Collins Books

1. Dispersion: Even original equipment manufacturers with captive technology are not immune from dispersion. NEC may develop a state-of-the art memory chip for its own mainframes, but it can sell five times the volume to other computer makers.
2. Partnerships: Nothing stays propriety for long and no player can master everything. Partnerships are key to spreading of technology.
3. Reducing fixed costs: To compete in global markets, companies have to incur and show find a way to defray - immense fixed costs. Automation has drive the cost of labor out of production and manufacturing has become a fixed cost activity. R&D has become a fixed cost. With globalization all major players in an industry are or may become direct competitors. You need your own people and your own labels too. That's fixed cost.
4. Brand: Brand name is a fixed cost. For many product, a brand name has no value if brand recognition falls below certain levels. You must spend enough money on brand promotion to realize "pull" benefits. With some products you can better use the same money to enhance commissions so that the sales force will push them.
5. Is IBM Japan an American or Japanese company? Its workforce is 20,000 Japanese, but its equity holders are American. IBM Japan has provided 3 times more tax revenue to the Japanese government than Fujitsu.
6. The Government's role. "People have become more informed and clever, as a real consequence of living in a truly global information era. And now governments have become the major obstacle for people to have the best and the cheapest from anywhere in the world." "What the energy crisis has taught us is that for a short term the `have' nations can create a supply shortage if they gang up. However, over a longer period of time, alternative supplies develop and the economic principles of supply and demand prevail." "Having an abundance of resources has truly slowed down a country's development, because bureaucrats there still think that money could solve all problems". "The key to success is shifting the focus from resources to marketplace." "The government's role, then, is to ensure that its people have a good life by ensuring stable access to the best and cheapest goods and services from anywhere in the world, not to protect certain industries and certain clusters of people." "Every time governments try to protect resources, markets, industries, and jobs, they cost the taxpayers dearly." "Government officials exercise power by regulating and deregulating the market, but their new role is to assume a backseat, not the driver's position, and to make sure that their country is benefiting fully from the best-performing corporation corporations and producers in the world, at the lowest possible cost to their people on a long-term basis"
7. Service Sector. In the US the service sector represents 70 percent of the work force; the cost of manufacturing is about 25 percent of the end user cost; the leading edge producers have all but eliminated simple labor from production and use robots; value chain produces high quality and cheap products in a globally interlinked economies; the most value added is in the marketplace; governmental preoccupation with production forces them to hang onto old and incompatible industries, disserving the customer and the taxpayer.
8. Equidistance: Japanese engineers working for different companies in Kyushu, a small island only 100 km away from South Korea would cat a late flight on Friday evenings to South Korea, work privately for S Korean semiconductor companies; this was illegal and violated employment agreements; the exchange of knowledge made semiconductor design methods and software similar through out the world. The Japanese learned to tailor products to local market interest, needs, and preferences rather than create a global product. Companies that are globally successful in white goods focus on close interactions with individual users; where as those that prosper with equipment installation focus on interactions with designers, engineers, and trade unions.
9. Customer oriented Strategies: Japanese auto companies are caught between a low cost producer, Hyundai and a high-end producer, Mercedes or BMW. Korea's Hyundai, Samsung, and Lucky Goldstar produces high volume products, half of what it costs the Japanese. The Japanese are caught in the middle. If you're a Japanese leader, what do you do? First, dramatically reduce the content of labor in production and push towards full automation. Examples are Nikon Seiko, Mazak Machinery, and Fujitsu Fanuc. The second way out of the squeeze is to move upmarketet toward higher margin products. Corporate culture and price cutting instincts will work against the move, as low-cost marketing games feel comfortable and predictable. Sometimes getting back to strategy means getting back to a deep understanding of what a product is about. Basics of sound management means looking closely at the customer needs, thinking deeply about a product.
10. Demand: Do more better. Create a second demand boosting market is the key. "If your goal is to beat the competition, you win by narrowing your field of vision and doing more better". "But why do companies stick with such devotion to a course that is obviously self-destructive?": Subborness, intensive rivalry, companyism, inescapable defeat or retreat phobias, nationalism, correction action did not occur because the situation did not become painful enough, and consensus from the group they were doing the right thing. "Companyism get much of its strength from this consensus-building mechanism". All must suffer visible before corrective action will occur. "Maintaining the customer relationship through good service is now the key to success". Measurement counts. Measure the powerful and often invisible influences on what you think and do.

Kenichi Ohmae, argues that borders and nation states are becoming irrelevant and explains that a "fundamental paradigm shift has occurred that is changing the way business is being done...[and that the majority of us] are still operating under the old rules. Ohmae predicts that nation states will become obsolete as their sole job will be to facilitate a comfortable environment for global companies serving the ever more educated consumer in the Inter Linked Economy.

