Wallace Books

I got this for my 40th B-Day and have used it faithfully for the last 7 years--what a gem! I've changed jobs, towns, doctors, medical insurance while doctors have come and gone, hospitals have been sold and renamed. I am able to track down my records and give my health history to whomever is treating me.

This volume was first published by Hubert H. Bancroft in 1886. Even today, Volume V. of the History presents one of the most detailed accounts of the events, personalities, and details related to the Bear Flag Revolt in existence. It is a critical source for all those interested in the Bear Flag Revolt and its flag. While it is not correct in every detail and is opinionated in its view of the Bear Flag Revolt, it still is a very important resource document. Bancroft's History is wonderful for its detail and in particular its collection of statements from witnesses to the events. One should be careful not to overlook the footnotes in this volume. Much is contained in these notes.

You can not call yourself a true student of the Bear Flag Revolt or of the Bear Flag without a familiarity with Bancroft's History of California, Vol V.

William J. Trinkle----, Director, The Bear Flag Museum

This book is basically about all of the buzzwords or TLA's (Three Letter Acronyms) of 1994. I found it a very fascinating book.

This book is a compilation of about fourty different authors, each of which write a different chapter on a different aspect of manufacturing.

A lot of the chapters focus on the buzzwords of the time, like JIT, TQM, QFD, ISO 9000, and SQM. I found it really interesting to see what had changed and what had stayed the same. I have the following observations: 1) That all of the government based programs (ISO, Malcom Baldridge awards) are still around, 2) That everything that has a pattented, proprietary chart or graph is gone (QFD, NewComp), 3) That everything that claims to be everything to everyone is still around (JIT, TQM, Benchmarking, ERP), 4) That the biggest difference between now and then is that computers have allowed connecting the supply chain further (This book talks about the ability to connect to your suppliers, and then talks in a separate section about how to connect to your customers. Modern books push the Customer of Customer and Supplier of Supplier concept).

It was really interesting, because things were a lot simpler, as far as supply chain back then, so I recommend reading this to everyone to get a good idea of the basics. A lot of the newer books that I've found delve right into complex concepts like the Advanced Supply Chain Model that connects everyone to everyone else. Where do you start learning in a model like that?

The funny thing is that every chapter was extremely interesting, except the one written by the compiler, Thomas Wallace. His chapter was really boring. The guy can compile, but he can't write. But the other 39 chapters are great.

I really, really liked the format of the book. Each chapter is set up in the same format with 1) the body of what the book is about, 2) definitions of key words, 3) Q&A, and 4) chapter summary. Probably the definitions were the most interesting part because they didn't just repeat parts of the body of the text, but they provided a lot of additional information. Whoever came up with the format of this book was a genius, and really should roll it out to more books.

One of the greatest accolades that can be bestowed on a person is, if you will pardon my sexist language, "A Renaissance man." This is of course a reference to the ideal behind the statement, Leonardo da Vinci, in my opinion, the most talented person who has ever lived. The range of his talents is incredible. The "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper" are two of the most recognized pieces of art in the world, so they alone would have made a career. From this book, you can learn of his enormous achievements, as well as see glimpses of what might have been lost.
He was also in more ways than one a visionary. His drawings of the turbulence of water as it flows across obstructions describe it precisely, something that was not verified until the invention of slow motion photography. He helped invent the science of human anatomy, and his drawings were so precise that they can still be used in anatomy classes today. Some of the other scientific achievements listed in this book where he was most likely the first to describe the phenomenon are:

* The laws of phyllotaxy, which governs the distribution of leaves in plants.
* The laws of heliotropism and geotropism, which govern the growth of plants towards the sun and into the earth.
* He was able to determine the age of plants and trees by studying their features such as the annual rings.
* He described features of the human heart and was very close to the discovery of the circulation of blood, something that was not accurately described until a century later.
* There is a passage in one of his notebooks, "Make glasses in order to see the moon large." This, in conjunction with his demonstrated knowledge of optics, indicates that he perhaps knew how to build or perhaps even did build a telescope.
* He correctly identified fossils for what they are and was the first to describe the formation of sedimentary rock.
* His sketch of a photometer to measure the intensity of light was just as functional as the actual one invented three centuries later.
* While he didn't quite get there, it is clear from his writings that he was very close to describing the physical principle of inertia. In fact, the principle of inertia was called the principle of Leonardo for many years.
* He sketched out what was the equivalent of a piston moving in a cylinder, apparently the first time such a device was described.

