Carrier Books

A LEADER BORN: The Life of Admiral John Sidney McCain, Pacific Carrier Commander
by Alton Gilbert.

Captain Gilbert has shown a keen insight into the leadership qualities of Admiral McCain. He also captures the complex interrelationship between Admiral McCain and his contemporary Naval commanders during World War II.
Clyde T. Turner Jr.

An excellent story of one of the senior commanders of the Navy in the Pacific during World War II. It also covers a lot of the interplay between the admirals as Admiral King selected men for high command positions.

This book is a lot more forgiving of King than a lot of recent history that talks instead about his refusal to institute convoys along the American coast and left it open for U-boats. Cain was a King man. He knew, worked with, supported, and in turn was supported by King.

Cain also appears to have been a supurb commander, and to have instituted a great set of attributes in his children and even grandchildren. This is particularily interesting as Cain III appears to be making a decision about running for Congress.

One of the best, most thorough short books out there on the subject -- easy to tote around, concise, yet readable and even enjoyable. As the previous reviewer mentioned, the stinging arthros are skipped out on, but if that's important to you, your best bet might be downloading the notes pages from the University of California's course pages website (I'd recommend, honestly, snagging all of their pages from their micro and parasitology departments -- these are GOOD notes and videos, priceless and yet price-less), and/or snagging a copy of the appropriate (and it will be longer) chapter on subject same from "Medical and Veterinary Entomology" (which is probably my 5-star GET THIS IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT text/reference and all-around reader on the subject. It's thorough, it's got good pictorial coverage, and it's incredibly readable -- but expensive (worth it, but what good is that if you can't afford it -- and you'll RARELY (read: probably NEVER) find a cheap used copy on here or anywhere).

As for this particular (short, handy, soft-cover and light) book: Note well that if you're taking an undergrad course in med (and maybe also vet) parasitology with entomology, this book is the most often used book in my experience. It can be well-supplemented (especially in the graphics section, which is admittedly poor, save for the very helpful line drawings and graphs) by John T. Sullivan's "Electronic Atlas of Parasitology" CD (currently in Version 2.02 (as far as I know), available from the author who is a professor at UC-San Francisco, via ebay, and possibly also via Amazon, for somewhere around $12-15).

All in all, I thoroughly recommend this book, ESPECIALLY for anybody reviewing for exams or finals, where it truly shines for its concision and well-thought-out format. If you've got labs (and especially if you have a lot of lab quizzes), this book will only get you so far in preparation for that portion of your education (for eg, while you might find descriptions of differentiating culex from aedes, the pictures themselves are pretty much necessary, take my word) -- do do the extra work and obtain something with good pictorial (color is preferable but not necessary) views... even if it is a book specifically on field entomology & identification, or in combination with that CD (more helpful with the parasitology portion, to be honest).

This paperback volume is a bit pricey but worth it for the information contained. Line drawings accompany and compliment the text. This book is very much up-to-date. Two shortcomings kept it from a 5 star rating: the bees & wasps are not included, and the addition of some color plates would have been most helpful.

I found this book useful. It contains a lot of information on arthropods of medical importance and is detailed on each aspect. It is divided into sizeable sections relating to e.g. specific diseases and I found it a bit wordy and took a little time to negotiate to the information I required. It contains some good diagrams and references to other sources.

One of the better text books I have seen- it does not put me to sleep, and is informative.
The book is organized by arbopathogen rather than vector. It does focus on the vectorial aspects of disease transmission and pathogen life cycle. The writing is not so clinical that non-physicians can't understand what is being discussed. All in all, this is a good book to add to a personal research library.

Graham McFee has written a tremendous book on the aesthetics of dance. His discussion goes on for roughly 350 pages yet rarely becomes repetitive or obtuse. Much has been written on the aesthetics of many other art forms both high and low--music, painting, and architecture, for instance--even though most of us freely acknowledge that what makes these art forms wonderous and human is impossible to explain in plain language. Why are we moved by melody, drawn in my a painting, or surprised by a great building? It's possible to discuss these questions but not to pin down the answers. The wonderful thing is how these discussions become more pleasurable rather than less so because they have no definite end.