At the business level, most of Ohmae's reasoning seem sound, and is based on basic economic principles such as economies of scale and the bargaining power a global corporation might realize etc. What may be most controversial in his book are Ohmae's views on globalization. In most ways Ohmae's view is utopian.

Ultimately Ohmae left me unconvinced in regard to his view on the speed, the benefits, and even the best methods of dealing with the ILE/globalization.

Two other good books dealing with these topics in interesting ways are Lindblom's "The Market System", and also to some degree Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations".

Tom Anderson
Anderson Analytics, LLC

Great Book!, one of Ohmae's best book. Read it, and you will understand why this world would getting smaller and smaller everyday. In this globalized economy, every single nation could take an advantage from it, no matter how poor it is, because we believe everyone in this world has a spesific competencies and capabilities to increasing their own wealth quality. See how the business organizations around the world develop their competencies and capabilities and take profit from "interlinked economy", and create something called "win-win solution", something that almost impossible if we talk that in the past paradigm.

This tilte can give us the great idea how to successfully live in the coming 21th century. After finishing this title, you can say he is one of the best auther about business.

Dr. Ohmae reveals the fundamental driving forces of the world in the new era. With his astute logic based upon numerous cases, he delineates how wealth can be created both on corporation bases and also on nation bases. No wonder Prime Minister of Malaysia invited Dr. Ohmae as an economic advisor for the nation. So far his logics have been proven to be the realities of the today's world. Some may call him a visonary, but I think what he says in this book is not the outcome of his dubious imaginations. It has been some time since this book came out, and not only we have witnessed some of the phnomena he discussed and foretold, but also now we can catch ourselves using the terminology, "borderless world", or "borderless economy" while thinking about the world. This "BORDERLESS" is one of words he made commonly used in our lives, if not he is the one who coined the word.

I was a political science major in college in the United States. I! tried hard to understand the logic of the world while studying hegemonies of various nations. However, I can tell that this book was the most powerful book for me to understand the world, not all the thick textbooks or ugly notes from the boring lectures.

So, why don't you give it a try and order this phenomenal book with Amazon!

Thank you very much, Dr. Ohmae & Amazon.

Minoru Nadai, alias NORM

Bring Out The Best -- In Your Child And Yourself is a wonderful exploration of emotionally responsible parenting. There are many texts out there with some terrific techniques and methodologies aimed at helping your child learn to behave or otherwise acclimate to the adult world. This book takes the issue one step farther. Dr. Val-Essen helps us parents examine how we can get in the way of a meaningful relationship with our own children. In simple language and with lots of real-world examples she helps us learn more about ourselves and therefor more about growing closer to our children. With this book as a guide I've been able to step out of the way and allow my children more room to grow into themselves in their own unique way. I highly recommend Bring Out The Best -- In Your Child And Yourself and it's philosophy, not to mention the great illustrations!

This book came very highly recommended by a teacher of a parenting class. I purchased it because I am a classroom elementary school teacher and because my brother needed some quality parenting tips. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN!!! When I recommend this book, I don't recommend it to parents exclusively. It is more about fostering relationships and helping people to achieve their highest potentials. It deserves a wide readership and is not limited to interactions with children. To me, this book is a whole philosophy of life (as in the quotations it includes from Mandella and Goethe)and has applications far beyond building family relationships. It addresses all meaningful interactions and relations with others. It is a book about building trusting relationships and has a wonderful philosophy of life.

I was fortunate enough to find this book during a most difficult time in the life of my (then) 15 year old daughter. She was one of those children that challenged every family structure and desire for peaceful coexistence. The love was unquestioned, but the pain we were experiencing was also profound. Through this book, I learned to reframe the difficulties and experiences -- and have more emotional distance so that I could truly be an effective parent for my daughter. It was a long and gradual road but today I am very grateful to report that my daughter and I are VERY close and she is building a healthy and happy life for herself. We both thank Dr. Val Essen for her significant contributions to our family relationships.

Dr. Val-Essen's book has been a life-saver for our family! Application of her easy-to-understand, intuitive techniques yielded significant results with our four-year-old son within six weeks. More to the point, the book taught us many things about ourselves that we were overlooking, but that our child obviously was not. Once the book showed us how to see things about ourselves from his perspective more clearly, the rest of our parenting work became a joy rather than a burden. Our household is now back on track and our family interactions are increasingly refreshing and enjoyable for each of us. Thank you Ilene! A number of our friends with whom we have shared even a fraction of Dr. Val-Essen's ideas have experienced positive results as well. We highly recommend this book to parents with children of any age.

