Phillips Books

What is tragedy and how does it work? These are questions you will understand better after reading this book. Set sometime in the second half of the 19th century, the story concerns the fortunes of the Gourlay family in the small Scottish town of Barbie. John Gourlay, a big, domineering, but intellectualy challenged man dominates the local economy and has a monopoly of the carrying trade. He is harsh and powerful, of bull-like stature, and famous for his glower. On a brae overlooking Barbie he has built the House wIth the Green Shutters. This house is both the symbol of his dominance and an object of hatred and envy to the townsfolk.

Aristotle defined tragedy as a story depicting the downfall of a great man. At first it is hard to see this stupid, cruel, and grasping merchant as a great man, but The House With the Green Shutters will also improve your notions of what greatness is. John Gourlay is great because there is no fear or compromise in him. Although he may wish to be well thought of by the small-minded, two-faced gossips of the town, he is not prepared to go one inch out of his way for them, scorning even the banal pleasantries of small talk or phatic communication. He wants only their respect not their love, and respect him they do even though they also hate him.

With all true tragedy the tragic element comes directly from the greatness. It is his greatness that destroys John Gourlay. His stubborn pride and unflinching courage are qualities more suited to some heroic age of battles and revolutions. They do not fit into the petty, hypocritical world of 19th century Scotland. In this unheroic world his heroic qualities can only work towards his downfall. The thought constantly in one's mind as you read this novel is, 'If only he were a lesser man . . .' His inability to compromise by lowering himself to the same level as his fellow citizens, works to his disadvantage. Unable to plot, maneuver, and dissemble, his little empire is soon undermined by the arrival in town of Wilson, a glib self-seeking nobody with no real passion, but a much abler businessman in tune with the times. Affable and manipulative, false and corrupt he starts to squeeze Gourlay out of one thing after another. This is ,in effect, the triumph of style over substance that so bedevils our modern age. Although grim, proud and dour, Gourlay is an honest man, inept at chicanery, and unable to bend to suit the occasion.

The House With the Green Shutters is a tragedy in the full classical Greek sense of the word; the preordained fall of a hero who doesn't fit into an unheroic world; a great bull sacrificed to appease the Gods for human hubris. It is even more poignant from the fact that its keynote of tragedy was reflected in the life of its young author who had the misfortune to die only one year after writing such a masterpiece.

What is tragedy and how does it work? These are questions you will understand better after reading this book. Set sometime in the second half of the 19th century, the story concerns the fortunes of the Gourlay family in the small Scottish town of Barbie. John Gourlay, a big, domineering, but intellectualy challenged man dominates the local economy and has a monopoly of the carrying trade. He is harsh and powerful, of bull-like stature, and famous for his glower. On a brae overlooking Barbie he has built the House wIth the Green Shutters. This house is both the symbol of his dominance and an object of hatred and envy to the townsfolk.

Aristotle defined tragedy as a story depicting the downfall of a great man. At first it is hard to see this stupid, cruel, and grasping merchant as a great man, but The House With the Green Shutters will also improve your notions of what greatness is. John Gourlay is great because there is no fear or compromise in him. Although he may wish to be well thought of by the small-minded, two-faced gossips of the town, he is not prepared to go one inch out of his way for them, scorning even the banal pleasantries of small talk or phatic communication. He wants only their respect not their love, and respect him they do even though they also hate him.

With all true tragedy the tragic element comes directly from the greatness. It is his greatness that destroys John Gourlay. His stubborn pride and unflinching courage are qualities more suited to some heroic age of battles and revolutions. They do not fit into the petty, hypocritical world of 19th century Scotland. In this unheroic world his heroic qualities can only work towards his downfall. The thought constantly in one's mind as you read this novel is, 'If only he were a lesser man . . .' His inability to compromise by lowering himself to the same level as his fellow citizens, works to his disadvantage. Unable to plot, maneuver, and dissemble, his little empire is soon undermined by the arrival in town of Wilson, a glib self-seeking nobody with no real passion, but a much abler businessman in tune with the times. Affable and manipulative, false and corrupt he starts to squeeze Gourlay out of one thing after another. This is ,in effect, the triumph of style over substance that so bedevils our modern age. Although grim, proud and dour, Gourlay is an honest man, inept at chicanery, and unable to bend to suit the occasion.

The House With the Green Shutters is a tragedy in the full classical Greek sense of the word; the preordained fall of a hero who doesn't fit into an unheroic world; a great bull sacrificed to appease the Gods for human hubris. It is even more poignant from the fact that its keynote of tragedy was reflected in the life of its young author who had the misfortune to die only one year after writing such a masterpiece.

