Freeman Books

The book has interesting visuals, set-up for taking notes, and covers a wide range of what is contained in the history and present of the study of the mind in relation to the body.
I think it will definitely help me in my entry-level Psychology course.

As an Intro Psych instructor, I reviewed dozens of psychology texts. Gray's "Psychology" is clearly the best.

First, because it is written by a single author, it maintains a consistent style and viewpoint throughout--that is, the application of evolutionary biology and cognitive science to the study of the mind and behavior. Consequently, he does not shy away from putting forward strong arguments where they are needed. On this, see especially his superb discussion of the fall of behaviorism and the rise of cognitivism.

Second, the author has a powerful command of several lines of important research, and he uses this to "smarten up" the text to make it *more* understandable. As an example, see particularly his discussions of the heritability of intelligence.

Third, the text is beautifully organized.

The text does, however, suffer from two small weaknesses: the discussion of self-esteem owes too much to James, with James' errors especially, and the discussion of mental health and happiness needlessly bore little imprint from the chapters on cognition.

Still, Gray produced a superlative volume.

If truth be told, I do not even like psychology, and feel contemt of some sort for it.I took it this semester to fulfill my humanity requirement.Nevertheless, I cannot deny that this book is wonderfully written, and it was a true pleasure reading it ! Peter Gray is obviously very fond of psychology, as well as of teaching it.It was much fun reading a book written so sensitively and with so much enthusiasm. I know many universities assign this book and am therefore surprised only one person reviewed it so far.

The first day of class my professor felt free to note that the text for her class was boring, in the opinion of some of her students. After reading it myself, I had to disagree. The text is one of the better ones I've read. I took AP Psych in high school and the text used there was boring. This textbook, however, presents Psychology in an interesting light. The first chapter, on the founders of Psychology is written so that you can actually make sense of it. Most cases studies of the guys like Freud, Wundt and the like proved to be boring for me, but not in this text. The authors also go out of thier way to make sure that you understand what you are reading through the questions that appear in the margins of the text. The book also features comics and interesting pictures relating to the subject matter. This book is not your typical "college text." I also recommend the study guide. It has self tests that you can use to study for the final.

I thought this text was great--it provides information in a very clear and well-explained manner for the student who has never taken a psychology course before. Gray proves he has a sense of humor as well, injecting funny lines every now and then. It provides a lot of pertinent information in an interesting manner, and covers everything from theories on development and society to cognition and neuroscience. After finishing my intro psych class I even found myself wishing I could still use the text for my other classes (in fact I still refer to it every now and then).

I was very pleased with the speed of the delivery and also the condition of the book.

Thanks

Dr. Bandura has written an excellent book for scholars, researchers, as well as the casual observer of human nature and behavior. It is comprehensive and well documented. He helps one understand why some people seem to get what they want and need out of life and others do not. I give it my highest recommendation.

Albert Bandura explores the self-system throughout lifespan. Self-regulation and perceived self-efficacy help people to adjust to realities of each life's stage, from early childhood till aging and preparation to death.
Perceived self-efficacy refers to beliefs in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments.
I have found this book very helpful and well structured. Bandura gives a broad hint to the reader, and offers answers to some of the most important and advanced issues that each of us encounters during life. The book stimulates a better awareness of humans' potentials, and encourages to rivisit our constructs.
Bandura's study on self-efficacy is supported by the citation of 47 pages of references. It is highly consistent and fascinating; and this book is an outstanding tool for improving our quality of life.

It's been over a decade since Albert Bandura's book "Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control" (hereafter SE) has been published. What's annoying is how little Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory seems to have permeated popular culture, despite the fact that there is an impressive amount of empirical evidence to support the explanatory linkages between "perceived self-efficacy" and human behavior, in particular, "performance attaintments".

(This review is not intended to be a comprehensive survey of SE. Instead, what I offer the reader is a brief but detailed explication of some of the major theoretical concepts of SE, emphasizing Bandura's explanatorily powerful notion of a self-efficacy BELIEF. Let me clarify what I mean by "explanatorily powerful". First, this concept has an impressive range of application to any domain of human life which can be thought of as an activity over which we exercise some (voluntary) control. In other words, self-efficacy beliefs can regarded as determinants, not of involuntary bodily movements, over which we (by def.) do not exercise any control, but over any domain which falls into the phenomena studied by philosophers of ACTION, namely, well, actions, doings, deeds. (Human actions can be understood as a sub-class of goal-oriented behavior--"sub-class" because not all goal-oriented behavior is subject to human choice or control, e.g., the biological processes of funtionally describable natural organisms are goal-directed).

For present purposes, it's enought to say that whereever, in whatever human contexts, or situations, or circumstances, it makes sense to think of there being an OPERATIVE CONTROL BELIEF, i.e., a belief that there ARE features of the context, situation, or circumstances, which are such that THEY ARE SUBJECT TO HUMAN CONTROL, there will ALSO be perceived (self) efficacy. Sports, health, interpersonal relationships, occupational activities, business relations, and scientific pursuits--all of these are domains in which people - you and I - have to perform, not as helpless spectatorial automatons, but as COGNITIVE AGENTS, capable of producing ACTIONS, i.e., of producing volunary behavioral performances in accord with standards which AFFECT the social (and natural) surround.

SE refers to the "self-efficacy" component of a larger theory which is called **Social Cognitive Theory**--"cognitive" because it holds that BELIEFS (i.e., cognitions) "mediate" (i.e., "determine," for simplicity's sake) affective (emotional) and somatic (i.e., physiological) states and behavior--"social" because psychological phenomena are determined by the structures (social and natural) which environ human beings. Bandura does not buy into the notion of a isolated, self-contained, private domain of "internal" phenomena which are causally out of reach from external, i.e., environmental influences. It follows from this, that to understand one's own psychological states, necessary reference to one's historical workplace, the current social structures in which one lives one's life must be taken into consideration.