As a therapist and a parent, I am continually searching for the ultimate parenting book that I feel comfortable recommending to clients because it has worked for my family. I have found that book in "Bring out the Best." It's more than just a handbook of practical parenting skills, it presents a complete parenting philosophy that is respectful, insightful, forgiving and non-shaming. The beauty of the book is that it is simultaneously individual and universal. Rather than dishing out cookie-cutter parenting skills, Dr. Val-Essen asks the reader to explore the ideal parent that you would like to be and leads you through the process of making that dream a reality. After reading this book, I have developed a new level of respect for my children. I see them more clearly as seperate individuals. I have learned to recognize their unique strengths and to work with them rather than againzst them. In a sense, I have fallen in love with my children all over again. These new insights, coupled with Dr. Val-Essens's emphasis on assertion skills, has helped transform our family. We communicate more openly, enjoy each other more genuinely, and the level of cooperation in our home has risen dramatically. Parenting is not only the most difficult job anyone will ever undertake, it is also the most humbling. Dr. Val-Essen's book gently guides the reader through this process with honesty and compassion. As a result, I feel more confident in my abilities as a parent and my children reap the benefits. What could be better? I highly recommend this book.

Plumb tells the tale of the four Hanoverian 'Georges' who seem to progress generation to generation in the direction of complete nuttiness. The climax however is in George III , the old villain of American schoolbooks. Plumb says he was extremely slow of mind, and the first twenty years of his reign a complete disaster. Thanks to the foolish advice of Lord North who is portrayed as a somewhat sloth rolypoly George III managed to antagonize and lose his American colonies. The last twenty years of his reign were however much more successful. Plumb artfully describes how the brilliant Lord Pitt at twenty- four became the King's First Minister and brought about peace with both America and France. This despite the fact that George III one day began to speak to a tree , spoke to it twenty- four hours without stop and after this was pretty much not 'in the loop of decision- making'.
The relations between the various Georges and the various Princes of Wales were most often horrible. George III could not stand his father, and his son. What is somehow surprising is that despite the eccentricities of the monarchs Great Britain continued to grow and develop its Empire.
Plumb has a clear vision of the story as a whole, writes with interest about the various figures, Robert Walpole, Lord Chatham, Lord North, Pitt et al. who served the various kings. A highly enjoyable piece of historical writing.

This classic of historical writing and interpretation was first published in 1956, and it's still the best single volume on the Hanoverian dynasty. Taylor trained under G. M. Trevelyan, another noteworthy narrator of history, and became an illustrious Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. While he produced many important works in modern English history, he still is best known for his examination of the dynasty that began with the arrival in London 1714 of George, Duke of Brunswick, successor to Queen Anne, the last Stewart monarch. He didn't speak English and his son and successor, George II, barely could. The family has gotten bad press for generations, their reputation for loutishness and general lack of intellect perhaps being colored by American attitudes, but Plumb portrays them convincingly as ordinary human beings caught up in a series of exceptional circumstances: The rise of parliamentary power, the loss of the American colonies below Canada, the Industrial Revolution, the effects everywhere of the French Revolution, and the struggle against Napoleon. Like many others, I first read this book as an undergraduate, but I now much prefer the 1974 lavishly illustrated Hamlyn edition [which Amazon doesn't list]; the numerous political cartoons are especially useful in providing the flavor of the times.

This is by far the best book that i have read in a long time. Most history books are boring but this one is anything but. Plumb goes to great details explaining the relationship that each King shared with his son. He does a wonderful job of giving his readers a rare insight to the royal family.

Fluent, lucid and written with Plumb's characteristic brevity, this is among the best introductions you will find to the high politics of the Hanoverian period. Sir John Plumb (d.2001) was one of the finest historical writers ever published in English. He is in the tradition of Macaulay and Trevelyan. His prose is polished and perfectly cadenced, and his light style masks a profound analytical grasp of the political forces that shaped this century of Whig ascendancy. Some may accuse him of adhering to the 'Great Men' school of history. If so, he highlights all their vices as well as their virtues.

Plumb was criticised for more often making the grand sweep of historical analysis as opposed to dredging through the minutiae of historical documentation. This analysis, I believe, is flawed and inimical to the notion that for history to be worthy of the name it should be readable for a wider audience, not solely confined to the institutions where it is nurtured.

Plumb's scholarship has inspired generations of laymen; his intellectual generosity and didactic rigour has also reaped its rewards within historical departments on both sides of the Atlantic. Those inspired by the Plumb school of history, who mastered their craft under his watchful eye at Christ's College, Cambridge, include such well known names as Simon Schama, David Cannadine, Niall Ferguson and Neil Mc Kendrick.

Published in 1956, this work by Sir John Plumb has remained a classic. Plumb focuses his attention on personalities and politics of the first four members of the Hanoverian dynasty. He paints a balanced portrait of his subjects, bringing them to life, warts and all. These monarchs are fallible human beings, placed on their thrones by accident of birth. Plumb is especially judicious in his handling of George IV, who as Regent and King was viciously derided in his own time.
Plumb's treatment of the monarchs is supplemented with deft character sketches of many of the significant figures of the Georgian century; Walpole, Pitt, Wilkes, Fox, and North are among the figures included.
In his introduction, Plumb takes the reader on a survey of the world over which these sovereigns presided. This is history practiced in the manner perfected by G.M. Trevelyan; continuity co-exists with change, and the dynasty survives despite mistakes and scandals. Published when the influence of Sir Lewis Namier was at its height, The First Four Georges provided a refreshing antidote to the atomizing analysis of the Namier school. A fascinating and hugely enjoyable read.

