Chang Books

Not precisely a story, or an essay, this book is a life caught in pages and images. The photographs are like thoughts, simple and multi-layered at the same time, full of details of color and texture; palpable. We long for honesty from our friends and neighbors - this is it. Each word is thoughtful, but not studied. She lets you in, to the center of a life. If you love the physical-ness of books, smooth pages, the smell, a nice compact size, print, lovely little flourishes at the end of chapters, you will hold this book often. Don't mistake me, it is not cloying, just satisfying. After all this, what is the book about? One woman's journey to Canada in the late 1960's to buy an old farm, and somehow fit into the local community and make a home and a life. That's it, but it's enough.

This is a good book. It contains many delightful drink ideas. Great book for people who like to entertain. Your guest will be surprised and delighted with the drinks you serve.

One of the striking things about Humanistic Buddhism is how similar its tenets are to Western religious teachings. As one reads about the sanctity and importance of "filial obedience" to one's parents or that "lusting after beautiful women and raping them" is the wrong approach to love, these notes of familiarity turn acute: The morality of East and West have more in common than we knew.

This, however, raises a serious question: What can Humanistic Buddhism offer the reader that, say, a reading of the Bible or a study of the Koran cannot? The book's subtitle, after all, is "A Blueprint for Life," which suggests that within its twenty chapters are contained step-by-step methodologies for living in our fractured, fear-fraught world. Here the book's accomplishments are uneven. One positive instance can be found in a chapter on good health; citations of the Visuddhimagga's eight reasons for why we fall ill or the six reasons mentioned in the Mohe Zhiguan are the kinds of philosophical statements unavailable in other religious texts.

At the same time, if one is new to Buddhism, citing such texts -- and there are lots of them discussed -- can be a frustrating experience. Indeed, citing this or that Sutra means very little if one does not possess a strong, basic working knowledge of Buddhism, and the more we read and get a taste of the philosophy, the more frustrated we become without a foundation of information to guide us. For this reason, it should be made clear that this is not a primer, despite the impression given by a smart subtitle. This book is more a smart and savvy secondary course guide for the already engaged.

Taken on these terms, the book is exceptionally thorough, and seventy pages of footnotes (plus a long glossary) affirm the book's scholarship.

Finally, two chapters particularly stand out. "On Cause and Effect: The Way of Depending Origination" is a spectacular exploration of the karmic notion -- how actions and reactions have less a positive or negative quality than an interlocking, inevitable one. And "On Life: The Way of Birth and Death" not only demystifies the cycle of existence, but does so by avoiding the use of too many technical terms, opting instead for meaningful metaphors and, perhaps best of all, plainspoken language.

Leonard Jacobs

Copyright ©2001 ForeWordreviews.com. All Rights Reserved.

If your children or even you just love the subject of prehistoric beings you definitely have to have this book. Do not let its size fool you, for in it, you not only ge t to read about every dino known to man, but also activities that children can engage themselves with their parents. The Humongous Book contains 3D pages through wich your child and yourselve can be transported to the Paleolithic times of these giants and what their view of Earth was to them during the time they walked on it. It is definitely a book to have for your children or even yourself if you caught dinomania!

The items arrived in better condition than described. This is one great seller, highly recommended, am very very pleased with this item!!!