In this context, it would be well to introduce probably THE most important general philosophical doctrine associated with SE. It is the doctrine which asserts a TRIAD OF RECIPROCAL CAUSALITY. People's internal reactions (personal cognitions, choices, emotions) produce behavior; since this behavior occurs IN THE ENVIRONMENT, it can alter it; So, personal (internal states) can determine behavior; behavior can determine the environment. But what about the people on the OTHER END of your behavior; the recipients, who have to adjust THEIR behavior because of those actions you introduce INTO THE ENVIRONMENT, and VICE VERSA. Other people's behavior (natural events notwithstanding) alter the environment, requiring YOU to adjust YOUR behavior; therefore, the environment determines (your) behavior; moreover, having to adjust YOUR behavior (e.g., having to exit a lane on the freeway because of incoming traffic), in relation to others can determine your personal reactions (e.g., you get angry or frustrated at certain cognitions because some motorist cut you off on the freeway.)

Performances of any kind in any given domain of human functioning, whether it be cognitive (e.g.., I Q test performance), social, occupational, recreational, or whatever are the result of two different classes of deterrminants - an abiility determinant, which most people recognize - and a "NON-ABILITY" determinant , which most people do not. According to Bandura, self-effficacy belief falls under the second class of derterminant of performance attainments. What is a self-efficacy belief? A self-efficacy belief is a belief concerning one's own capabilities, relative to a given domain of activity or human functioning. A self-efficacy belief can differ in a number of important respects, in strength and magnitude. The strength of one's self-efficacy is understood to be the degree to which one thinks that it is true; in other words, the strength of one's self-efficacy belief is the subjective certainty with which one holds that belief. (This is the phenomenon that people ordinarily call "confidence".)

The 'magnitude" of one's self-efficacy belief refers to what one thinks one is personally capable of accomplishing relative to a given domain of activity. Suppose I think I'm capable of playing chess pretty well. I do well at the public tables. But I don't think I can compete at the state, national, or international level. So, the magnitude of my performance which I can expect in the exercise of my personal "chess" capacities, in this case, is the level of performance in the game of chess. Assessments of magnitude depend on some ranking withing a continuum of performance attainments, against some implicit, or explicit standard of excellence. Self-efficacy beliefs reflects a self-assessment of (the state and current level) of my capabilities, which reflect social comparisons. However, in aspirational modelling, i.e., when you set out to be a dentist, or a ball player, or a pro analytic philosopher, or a Kant scholar, or , more exciting, an international gigilo, goal-setting is BY DEFINITION beyond the perimeters or horizons of de facto accomplishments. You don't aspire to be what you ALREADY ARE'; rather, you aspire to be that which you (currently) aren't. Therefore, the goal that you set for yourself is such that the evidcen you currently have on your capabilites to determine whether or not you can do this thang is going to FALL SHORT of confirming that you do. But if you only set goals to do what you've already done, you would never set an aspirational goal. So, since to set an aspirational goal means taht you set up a goal system (fior yourself) which is such that the goal is an accomplishment for which you have no DIRECT EVIDENCE that you can accomplish this goal, it's vitally important to your success, to voluntarily adopt a policy of "optimisitic" (as opposed to verdical, i.e, strictly accurate) self-appraisal. This confers all kinds of benefits, like warding of f disruptive affective and cognitive states, such as depression and anxiety (while you're on the aspirational course).. "In nonhazardous endeavors, veridical self-appraisal can be self-limiting." (Bandura, 1999).

This has been in the psychological literature for well over a decade, and is empirically well-documented. Some psychologists (e.g., Susan Harter), think that self-esteem derives from basically two sources, socially valued interpersonal relationships, and the developent of competencies invested with personal significance (sports, dating, cooking, academics or whatever). While (in Self-Efficacy), Bandura agrees that self-esteem may derive from either of these two founts, he (with an astuteness and compactness of expression I have come to expect of him) points out that self-esteem is NOT EQUIVALENT to self-efficacy: feelings of worthiness or unworthiness, how much you like yourself, are not the same thing as your belief that you are capable of performing well in a given domain. For example, say Bob is a great caricature artist, for example, but since he don't personally invest this domain of activity with much significance, that Bob is good at it doesn't really matter to him, in quite the same way that, say, being a good pro analytic philosopher DOES MATTER. THe point is that increases in perceived self-efficacy, relative to some domain of activity, do not necessary coincide with increased self-esteem.

To put illustrate the point more directly, take the film **A History of Violence**. The lead character, played by Viggo Mortensen, had a history of violence (as a former mobster). The mobster ("Joey") had high self-efficacy beliefs (both in intensity and magnitude) in the domain of "offing" people, i.e., murderous thuggery. But, as you find out, this is not a skill that increased Joey's self-esteem; on the conrary, "Joey" abandoned his thuggish life and its deleterious social associations in order to began a new (and secret) life elsewhere as a devoted (and non-violent, almost behaviorially meek) family man. (Sorry for the spoiler.) Point is, self-efficacy can be very high in a given domain, but it mayn't lead to high self-esteem; however, if self-esteem JUST IS self-efficacy, this would (by Leibniz's Law) be impossible. Since it's an empirical fact (thus, not impossible), self-esteem CANNOT BE the same THING as self-efficacy.