In his story of the downfall of an arrogant and essentially stupid man, George Douglas Brown is relentlessly unsentimental. His portrait of life in a tiny Scottish town in the late 1800's leaves the reader with no illusions about the narrow-mindedness of the inhabitants. Bleak as their existence is, the novel is not depressing, but fascinating. While many readers will have trouble with the dialect of the speakers (the narration is standard English), the effort required to "translate" is well rewarded.

This book gives principles aiding in unlimited success and personal elevation. Though the book is written on a level that would cause no confusion, each word written is powerful. I've read sections more than once and received new revelations each time. The fact that the way we see ourselves determines how others see us, is profound. I encourage you to purchase this book. It will change your life.

ANY ONE CAN FIND HELP IN THIS BOOK, FORM PEOPLE WHO ARE DEALING WITH CHILDHOOD WOUNDS, TO THE PERSON JUST NEEDING TO GET ORGANIZED AND FOCUSED IN ADULTHOOD. THIS BOOK TEACHES YOU HOW TO TAKE BACK CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE BY SHOWING YOU HOW TO GET PAST LIFE'S TRIALS AND MOVE ON TO A BRIGHT AND PROMISING FUTURE.

As the author of this book, is it possible to get some information about the reviews and movement of this book.

I would greatly appreciate it.

Dr. Charles Phillips
Author
"How to Develop A Success Mentality"

This book is so well organized and visually designed that you can't help but understand the basic concepts of photography. I recently started taking pictures for the first time in years. My husband has taken years of photography class using a manual operated camera. I can now take photographs that are just as good as his with my digital because I understand the concepts so nicely laid out in this book. I'm a teacher and I give the author an A+++ for his work!

I loved this book. It teaches advanced photographic techniques in an easy, understandable manner. The author concisely shares his expertise and simplifies the photographic process to four easy to follow steps.

This is the most informative, uncomplicated, instructional little guide book about photography I have ever read. With a touch of humor and simplicity, Jerry Hughes teaches the wannabe photographer how to be creative with any camera. He knows his art, and he knows how to instruct!

If you are looking for a book that actually SHOWS pictorial work in color, this is the one to buy. It has an incredible number of images of all the greats. It is 100% a "must have" for the photography shelf--and I share no connections to the author/editor/company.

I was lucky enough to see the once-in-a-lifetime exhibit for which this book is the catalog, and for that alone it is outstanding. The Pictorial movement produced some of the finest photographs by some of the greatest masters ever to pick up a camera. Impressionist Camera does a great job explaining the motiviations, tribulations and triumphs of the likes of Steichen, Kasebier and Coburn. This loving and detailed examination of the genre makes a great addition to the library of any fine art photography practitioner, collector or historian. A good companion work is Steichen's Legacy

Pictorial photography flourished at the turn of the 20th century and crossed genres, styles and international borders as it produced celebrated artists and fostered artistic change. Here to celebrate these changes is Impressionist Camera: Pictorial Photography in Europe, 188-1918, a narrowed focus on European community photography approaches. Selections consider how photographers created unique works and visions, how they influenced on another, and how they contributed to the fusion and symbolism of pictorial photography as a genre. This book represents the first comprehensive country-by-country examination on the topic and draws together contributions by an international team of art and photography scholars and historians. Sepia and black and white photos throughout capture the creations and sentiments of the era.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I was surpised to learn new information that Manet made still lifes with the same-like object used in Chardin's paintings. They were arranged differently or presented in a different manner. There is infomation you cannot obtain when visiting exhibits or museums. It is hard to put the book down once you start reading. This is the first still life book on impressionism I have ever seen. And, it gives more information on still life in general. I am a professional artist and have felt still lives were boring and couldn't really get into them. Because this book excited me to look at still lives and do them, it deserves and 5-star rating.

Impressionist Still Life showcases more than 80 masterworks of still-life painting by seventeen Impressionists working in the latter half of the nineteenth-century. The featured artists include Cezanne, van Gogh, Monet, Cassatt, Degas, Manet, Renoir, Pissarro, Caillbotte, and Gauguin. Impressionist Still Life is the companion book to a traveling exhibition currently touring the United States beginning with The Philips Collection, Washington, DC (September 22, 2001 - January 13, 2002) and then traveling to The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (February 17 to June 9, 2002). A strongly recommended addition to academic, personal, and community library artbook collections, the superbly reproduced paintings comprising Impressionist Still Life are enhanced with informative essays by noted art scholars Eliza Rathbone (Phillips Collection); George Shackelford (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston); Jeannene M. Pryblyski (independent art historian and critics based in San Francisco); John McCoubrey (University of Pennsylvania); and Richard Shiff (University of Texas, Austin).

This book is just gorgeous! The essays are interesting and engaging and the plates are beautiful. Besides the most well known impressionists, you will find an Eva Gonzales, and BEST OF ALL--GUSTAVE CAILLBOTTE!! Buy it, you will not be disappointed.

