Ross Books

> Andrew Ross' study of the life and work of David Livingstone is a worthy
> contribution to the literary corpus of this great man. Ross makes
> accessible the revealing nuances and context of this giant of the 19th
> century. There is special sensitivity to Livingstone because, like
> Livingstone, Ross is also a Scot and served as a missionary in Africa.
> His impressive knowledge of Africa and its history serve the reader
> well in grappling with both the facts and implications of what
> Livingstone did. His research is thorough and objective, while his
> portrayal is winsome and inspiring. This book is necessary for an
> accurate understanding of Livingstone. Reading it is a delightful
> experience!

This work, featuring many new and nuanced insights, is a wonderfully written story of a very determined missionary and explorer. As the author so ably describes, our modern knowledge of David Livingstone is heavily influenced by the fact that, in death, he has been made the icon for many causes. His legacy has been put to the service of, for instance, British imperial aspirations. But as the author recounts, Livingstone's complexity defies any neat categorization.

Livingstone was possessed of a ferocious curiosity. He was born into a life of poverty, but became both a medical doctor and an ordained minister. He fathered a large family from whom, due to his travels, he was often away. Both his physical endurance, and his capacity to withstand pain were prodigious. His respect and admiration for African cultures was incomprehensible to his contemporaries. Witnessing firsthand the depredations of the slave trade, he devised strategies for development that, had they been heeded, provided a chance for leaving African cultures intact.

Livingstone mapped the unknown interior of Africa. His expeditions were remarkable both in the beauty of the places "discovered", and the grueling physical and consequent emotional demands on the explorers. During Livingstone's final expedition, the American journalist H.M. Stanley so famously "found" Livingstone. The meeting is replete with irony, and the context and effect of this meeting are very movingly described. Very moving, as well, is the story of Livingstone's death in Africa, and the transport, by loyal friends, of his body fifteen hundred miles to the coast.

This book is written in the form of letters, postcards and greeting cards! It is the correspondence of a little boy, named Max and his favorite author D.J. Lucas (Dorothy Jane Lucas, that is :)) and you get to see as the two come to have a bond and a relationship through the advice and the help they give to each other through their written words. All in all, its a nice book. It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours to read alone for a child if they can make out the words okay. If read aloud in a group, then I would reccomend pausing every 5-7 letters to make sure everyone is keeping up with what is happening.

Ages 6-9 will appreciate this funny correspondence between Max and his favorite author D.J. Lucas: it recounts a funny, evolving relationship between a world famous author and a little boy with a big imagination, and promises something different and enjoyable for elementary-grade readers.

Lots of gorgeous color photos showing ways to spice up your garden with objects such as steel wire garden furniture, mirrors, and other unique items. What fun. -Linda Fry Kenzle, author of Gathering

I've got 5 pages bookmarked for inclusion in our gardens! That should say it all, but just in case, here goes.

There are a lot of books with garden decorating ideas out there, but it's rare that you find a book of this caliber. The ideas, the photography and the writing are all exceptional.

I strongly recommend this book for anyone who loves spending time in their garden.

I need a book that help me to learn quikly y easy how to use the wizatrons of Clarion 5.0 or More.

If is Posible, If you have an spanish book from this type is better for me

It's amazing how the concepts of Clarion never change. The fundamentals presented in this book are still highly useful in developing Clarion apps today (2005). Keep it within your arm's reach and it will pay off.

"One of our primary goals in writing that book was to give developers the skills they needed to solve their own programming problems. We tried to build, in the reader's mind, a mental model of how Clarion programming works. We wanted to create a road map through the maze of Clarion programming options.", David Harms one of the authors of this book.


This is the book to have if you are looking to learn how Clarion works. If you try to learn Clarion 6 using the current user's guides, you will get frustrated. Why? Because the current documentation for Clarion assumes you have been programming in Clarion since they invented it. This book will help you with that.

After you learn the essentials in this book, I'd recommend to subscribe to ClarionMag and read the newsgroups.

Hope That Helps(HTH)!

One of the little considered aspects of science is how it acts as a medium of diplomacy. Studying the wonders of nature, whether of the past or present, brings together people with common interests. In this book Grady relates the events taking place in the 1980s and '90s when Chinese and Canadian paleontologists undertook a major project to dispel some of the mysteries of dinosaur evolution. Well researched and superbly written, Grady here displays the writing skills that would propel him to become one of Canada's foremost science journalists.

The Canada-China Dinosaur Project was considered by most of its participants as a resurrection of work begun many years ago. Roy Chapman Andrews, adventurer, researcher, promoter, went to China in the 1920s seeking evidence of human origins. Instead he stunned the world by finding dinosaur eggs. Interruptions of revolution, wars cold and hot and slim communications links prevented proper follow-up on Andrews finds. Phil Currie and Dale Russell, Canadian paleontologists, sought to identify links that might show relationships between Asian and North American dinosaurs. Grady traces their efforts, following the teams from Mongolian deserts to bleak Arctic islands. There are personality clashes, disputes over resources and inadequate equipment. In the end, the broader needs of good science overcame the petty hindrances and the Project proved an astounding success.