By distinguishing self-efficacy from self-esteem we can illumiante the latter by positing an explanatory linkage between the two: we could say that, the degree of self-esteem is determined by how well I perform at x-ifying, where x-ifying is a domain of activity I ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT (read: "identify with). Then, self-esteem isn't some epiphenomenal property that supervenes over your psyche, but rather something you can EXERCISE SOME CONTROL OVER. In increasing competencies in areas you care about, you can exercise control over your self-esteeem, i.e; your feelings of worthiness or unworthiness. And that is SWA-EEET. Finally, as a NON-ABILITY determinant of performance, optimistic self-appraisal can elevate your performance attainments, and therefore positiively affect your self-esteem levels.

So the question, then, is, do you have any control over whether or not you can adopt a policy of optimistic self-appraisal? Answer? Yes. You have "cognitive construal agency"--the ability to voluntarily adopt interpretations of life-events which are self-enhancing as opposed to ones which are self-belittling. Understandably, when one is operating under a negative construal bias, interpretations of one's circumstances which reflect an optimistic appraisal of one's capabilities (and thus of the outcome of one's efforts) may be not be so persuasive. This is where the "agency" in "cognitive construal agency" comes in. Bandura recognizes that people can exercise some control over their thought processes. They can exercise some control over their own internal "psychic environment." They can affirm positive construals of their capabilities which makes for a more optimal internal setting for their initial efforts at success.

This may require practice. Practice at cognitive construal agency involves generating self-referent thoughts (positive thoughts about yoruself) and keeping them ready-to-hand for immedate deployoment whenever you lapse into "negative rumination". The idea is not to waste time denouncing NSRTs, i.e., negative self-referent thoughts, but rather to REPLACE THESE with PSRTs, positive self-referent thoughts. Thought control efficacy can be expressed in either of two ways, by thought-suppression or by thought-replacement. Bandura acknowledges that in thought control, considered as thought-supppression, you run into a PARADOX of thought control: the very attempt to elimiate unwanted thoughts or cognitions from consciousness, is frustrated by the fact that, in order to NEGATE a NSRT (say, some propositions P = that you are fat, or not a good grad student, or whatever), you have to produce that very thought content in consciousness first, then denounce it. So, you can see how thought control, understood as thought suppression, is a cross-purposese with the aim of thought control (to eliminate unwanted thoughts or cognitions.)

By contrast, in thought control, understood as thought REPLACEMENT, you do not attempt to denounce every unwanted thought (i.e., cognition) that come your way. Instead, when NSRTs come your way, YOU CHANGE THE CHANNEL. That is, you DIVERT YOUR MIND FROM the NSRTs (in Kant's terminlogy you "abstract from" the NSRTs) and pay attention INSTEAD to other PSRTs (which, byt he way should not be contrued as some New Agey, pollyana life-is-a-bed-of-roses cognitions, but plausible optimistic cognitions). (Obviously, much more can be said about what THIS MEANS.) Suffice to say here, however, is that the "paradox of thought control" just described does not occur in thought control, considered as thought-replacement, because the procedure is not to target negative cognitions (in your attentional cross-hairs) for elimnation and denoucement. Rather, this happens indirectly by virtue of their being replaced by positive cognitions (by your having, so to speak, changed your mental channel). As I said, for those with dysfunctional self-evaluative systems, this will take practice, but the benefits are, well, nothing short of life-altering.

In this volume, Professor Bandura situates the self-efficacy construct within a theory of personal and collective agency that operates in concert with other sociocognitive factors in regulating human well-being and attainment. Bandura also addresses the major facets of agency - the nature and structure of self-efficacy beliefs, their origins and effects, the processes through which such self-beliefs operate, and the modes by which they can be created and strengthened. In addition, Bandura reviews a vast body of research on each of these aspects of agency in diverse applications of the theory. Must-reading for everyone interested in psychology and, specifically, self-efficacy beliefs.

A true friend unbosoms freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably. ~William Penn

Laura's life proves we can make it through almost any situation life tosses our way. Through the Rocky Road and into the Rainbow Sherbet is one of my favorite Laura Jensen Walker books. I found so much I could relate to and this particular book has some amazingly collectable quotes.

I did have to laugh when Laura explains how a scoop of French vanilla ice cream and chocolate cake helps to put a new perspective on situations. I admire her willingness to analyze her life and make the right decisions. She also keeps a lovely sense of humor in her marriage, although I think she defiantly married her soul mate.

With chapter titles like "It's my Parfait and I'll cry if I want to," we learn about Laura's life, her trials and her loves. There are little "scoops for thought" that present some collectible advice for future consideration.

This book is filled with quotes (I found 7 new ones I loved), stories of travel in Europe, childhood memories, insight, personal life experience and humor. The contents of Through the Rocky Road and into the Rainbow Sherbet melts together into a delicious read.

~The Rebecca Review

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite past-times was eating ice cream made the old-
fashioned way-hand-cranked by Daddy. He used only the finest ingredients like real cream,
sugar, and fresh strawberries. We were blissfully unaware of fat grams. Thank goodness
laughter isn't fattening, or I would be several sizes larger having devoured Through the Rocky
Road and Into the Rainbow Sherbert by quintessential Christian comedienne, Laura Jensen
Walker. She writes the old-fashioned way, using only the finest ingredients like humor,
creativity, and wit. But just as rock salt is necessary for congealing ice cream, Walker adds
generous scoops of pathos that pave life's rocky roads with depth and honesty. She openly
writes about pain-the untimely deaths of her father and brother, rejection at the altar by her
fiancé, her masectomy, and brush with contemplated suicide. Yet Laura is a survivor. She has
received the rocks life dishes out with an upturned spoon and open heart-with courage, and
confidence in the God who controls it all. Because of the bitter, she appreciates life's sweetness
all the more. Because of the rain, she savors the rainbows.
-Lynn D. Morrissey, author of Seasons of a Woman's Heart & speaker

With warmth, humor, and real experience, Laura Jensen Walker tugs at your heart and invites you to think about your own life with her stories. As the best of teachers do, this author shares meaningful life learnings without preaching or lecturing. You can turn to any chapter of this book for inspiration, but you'll find yourself wanting to read it from cover to cover. Walker encourages us to discover the best for ourselves from any situation, a strategy that teaches optimism, builds faith, and encourages hope. Do your friends a favor; don't just loan them your copy, buy them one of their own!