Compared to other books on the topic, this book offers a clear and concise treatment of quantum computing. The book's notation is also easy to follow. I recommended the book to my class.

This book is geared for the reader who has an undergraduate education in a technical field and who has a solid background in linear algebra, including vector spaces and inner products. Prior familiarity with topics such as eigendecomposition and more advanced mathematical topics is not required. The book reviews all of the necessary additional material. There are some places in the book where group theory is referred to, but these sections of the book are self-contained so that the reader can skip them if needed. It is a very accessible introduction to a complex subject that is fairly detailed and complete. Exercises are integrated into the body of the text. Each exercise is designed to illustrate a particular concept, fill in the details of a calculation or proof, or to show how concepts in the book can be generalized or extended. The following is a brief overview of the book:

1. Introduction and Background - Presents some fundamental notions of computation theory and quantum physics that will form the basis of what follows.

2. Linear Algebra and the Dirac Notation - Familiarizes the reader with the algebraic notation used in quantum mechanics, reminds the reader of some basic facts about complex vector spaces, and introduces some notions that may not have been covered in an elementary linear algebra course.

3. Qubits and the Framework of quantum Mechanics - Introduces the framework of quantum mechanics as it pertains to the types of systems that are considered in the book. Here the author also introduces the notion of a quantum bit or "qubit", which is a fundamental concept in quantum computing.

4. A Quantum Model of Computation - The circuit model of classical computation can be generalized to a model of quantum circuits. In such a model you have logical qubits carried along "wires" and quantum gates that act on the qubits. For convenience, the discussion is limited to unitary quantum gates.

5. Superdense Coding and Quantum Teleportation - Looks at our first protocols for quantum information. Examines two communication protocols that can be implemented using the tools which can be implemented using the tools developed in previous chapters. These protocols are known as superdense coding and quantum teleportation. Both of these are inherently quantum - there are no classical protocols that behave in the same way as these.

6. Introductory Quantum Algorithms - Describes some of the early quantum algorithms that are simple and illustrate the main ingredients behind the more useful and powerful quantum algorithms described in subsequent chapters. Since quantum algorithms share some features with classical probabilistic algorithms, the chapter starts with a comparison of the two algorithmic paradigms.

7. Algorithms with Superpolynomial Speed-Up - Examines one of two main classes of algorithms: quantum algorithms that solve problems with a complexity that is superpolynomially less than the complexity of the best-known classical algorithm for the same problem. That is, the complexity of the best-known classical algorithm cannot be bounded above by any poynomial in the complexity of the quantum algorithm. The chapter starts off by studying the problem of quantum phase estimation, which leads naturally to the Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT).

8. Algorithms Based on Amplitude Amplification - Discusses a broadly applicable quantum algorithm - quantum search - that provides a polynomial speed-up over the best-known classical algorithms for a wide class of important problems.

9. Quantum Computational Complexity Theory and Lower Bounds - Quantum computers seem to be more powerful than classical computers for certain problems. However, there are limits on the power of quantum computers. Since a classical computer can simulate a quantum one, a quantum computer can only compute the same set of functions that a classical computer can. This chapter examines this and some related issues.

10. Quantum Error Correction - Quantum computers are more susceptible to errors than classical digital computers because quantum mechanical systems are more delicate and more difficult to control. If large-scale quantum computers are to be possible, a theory of quantum error correction is needed. This is the issue discussed in this chapter.

Overall, I found this book well suited to self-study, particularly for someone with an engineering background. Highly recommended.

For a beginner like me, I think this is a great book. I used to spend lots of time on N+C book but still got confused.

This introduction to Quantum computing book has lots of illustrations explaining how things are done step by step inside those complicated algorithms. If you study on your own with this book, there should be no problem. Then you can go back to review N+C's book and things would be much more clear.

Many of the techniques used in this book's hardware/software waterfall project to make it succeed, are also used in agile software development to help them succeed. People skills, frequent feedback, keeping in touch with reality. I loved the humor and compassion exhibited by the authors. I recommend this to practitioners of Scrum, Extreme Programming, and other agile methods to provide a perspective on a real-life waterfall project and problems common to all development projects.

Excellent material, well written and cogently organized. Reads like a Steve McConnell book, but at a more general "Project Management" level instead of "Software Project Management". Loaded with funny (in hind sight *grin*) stories that make the major points very memorable.

I related to many of the stories (they read very much like AntiPatterns), and I gained important insights into a current critical project -- which is having immediate positive impact on my current planning and actions.

Very glad I read this book in time.

Strongly recommend this book for current and future project/program leaders!

"It Sounded Good When I Started" sounded equally good when I finished reading it.

