Ross Books

Too bad Pilgrimage is out of print. The idea of the journey west on the Oregon Trail will never seem the same to me as it did before I traveled it with young Emma. Her insight into both delightfully earthy and horribly vicious situations is perfectly wonderful. She might be a younger version of Miss Julia from the Ann B. Ross series, but with a less caustic and cynical wit. Character development is masterful. A strong voice from a strong author. Loved it.

In Missouri in 1846, Jessie and Emma Heath have recently lost their father and are now orphans. Jessie believes the Lord wants her to go out west to convert the Indians, so she and Emma pack up and leave home. After a run-in with two unsavory characters on the way to Independence, Jessie decides it's too dangerous for them to appear as two vulnerable women traveling alone, so Em dresses up as a boy and pretends to be Jessie's young brother, Emmett. From Independence, they head out on the Oregon Trail with the Donner family, and so the fun begins. The adventures that follow make for a great and hilarious story. Indian raids, unwanted marriage proposals, fake preachers, "divine" interventions, daring rescues, near starvation, the effort of keeping up Em's disguise, and a cast of wacky characters - including the mountain men Mego Cobb and Mr. Garrett - make this book hard to put down. Though it is now unfortunately out of print, it's worth the effort to track down a used copy online. You won't regret it.

"In 1948 the Queen's University, Belfast, did me the honour of appointing me to deliver the Memorial Lecture established in memory of the notable historian of ancient thought, Sir Samuel Dill.

I WELCOMED THE OPPORTUNITY OF SAYING SOMETHING ABOUT PLATO'S THEORY OF IDEAS, at which I had been working for some time, and the substance of the lecture is embodied in the final chapter and in other parts of the present book.

I have not thought is necessary, as a rule, to print in the original Greek passages from Plato and other Greek writers, but have been content to translate or to use a good existing translation....."
[from the book of the preface by W. D. R.]

This book by Sir David Ross is, for me, the best account of Platos's famous theory of Ideas. The author goes back to Plato's earlyer dialogues and gives a detailed exposition of how the doctrine developed all through the dialogues, how were took the teachings of Socrates and how Plato gave to it full consistence. Especially fine is his account of the Parmenides, one of Plato's mature works. This is, may be, the most difficult of all the dialogues and Ross sheds real clarity on it. This is the book if one wants to get to know Plato's philosophy through his central root. It really helped me in my first readings of the divine Plato.

"The Practical Guide to Defect Prevention" was written for software developers and testers, but many techniques presented can be applied to improve quality in other products as well. I'm in the midst of a career change into software development after 2 decades of working with office automation hardware, and have referred to this book during a current project, as well as passed along suggestions straight from this book to former colleagues in a much different career field. When I saw the title of this book, I was afraid I'd be reading advice that wasn't much more than common sense, or a rehash of material learned in programming or intro software testing. Wrong! Realizing how naïve I was, I picked up 2 other texts in the field of defect prevention and root cause analysis. I found this book to be more readable. The clear taxonomy, the complete explanations of various methods (with multiple examples and references) and the humor (!) held my interest enough to where I learned and understood the techniques presented, as well as broadened my understanding of what quality software development really entails.

As a previous reviewer pointed out, this book is useful to everyone from the tester who wants to catch errors, through the executive wanting a successful business. And, I suppose this sounds like I'm laying it on with a trowel, but I have to say it: Although I'm a voracious reader, I keep only a few dozen books on my shelves at home; this is one of them, and I suspect that I'll continue referring to it for quite some time. Thanks to the authors Ross, Marc, Bob, Dan, David, Lori, and Josh for taking the time and putting forth such a great effort!

This is the first review I have performed and here it goes... I work in software development and have for the last 11 years. As a Quality Assurance Professional, I think "The Practical Guide to Defect Prevention" should be on everyone's book shelf. Everyone in the industry or those contemplating a start-up in the industry should read this book to get an understanding of what quality means and how to achieve it. This is a fun book filled with real world experiences and enough technical knowledge to implement the many quality systems and is most beneficial read from end to end, but is also designed to be a reference. "The Practical Guide to Defect Prevention" does a great job of giving a strong foundation for those wanting to develop quality in their processes.
Who can really benefit from this book?
* The executive wanting to know what it takes to have a successful software business
* The manager wanting to know how to improve the product
* The product designer who wants to provide enhancements to existing features and determine what features to add
* The developer wanting to gauge the effectiveness of the implementation
* The tester that wants to catch all of the errors
Sure, we could talk about all the content and implementation issues, including; Root Cause Analysis, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) or Failure Modeling, but my favorite aspect of this book is the real world examples and pitfalls described.
Many great related quotes are included to illustrate some aspect of the material to be presented. My favorite was in chapter 12, "Adapting Processes" where there was a quote from Mark Twain "A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way". This quote illustrates the reason you need to read this book and keep it on your bookshelf.
Arne
The Practical Guide to Defect Prevention (Best Practices)

Very highly recommended and instructive reading, "Publishing Without Boundaries: How To Think, work, And Win In The Global Marketplace" by Michael N. Ross (Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Encyclopedia Britannica Inc.) focuses upon the impact digital publishing has had on the publishing industry, how to work with international publishers, and how American publishers can maximize development efforts. "Publishing Without Boundaries" is designed to teach publishers how to adapt what they do to other cultures and media for the purpose of establishing relationships, negotiating licensing, and developing co-publishing contracts. Of particular importance to educational publishers, "Publishing Without Borders" has a great deal of relevance and value for American trade publishers, niche publishers, independent publishers, and self-published authors seeking to expand their markets into other countries.