This book was given to me by a friend who knew I was having problems in my relationship. Although I doubt I'd have ever thought I needed this book, I read it and gained some great insights into the issues I was having. I can't say the book solved my problems for me - but it did help me work out the problems on my own. The ideas presented were clear, logical and helpful. I was able to see things in a different way. With a more clear view I was able to work on problems on many levels, logical, spiritual, emotional, etc. All in all the book was a very useful tool that I'd recommend to others!

What a great Read! Even for us Single People! A wonderful book that reflects the equal partnership needs and responsibilities within any relationship. Hearing from the authors in the "she speaks" sections, gave personal insight to good healthy realtionships and lessons learned. Mistakes are viewed as opportunties for clarity and personal responsibility without the Flogging of Shame we impose on ourselves ( ackowledge it and do something about it). Can be incorporated into any realtionship. Hope to see more from these two!

I loved the material in this book because it combined pagan philosophies with clear psychological/counseling information in regards to creating and maintaing healthy relationships...no matter what form they come in!
There were no assumptions as to the knowledge of the reader (whether they were pagan or otherwise), no assumptions as to what "type" of relationship a person might be in, and the material was not worded in a "dumbed down" manner, thus enabling everyone to gain insight from the material.
The material in this book can be utilized by counselor and lay-person without needing a "primer course" or pre-requisite of any kind. The material is thoughtful, practical and applicable, offering other options for those who desire such (the tarot readings at the rear of book).
I now have "names" for certain dynamics that regularly occur within relationships, and that allows for clearer understanding of alternatives and options concerning actions one takes in order to destroy or encourage a relationship.

Thank you ladies for offering everyone a chance to see more clearly. Blessings!

What I love about this book is that it encourages you to focus on YOU in improving your relationship. Collins, a therapist, and Raeburn (author of "Celtic Wicca") offer a flexible yet challenging template for the work of committed partnership. This book is specifically inclusive of same-sex relationships and various forms of polyamory, but its advice is useful to all. Tools like Tarot and ancient mythology are combined with solid technical information. I found something on almost every page to challenge me to become a better partner.

Cynthia Jane Collins is a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and a practicing Wiccan for thirty years. She also holds a Master's of Divinity and an M.S. in counseling. Jane Raeburn is a columnist, author, editor and website producer. These authors have team up to produce a wonderful book on working relationships on the spiritual path of Wicca.

The book is based on five principles: Equality, Consensus, Honesty, Giving and Receiving and Balance. While it would be obvious that these principles should be the basis of any good relationship, we sometimes overlook the obvious. Ms. Collins and Ms. Raeburn walk you through these points, using excellent examples and discussion as well as common sense and professional counseling techniques. Each author contributes insights and advice in each of the situations encountered.

Techniques and tools such as meditation, tarot cards and spell work are also used, making this a work of magic as well. Spirituality and Deity come into focus as relationships are worked out on many different levels.

I found the book well written and researched. The advice is professional as well as practical. The examples cover a variety of situation that couples might encounter. While this book can not cover all examples of relationship problems it covers the more common stumbling blocks and offers good solid advice, as well as ways to initiate changes and work towards solutions.

There is a good resource section in the back of the book and the book is indexed for easy reference. The content of the book is not restricted to heterosexual couples and can be used in any couple situation. While Wicca is the spiritual focus, it is not just about Wiccan couples and provides a variety of faith situations. So as a reference book, it is not limited in the scope of its material.

I would recommend this book for those who are looking to enhance their relationship as well as any professional counselor who deals with couples in relationships. This is also good for those who want to explore adding or expanding the spiritual path of Wicca to their relationship or counselors who have Wiccan couples as clients.

There are times and situations which call for more than this book can offer. But this book offers valuable basic real life experience and professional insight into working, growing relationships.

Great book to show the overview of the cat world. Gives the history, talks about shows, points, and breeds of cats. If you are getting into showing cats this books is for you.

a very informative book for the cat lover, with bright color pictures, discriptions of temperment , hair color of each cat. a very good book to have on hand.

My family consists of 4 members which includes our baby girl, a 3 and a half year old persian. I have been on a hunt for reading material that best describes the feline nature, behavior, needs and healthcare and I have finally found that in this book. After reading other cat care books I feel this one has a lot of fact not opinion. I would highly recommend this book whether you have a pedigree cat or not.

The book is excellent and a good source for reference regarding breeds. I also found the health information section quite informative, and would recommend it to anyone with any kind of cat.

