate and am in accord with the holistic model which the author bases his writing on.

This book gives very complete and concise instruction and advice on how to use hypnosis to improve the quality of your life.

I've read quite a few books on hypnosis over the past several weeks and this is perhaps the best of the lot. I appreciated the fact that Dr. Burke conveys highly effective techniques without ever getting longwinded (the book is a trim 165 pages long - about a 1/4 inch thick).

In a nutshell, this book will help you to make great, positive changes in your life in a realatively short amount of time. This book provides a very organized "how to" on how to get into a trance state and change your subconscious mind.

As a practitioner of the Chinese internal arts, meditation, etc. this book really resonated with me. Too many books on this subject are either intellectual psycho-babble, new age "theories" or worse yet don't give enough guidance to deal with the real issues you may encounter.

This is not a huge tome. It is small to medium sized book which is filled with practical guidance, written by someone who obviously has a good deal of experience and knowlege with issues of the mind (as applied to self-improvement). The tone of it is smart, but enjoyable to read, and I have been surprised several times to find some little tidbit which addresses an issue I'm experiencing at the time.

There is another reviewer who seems upset that this book doesn't cover spirituality. In my opinion, this is rediculous and unfair. Once one has ACTUAL EXPERIENCE with the techniques, you can apply them to whatever you want! But if it's true spirituality you're after, wouldn't you rather seek guidance from an established tradition?

Very detailed, I found "serious cycling" easy and enjoyable to read. Ideal for the self - coached athlete, it helps personalize your cycling program depending on your present abilities. While reading you find that there is much more to training and becoming a better rider then you first thought, but it puts the "why" into training in addition to the "how" giving a better understanding and appreciation with what changes your body must undergo to be a better cyclist.

Periodization, training modes, keeping diaries and more... The nutrition section I found to be a little "old school" but, nevertheless, interesting and backed by studies. This information is aimed at the "serious cyclist" and may be too much for someone not willing to put forth the 15+ hours a week.

Burke, a well known name among cyclists, gives very detailed and sometimes complicated advice about how to train, how to create a training schedule for various goals, how and why to make a training diary, etc. Readers should be aware that his advice is aimed at the very serious cyclist, and his training schedules range from those for serious collegiate cyclists (~15hrs/week) to professionals (~25+ hrs/week). His advice is sound, but it may be more than most people really need. His peak mileage (feb) is 2000miles--that's 500 miles per week!

A big question for me when buying my first book on training for racing, was "Who provides the most reliable and important information?" I have seen Dr. Burke quoted in a variety of sources including Bicycling magazine, Velo magazine, and Chris Carmichael's web site. So I had the impression he is respected in the sport. Further, when reading his writings in other sources, he has gone into the underlying physiological processes that contribute to one's performance on a bike. As such, I decided to purchase his book based on his apparent credibility and the depth of information he provides. Strengths of his book include its excellent coverage of what goes into training for competitive cycling. From beginning "base training" to sprint training, periodization, and planning one's training for the entire year. He also speaks at length on nutrition, equipment/rider aerodynamics, body positioning on the bike, and adjunct training methods. Again, there is an emphasis on underlying physiological processes including some discussion of relevant research. I would say the book's weaknesses lie with it's failure to address racing tactics. Certainly, you learn about what is happening with the body at race pace, but this book will not tell you about positioning for a sprint or pacing one's self for a time trial.
In short, buy this book if you are serious about racing and want to enhance your knowledge of what goes into training for competition. Don't buy this book if you want to learn about tactics.