If information is power, "Publishing Without Boundaries" is turbo-charged. This book is a must-have road map for all publishers. The book will entice you, encourage you, inspire you and guide you through the perils and pitfalls of global business. It is based on business as it happens and not on theoretical or hypothetical situations. Ross comes across as proactive, not reactive. It is clear that he enjoys the hunt and has, time and time again, emerged victorious.

Richard C. Levy
Washington, D.C.

This is an exciting novel set during the Civil War. As with all of Phyllis A. Whitney's novels, the imagery is wonderful, as is the story line. I highly recommend this book. Then, pass it along to friends for them to enjoy as well!!

I do not like gothic romances but I absolutely love this book. It is of a time when women wore gowns and dresses and men wore suits, ties and uniforms. Where families had servants and maids and gardeners -- and slaves. A girl from the south whose father was killed after saving the life of a rebel now nurses back to life the Union soldier who killed her father. And falls in love with him. His family lives up north and takes her there to be a mother to his young son whose mother was murdered in a pool of water. The woman, Lora, slowly befriends the boy, Jemmy, and slowly takes on the life of a northern woman. Soon other characters enter into the story. Her husband's mother, Amanda Tyler, rules her roost with an iron fist and Lora's husband, Wade Tyler, is his mother's dutiful son. Lora tries her best to fit in this dark household but finds herself surrounded by strange neighbors. As Lora meets them and visits with them she feels there are many hidden secrets -- not the le!ast of which concerns the mysterious death of Wade's first wife, Jemmy's mother. Who killed her, and why? The tale is taut with many twists and turns and in the end you will have found the climax well worth the long journey.

Both of my babies loved this book. The pictures are very cute and each page has the story written in rhyme. The book goes through the day of a group of babies of various races who all live together. The book is unique in that all the children are different races and no caregiver is pictured. They all sleep together in the same bed. It would be a good book for families who have children of mixed races or for a foster family with babies of different races. The illustrations are well done and realistic, depicting simple problems and scenarios that a baby can easily relate to. We read it over and over.

Our daughter would bring this book to us every morning near dawn exclaiming "read me again!". My husband memorized it so he could keep his eyes closed a few moments longer, while turning the pages and "reading" it to her. Although there is no accounting for this tiny board book fetching these astronomical prices, it is a family treasure of memory. The book did not survive its overuse at our house. I hope you (and we for friends and future grandchildren) can find it for a more reasonable $10.00 or under.

Great resource for women whose husbands are Rangers. Gives in depth history of the traditions and practices of Army Ranger Batallions.

I learned more about the Rangers in the first few chapters than I thought possible. I had studied the Rangers since I was a kid but have never seen this much information in one book like this. Very well written and an interesting read. A must have for anyone interested in Military History and one of the best fighting units in the world if not history.

Steve

I enjoyed the book very much, it was sent in a timely fashion.

This is a beautiful book to help children cope with the death of someone close. It's simple, comforting message is also very appropriate for adults. It is not overtly religious or Christian, although it does have 'angels" (friendly guides) who help the children in the story understand that death is not a fearful horrible thing and that they will someday be together in heaven with the one they have lost.

This book is the real deal. If you are interested in breeding or just curious this is the book to own. I have bred boas and pythons and I refer to this as often as possible. Even if you are not interested in breeding and just want to bone up on your knowledge this is a must have book in your library. Every self respecting herper should own this book!! It is "THE WHAT IT IS" book.

This is a book that you simply must have if you are at all interested in the keeping and or breeding of Boa and Python snakes. This is one of the most complete works on the subject available to date. It is an easy reading book that even though there are some technical discussions, even an amature hobbyist will be able to follow along. Advanced hobbyists will also learn things from this book that they had not learned before, and it will make them think in a way that they had not thought before. This is a book that you will find yourself reffering back to for years to come. Not to mention you'll see incredible photos that you will not see anywhere else. This one goes on my top shelf for sure!

The revival of pragmatism, which can largely be traced to Richard Rorty's work provides an important framework for a variety of problems ranging from philosophical, through legal, cultural and literary. For someone who wants a good overview of the debates around pragmatism, this volume provides a good introduction.

The variety of essays provides a good selection of the span of modern pragmatist thought. It includes excellent articles by both Rorty and Putnam, who have very different philosophical takes on pragmatism. A few excellent survey articles on the history of pragmatism and articles that engage specific applications of pragmatist thought. As might be expected, the summary article by Stanley Fish is sure to infuriate some readers.

This is a book for someone who has a background understanding of pragmatism, but wants to learn more the uses to which it is being put.

This is an excellent and important book of well-written positions from a variety of perspectives. A fan of pragmatism may be turned off by the 2nd through the 6th essays, but of the following 25 at least 23 or 24 are well worth reading. The section on law debates the question of whether philosophy influences or "supports" law. I came away, as I'd been before, convinced that moving to pragmatism in philosophy is likely to have a good effect on legal opinions and that Rorty is absurdly unfair to the value of his own work by stressing that law can get on without traditional philosophy. Of course it can, but what needs to be said is that we would be better off if it did. The concluding essay by Stanley Fish is wonderful and makes a point I've been trying to find someone to agree with for years, namely that religious tolerance is a contradiction in terms; tolerance is a restriction on religion.