After a disasterous false start with the "Encyclopedia", which was simply an outdated, mediocre European book with the CFA logo sloppily applied to it, the Cat Fanciers' Association's ambitious project to present the world of pedigreed cats to the public is finally here. The sections on the different cat breeds are written by actual experts on the breeds: CFA breed council secretaries. The section on feline health, written by one of the world's foremost "cat breeder vets", Dr. Susan Little, makes this book an indispensible part of any cat lover's library. With so much dated feline health information currently on bookshelves, it is refreshing to see this section reflect the cutting edge of feline medicine. Those with cats of less prestigious heritage than the National Award Winning pedigreed cats pictured in full-color generously throughout the book will find this volume valuable for the section on feline health alone.

Congratulations, CFA, on a job well done!

This book is beautifully written and the story is powerfully, artfully told. Alex Prud'homme's eye for telling details and anecdotes brings to life all of the egos, greed, outsized appetites, and fat wallets that intersected in Sam Waksal and Martha Stewart's world. I couldn't put it down.

This fascinating story has appeared just as the Martha Stewart trial is getting underway. The book is crammed full of details not only concerning the principal characters, but also cancer treatments and the burgeoning world of biotechnology. Sam Waksal comes across as a mercurial salesman with no true sense of right or wrong, a classic striver seeking recognition and aspiring to great wealth, but also dissing the hopes of many with cancer. It's a good read -- fast-paced, up-to-date and accurate. If you really want to know why Waksal is in jail for seven years and how Martha Stewart became involved with his world, read this amazing and well-researched tale.

This is about the Cancer Game, which might be seen as a part of the Cancer Industry, a kind of bizarre and ghoulish phenomenon of modern times that exists precisely because there is no cure for cancer. Indeed, Alex Prud'homme, who is a gifted researcher and prose stylist, whose work has appeared in such prestigious journals as The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, etc., might very well have called his book "The Cancer Game." I wonder why he didn't. Would such a title have offended those who play the game?

It is specifically about the rise and fall of one Sam Waksal, oldest son of Jewish emigrants and Holocaust survivors, a man of irresistible charm, fabulous energy, and great intelligence, a man driven to success and the high life, a man who had bounced around academia without much success until in the 1980s he saw an opportunity to become a player in the cancer game, and, along with his younger brother Harlan, founded ImClone Systems, Inc.

It is also about an anticancer drug called Erbitux, originally known as C225 because it was the 225th drug tested by its discoverers, John Mendelsohn and Gordon Sato in 1980. It showed promise because in tests it stopped the growth of tumors in mice.

And finally it is a story about how drugs get discovered, how they are developed, and especially how they get approved (or not) by the Food and Drug Administration. And of course it is about the Byzantine and incestuous relationship that exists between that August government agency and the massive pharmaceutical industry.

The curious thing about all this is that Imclone never turned a profit, Erbitux never came to market, and most of the people associated with Waksal and ImClone either made out like bandits or got stuck holding the bag. The drug itself, which works against cancer tumors, particularly colon cancer, by cutting off the blood supply to the tumors (an "antiangiogenesis" drug), was touted as a miracle that would save the lives of innumerable patients and make possibly billions of dollars for ImClone.

At least this was the hype delivered by Sam Waksal, and bought hook, line and sinker by pharma giant Bristol-Myers Squibb, and by desperate cancer patients as well as salivating Wall Street investors who jumped on the bandwagon as ImClone's stock rocketed skyward. Because of the promise of the drug, Waksal himself was able to live his dream life as a New York socialite, throwing lavish parties for celebs (including Martha Stewart while he dated her daughter), collecting fine art, popping open $600 bottles of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild while secretly selling stock on the side, sending the proceeds overseas, buying expensive apartments and houses for himself, etc., etc.

But the cold hard facts of Erbitux, like those of almost any cancer drug one can name, are very far from the hype. As Prud'homme notes on pages 332-333, "these agents...[Erbitux and others like Avastin and Iressa] are remarkable scientific advances, [but] they still only benefit some 10 to 20 percent of patients, and they only extend patients' lives by a matter of months."

That's it. That's the bottom line. And yet these drugs are so valuable that the companies that end up selling them can make hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars.

Waksal apparently came to this understanding sometime during the early eighties. He realized first the simple fact that the way the cancer industry works is doctors have to prescribe something rather than nothing. Then he realized that living a few months longer can mean a lot to people. Therefore any FDA-approved cancer drug will automatically fill a need. What this means is that the PROMISE of a cancer drug, if cleverly promoted, will spark a rally in the shares of the company that owns the patent. If, like Sam Waksal, you own millions of those shares, you can get rich on mere promise alone.

