Williams Books

First off, major kudos to the reader of this series. He does a great job of changing his voice to separate the characters and keeping the mood of the series. The sound effects were decent as well. They did a pretty good job with the abridgment, unfortunately they cut out many of the little things that made the originals great instead of just good. Anyone new to the series wont notice a thing and us veterans can add the missing paragraphs and ocasional chapter ourselves. With 2 more voice actors, a little better sound effects and the full text this would have been a great buy... As it is, it's still a good series that you can spend a long time listening to.

This is the final book of the trilogy, has lots of action lots of the clans. Comstar finaly shows who the will support and romanno finaly gets whats coming,hehehe. this is an awsome book that everyone will enjoy.

With this book Stackpole concludes the invasion of the Clans.
The final confrontation between Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht of ComStar and ilKhan Ulric,along with Kai and Deirdre getting in love with each other (FINALLY!although it requires
almost half a year in the wilderness),only to break up again.
I LOVED the fact that SOMEONE puts an end to Romano Liao's life
(the whacko had started to get on my nerves),and Victor and Galen.......oh,well you'll see.This book, alongside with the rest of the 'Blood of Kerensky'trilogy is impossible to put down!I,personally, finshed the trilogy in two weeks.It is , simply the best of the best.READ IT!

Lost Destiny has an extremely compelling storyline. Once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down, reading until 1 AM from 10 PM, then finishing the next evening! (At that point, I was waaaaay tired). If you're a true BattleTech fan, then you've read this. If not, GET YOUR HANDS ON IT!!!

The book is very good. I learned alot about the clans byreading this book. The glossary is very good. The book even includes a map to pinpoint the worlds mentioned. The BTech universe is brought to new heights with this book. The drama was good, and Romano Liao's death was an interesting twist. All in all, a must read.

Excellent book.Very comprehensive,a must read for anyone who is either making home brew biodiesel or intends to.

This book is great and details exactly how to make and use your own biodisel. It also covers saftey and logistical aspects of creating it which I thought was quite nice. The only reason though that i gave it 4 stars was becuase it is a bit wordy. There is a lot of information in this book and it can be overwhelming but overall it is very good and useful.

This book was purchased to get a better understanding of the biodiesel production process and industry. It also goes into great detail in how to build your own quality biodiesel plant. The author also dispells the fact from fiction involving quality biodiesel production. It is a good book for the person very interested in building a plant and is wanting to make an educated decision before he builds the plant. Overall, Great Book!

This book was very well written and researched. The book is detailed but still very interesting. I felt lead by some suspense. I was thinking, "Given all the hard truths, Can he really make it work for the home scale producer?!?" - and in the end, he does.
I wish he'd said a little more about using SVO but that's not what this is about.

After researching most of the books available on the market on the subject of BIO-DIESEL I eventually settled for this book.
It is well-written and covers every aspect of the manufacture of bio-diesel that the smaller-scale individual would look for in a book. The author is well-versed in his subject and is a definate must-have book if you are looking to get into this field.
Definately worth 5/5 stars from me.

_The Book of Questions_ defies easy description. Neruda composed over 70 poems in quatrains, two questions per quatrain - yet the depth of the questions and the variety of interpretations the reader can take from the questions is limitless. That the book contains English translations of the Spanish original is an added bonus.

The images are surreal, as if a Dali painting put to words. Further thought (and the poems ARE thought provoking) yields a different answer with each reading. There is a pervading sense of sadness to them, perhaps because Neruda was dying of cancer while he wrote them; but there is hope, here, too - and a wisdom that only a master poet can communicate. For example:

Where is the child I was,
still inside me or gone?

Why did we spend so much time
growing up only to seperate?

Neruda's _Book of Questions_ haunts and provokes, much like life itself. Highly recommended.

The BOOK OF QUESTIONS was written in 1973, a few months before Neruda's death to cancer. Troubled by the knowledge of his impending death, as well as by a U.S. backed coup threatening the Allende government in Chile (Leftist regime 1970-73), Neruda wrote several small books of brief poems, comprised simply of unanswerable questions, in the koan tradition (question/statement in the form of a paradox that disciples of Zen ponder). They are enigmatic, at times surreal, leaving you lost in labyrinths of deep thought, or in abstract bewilderment.