Laura Jensen Walker's book, "Through the Rocky Road and into the Rainbow Sherbet" is a page turner that leaves you feeling like you've become one of her new best friends. I actually felt as if I'd been with Laura at her kitchen table, sipping tea (along with slurpping all those wonderful ice cream sundaes) while she shared all the important ups and downs, and bits and pieces of her soul. She's a story teller who packs a punch and leaves the reader feeling satisfied...lip-smacking good, satisfied.

I like short reads. I wrote a short read. Through the Rocky Road is a delicious collection of short reads about joy, hope, disappointment, learning, love, sadness and laughter. It's one of those keep-by-the-side-of-the-bed books you can pick up, enjoy a portion, then go on with your day digesting its message. The author shares true stories and reveals her humanness in a way that anyone can relate to. This is not an advice book but one of gentle, encouraging navigation through the rocky roads of life.

Excellent book. Interesting read. Inspiring call to action.

I read a lot, but I almost never pin my husband down to read him sections of a book. When I was reading Totem Salmon, I couldn't help it. I kept saying, "Listen to this one." I owned a home in the Mattole River Watershed in the late 70's and early 80's. I was amazed at how well Freeman House captures the essence of the area and the people without caricaturing either. Over and over he writes a few sentences which really "get it right" in explaining the landscape, the weather or the people of the area. This is not an easy "how-to" book on bringing back the salmon, but it brings out why it is worth the effort for as long as it takes.

Briefly...as an environmentalist from both the non-profit, agency and barefoot,dreadlocked worlds I really appreciated this book. The author brings out the complexity and poetry of the technical, natural and spiritual mosaic involved in watershed work in the northwest (and eveywhere for that matter). For anyone who has ever (or even never) been through similar experiences that the author describes, it brings shivers up the spine with the descriptive imagery and his obvious intimacy with the Mattole. I highly recommend this book.

The book is a first-person account telling the story of a group of people who have dedicated themselves to rehabbing a river, a watershed, and saving some special strains of wild Pacific salmon stock. They decided to use salmon-hatchery technology (and other procedures) as a way to learn from the native salmon, rather than to introduce non-native species to their river. Freeman House is a truly impressive thinker and writer. His engaging intelligence is not just wide and deep, like a rockclimber his awareness gets into some unfamiliar and little-explored crevices of life - nature and human nature. House and his cohorts are questers who may ultimately discover something as important as did William Harvey or Sir Albert Howard. I'm tempted to call the book a riveting read, but the experience is warmer than that metaphor implies. It's hopeful. A strangely wise book.

From "Totem Salmon - Life Lessons from Another Species" by Freeman House -

"My straining senses slow down the sound so that each of its parts can be heard separately. A hiss, barely perceptible, as the fish muscles itself right out of its living medium; silence like a dozen monks pausing too long between the strophes of a chant as the creature arcs through the dangerous air; a crash as of a basketball going through a plate glass window as he or she returns to the velvet embrace of the water; and then a thousand tiny bells struck once only as the shards of water fall and the surface of the stream regains its viscous integrity."

"I flick on my headlamp and the whole backwater pool seems to leap toward me. The silver streak that crosses the enclosure in an instant is a flash of lightning within my skull, one which heals the wound that has separated me from this moment -- from any moment. The encounter is so perfectly complex, timeless, and reciprocal that it takes on an objective reality of its own. I am able to walk around it as if it were a block of carved stone. If my feelings could be reduced to a chemical formula, the experience would be a clear solution made up of equal parts of dumb wonder and clean exhilaration, colored through with a sense of abiding dread. I could write a book about it."

And here it is.

The Mattole River, where this story takes place, flows from the northwestern tip of California's Mendocino County, first a dozen miles northeast and then about sixty miles northwest through remote rural Humboldt County to its mouth at Petrolia. What keeps the river from reaching the Pacific Ocean any sooner is the King Range rising precipitously from the "Lost Coast", a stretch of beach frequented only by hikers and the occasional small plane.

Getting to the Mattole from the freeway is at least an hour's drive on winding country roads. This area, like much of Humboldt County, was logged in the fifties and sixties, and in the late sixties and seventies a substantial portion of it was sold to urban refugees, "reinhabitants". Over the next three decades, quite a few of them committed to the task of restoring the watershed to health. Two of these were David Simpson and Freeman House who together conceived and founded the Mattole Watershed Salmon Support Group. "Totem Salmon" tells the story of this work.

Salmon are an indicator species. Their health, as a population, closely tracks the health of the watershed to which they return. If you want to know how well a river valley is doing in the Pacific Northwest, look at the salmon runs, if there are any left. The principal enemy of the salmon is silt, produced by erosion usually from badly built roads and culverts, and from logging. Salmon need clean gravel in the streambed for eggs to survive and hatch. Well forested valleys with little erosion provide the best stream habitat for hatching and rearing salmon.

In 1950, before logging, it is recalled by the older Mattole valley residents, that, when they were running, "you could walk across the river on the backs of the salmon". In 1980, before restoration work began, the runs were down to perhaps 200 fish. More, those fish were the last wild salmon run in the state.