Furthermore, should the drug have any real value at all, and be approved (or even look like it's going to be approved) by the FDA, you might be able to get some pharmaceutical giant like Bristol-Myers Squibb to front a whole lot of money on that promise since they are desperate to find a cancer drug to replace those that have gone generic.

This works because even drugs with very limited effectiveness are better than no drug at all. This is true for many patients, for many doctors, and is especially true for the big pharmaceutical companies.

Note that these drugs are valuable because the people who need them are typically people of relative means who can afford to pay large sums of money for them, either through their HMOs, their government, or their own funds. In contrast a drug that would prolong the life of poor people in third world countries would be of only marginal value to the big pharmaceutical companies.

I should also mention that Prud'homme spends some serious ink in this book on Waksal's long-time friend Martha Stewart and her troubles. Her personality, her empire, and the way she handles herself are vividly detailed. In fact, some readers might find her story the most interesting part of the book.

This book is a fine character study of an amazingly talented man whose endless need to gratify his own appetites and emotional needs led him to careless and even cruel behavior. There is no denying the great talent of Sam Waksal, but to this day he doesn't seem to understand that his talent and accomplishments do not provide a license to indulge himself at other's expense.

It is amazingly sad that all of this misery was so pointless because Erbitux has at last been approved. It almost certainly could have been approved earlier if the talented team at ImClone would have had a culture of discipline and getting things done and documented in ways that everyone knew the FDA required. If they had, all this pain and loss would never have occurred and Dr. Waksal would be a real hero instead of the one he only pretended to be.

Mr. Prud'homme writes with style and vitality. The book moves along well and has a great feel for keeping the story personal and emotionally accessible for the reader. We don't get overwhelmed with the scientific side of things, although it is always interesting to read about this emerging science and the wizards who are making it happen.

I could hardly put this book down. Never mind the Martha Stewart trial, this is where the excitement and drama in the ImClone story lies.

Sam Waksal, a scientist and business developer with a checkered past, lives a celebrity lifestyle, hanging out with the rich and famous, owning several fancy houses, driving fast cars, and heading a firm that is working on a cancer drug so promising that people with no other hope of treatment are flinging themselves at ImClone, begging for a merciful dose of "Erbitux."

The drug apparently does reverse inoperable tumors in a few test patients who had no other hope of living. Now the race is on to fast-track the drug through the FDA approval process based on the glowing clinical trials. But the FDA reviewer is unaccountably unencouraging when meeting with one of ImClone's top scientists. What is wrong? Is Erbitux, instead of being approved , instead going have its application refused? Why! And what will this mean for the high-flying ImClone stock?

The book reads like the best thriller, and author Alex Prud'homme is adept at making you feel like the proverbial fly-on-the-wall during the action. If you are at all interested in what happened behind the Martha Stewart debacle, you must read this. It's fantastic.

Good introduction for kids of all ages to viruses, germs, the body's immune system and consequently, the importance of good hygiene.

My 3 1/2 year old son loves this book! I'm forced to read it to him every day, and he now tells me: 1. "Lymphocytes are the smartest cells and make antibodies that knock out the germs...I want to be an antibody!" 2."Macrophages are garbage collectors" 3. "Virus turn my cells into virus machines" 4. "Fibroblasts pull my cut together"

He is still a little confused about the whole "blast" part of the fibroblast...thinking that they should somehow makes something explode...

I read this book for the first time when I was 3 or 4 and adored it. I explained to all of my friends how vaccines worked (because after it knows about the threat your immune system can build an to fight the real virus). It has fun and accessible metaphors.

However, don't assume that this is just a kid's book! I'm now a medical student, and I find this book useful to explain immunology to my classmates and patients. It is full of accurate and detailed information.

I bought this book for my ten year old son. He read it through in one sitting. Actually, he reread it 3 times on the same day. The simple yet interesting text and excellent drawings captured his imagination. It kept him thirsting for more! He wants me to order all of Dr. Balkwill's books which I did. What an excellent way to introduce science to the uninitiated. I hope Dr. Balkwill will continue to write more of the series!

Cell Wars is a great way to introduce science. It is written in a straightforward manner using easy to understand vocabulary. It describes, in a fun manner, the way the human body fights off bacteria and viruses and tells why we get vaccinations. The illustrations are colorful and fun. The pictures and the story make it fun for both young children and grade school students

No two words are perfect synonyms. They come from different origins; they evoke different emotional images. Professor/Senator Hayakawa provides excellent guidance on how to choose between similar words. I read an earlier version of this book with a different title.

Look up a word. You will find a list of synonymns. You'll find a definition and correct useage guide for each of the synonyms. And, if the word has antonyms, you'll find those as well. This book is a must for students and writers.

This is a very good book on the choice of word when we are writing. I especially found it useful when I am writing on performance appraisal and recommendation for my subordinates. The book explain the meaning of each word among a group of words with similar meaning. You can just pick up the word exactly appropriate to describe a person or situation. I highly recommend this book to you if you also have the problems in choosing the right word while you are writing.