My favorite questions include:

Why do leaves commit suicide
When they feel yellow?

and

When the convict ponders the light
is it the same light that shines on you?

--ross saciuk

Pablo Neruda's BOOK OF QUESTIONS is one of those books that simply cannot be read just once. Though the poems are short, they are questions that make you ponder and think about through out the day. Neruda covers just about everything, such as politics, society, nature, and life in general.

The most enlightening thing about poetry, especially Neruda's style of writing poetry, is that it lends itself to much interpretation. Anyone that reads this book will have their own answer and interpretation of what they think Neruda was trying to convey. For example, Neruda has a knack for covering politics. He writes:

"How did the grapes come to know
the cluster's party line?

And do you know which is harder,
to let run to seed or to do the picking?

It is bad to live without a hell:
aren't we able to reconstruct it?

And to position sad Nixon
with his buttocks over the brazier?

Roasting him on low
with North American napalm?" (p.18)

For the most part, the book has a zen-like quality, which suggests a complexity to the poems -- the sense of not-knowing, and moving towards intuitive perceptions, beyond rehearsed patterns of thinking and feeling (viii). In a way, it appears complex, but at the same time liberating. Neruda's poetry is simple in its structure.

Beyond analysis, BOOK OF QUESTIONS is also helpful for anyone trying to refresh their memory to read and write in spanish. The translations are wonderful and practical. I recommend this book as well as other books by Neruda because of this added bonus.

Pablo Neruda is much missed as a poet and thinker. Since his death in 1973 there has been an even stronger growing of appreciation for his unique style of writing. During his last days he composed this strange little collection of some 300-odd questions and a number of poems all dealing with the life cycle as only one who sees his end at hand can write. The subjects are death, rebirth and nature in as complete a marriage of intention as any poet has created. They are beautifully translated by William O'Daly.

Intending his reader to be stimulated by his words to create a visual image that is personal, his questions from this volume so aptly titled 'The Book of Questions' open our eyes and our minds to some rapturously beautiful experiences. Examples:

'Why don't inanimate things
do something?

Where did a celestial body
leave something tonight?

Why don't they train helicopters
to suck honey from the sunlight?

Where did the full moon leave
its sack of flour tonight?'

Warmly humorous, touching and eventually elevating, the questions remain on the backs of our eyes awaiting reentry into our brains for relish at needy times. Neruda is a poet for all seasons. Just read this book and discover. Grady Harp, December 06

With this book, Pablo Neruda takes the universe and turns it inside out; in doing so, he brings forth questions for which there are no answers, and which, at the same moment, lead us toward the questions and vibrations of our own souls. The questions may appear as nonsense, but in truth, they are of another language, that of the poet, and they are neither meant to be answered nor translated into the realms of the logical and linear. He embraces humor: "What will they think of my hat, the Polish, in a hundred years?" and "Is there anything sillier than to be called Pablo Neruda?" Yet he also delves into mystery of life and living: "Is 4 the same 4 for everybody? Are all sevens equal?" and "In the end, won't death be an endless kitchen?" While perhaps never having read C.S. Lewis' "A Grief Observed," Neruda picks up a thread from two lines of this short memoir of grief: "Is yellow square or round? How many hours are in a mile?" But while Lewis searches for answers in a prosaic realm, Neruda remains the poet of questions. His work also brings to mind a poem by American jani johe webster, "the color of august": "what is the sound of a shadow / how do you say a hope / can you see time in a dream". For a truly amazing experience, read William O'Daly's translation of "The Book of Questions" side by side with Ben Belitt's: it is an amazing study of words, meanings, translation, and most of all, questions.

If you already own or plan on purchasing Swokowski's "Calculus" (6th edition) or his "Calculus of a Single Variable" (2nd edition), then you will probably want to obtain some of the following ancillaries:

Advanced Placement Study Guide
ISBN: 0-534-93927-9
DERIVE Notebook
ISBN: 0-534-93637-7
Instructor's Solutions Manual
Volume I, ISBN: 0-534-93630-X
Volume II, ISBN: 0-534-93631-8
Mathematica Notebook
IBM ISBN: 0-534-93632-6
Student Solutions Manual
Volume I, ISBN: 0-534-93628-8
Volume II, ISBN: 0-534-93629-6
Study Guide
Volume I, ISBN: 0-534-93626-1
Volume II, ISBN: 0-534-93627-X
Printed Test Bank
ISBN: 0-534-93926-0
Transparencies
ISBN: 0-534-93642-3