Looking back after reading the book, one could see the first phrase, "I am alone...", as a key to the work. Rooted in an explicit sense of self, spiraling out through sensory subtleties of immediate nature, to the larger cultural complexities, Mr. House melds what are usually seen as distinct worlds into a coherent portrait of a personal and multi-species reality. Like the salmon traversing the several worlds of ocean, river, air and creek, the personal, philosophical, cultural, historical, administrative, ecological, and cosmic threads are finely woven into a narrative yielding a shimmering presence of spirit and nature.

The book is a deeply enjoyable memoir of a long personal relationship with salmon. Along the way we see the history of the Euro-American relationship with this species, and that of the Native-American people who were here managing these watersheds long before. We learn of the state and federal administrative context of salmon management and the history of our, first, ignorance, and then, study of the anadromous species and their rivers. In clear and moving images, and with affection and humor, we see the people on the Mattole River who have joined hands for eighteen years to rescue this last wild run of salmon from extinction. Lastly we see the hopeful results and the tenuous circumstances of their work.

We might expect it to be a text for salmon restoration, and while the specifics are there they are widely scattered throughout the book. More attention is given to the wider question of how we got here, and how we can get through this to a more wholesome, rooted, and appreciative life in our particular place. If it is a text -- and Mr. House would say it is not -- it is a meta-instructional one, showing a way to become a people who will do the right thing for the watershed and thus for the salmon. The personal explorations in the book demonstrate by example the message beneath the text: by immersing ourselves in the reality of our local valley we can rescue both the health of our watersheds and our sense of ourselves. In the end, we see that they are the same journey; the salmon reflect to us our understanding of self and place.

The epilogue quotes Paul Schell, Mayor of Seattle, "Ironically, as we work to save the salmon, it may turn out that the salmon save us."

This book presents fascinating yet complex information with commendable clarity. Not only is the writing excellent, but the diagrams add much to the exposition. For example, the diagram on page 88 ("Ring of Fire" chapter) clearly explains the relationship between severity of volcanism and earthquakes to the steepness of the angle at which a tectonic plate is subducted into the mantle. The book is sensibly organized into introductory material, chapters giving "autobiographies" of volcanoes and thus clarifying the multiplicity of volcanic and eruption types, chapters synthesizing this knowledge into generalization, and chapters explaining opportunities and risks associated with vulcanism (eruption dangers [carefully subdivided into discussion of nuées ardentes, lahars, and lava flows] potential of climatic change, likelihood of finding valuable ores, and the potential of geothermal power). Twenty-five superb color plates, in addition to the excellent diagrams, grace the book. Useful appendices include "World's 101 Most Notorious Volcanoes," web sites pertinent to volcanology, and a useful glossary (although the Icelandic term jökulhlaup [= "glacier outburst flood possibly triggered by volcanism"] is an omission I noted).
This book deserves the rare commendation of simultaneous suitability for a rigorous introductory course in volcanology and accessibility to the curious layperson with no formal geological training, such as myself.

I love Volcanoes and most of the books made about it I would give it A two thumbs up

When i bought this book, i thought previous reviews were all exagerated, but this book is truly amazing. Complexity put into good and understandable english. Any vulcanologist wannabe, like me, MUST have this. Nice one Rob & Barb.

I was very pleased to read this book. It gives excellent documentation of various aspects in relation to volcanos. My hat goes off to Robert and Barbara Decker.

I hardly ever read a college text straight through, but this book was so informative and lucidly written, I could scarcely put it down. I imagine "Volcanoes" is used as a freshman introductory course, as there is very little geological mumbo-jumbo about say, the differences between a reverse dip slip fault and a left lateral strike slip fault.

In fact, I wish I'd read this book first, before "The Encyclopedia of Earthquakes and Volcanoes" or "Perils of a Restless Planet." Its definitions are clear and easy to remember, and usually accompanied by a photograph or drawing. One of my favorites is a photograph of the San Andreas fault, which is a right lateral fault, "so called because for a person standing on either plate, the sense of motion on the opposite side is to the right."

Now, at least I understand the difference between left and right lateral faults. Dip slips and strike slips will have to wait for another book for geometrically-challenged folks like me---I can't just close my eyes and visualize a three dimensional object, unless prompted by very clear diagrams and text.

This book is an introduction to the geology of volcanoes (plate tectonics, the formation of mineral deposits, etc.), rather than a series of stories about dangerous volcanoes, although there is an appendix on "The World's 101 Most Notorious Volcanoes." One of my favorite chapters, "Volcanic Power" has little to do with volcanoes as we usually picture them, e.g. an erupting strato-volcano like Mt. Vesuvius. It is about geothermal energy, and why it might play an important role in our future:

"Even though geothermal power is still an infant and largely unproved industry, its potential makes it worth serious effort and investment. The U.S. Geological Survey in a recent assessment of potential geothermal energy resources in the fifty states to depths of 10 kilometers listed the following estimates: hydrothermal reservoirs, 12 x 10(to the 21st power) joules, or about 2 times the energy in the world's oil reserves; hot dry rock, 32 x 10(to the 24th power) joules, or about 6000 times the energy in the world's oil reserves; magma reservoirs, 4 x 10(to the 23rd power) joules, or about 80 times the energy in the world's oil reserves."

In light of recent history, perhaps we should be investing more research in our geothermal resources.

Read "Volcanoes" if you have any interest at all in geology. It would even make a good high school text, although it is a bit dated: my copy was published in 1981, but the only thing that struck me as out-of-date was a diagram of the Earth's crustal plates---the Juan de Fuca plate was labeled `Gorda Plate,' although everything was pretty much in the right place. Just be sure to buy the revised and expanded version that was published in 1989.