This list could be continued, and it must be noted that much of his written work has in fact been lost. It is simply mind-boggling to speculate on the number of additional marvels that he conceived and described in his notebooks, but will probably remain forever unknown.
He was also the first to construct an aerial view map. His sketch of the watershed of the Arno River, complete with elevations, has a quality that was not exceeded until the advent of manned flight and photography. Leonardo was also a first rate military and civil engineer. He was the first to describe modern artillery; he anticipated many of the weapons of modern warfare and was capable of designing effective defensive structures.
In reading this book, I was simply in awe of his talents. Had he been only an artist, or even only an inventor, or only a scientist, he would have gone down in history as one the greatest intellects of all time. However, all of them in combination make his productive life one of the most interesting throughout all of history. Reading this book has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life. Even through centuries of history and human achievement his greatness still emerges stronger than ever.

Just finished reading this book. Great! The idea of buying the "wrong house" and what it can signify is a really good story!

The author really shows some sides of our humanness that can't always be expressed. She shows an example of wanting something from our partner which we are not even sure of. Her character then gets the recognition that she needs from an unlikely source.

There are some really good characters in this book, both female and male.

It's a good read!

In addition to the guide books, I recommend this to anyone traveling to Yellowstone as a book to read before they go.

In a concise format, the National Park Service does an excellent job of explaining the geology and natural history of the park, the wildlife and the history of the development and use of the park as a public resource. The explanation of the caldara and the volcanic activity that formed Yellowstone and continues to animate it to this day is fascinating. Warning: The "big one" when it comes, is likely to come through Yellowstone, probably the place on the earth where the protective crust is thinnest between us and hot magma below.

The books also includes very good maps and wonderful pictures. An excellent primer that will whet your appitite to visit one of our great parks.

There are maybe one or two novels funnier than You Could Live if they Let you. Catch-22 and A Confederacy of Dunces come to mind. Imagine Lenny Bruce crossed with Mark Twain. That's Wallace Markfield. And no, the Jews did not kill Christ. But they did lean on him a little.

This is the best book on thimble history I have seen. It has quite a lot of information on sewing impliments, too. I have used it for a referance on more than one item.

03/04/2000 PROFOUND HONESTY which is a derivative of NEO-TECH (which means fully integrated honesty) is a must for any forward thinking person who, rejects the doom, gloom, waiting for death, the end of the world mentalities that infest mankind today. What I find fascinating is the author Frank. R. Wallace has used meticulous detail in exposing the 2300-year-old hoax of mysticism and neocheating. The cause of the mind- set that accepts death as `normal' when in reality death is unnatural for the happy prosperous value creating/producing individual whom ultimately benefits himself/herself and society. for they are the real heroes of mankind. Learn how those whom you have profound respect for such as bureaucrats, clergymen, politicians, some lawyers some judges, tax paid professors and environmentalist live of the efforts of the value creator and the value producers, repaying them with falsehoods and demands for sacrifice while they themselves produce no competitive values that you or I would willing pay for.

Farnk R Wallace, Mark Hamilton and other authors at I&O Publishing Company have done a brilliant job of exposing the 2300 years of illusions that has people accepting death as natural. Which is the antithesis of power prosperity wealth and happiness.

Anyone who grasps the concepts from NEO-TECH. ZONPOWER and GODMAN will know the PROFOUND HONESTY inherent in those publications needed to produce such literature.

So simple but profoundly brilliant and I love it.

THE UNIVERSAL LAW

Preamble

The purpose of human life is to prosper and live happily. The function of society is to guarantee those conditions that allow all individuals to fulfil their purpose. Those conditions can be guaranteed through a constitution that forbids the use of initiatory force or coercion by any person or group against any individual:

THE CONSITUTION

Article 1: No person, group of persons, or government may initiate force, Threat of force, or fraud against any individual's self or property.

Article 2: Force may be morally and legally used only in defence against those Who violate article 1.