This book is a very helpful reference. If someone has writer's block, this book will get them moving forward again. It contains many frequently used (and some less frequently used) words and, unlike thesauruses, gives information about words/synonyms so that the most appropriate one can be discovered. The index in the back of the book helps to find the page the word is on. I have quite a few thesaurus-like books and this one I use most often.

Best book if you like to know the distinction of the words.

This is a very informative resource and reflects the many Church documents that mirror the teachings of the past 2000 years. It is topically organized and is a must for all who teach the Catholic faith and really a must for all Catholics and Protestants alike.

A truly indispesable collection of the "Magsiterium" -- the teachings of the Catholic Church in an easily accesible, annotated format. This needs to be on the shelf of every Catholic who wants to go to the next level of his/her faith.

What did the Council of Trent teach on the subject of justification? What does Humanae Vitae actually say about contraception? What are the earliest creeds (symbols of the faith) and how to they differ? How has the Church's teaching on the Eucharist been clarified through the centuries? How does John Paul II describe the proper relationship between faith and reason?

This tome, running nearly 1100 pages, is (-to steal from an old Army ad) "a great place to start" one's research into Church teachings. The entries are arranged thematically (-revelation and faith, Tradition and Scripture, the Triune God, the Church, sacraments, and so on) and the Index is good. (Not great, mind you, but good.) Several of JP II's encyclicals are included, so it's quite up to date. (The first edition of this work appeared in 1973; this, the Seventh Revised and Enlarged Edition, contains material as recent as 1999.)

The font is large enough for reading without eye-strain. (Many compendiums fail readers in this regard.) The margins provide breathing room for notes. The paper sucks highlighter yellow pale, but that's accepatable in such a large edition offered at a modest price.

One always wishes for longer excerpts from beloved documents, but the editors have done a matrerful job of providing an overview of the Church's authoritative teachings on the central aspects of the Catholic faith.

This book is a classic collection of documents relating to Catholic beliefs, morals, and practices from 100 AD until the present (including many writings of Pope John Paul II). The contents are mostly documents from Church Councils, creeds, Papal decrees, and various other sources of Catholic thought. The sections are: Symbols and Professions of Faith, Revelation and Faith, Tradition and Scripture, The Triune God, Humankind and the World, Original Justice and the Fall, Jesus Christ, Mary, The Church, The Church and Churches, The Church and World Religions, The Church and Missions, Christian Worship, the Sacraments, Baptism/Confirmation, the Eucharist, Reconciliation/Anointing, Order, Matrimony, the Life of Grace, Principles of Christian Life, The Social Doctrine of the Church, Sexual Order and Respect for Life, and Christian Fulfillment.

The documents are translated into modern English from the original languages, and occasionally have notes, which are always helpful. The introductions to each document provide a nice historical background, and often, a helpful summary of each document. Otherwise, the documents (which are arranged chronologically) are allowed to speak for themselves. I was impressed with the wisdom contained within. They speak for the biblical and historical faith in a clear way, effectively working within each culture, without capitulating to the culture. The social teaching documents are especially interesting in this way, and show a great balance between standing up for what the Church considers right, without forgetting that mercy is always freely available from Christ. I was particularly glad to see many documents relating to potential reunion of East and West, as well as dialogue between the Catholic Church and Protestant churches.

Now I need to explain why I only gave it four stars. The reason is the quality of the book itself. My first copy had dog-eared pages and the binding was strange and uneven, even though it came sealed in plastic from the factory. I sent that copy back thinking it was a defective book. My second copy, sealed as well, also had similar issues. One page was pretty creased, although I could make out the words affected by the creases. A few other pages look like they came out of the presses a little crooked. It is obviously a publishing issue, perhaps only with a certain print-run, but nonetheless a little annoying. However, the price is right and I can overlook this issue seeing how amazing the material inside is. Anybody who is Catholic or wants to know more about the Catholic Church should consider getting this book. While some of the information may seem a little theologically advanced at times, it is well worth diving into.

This is a must for the serious student of Christian theology and history. It contains the critical 'snippets' from counciliar and papal documents of the earliest times to today. The book has the Roman Catholic Church's official responses to problems; from the heresies we encountered in the Patristic Age, to the Reformation, to today's social justice issues. In both spirit and form, it is another Denzinger's Encheridion, except it is in English, not Latin and Greek. As a seminarian, it ranks a place next to the Bible and the Catechism; and as a priest-to-be, it will help solve all those really tough to answer questions!

O'Collins, Professor of Systematic and Fundamental Theology at the Gregorian University in Rome, has written yet another timely book on this central aspect of our faith. As C.C. Newman writes on the back cover:"O'Collins has produced a Christological accounting that is breathtaking in scope...[He] successfully balances the academic search for truth with practical concerns for justice and equality, all the while preserving the center of liturgical celebration...this book is steeped in, though not encumbered by, a thorough knowledge of all the problematic epistemological and hermeneutical issues. Carefully and lucidly written...this is mature book from a seasoned scholar on an important subject."