We own the 1959 edition of this book, with Mom and Dad straight out of a Gimble's advertisement, and all the astronauts sport Johnny Unitas buzz cut flat tops. After page three and a cheery wave goodbye to Mom not a woman is to be seen in this most male of explorations (unless you count the Garrison cap on the soda jerk at the space station). "Space, the final frontier...." Indeed.

My daughter loves it.

I mean, she loves it.

The illustrations look like John Water's camp to me now, and the text reads like the pulp science fiction/science fact from which it drew its inspiration, and the whole thin veneer of science on the tale is a mess. My favourite is the "Diner" at the space station where two regular guys are getting a cup-o-joe while a soda jerk in a white paper Garrison cap serves them.

But it is a children's book, so it doesn't matter. The Cat-In-The-Hat could pop up on the last page and no child would bat an eyelash until they are 10 years old.

Innocent in a way that the "back to The Future" movies aren't. A delightful book for children, girls and boys alike.

I remember this book well, although not perfectly, from thirty years ago. I thought back to it occasionally, and a few things cleared up.

Even with an illustration of it, I missunderstood the description of the mooncar going through the crater. For some reason, I imagined the car falling down a deep hole, driving across the bottom, and floating back up the other side.

The illustrator did get one thing wrong: The text described tiny rockets firing to turn the spaceship. The picture showed the spaceship going around in a loop, when in reality, it continued going straight in its path, just rotating to point the tail toward the moon.

When reading it, I always wondered how we got back to Earth. It seemed to me a whole lot more dangerous.

I agree with all of the reviews posted here I was learning to read in the late sixtes/early seventies and I remember this book very well. I must have read it a few hundred times.
Well, imagine my surprise last week when my dad found it in the attic and asked if I wanted it for my 4 year old. As I dug into the pile of books he found I found not only my copy, but my sisters edition from 10 years earlier. The c-right on my sisters was dated 1959 mine was 1971. The art and the text were redone. The same authors but two different illustrators. By 1971 we had a functioning moon program and we were a more "politically correct" society.
The art in the 59 edition is more in the vein of 50's fantasy. One of the big draws in the 59 edition is that you will be able to see what's going on by watching a Television. The 71 edition is clearly based on Apollo. In the 59 edition there are no female "Spacemen", by 71 one there are female astronauts in the book.
Seeing the two side by side is a great history lesson. and a real trip down memory lane for me.

This is an "impressionable" book of colossal proportions. The subject matter absolutely fascinated, inspired, challenged, and motivated a generation of American "rocket scientists" that would eventually come to operate the Space Shuttle and the Space Station. I am one of those. Born in 1960, I would end up participating in a work-study program with NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center, earn an Aerospace Engineering degree, and operate the Space Shuttle--on the ground, that is! Of course, I am sure it stimulated many others that chose different fields of endeavor.

As a young "Cat In The Hat" reader I was enormously fascinated with this book. Yes, this book was distributed by mail to many young readers, right along with "Green Eggs and Ham." What a time in history to begin learning. Imagine training to read with the imagination of Dr. Suess, to experience the creativity of Walt Disney, and be exposed to a vision of space travel by Wernher von Braun and his followers--all while the Mercury, Gemini and Saturn/Apollo programs hit the headlines and the TV screens!

With over forty years having passed, I suggest reading it again-or for the first time. On the one hand, you will find that much is fulfilled. Alas, on the other hand, the fact that the title is addressed to "YOU" should cause us all to reflect on the promises one generation makes to another...and inspire us all to action once again. This time to enable all those who would like to Go To The Moon!

This was one of the first books I was ever given, sometime certainly before my second birthday. Twenty-eight years later I get a chill down my spine recalling the detailed, Von Braun-meets-Chesley Bonestell elucidation of how I "was" heading spaceward. I believed it, too - the rest of my life, as exciting as it's been in so many ways, has been a bit of a disappointment by contrast. Seminal and a bit melancholy, too - reality has been so tawdry ever since.

Found this book to be very interesting which involved many different types of math game/puzzles.

Thirty five years ago my high school (Thomas Jefferson, in Federal Way, Washington) held annual competitions in mathematics. They did it in the form of a test that came bound in a small white booklet, just was a few pages long. There weren't many questions, perhaps a dozen or two (usually in the form of story problems), but they required deep thought and concentration (at least for me). I still remember the feeling of excitement and trepidation as I took the "white book" and opened it to the first problem. Several hours later I'd consider myself accomplished if I'd managed to completely answer more than half the questions.

Ian Stewart's book reminds me of those tests. Here's a sampling of what's inside:

1)Mrs. Anne-Lida Worm decides she wants a new couch, and tells Mr. Worm to get it for her, while she goes shopping for a new tight for baby Wermintrude. But Anne-Lina doesn't want just any couch. She wants the biggest possible couch that can be carried down the hall in their house, and around the 90-degree hall at the end. What shape does the couch have, and how big is it? This is a truly riveting story. Will Mr. Worm solve the couch problem in time?

2)Alberto wants to conduct tests on grapes, evaluating the influence of different soils. He wants to conduct experiments to see how different soils and exposure to the sun affects the quality of wine. His land is on a hillside, though, which is narrow, so he can plant only three varieties of grape on each plot of land. How can he arrange things so that he tests all seven varieties of grapes when they are arranged so that each plot contains exactly three different species, where any two plots have exactly one variety in common, and any two varieties lie in exactly one common plot?