Note: Since this book is out-of-print, some of these ancillaries will be difficult to find. I was able to locate copies of the "Student Solutions Manual" and "Study Guide" by doing a "Google" search (I used the ISBN numbers). Volume 1 of the "Student Solutions Manual" and the "Study Guide" are readily available, but volume 2 of both publications are scarce and expensive; for example, a new copy of the "Student Solutions Manual (Vol. II)" costs $83.46 from the UK, and a new copy of the "Study Guide (Vol. II)" costs $57.65. Needless to say, used copies of these ancillaries are considerably cheaper. I did not attempt to find any of the other materials. (Obviously, the quoted prices are meant to be representative and will certainly vary over time.)

"Calculus" (6th edition) contains all the chapters listed below; Swokowski's "Calculus of a Single Variable" (2nd edition) contains Chapters 1 through 9 of the main text plus appendices and index.

Precalculus Review
1. Limits and Continuity
2. The Derivative
3. Applications of the Derivative
4. Integrals
5. Applications of the Definitive Integral
6. Transcendental Functions
7. Techniques of Integration
8. Infinite Series
9. Parametric Equations and Polar Coordinates
10. Vectors and Surfaces
11. Vector-Valued Functions
12. Partial Differentiation
13. Multiple Integrals
14. Vector Calculus
15. Differential Equations
Appendices/Answers to Selected Exercises/Index.

Note: If you purchased Swokowski's "Calculus of a Single Variable" (2nd edition) instead of his "Calculus" (6th edition), then you need purchase only "volume I" of the listed ancillaries.

This book was adopted in my college, but it is out of print in Brazil. Thus, the depth Math solved replace it by Anton's book.
Swokowski's book is an amazing book that equilibrates proofs and intuition very well. It has excellent examples and many exercises
with applications. The review refers the 5th edition.

The Student's Solutions Manual Volume 1 for chapters 1-9 is also worth getting! ISBN 0-534-93628-8

This book is so comprehensive you can use it for any engineering and general purposes. You must also get it`s study guides and instructor`s book for an efficient study... Their study guide 1 ISBN: 0-534-936-261, 2 ISBN: 0-534-936-27X, Instructor`s manual 1 ISBN: 0-534-936-30X and 2 ISBN: 0-534-936-318.

I've taken either Calc 1, 2, or 3 at every Junior College (and Cal State U. Northridge) in the northern Los Angeles area and this is by far the best book I've dealt with. The ONLY problem with it is its really bad construction. Almost everybody's book was falling apart so DON'T BUY USED!!!!! I only have the cover left but I think I'm goning to buy another one or its equivalent for Calc 3(multivariable).

-Tas

If you have read William's Dunham's " Journey through Genius ", "Euler,The Master of Us All", there is no need to add anymore praise to this book,just buy it and enjoy it!!!

Well worth the effort! The beginning is easy (but very informative) if you've had college level differential and integral calculus. Then there's Cantor and Lebesgue!! Tough going, but very satisfying!

Pete

wonderful book, adds mathematical context to the ideas developed. good to read along a textbook on analysis.

If you are up on your math it almost reads like a novel. I can't say anything about it that hasn't already been said, but just affirm all the positive comments. If you like math you will love this book.

If you enjoyed "Journey through Genius" by the same author, you will also enjoy the present volume. It requires more math knowledge (at least a working knowledge of calculus), but the level is aimed at a bright high school AP student, or a college undergraduate I would recommend it for even serious mathematicians who would like to know more about how the present state of knowledge of analysis came about. I would especially recommend it for teachers and students of calculus. Too often, ideas which took literally centuries to mature are presented in finished form, as if some mathematician sat down one day and wrote out finished, rigorous theorems. Seeing how even venerable mathematicians like Newton and Cauchy got results without the rigour which we see as necessary today is an eye-opener, and should be an encouragement to experiment and "learn by doing", and not to be afraid to go boldly forth, even if you haven't dotted all the "i" and crossed all the "t".