Contents include: 1:Some Major Challenges 2:The Background 3:The Human History 4:The Resurrection 5:The Son of God 6:Lord, Savior, God, and Spirit 7:To the First Council of Constantinople 8:Ephesus, Chalcedon, and Beyond 9:Medieval and Modern Christology 10:Divine and Human 11:Faith, Holiness, and Virgin Conception 12:Redeemer 13:Universal Redeemer 14:The Possibilities of Presence Bibliography, Index of Names, Biblical Index.

Other books of interest include: Trinity and Incarnation by Basil Studer, Incarnation-Myth or Fact? by Oskar Skarsaune, An Introduction to New Testament Christology by Raymond Brown, The Mystery of the Trinity by Boris Bobrinskoy, Trinitarian Theology East and West by Meyendorff and Fahey, The Gospel Image of Christ by Veselin Kesich. Enjoy!

Professor O'Collins offers us a clear presentation of one of the most central topics to an orthodox Christian faith - the diety and humanity of Christ. This systematic presentation is fairly easy to read and its presentation is understandable to clergy and layman alike.

The author attempts to answer fundemental christological questions such as: How could Jesus be totally man and totally God? How could he be sinless and yet exercise free human will? How can his role as universal savior be reconciled with other religions?

O'Collins takes us through the beliefs and arguments from the earliest Christians, the Councils of Constantinople, Ephesus and Chalcedon, the Middle Ages and present. Subjects include Christ's resurrection, virgin birth, sinless life, and his role as savior and redeemer.

Very well written and highly recommended.

O'Collins, Professor of Systematic and Fundamental Theology at the Gregorian University in Rome, has written yet another timely book on this central aspect of our faith. As C.C. Newman writes on the back cover: "O'Collins has produced a Christological accounting that is breathtaking in scope...[He] successfully balances the academic search for truth with practical concerns for justice and equality, all the while preserving the center of liturgical celebration...this book is steeped in, though not encumbered by, a thorough knowledge of all the problematic epistemological and hermeneutical issues. Carefully and lucidly written...this is mature book from a seasoned scholar on an important subject."

Contents include: 1:Some Major Challenges 2:The Background 3:The Human History 4:The Resurrection 5:The Son of God 6:Lord, Savior, God, and Spirit 7:To the First Council of Constantinople 8:Ephesus, Chalcedon, and Beyond 9:Medieval and Modern Christology 10:Divine and Human 11:Faith, Holiness, and Virgin Conception 12:Redeemer 13:Universal Redeemer 14:The Possibilities of Presence Bibliography, Index of Names, Biblical Index.

I would suggest also reading The God of the Gospel of John by Thompson to get a clear picture on how the Christiolgy of the Church is faithful to the witness of Sripture and not a corruption of it owing to radical hellinization.
Other books of interest include: Trinity and Incarnation by Basil Studer, Incarnation-Myth or Fact? by Oskar Skarsaune, An Introduction to New Testament Christology by Raymond Brown, The Mystery of the Trinity by Boris Bobrinskoy, Trinitarian Theology East and West by Meyendorff and Fahey, The Gospel Image of Christ by Veselin Kesich. Enjoy!

Gerald O'Collins' impeccable scholarship presents the reader with a critical view of 2,000 years of thought regarding Jesus, and draws conclusions that are both fresh and orthodox. He is particularly talented in clarity of expression, and of explaining how ideas of various great theologians were useful or were misinterpreted in light of later historical developments.

I personally read this work as one of many studies in Christology, and anyone pursuing graduate study in theology knows how ideas can begin to all sound alike when the volume is high. Though I was new to Gerald O'Collins work, I found it so absorbing and stimulating (amazing, when one is wading through volumes) that it opened new doors of consideration in my own pursuit.

Though O'Collins's presentation of doctrine could not offend the Grand Inquisitor himself, this is no stale "fidelity to the magisterium" approach - the explanations are detailed, often including original insights, and refute any ideas which O'Collins sees as spoiling the integration of Christology and spirituality in the life of the Church. Whether it is Macquarrie, Schilebeecx, or Thomas Aquinas with whom he has a point of disagreement, the reasoning is excellent, and, whether one holds the same viewpoint or not, one can only greet the result with a certain degree of awe.

Fr. O'Collins has written a helpfull introduction to Christology for both the beginning theology student and the inquisitive Christian who is interested in delving into Christian belief from a variety of perspectives- Biblical, Catechetical, Historical, etc. The book is well written and full of quotes and references. O'Collins is able to inform people and inspire a deeper understanding of Christian theology. This book is easy to reccomend to someone who is seriously interested in Christology.