Grady reviews the search for fossils in the Canadian west in opening the tale. In the late 19th Century, the Alberta Badlands were a magnet for fossil hunters. In some places you might trip over fossils recently revealed by soil erosion. Ultimately, the finds led to preserves and the now-famous Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology outside Drumheller. Currie took up the idea of the joint-nation project in the spirit of Carl Sagan's Russian-American Soyuz space project. Currie called it "dinosaurs for peace." A decade of cooperative research, according to Grady, paid enormous dividends for science. The evidence proved another verification that Asia and the Americas were joined in the ancient past.

Grady's fine writing is further graced by numerous photographs and maps. In reminding us that the geography [and geology] of Canada and China are similar, he reinforces that view with excellent photographs. There are maps of the areas with exploratory routes indicated. The scale, necessarily small, cannot fully convey the distances travelled in search of fossils. Added to these illustrations are excellent diagrams of the dinosaurs in skeleton and body plan. In all this book is a trove of information, feeling and discovery. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

The book The Dinosaur Project, by Wayne Grady, describes the joint Canadian and Chinese paleontological project starting in 1985. During the course of this project, Canadian researchers worked alongside Chinese researchers in the paleontological cornucopia of the Gobi Desert, as well as Chinese workers working with Canadians in the also fruitful Southern Alberta Badlands and the Canadian High Arctic. The field areas are so harsh and the characters are so interesting that this book could easily be made into a Spielberg movie. The start of the book immediately draws in the reader by describing the history behind the project. This project is referred to as the largest and most ambitious modern dinosaur hunting expedition ever mounted. It detailed the networking of the Chinese and Canadian colleagues over several years at various conferences until the project eventually became a reality. Narrative style keeps the reader interested as the paleontogists go into extreme conditions in the field, and as their finds are put into perspective relative to contemporary paleontogical dogma. This book was surprisingly gripping for a bone book. It covered many important paleontological theories, but kept the jargon to a minimum. Quotations and anecdotes were often used to relay how science works as well; science both as an abstract methodology and also the reality of working in extreme conditions. One quotation in particularly was well-worded "science is a way of thinking; it's how we move from what we think we don't know to what we think we know" (Dale Russel). The anecdotal style of the book is what really makes it well-written.

This book is a MUST for anyone in direct sales. The two features most outstanding were: (1) how to stop giving away the store while trying to "entice" sales and hostess bookings and (2) how to overcome objections. Very readable and applicable to all fields. While I was reading Chapter 3 on getting bookings, the phone rang and I was able to apply what I had already read and book another demo! That was worth the price of the book right there!!

An excellent resource for beginners in the home-party business. Joyce takes you step by step on how to prospect, book and sell. Make every party a success! Includes detailed scripts to get you started. An excellent book.

This is english humour at its best! Dr Xargle is quite an affectionately, fluffy green Alien who teaches other aliens all about earth and the beings. While your children might not get the humour immediately, it is wonderful watching them slowly understand the humour. For instance earth grannys making wrappers for babies from the 'hairdo of a sheep'.

the illustrations are gorgeous with lots of little features going on in the background - they are richly coloured watercolours.

Sweet, fun, while your children might not understand immediately they know there is something more to it and really enjoy going back and looking at it to understand. EXCELLENT BOOK - in fact I would highly recommend all the Xargle books!

I had never heard of this book until it was given as a gift for my son. I have since shared it with every member of my family. It is a truly delightful book that is very well written. This story of an alien professor teaching his class about the strange lives of "earthlets" (human babies) must be at the top of anyone's list of children's books. (Although I have yet to find an adult who doesn't laugh outloud while reading it.)

This book is a great aid for special education (and general ed)students. The activities are easy and simple, the directions are clear to understand and follow, and, best of all, the students enjoy these activities and really get something out them!

I work with special education students and have used these activities. I have found that they are really simple to follow. The kids really enjoyed the activities -- the challenges and the cooperative participation. They kept asking when we can do them again. Also, the students seemed to act more positively and appropriately with each other while and after taking part in these group activities. They also have learned new academic skills along with behavior practices. I would recommend this book to anyone who works with special education students and we have seen many general education students enjoy these activities and respond positively too.

The UK/Australian version is called "Dr Xargle's Book of Earth Tiggers".

It is hysterical, and the illustrations terrific. The under-6 crowd perhaps don;t really "get it" - it requires the capacity to understand word jokes.

The picture of the mother spooning out "meatblob" (cat food) whilst wearing a handkerchief round her face is a killer! The look of dismay on the little girl's face as the "meatblob"lands on her ice cream is priceless. Perfect depiction of the gloop in tins produced for cats!

A lot of fun this book.

My then-7-year-old daughter received this book for Christmas last year, and even a year later it makes her laugh! As a family of cat owners, we found the book to be as accurate as it is funny. We highly recommend this and any other "Professor Xargle" book.

An indispensable resource for Canadian editors, publishers, and writers.

This book, Editing Canadian English 2nd ed. (2000), is an extremely useful guide for those of us who write or edit in Canada, and as far as I know the *only* copyediting book written from a Canadian perspective and for a Canadian audience. It doubles as a grammar textbook, in that it gives the basic errors that most of us make while we write (capitalisation, spelling, punctuation, etc.), but it also includes chapters on bias, Canada-specific measurements, documentation, editors & the law, and including French words in English writing. It's an immensely useful sourcebook for any Canadian who works with words on a regular basis.

I'm quite surprised that the book is available for sale here, given that the company which produced it was bought-out and the book hasn't been in print for over a year. So, if you've ever thought about buying this book, GET IT NOW while it lasts!