I have dabbled with collage and assemblage and want to do more. What I mainly want is info on supplies and technique, rather than an overview of what other artists are doing in the field, or a history of the art, or coaching to overcome fear of doing art. I took six collage and altered book books out of the library. This one worked best for me. The information about what supplies, adhesives, and papers/boards to use was well organized, clear and simple. Each technique was presented in a straightforward, step by step way accompanied by examples. This book had more techniques in it that seemed like ones I would want to work with than some of the other books - I'm not at a stage where I want to build a complicated studio setup or use photocopiers and photography a whole lot in my artwork, but I appreciate knowing about techniques that are a little more advanced than gluing paper down.

*****
I have been reading collage books in order to get ready for a collage class I'm taking next month; while all the ones I've read have their strong points, this book is truly the "Bible" of collage---it contains the widest and most in-depth information of all of the books I've read. It covers so many topics, and for a beginner, enables me to see just what can be done with collage. As I become more experienced, though, I am certain that I will refer to it again and again.

Ever type of collage conceivable to me is covered here, with step by step instruction. It is written in an instructional (as opposed to entertaining) style, and is definitely a reference book, but one that I think every collage artist should have.

If you are wanting to learn more about collage and can only afford one book, this one is it. It covers many different styles, so unlike other books, if your style is not the same as the author's, you might be left out---no chance of that with this book.

Highly recommended.
*****

I'm speaking as someone who knows zilch about collage -- or close enough to zilch that it doesn't matter. Which means I'm extremely impressed by the way the authors clearly explained techniques and concepts in a manner that didn't confuse the ignorant (me) while informing both beginners and experts. I'm guessing they DO inform experts just because of the wide range of information. The result is that I feel I really begin to understand the basic concepts without being overwhelmed. My only problem is to choose which fun methods to try first. There is certainly an exhaustive array of options. I can't speak for more experienced people but, for beginners, I can't imagine a book being more helpful than this one.

This book does offer specific projects and yet leaves an open-ended aspect for artist innovation and personal touch. There are a lot of methods explored and so this text is a great one in addition to the works of others in this genre. The greatest part about this book is that contemporary collage artists are featured and this gives the reader a connection with his/her peers. There is no "art history" and "these are the famous collage artists" feel to this book: it is 100% TODAY people who are creating collage art. This aspect makes the world of collage feel approachable and in the here and now.

This book was actually a text book for a college class. As a not very artistic person, I found some of the projects to be a bit intimidating. However, the explanations were very helpful. The pictures are beautiful. I found the descriptions of the elements of design very helpful.

When I was in college, on vacation, I ran into a new paperback of "Decline." I loved it. It was the first book I ever read where I looked forward to reading the footnotes.

As others have observed, the book is a series of essays of historic figures, but all observed from a humorous perspective. Starting to read any essay makes most hooked, and they just have to read another and another until the book is mostly devoured. Others have taken an iconoclastic view of historic figures, but this adds humor that makes it memorable.

My favorite footnote of the entire book concerns Philip of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great. After pointing out that his wife, Olympias, had a thing for snakes, Cuppy notes, "Having real snakes at home does an alcoholic no good. It just complicates matters." Fantastic!

Will Cuppy has written a number of books, but this is a high point. Anyone who wants to gain a good perspective of historic figures as being human, this is a good introduction.

I have given many copies to friends as presents. Nodody who got one was disappointed.

Something for everyone from streetwise to suede patched elbows.
Whodathunk? Pithy LOL footnotes? It is a valuable lesson on how one has to be disciplined before breaking away from conventional frameworks.
You'll laugh at the first footnote thinking you perhaps misread it
or surmise in awe of the incredible double entendre within the intellectual capacity of the latter day bard named Will.

This is the first book about which I've felt compelled to write a review, which means that I loved it! I came across an old hardback copy in a local bookstore as I was looking for worthwhile history books for my trivia whiz daughter to study. Within a minute I was laughing out loud (Christopher Columbus was the page I flipped it open to) and disturbing the other bookstore customers. My first thought was, "I didn't think that anyone from the 50s had a sense of humor, or at least one that i can appreciate!" I love the footnotes; Mr Cuppy obviously spent some time on this tome. My only complaint: I wish it were 5 times as thick with information. To that end I am now going to look for more Will Cuppy books. Any recommendations?