Hybrid and Incompatible Finite Element Methods by Theodore H. H. Pian, Chang-Chun Wu (Modern Mechanics and Mathematics: Chapman & Hall/CRC) While the theory and application of finite element methods can be extended to incompatible, hybrid, and mixed element methods, important issues, such as determining the reliability of the solution of incompatible multivariable elements, along with a common perception of impracticality, have hindered the widespread implementation of these methods. Recent advances, however-many directly attributable to these authors-have allowed the development of the stability theory and abstract mathematics to useful tools.
Hybrid and Incompatible Finite Element Methods introduces these new advances in the theory and applications of incompatible and multivariable finite element methods. After an overview of the variation formulation of finite element methods in solid mechanics, the authors discuss the fundamental theory and systematically demonstrate the theoretical foundations of incompatible elements and their application to different problems in the theory of elasticity. They also introduce new ideas in the development of hybrid finite elements, study the numerical stability of the hybrid and mixed element, and establish the theory of zero energy deformation modes. The final chapters, explore applications to fracture problems, present a bound analysis for fracture parameters, and demonstrate an implementation of a finite element analysis program.
Features
Introduces the theory of incompatible and multivariable finite element methods
Reduces the theory and abstract mathematics into practical tools
Explores applications to problems in elasticity, plasticity, and fracture analysis Develops a finite element program in Fortran 90 for the linear elastic static analysis of plane stress, plane strain, axisymmetric, and 3-D solid problems, including plane problems with piezoelectricity
Theodore H.H. Pian is Professor Emeritus of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Chang-Chun Wu is a professor in the Department of Modern Mathematics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
The purpose of this book is to introduce the advancement of the theory and applications of incompatible and multivariable finite element methods. The majority of the content of this book is the result of the authors' research.
The theory and application of finite element methods are not limited to ordinary compatible displacement methods. The incompatible element, hybrid element, and mixed element, developed since the early 1960s have been central topics for engineers and mathematicians. However, one important issue in this area is to determine the reliability for the solution of the incompatible multivarible elements (that is, the uniqueness, convergence, and adoptivity to the computing environment). For example, the convergence problem of incompatible elements was resolved in the early 1970s, but until now there have not been any available equations for determining functions for incompatible elements. Another example is that many engineers and mathematicians consider the uniqueness of multivariable (B-B condition) too abstract and not practical. Thus, it is a very important task to reduce the numerical stability theory and abstract mathematics to a tool in mechanics.
Chapter 1 is an introduction of the variational formulation of finite element methods in solid mechanics. Chapters 2 through 6 discuss fundamental theories, systematically demonstrating the theoretical foundations of incompatible elements and their application to different typical problems in the theory of elasticity and plasticity. These chapters also introduce new ideas in the development of hybrid finite elements, and studies the numerical stability of the hybrid and mixed elements, establishing the theory of zero-energy deformation mode. Chapter 7 addresses the application to fracture problems, where a bound analysis for fracture parameters is presented. An implementation of a finite element analysis program is provided in Chapter 8.
Chapter 9 presents the application to the computational materials such as composite plates, piezoelectric materials, and bimaterial interface problems. The homoginization approach is also presented. In Chapter 10, a finite element program is completely presented, in which a series of advanced imcompatible elements and the hybrid ones are included.

The "I Can Say" series has colorful pictures that allow parents to focus on individual words or organize words to talk about familiar actions. Each picture is part of a simple story and helps pre-readers recognize words and their meaning. Because each page focuses on a single word, parents can choose to emphasize sounds or meanings. Though the books are recommended for "from 18 months upwards", any child that loves a bedtime story will find these books entrancing.

This book is enclosed in a box with six oracle sticks used to cast the hexagrams. The book contains everyhting about the ancient Chinese form of divination from the Cosmic Egg, to the forming of the Trigrams. Also with in depth explanations of the Trigrams and Hexagrams. With easy casting instructions and a small amount of practice, you will master the I Ching (pronounced "Eee Jeeng") in no time. Much easier than Tarot, Runes, etc. A must have!

I found this book extremely helpful in its presentation of the dynamics of psychological abuse, a much ignored phenomenon, and how women react to the abuse. How patriarchy contributes is addressed, and case studies make it an interesting read. Helpful for clinicians, researchers, and the public.

this book would make a fantastic gift for anyone that ever admits to themselves that they are afraid of something. with the quirky sketches and sometimes humorous fears, it is enough to lift a person's spirits--either by making them laugh at the sketches or letting them know that someone else out there is afraid, too. definitely worth giving to someone you care about or buying for yourself.