In this vein, McFee's lengthy book on the aesthetics of dance is not conclusive. Yet while McFee never pins down exactly why humans dance and enjoy watching others dance, he firmly nails down components of the answer that enrich and enliven thought and discussion on the subject of dance.

"Understanding Dance" is not a practical guide to how to watch and quantify particular dance performances. There is no glossary, and you won't find a chart explaining the differences between jazz, tap, modern, and ballet dance styles. Still, its unique approach makes it a worthwhile and memorable read both for people deep in the world of dance and also for people just getting their feet wet. Rather than being full of jargon and dancing fundamentals, this book takes a broad and high approach to the subject of dance. You won't learn the difference between a pirouette and a grand jeté, but you will understand much more deeply why it is so pleasurable and inspiring to watch a ballet troupe (or any group of dancers) perform.

". . . one of a very few comprehensive studies of dance by a serious philosopher, and he explores a wide range of important philosophical issues, from the identity of works of art in dance to the nature of crtitical reasoning." -- from my review for the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 51 (Fall 1993), pp. 644-666.

If you're a long-haul heavy equipment driver and want to know where those inspection and weigh stations are located along the interstates, this is definitely for you. Need quick info on how to mark your rig for hazmat? Need restricted clearance locations? Want to listen to a "clear channel" AM radio station as you drive down the highway at 3AM? This atlas has all this and more. Some of the information in this atlas won't apply to the casual driver heading across country on a vacation trip, but the maps are well marked and detailed enough to still be useful. Definitely worth the money.

This is the best version of the popluar Rand McNally atlases. The plasticized pages are nearly indestructable and the detail is great. All major city maps are large enough to read even small details. I recommend this atlas to anyone who is travelling over the road.

Mark Stille's US NAVY AIRCRAFT CARRIERS 1942-45 tells of the US Navy's principal weapon against Japan during the Pacific War, following forces, battles, and including artwork detailing ship interior and exterior features. From ship origins to design and construction, NAVY AIRCRAFT CARRIERS provides an excellent survey important for any collection strong in Navy weaponry.

An adequate overview of the Essex and Independence class carriers. I was hoping for a little more depth since my father flew off of CV17 in Air Group 8. But worth the price.

.. i didn't like the way it's organized. for each major navy (US,UK and Japan), the author writes the story of the evolution of its own carrier project. so the reader goes into the 20s, the 30s and the 40s three times. i'd have probably liked a more time-based approach, maybe with sidebars or other ways of diving into each navy peculiarities, instead.
anyway, the book is very interesting and explains very well the trial and error process that generated the carriers that fought WWII. i'd like to read a follow-up to this book, going from 1945 to present time.

This author is an acknowledged expert on Ships - especially naval ships and this is one of his best works. It tells the complete story of the Aircraft Carrier from their humble origins in WW1 right up to 1979.

Using some incredible historic photographs - many of which I had not previously seen, this book would have scored the full 5 Star rating had it not been 25 years out of date. Nevertheless, there is still a lot to learn from this excellent work.

NM

This author is an acknowledged expert on Ships - especially naval ships and this is one of his best works. It tells the complete story of the Aircraft Carrier from their humble origins in WW1 right up to 1979.

Using some incredible historic photographs - many of which I had not previously seen, this book would have scored the full 5 Star rating had it not been 25 years out of date. Nevertheless, there is still a lot to learn from this excellent work.

NM

This author is an acknowledged expert on Ships - especially naval ships and this is one of his best works. It tells the complete story of the Aircraft Carrier from their humble origins in WW1 right up to 1979.

Using some incredible historic photographs - many of which I had not previously seen, this book would have scored the full 5 Star rating had it not been 25 years out of date. Nevertheless, there is still a lot to learn from this excellent work.

NM