Sixteen chapters make up this book. Though their titles are whimsical, the mathematical problems aren't. Some are still unsolved. Even though these problems fit in what would probably be called recreational mathematics, they are fiendishly cleaver with solutions, and developed insight along the way, that are at once challenging and rewarding. Here's a sample of some of other topics discussed in Stewart's book:

How might one transport a lion, llama, and head of lettuce in a boat, across a lake, without leaving any two species where one might eat the other in the absence of a caretaker? How can you calculate the temperature and entropy of a curve? How can one even talk sensibly about a curve having temperature and entropy in the first place? Suppose that you need to tile a room, and the tiles come in odd shapes. Is there anyway to know if the tiling problem has a solution? Can mathematics tell us things about evolution, such as whether or not evolution comes gradually or in spurts (or both)?

This is a fun, lighthearted book, but the mathematical problems and puzzles it discusses will really make you think. I enjoy reading as I exercise on my elliptical machine. I get double the sense of accomplishment when I can read and workout at the same time. Ordinarily, I can estimate how long I've been on the machine by how many pages I've read - 20 pages in 40 minutes is about average. But with Stewart's book I had to be careful. Several times I found that I'd worked out for an hour and only managed to cover half-a-dozen pages or so.

If you love mathematics, particularly mathematical puzzles, then this is a book you'll really enjoy. It has many problems for the reader, with answers at the back of each chapter. If you do the problems and understand everything in the book, in detail, it will occupy many hours of your time. All in deep thought and utter enjoyment.

The author is the comedic equal of the team associated with the title. Puns fly fast and furious, and the slow of wit will not catch them all. A master of the verbal slapstick, his wit makes you simultaneously grin and groan. The worthy successor to Martin Gardner in writing a regular mathematics column for `Scientific American', he is the clown prince of mathematics.
Some of the catchy titles and subjects are:

1. Tile and error, tiling a rectangular surface.
2. Knights of the flat torus, about knight tours of a chessboard.
3. Another vine math you've got me into, a combinatorial problem of planting several varieties of grapes in plots so that all pairs are together in one and only one plot, etc.
4. Sofa, so good, on moving a sofa through tight places.

All subjects are presented with clarity and thoroughly resolved by the end of the chapter.
This work is the rarest of mathematical books. It presents solid, sophisticated mathematics in a manner that people could read just for the jokes. A vine piece of work.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.

This is one of the best recreational math books I have ever read. It presents scenarios from real life that lead to real math. Humor abounds in the stories but deep mathematical concepts abond in the solutions. I use this book as a required text for a mathematics course for future teachers. Hopefully, they too can make mathematics as much fun as Mr. Stewart.

This is one of the best recreational math books I have ever read. The humorous real life scenarios lead to deep mathematical concepts. I use this book in a class for future mathematics teachers. Hopefully, it will inspire them to make math fun for their students.

Paul Freeman is a masterful photograher who captured the male body in all his beauty, sensulaity and natural sexuality. Look forward to owning his other two books.

Sensual, erotic, magical, hot, iconic...these words describe the total effect of the beautiful work in this book. The men just keep getting better and better.

I had found some of Mr. Freemnas photos on the internet. The photos intrigued me and I conducted internet searches. Through the seaches I found his website and the quality of his work impressed me further.

I purchased Bondi Classic and I was amazed by the quality and composition of his photos.

Today I recieved Mr Freemans new book Bondi Classic and I am astounded at the contents. Mr Freeman is now my favorite photographer his work is powerful and captures the subject.

Mr. Freemans models are all very handsome and very masculine and they are captured in all their real glory!!! Not all of the models are shown with full frontal nudity and with Mr Freeman that is not necessary. He captures the them most likely as they look in real life. That is the key to this increadable photographer.

The men in the book are studied with great affection and candor their "imperfections" are not removed, freckles, scars, sweat, injuries all show in the photos. These "imperfections" are what make people individuals and add to their beauty. I believe Mr. Freeman knows this and that is why all of his photos are so honest and compelling. In addition Mr Freeman documents all kinds of men the men that groom themselves from head to foot to the men that are natural.

I have been a fan of male photography for over 20 years and to date I have not seen a photographer that has this honesty as well as records men in a manner such as this.

I highly recommend the purchase of both of his books they will not dissapoint in any way.

To Mr Freeman I would like to say KEEP UP THE GOOD NO EXELLENT WORK. I look forward to his next book with great anticipation

I know, I know--coffeetable book, but I don't have a coffeetable. And, I'm thinking, who allegedly has an innate sensibility for design and furnishings--where is my coffee table? Where is my sleek modernist furnishings? the antiques? the crystal vase?

Heck, I'm still waiting on the sleek loft space I was to have at age 20-ish.

So, why did I buy this coffee table book--was it the promising cover model photo? Probably. But, inside is a plethora of photo coverage of what seemingly is "urbanite" machismo.

Since I have no coffee table and no coffee table literature to compare, I'm granting this edition of Freeman's work four stars.

well, what can I say but that it is filled with handsome sexy MEN, not boiz.

A classic tale that helped my son overcome getting his haircut as it did my brother 30+ years ago.

This was a favorite of mine from my own childhood and when I had children I got it for them and they loved it as well. Simple, sweet, funny and appealing...wonderful for the preschool/kindergarten set.

After reading this book my 3 year old son told his friend's mother that she could "mop a floor with that head" when she was showing off her new perm!

Delightful book!

I have loved this book since I was 5 and still have my treasured copy. The appeal for me was partly because of the title as the Beatles were nicknamed the Moptops.

Martin, nicknamed "Moptop" (can't get past that Beatle influence)! refuses to get a haircut. When sent to the local barbershop, the boy whose hair was longer than any Beatle and wasn't even brushed or styled (and theirs WAS), hides in a store behind a mop barrel. A woman with reading glasses reaches into the barrel, thinking she's getting a mop and instead, gets the boy!