Article 3. No exception shall ever exist to Article 1 and 2.

I was very pleased to see how quickly the book arrived after I put the order in for it. It's so nice to have books come to ME, instead of me chasing after nebulous titles of books that have been recommended to me but are hard to find.

I tried twice and both times was foiled by it's monotony. It needed thinning / weeding out. It was like a slow train ride across a desert with the occasional oasis.

If I ever make it to the used book store I'll see if I can find a different title by Stegner and try again.

I read Angle of Repose many years ago for the first time, and was astounded then as now by its power. Stegner continues to be one of the least recognized of our great American novelsits. Angle of Repose and Crossing to Safety are masterpieces that should be on everyone's list.

I enjoyed this long, ambitious book. It has a lot of the characteristics of a romance novel, but it is a great deal more than that. The author is dealing with bigger themes within the context of fiction. I liked the changes between contemporary times, (1970 to be specific) and the pioneer times. Reading the book in 2008, you realize that what was contemporary when the book was published is now historical and it provides the reader with a different experience than readers in 1971 had. The book is long, but the technique of first person narration from the main character's point of view, the main character's version of his grandmother's life, as well as letters the grandmother wrote break up the novel. I hope I'm not giving too much away when I say this book might be subtitled "A Series of Unfortunate Events." Things don't seem to work out for these people and it is up to the reader to determine exactly why. I was particularly enthralled by the parts that took place in real locations like Leadville, that I could locate on a map. Every reader might not be drawn into this novel, but I was intrigued by it.

...the false arch may be as much as one can expect in this life." Stegner summation of his novel's themes contains this essential sentence. Two lines, leaning against each other, without the uniting keystone, form their own angle of repose, a term derived from geology and mining, but as he says, has it own meaning when applied to human relations. Repose which is an acceptance of our fate.

There are several themes that Stegner skillfully handles throughout the book. The central one is certainly the relationship of one man with one woman. An ill-starred marriage of a woman with deep roots in the East, pretensions to, and accomplishments in their high society to a laconic man whose work is of the West, mining and irrigation. The story is told from the viewpoint of their curmudgeonly grandson, who at 58, as a cripple with deteriorating health requiring much care, and has therefore earned his ill-tempered outlook "honestly." He is reconstructing their grandparent's story via letters that the grandmother had written to her best friend "back East." As the story unfolds, we also learn that an aspect of the grandfather's fate with women is reflected in the grandson's fate.

The story is told against the vast panorama that is the West as the frontier draws to a close. The background is a realistic one, not the fables of Hollywood, as the family moves from California to Colorado to Idaho, with a detour via Mexico. Hard economic conditions are their constant accompaniment, along with the hope for amelioration via meaningful work. One of the sub-themes is the whimsy of Eastern capital which can make or break the efforts in the development of the West. Other components serve to authentic the experience, including the majesty of the land itself, Chinese and Mexican immigrant labor, the Powell survey, and the necessitated obsession with water. Stegner knows his science, medicine and geology, and the reader is treated not only the basis for the title to the book, but also the "Doppler effect," which Stegner says has its human applications; the diseases and accidents of the time, along with childbirth, and the physical aspects of both mining and irrigation.

Stegner alternates the late 19th Century story with the life of the grandson, "threatened" by an "old folk's home" in Menlo Park, at the beginning of the `70's. The grandson, Lyman Ward, is clearly hostile to the social changes of the `60's, expressing a preference for the social morals of the Victorian era. Stegner however uses Ward's temporary assistant, Shelly, a student at UC Berkeley, as an effective foil for many of his opinions. Lyman is alienated from his own son also.

All the major, as well as many of the minor characters, are flawed, but Stegner tells their stories with much empathy for the human condition. His prose is wonderfully fresh. The story (ies) are revealed with just the right touch of "dramatic tension."

I was surprised by the comments of some of the other reviewers, who thought Stegner too verbose, or even boring! Clearly it is not a "quick, fun read", and thus not for everyone, but with his skills he could easily have continued for another 200 pages before exhausting his themes or my interest.

At the end it is impossible not to hope that he would, indeed, be a bigger man than his grandfather, breaking that endless cycle of "Plus ca change...."

Angle of Repose is an essential American novel.