This book is historically accurate, funny, satirical, informative, entertaining - in a single word "wonderful". It has been an inspiration to me. When I found out that there was no more Willy Cuppy I was so disappointed that I started my own series on Famous Folks. I have temporarily entitled my book Hobo Notes on Famous Folks.
Obviously I loved the idea and the style of Willy Cuppy. Of course Will is much smarter than I am, but hopefully I can make up for my inadequacy in other ways.
Willy inspires me to sit down and start writing as does Robert Service and Mark Twain.
You can't miss with anything by Willy Cuppy - this is probably his most well known publication.

It is the funniest History lesson one can ever hope to get. I wish I had Cuppy as my high school teacher. My brother and I would not have skipped school to hang out in the railroad station. From Pericles to Attila the Hun to Charlemagne to Nero to the Sun King all reduced to ordinary average Joe, making a living as an emperor, conqueror or just your garden variety Pope of the Dark Age. Every sentence is dripping with irony, sarcasm and is laugh out loud funny. I read it while flying 30,000 feet cross country and could not control myself laughing and my wife disowned me while deplaning.

Just go buy this book. No need to thank me.

I wanted to add that disclaimer so you wouldn't reject my review out of hand. Even though it is a bit preachy, the lesson is a good one for the religious and the secular alike. It's a message of mercy, and also makes it very clear that just because you have made bad decisions in the past doesn't mean you are worthless or that you cannot overcome your mistakes.

Preaching aside, this is an entertaining adventure, and I enjoy it for that reason alone. Just because a book has a religious theme doesn't automatically make it bad. And heck, just because the lesson is religious in origin doesn't make it less valid.

I Want to know why this fella hasn't written more books. I loved the Med- evil setting,the authentic characters, the intrigue, and the romance in this book. This would be a great read for men and women.

I am an avid fantasy reader (though this is actually the first fantasy novel I've reviewed on Amazon). I would like to support what previous reviewers have said-do not listen to the editorial review for this book. Those who would say it is nothing but a corny mini-sermon with overly simplistic characters obviously could not have really read the book-and I do not say this lightly, because as a rule that is what I think of many Christian/allegorical fantasy novels.

This book is the final title in the Seven Kingdoms series, set about 120 years after the reign of King Perivale and the collapse of his Empire. The main character is Evalonne, a girl of the kingdom of Louchland who is forced to flee for her life for becoming pregnant out of wedlock, and eventually becomes a prostitute so as to support her baby. She is freed from this life and becomes a traveling companion of a wandering swordsman named 'Roburne', who is in fact Lanson, the prince-in-exile of Louchland. Eventually, Evalonne is captured and taken to Louchland to be executed, while Lanson takes his murdered father's throne and confronts the Kirk (church) and its corrupt bishop to save his lover and gain justice for his father.

Like William's other books, the characters are realistic and the writing is excellent and very descriptive. Though the Christian/allegorical message is indeed easy to detect, it does not become 'preachy' like so many novels in this genre. Indeed, like William's previous writings it is a very philosophical and thought-provoking book. It only took me three days to read, but gave me food for thought for weeks.

I found this book at a thrift store and bought it for 90 cents because it sounded interesting. It was an awesome read and the best 90 cents I ever spent! I was engrossed in this book from the very beginning, and the characters were great! The review by publisher's weekly should be ignored because they obviously don't like the Christian perspective. But I think anyone who reads it could appreciate this book. I ordered the first book, "The Crown of Eden" because I wanted to read them in order. "The Crown of Eden" was a great read too but I liked this one better. I just bought the 3rd book called, "The Bride of Stone," and I can't wait to read it!

Thomas Williams' first book (CROWN OF EDEN) was wonderful - fun and unique characters that don't always make the right choices. I found I could relate quite well! It also taught me to relax: God's will is going to be accomplished despite the plans and attempted manipulations of His Enemy.

This book was even better! After deciding to see how the Master of the Universe would use every evil plan of the "bad guys" to accomplish His plans, I sat back and fully enjoyed the creative way Mr. Williams has chosen to show us the love and enjoyment of the Master of the Universe in the characters' lives. I could not put the book down. There are many truths from scriptures in this book. For the person who says this is a "sunday school lesson," I say, give me more sunday school lessons like this!!!

The Supreme Court is governed by humans, and humans do make errors."The Dirty Dozen: How Twelve Supreme Court Cases Radically Expanded Government and Eroded Freedom" is an examination of these mistakes that have cost America dearly. Pointing out cases in which the Supreme Court has bumbled and allowed the federal government to interfere with private contracts or political support, detain prisoners charge, wrongfully seize property, and other misdeeds of the court, "The Dirty Dozen" is an expertly crafted and harsh criticism of the courts. Highly recommended for community library law collections.