Yowling with pain, the boy races off to the barbershop. While he's there, other things are being cut back as well -- the hedges; the newly mowed lawn; a dog was clipped as well as a tree. Too bad the boy didn't have his hair Beatle coiffed! While the boy looked better before the haircut, Beatle fans especially will appreciate this one!

I like the story because the little boy in the story had a mop for a head.Thay called him that because his hair looks bad. That sounded like me. I like the story a lot because the boy loved his mother very much to do this for her.

This is a wonderful book about a little boy who tries to avoid getting a haircut and ends up finding difficulties that are much worse. Our English babysitter read MOP TOP to my brothers when we were children over 30 years ago. It is still my brothers' all time favorite childrens book. My children have great memories of MOPTOP. Now I am sending it to my brand new nephew. MOP TOP is a boy children will want to hear about over and over again, and the story will become a treasured childhood memory.

Bob Freeman's "Shadows Over Somerset" was described to me (to paraphrase) as being a bit like Dark Shadows, in book form. Though I only ever saw it in reruns during the 1980s, Dark Shadows was inventive for a soap opera, so I was rather enthusiastic about reading this book.

Werewolves, and vampires, and witches, oh my! I will admit that I had a little trouble at first getting my bearings on the vast cast of characters and where they lived when summoned to Cairnwood, but once I had that clear in my mind, I really enjoyed the book. Mr. Freeman has quite a talent for setting a scene, giving physical descriptions of his characters, and clarifying their individual powers.

The story itself is a clash between good and evil, that began 700 years ago in Scotland, and involves an offshoot of the McGregor clan -- the Cairnwood clan. The patriarch McGregor is a vampire, destined to hunt down and destroy the werewolf Cairnwood descendants. Michael Somers and his fiancee enter the creepy world of the Cairnwoods, not knowing he is the heir to their clan, destined to kill off Malcolm McGregor in an epic clash of good vs. evil. He emerges triumphant . . . for now. "FINIS?" as Mr. Freeman ends the novel. No, far from it.

What kept me on my toes while reading it was its "cutting" from one scene to another rather abruptly. This is also what lent it an air of television or movie, and gravitas to the assessment I heard before reading the story. It was indeed like watching a gothic soap opera, only in book form.

The love scenes were fairly standard: beast ravishes woman, and woman loves it. But, they weren't gratuitous, and each led to a greater understanding of the relationships between the characters.

The fight scenes were wonderfully gory and blood-spattering. As a reader, I'm not into blood and gore if it serves no purpose in moving along the story, but in an epic battle 700-plus years old that has revived, there must be lots of blood and gore for it to ring true.

An interesting twist comes at the end, when Michael's Cairnwood heir who lost out on The Manor, Sebasian, becomes the Cairnwood representative on the Order of the Nine Skulls. There is a rivalry between Sebastian and Michael, which leaves open many possibilities for the series.

Overall, I give this novel a thumbs up. I thought it was quite well crafted.

As a real lover of horror and vampires, I could find nothing wrong with Cairnwwod Manor or it's inhabitants except of course they are not your average family even though there both good and bad among them.

It was a thrilling, chilling read, filled with all the good things and beasts I love about horror. Mr. Freeman is a wonderful writer portraying these characters in a way that kept me riveted to my chair. I am looking forward to the next tale of Cairnwood Manor and it's inhabitants.

This book is wonderfully entertaining and scary! It kept me enthralled throughout, I couldn't read it fast enough. I hope that there are more books to follow!!!!

Bob Freeman's Shadows Over Somerset is a contemporary horror/dark fantasy tale that chronicles the rather mysterious Cairnwood family and the individuals/entities who come to be at odds with them. It's not always simple to tell who's protagging and who's antagging, though, as the Cairnwood family is something of a mess. They've got heroes, they've got werewolves, they've got vampires...they've just got all kinds living under the family name. Their homestead, Cairnwood Manor, situated in a dark corner of Indiana, is reminiscent of the classical mansion full of secrets, a la Collinwood from Dark Shadows; in this tale, however, the secrets are multiplied something like tenfold.

Freeman's storytelling is enjoyable, particularly during the action-packed scenes of character conflict. I did have a problem with the lack of breaks between paragraphs when scenes changed, though I'm not sure whether this was a copy-editing gaffe or something done intentionally. Whichever, it's cumbersome, and it brings the flow of the drama to a screeching halt on any number of occasions, particularly because there are so many characters to follow. Better structuring of the book's passages would have helped distinguish what's happening when and to whom. In fact, I would like to have seen better copy-editing in general, as there are numerous small problems that a second trained eye could have easily caught and fixed. KHP Publishing, take note.

Regardless of its problems, Shadows Over Somerset is a generally entertaining novel, fast-paced, and vividly rendered. With its dark, gothic atmosphere and occasional moments of breakneck action, it's got a little something for fans of every dark persuasion.

Michael Somers is summoned the bedside of a dying grandfather he never knew existed. But that's just the start of Michael's problems. Because in the sleepy little town surrounding Cairnwood Manor strange things are afoot, and are killing and bringing the dead back to life. Into the supernatural mix throw a powerful and jealous witch, a council of immortal monster-slayers and a pack of restless werewolves, and you have a terrific novel that delves deep into every dark aspect of human nature. Freeman pulls no punches--Cairnwood Manor is vicious, Baroque and will keep you up long into the night. A stunning debut novel by a talented newcomer to the gothic horror genre. Longtime fans of Dark Shadows, rejoice. I'm eagerly awaiting the next entry in the series.