This is a book about project management, not as it should be, but as it is: confused, satisfying, creative, mundane, exciting, demanding and chaotic. Built around the authors' adventures with a real, large scale project named Delphi, one feels as if she/he is working with the them and their very human cohorts as they cope with problems of enormous complexity.

The chapter titles themselves should give a flavor of the book:
"Digging Yourself into a Hole,""Going Where Angels Fear to Tread: There Is No Right Way to Do the Wrong Thing," and "A Charlatan in Expert's Clothing: Writing a Lie - The Proposal..."
being typical examples.

Each chapter concludes with "clinical" phrases such as, "The Dog Ate My Plan" or "I Wasn't Involved," that serve as warnings, in everyday language, that something is amiss. The warnings are then followed by very useful "bullets" that suggest ways for coping with the "dog" or the excuses one gives for his/her participation in a phase of the project that ended in failure.

A highly readable book, it should be of interest to all people who are engaged in project management, whether the project involves creating a piece of multi-million dollar electronic equipment or planning a extended family reunion of relatives who are ambivalent about getting together.

I read this book in a single sitting. It was so well written and full of moving tales of children who have struggled against sometimes insurmountable odds to make the world a better place that I couldn't tear myself away from it.

If you're looking for inspiring examples of children who have made a huge difference in our communities, indeed the world, this book is a must read. In fact, it should be required reading for every child, every parent, every teacher, every scout leader, and every minister in the country! It's that inspiring.

It also contains a wealth of good information on how children can become effective leaders!

This book is a great resource for young activists. It opens up with inspiring stories of children who made a difference in their communities and the world and closes with a detailed instructional guide that tells you how to become an activist yourself. Although this book is written for kids ages 9-12, everyone can get something out of it. The second part of the book, a handbook for young activists, can be very useful to adults and teens as well as the intended audience. There are detailed suggestions on how to organize, plan and get the word out about your cause. This is a great book for girl scout leaders and classroom teachers who deal with young girls with big ideas. I highly recommend it for all kids and their mentors!

"It's Our World Too!" takes its title from an incident where a child was told that they could not sign a petition against the spread of nuclear weapons because he was too young. So he started his own petition for children because it is their world too. This book contains the inspiring and motivating true stories of children who are making a difference in their neighborhoods and the world. Each story is well told with pictures of the young people involved. The stories are organized into sections on Taking a Stand, Reaching Out to Others, Healing the Earth, and Creating a Safer Future. In a society where only the bad young people make the news, it is refreshing to have a book that shows there are those that are making a positive difference.

The second portion of the book is an instructional guide and handbook for anyone who wants to follow the path of the young people in the book. It is full of detailed suggestions on how to organize, plan, and carry out programs for social change.

A must read book for teenagers and adults these people and those like them are our hope for a bright future.

I Love this Series. I feel like i connect with Corrie in so many different ways and wish I had her independent spirit and enthusiasm for life. I like the way the authors incorporate her into real historical events. This is an excellent series and i only wish there were more books about Corrie.

This series was one of the best I have ever read. I am aslo trying to find my place in a world that does not always seem to want me. This would be a good read for anyone who loves historcal fiction, females mainly. If you have read these you can't miss the next series that follows corrie through maired life- the breastons of miricle springs. A can't miss!

This series is excellent for teen years and up! (Some younger readers also may enjoy, depending on their reading ability.) Interest on the level of women starting to make their mark in the world as a journalist. Great reading. I thoroughly enjoyed this series and have passed it on to many friends to read. I truly believe you will enjoy this series!

The Journey.. Delightful, Thought Provoking and Exciting!

Pros:

I love a good fantasy read! This had it all.. :) Witches, dragons, magic, elves,
pixies, dwarves, faeries, gnomes.. And of course Arch Enemies! OH MY! It is a very good
adult story, even if it were written for children!! After all, adults do need to keep in
touch with their 'inner child' and this book allows that! Also, I found this book to
be a wake-up call, in a most enjoyable way.

Cons:

Being an adult, I found the 'lessons' a little to lengthy. Children would need the
somewhat repetitive lesson with examples used. So, I state this under Cons, since I
am an adult, this was an adults perspective.

What can I say? I want More from Mae Salisbury!! MORE I say! ;) The end of the book
suggested another was to come, to include Abby, the little sister of Emma!

(The Journey: The Great Sword of Truth)

I borrowed the book from a friend and once I started reading the book I couldn't put it down.It's a very colorful book with characters and places that jump out at you.The plot is funny and suspenseful and as my children said when I read it to them kickin.Our most favorite character was the witch she gave you a different perspective on what a witch should be like.My children and myself enjoyed this book immensely so much in fact I'm reading it to my children again.

Reading this book made me happy, and it made me sad. Many life lessons presented with humor, understanding, and an array of results and consequences. Instructive and enlightening for the inquiring spirits and minds of children and adults.