Only a libertarian, or the authors' mothers, will truly agree with all 12 of the Supreme court cases featured in "Dirty Dozen." So what. It is thoroughly fun to read. As stated early on in the book, the authors picked the 12 worst cases decided since the New Deal, the period they define as the modern era of eroding freedoms and of government expansions. Most cases also have a "dirty dozen honorable mention" case to hold hands with it's main "dirty" case. They explain how the cases were selected, and the substantial legal assists they asked for and received in making the selections. Commendably, the authors prefaced their book with a legal expert who did not fully agree with their picks - how often does that happen!

"Dirty Dozen" reads smoothly for the non-lawyer, this reviewer included. The reasoning for all the cases was especially easy to follow, and the analyses were uniformly organized. Warning to future readers: three cases over the last 70 years pop out as naturals for a book like this: Brown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade, and Bush v. Gore. All are mentioned, but none show up in the dirty dozen! Roe and Bush, though, appear as postscripts, with explanations why they may have been bad law, but not included. Buy the book just to see these!

The gem which charms this entire book is its reference to, and love of, our US Constitution. This document with all amendments - plus dates ratified - show up at the back of the book. Get "Dirty Dozen" along with three bookmarks: one for the page where you stop for the day, one for the endnotes, and one for the Constitution.

This book is a good complement to Randy Barnett's _Restoring the Lost Constitution_. _The Dirty Dozen_ looks at twelve bad Supreme Court decisions that have effectively erased some of the explicit constitutional limits on the federal government and reduced individual freedom. The preface by Richard Epstein expresses a few minor disagreements about some of the cases chosen, and the end of the book explains why Roe v. Wade and Bush v. Gore didn't make the cut. Those that did include Korematsu v. United States (1944), which said that the U.S. program of internment for Japanese Americans was constitutional, Kelo v. City of New London (2005), which said that governments can seize private property in order to give it to other private hands, Home Building & Loan Association v. Blaisdell (1934), which said that the government can unilaterally void parts of private contracts despite Article I Section 10's explicit language to the contrary, and Bennis v. Michigan (1996), which said that government can use civil forfeiture to take property without compensation that is involved in a crime even if the owner of the property has no involvement in that crime.

I have read the Constitution several times and it has always been a mystery to me how many (if not most) laws are permissible by our courts and deemed congruent with our founding fathers vision. This book no only addresses my confusion but does it in a clear entertaining style free of Latin and other confusing "legalese". I highly recommend this well written engaging book.

I listened to Robert Levy on Harvard Book Club. The man is brilliant. To the extent that the book claims that the Supreme Court failed to interpret the constitution in a reasonable manner, the book is one-man's opinion of what the constitutional law should be. Levy criticizes the notion of a "living, breathing" constitution because it encourages "judicial policy-making." Yet, this is what the law interpreters have done since Roman and Norman times. Law has never been a fixed rule, in our common-law system. The law is a reasonable interpretation within the established structural and doctrinal framework to fit the evolving standards of decency. This book is just one political opinion of what the constitutional provisions are. My fear is that a non-lawyer, reading this book, will inevitably get an idea that the Supreme Court is not upholding the constitutional principles. Nothing could be farther from the truth. For those non-lawyers, that are intrigued by the book, I can not stress enough the following: You must read many more judicial opinions to get a glimpse on how the Supreme Court operates and how laws evolve and devolve. For example, legal students have a benefit and duty of reading casenotes and comparing many opinions on a narrow topic; which the non-lawyer readers of this book do not.

Don't be fooled by the brevity or put off by the high price of this book - it's worth its weight in gold. If you have a university level math degree and you want to do proofs again, this book is for you. I have been able to understand everything in the book as a result of Prof. Dunham's amazing ability to explain things. I did have to resort to the Internet on occasion to brush up on some trigonometry and calculus. I have been reading it slowly for 2 years now and I'm only half way through - sometimes I pull it out when I need some brain exercise. If you like math, you will like this book.

Once again, the Ivy League establishment has got it all wrong. They continue to perpetrate error in the historical record just as they do in the scientific record with that preposterous theory of evolution.

First of all, Euler should not be credited with topology. Descartes had formulated, before Euler was born, the key topological equation F + V - E = 2.

The Greeks attached mystical significance to the five platonic solids. So much so, Euclid included the five regular solids in book 13 of his Elements as if it were the culimination of his work, as if the three-dimensionality were a culimination of the two-dimensionality of the earlier books.

These "regular" solids are three-dimensional objects: namely, the Tetrahedron, the cube, the octahedron, the dodecahedron and the icosahedron. They are "regular" because, on each, the faces are congruent. Furthermore, the face angles are equal. For example, a cube's faces are all the same size.

If we count the faces on the tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron and icosahedron respectively, we get 4, 6, 8, 12, 20 respectively.

If we count the vertices of each respectively, we get 4, 8, 6, 20, 12.

If we count the edges respectivley, we get 6, 12, 12, 30, 30.

Now, create an array of the faces, vertices and edges:

F:4 6 8 12 20
V:4 8 6 20 12
E:6 12 12 30 30

Descartes noticed that F + V - E = 2. For example, 4 + 4 - 6 = 2. Or take the second column: 6 + 8 - 12 = 2. Descartes conjectured (as we all would) that this formula represents an invariant amongst all polyhedra.

Descartes died in 1650 A.D. when he was poisoned by some jealous Swede. Euler was born in 1707 A.D., some time after Descartes's death. Liebnitz had translated this work of Descartes which shows F + V - E = 2. And Euler is known to have read all of these Liebnitz manuscripts at the Hanover archives.

Why scholars persist in giving Euler credit for this equation boggles my imaginatino unless their reading is limited. If it is limited, then appellation of scholar for such men is unwarranted.

Pictures of the five platonic regular solids can be seen in Daud Sutton's little book "Platonic and Archimedian Solids."

With the publication of this, his third book, Dunham has once more shown himself to be a master himself of mathematical explanation. Unlike his previous two books, The Mathematical Universe and Journey Through Genius, which covered results by a variety of mathematicians, this book focuses on selected results that sprang from the remarkable mind of Leonard Euler, one of the most prolific and important mathematicians of all time. What sets Euler apart is not only the vast quantity of his output (the publication of his collected works, the Opera Omnia, spans six dozen volumes, or over 25,000 pages in all!), but also the breadth and originality of his work. Not only did Euler contribute to a wide array of mathematical fields -- from number theory to complex analysis to geometry -- but in many cases, he was the founder of those fields. For example, Euler invented the field of analytical number theory, and he was the first mathematician to recognize the importance of and to discover the important properties of complex numbers.

This book in many ways resembles Dunham's Journey Through Genius. As in that book, Dunham has selected 15 or so theorems to present in detail, and he makes an effort to keep the proofs similar in spirit to the original proofs. Although the proofs are complete and the book is full of equations, they are accessible to anyone with a high school level of mathematics education. But in addition to the proofs, Dunham also provides historical context, as well as commentary on how later mathematicians used and improved upon Euler's work. For example, we learn that Euler began to loose the sight in his right eye at the age of 32, and that despite his virtual blindness by the age of 65, he continued his prolific rate of output until his death at age 84.

The book's title is taken from a quote by Laplace, who said, ``Read Euler, read Euler. He is the master of us all.'' Indeed, if you have any interest in mathematics, you will almost certainly find yourself in complete agreement with Laplace's sentiments by the time you finish reading this wonderful book. ...

I really enjoyed reading this book that describes some background on Euler and his work. It is written in an informal style, so for people with a math background it reads like a novel.

The book is not suitable for people who want to learn more about the person Euler, but do not have a math background, because 75% of the book is about real math (equations). So if you don't enjoy reading equations, do not buy the book.

Summary: as enjoyable as the other Dunham books, although a bit more expensive (but still worth the money).

" Analysis incarnate " , no other more suitable words probably can describe the incomparable power of Euler, as his contemparies called him. Concerning the usual style of Dunham to write this stimulating book, other readers have made many comments and I think there is no need to repeat that. What I want is that Dunham to write another book, perhaps volume 2,3 etc and also write a thorough biography of Euler, one the greatest mathematicians in the history. ( To me, for mathematical ability, his should be at the same rank with Newton, Archaemedes, and Gauss, even Einstein concerning the mathematical and theroetical aspect, is below par compared with Euler )