Wood Books

Whether you swim for exercise, relaxation or pleasure, this book is sure to help. While a good proportion of the text is devoted to explaining and justifying the principles behind the ideas it promotes (and I did tend to skip much of that, although I am sure it is interesting in itself), it does contain some really good advice.

I swim for an hour or more on an almost daily basis. Being a swimmer who at one time swam competitively I was finding it hard to do anything other than swim all out in the pool, but the suggestions here really helped me gain a new perspective, and derive much greater pleasure from my swimming.

Some sections are devoted to specific advice on individual strokes, highlighting both good and bad practices. Interestingly many of the suggestions contained in the book do not contradict typically taught methods, but rather they compliment or enhance them. However it does also warm against some practices which it considers physically harmful, especially some practices adopted by competitive swimmers. Overall its message is to encourage swimming techniques that are both relaxing and that make swimming a pleasure.

I found this a most useful book, every bit as beneficial for the experienced swimmer as much as the novice.

I've been a regualr swimmer for about 30 years - 4 to 5 times a week, an hour or so each time. About 2 years ago, a friend gave me a book about the Alexander Technique to read, saying it might be of interest to me and my swimming. I was quite interested and managed to attend a workshop where I got some hands-on experience with the work. One evening, a group of us went to the pool with one of the teachers and she showed us how to apply some of the ideas to swimming.

I couldn't believe how much of difference that little bit of information made! I realized that I had been using too much, and the wrong kind of effort, particularly with my back stroke. I'd always loved to swim, and the feel of the water, but now swimming became a whole new experience for me. Much more fluid and with less effort, and yet just as invigorating. Several friends have commented on the change.

The Art of Swimming is, as far as I know, the only book devoted specifically to swimming and the Alexander Technique. I found it very readable and I think it would make a good introduction to the ideas of the Technique for swimmers. I'd also recommend the book that got me started by Rickover, called "Fitness Without Stress - A Guide to the Alexander Technique". Also a book called "The Authorised Summaries of the Four Books of F.M. Alexander". END

This book is a great overall of Tress' work, covering his early workes to his present ones. As an art photo teacher, its a great resource to have to show examples for assignments such as dream, light and dark, series, and shadow.
The images are wonderfully reproduced and there is a great essay describing Tress and his vision. Each section of Tress' work also has an introduction by him.

Arthur Tress: Fantastic Voyage, Photographs 1956-2000 arose from the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.) retrospective exhibition dedicated to this influential American photographer. Richard Lorenz's informative commentary is augmented by a contribution from John Wood on the life and work of Tress. Organized as a kind of autobiography emphasizing Tress' singular language of surrealism, humor and psychosocial commentary as expressed with an artist's eye through the medium of a camera's lens, this seminal work will introduce a master photographer to a whole new generation of appreciative students and photographer buffs.

As an elementary school media specialist, I would like to highly recommend Patsy Wood Smith's book, Artificial Turf. According to Ms. Smith, the book was written primarily for 4th-8th graders, but I believe it is also an excellent choice up to and including adults. The characters are quite believable, and the main character, Jessi, will be someone to whom preteens and teenagers can relate. Not only is Ms. Smith a natural storyteller, in the epilogue she includes very helpful information about alcoholism and its effect on families.
Elementary, middle, and high school libraries could all benefit from having this book on their shelves.

Betty W. McDaniel, Ph.D

I picked this book up to read one chapter and couldn't put it down until I had finished the whole thing. What a wonderful story for young teens who often feel that others have it better than they do.
I hope this is just the first of many books from this insightful new author.

This book is a true story. Not "based on a true story", but a real, live, no frills true story. If the title "True Grit" wasn't already taken for a cheesy western, I'd grab it for this book. It is about a couple in their 30's, living in Boston, romanticizing Thoreau and "Walden". One day, the husband says, "Let's do it. Let's find a location that will be condusive to living off the land, and go there."

And so they do. Duffels full of axes, woolens, lanterns, and a few how-to books, they take a train to British Columbia, find an abandonded prospector's cabin, get it water-tight, and live there. Their nearest neighbor lives a half mile away, they're basically sqatting on this land, winter's coming, and they've got to live on oats and berries, and whatever Joe Boston (Bradford Angier) can kill out in the immense forest which serves as their backyard.

It's wonderful. Very (to use that popular wine judger's phrase) approachable. Read: easy to read. You don't have to know anything about nothing to enjoy this book. Also, Bradford Angier (although this book is written by him and his wife, Vera)
becomes sort of a back woods guru and writes some outdoor manuals on wild edibles and how to build your own moss-chinked cabin on someone else's land. Check it out.

I just finished this book tonight and must say that I loved every page of it. It was the first book of the Angier's that I have read, and I can tell you it won't be the last. The way both Brad and Vera describe in flowing detail and friendly, backwoods banter, how their first few years were like living in the mountains and off the land, will spark a fire in anyone who longs for such adventure. Read it. It is a wonderful story.

By far this is Swindler's best work (see also his "Dentition of Living Primates') - the way this book is set-up makes it incredibly easy to use and visually pleasing as well. This oversized volume follows the regional dissection (wonderfully rendered in black and white by Charles Wood) of Papio anubis and Pan troglodytes on one side and Homo sapiens and the accompanying text on the other. When performing multiple primate dissections or comparing structures this is a definite bonus. This is the only volume that I know of that approaches primate anatomy in this way - W.K. Gregory's "Anatomy of the Gorilla" comes close (esp. with the oversized fold-outs of the upper & lower limb done life size) - but doesn't provide the comparitive detail that Swindler & Wood do.

I have used this text many times both in the lab and in the classroom and heartily endorse it for anyone working in anatomy, animal sciences, primatology, and physical anthropology. This book is worth its weight in gold and you will find yourself constantly referring to it.

Also useful in this text are the charts at the end of the book covering the musculature and innervation in each genus - priceless in itself. In fact I do not know of another comparitive source for that information - I would often use these charts as handouts in classes. This is a volume that you'll never regret having - you will find yourself using it more often than you thought.

27 years after it was first published an "Atlas of Primate Gross Anatomy" remains the definitive text on catarrhine anatomy. The primary focus of the atlas is the regional anatomy of the baboon with comparative references to Pan and Man (Homo sapiens sapiens). All regions are covered with special emphasis placed on the limbs. The text is clearly written and well referenced by Dr. Swindler and beautifully illustrated in both carbon dust and pen and ink techniques by Charles Wood. This is a mandatory reference book for primate anatomists and veterinarians and is highly recommended for many specialty courses in primatology and human evolutionary anatomy.

I want to see anatomy of the large intestin

I want to see anatomy of the large intestin

I have used this book for years in my kindergarten classroom. I also gave this book to my grandson for a present. He laughs outloud every time he listens to it as do my kindergarten students. It is definitely on the list of favorites.

I can't believe I'm the first person to review this book! It's a classic! This book was one of my favorites as a kid...right up there with "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." Great illustrations, lovely simple story. A must have!

It was a great day when I added Bacon's Last Captain to my library shelves as a keeper.

This novel is not only about WWII, but also delves deeply into the not-talked-about issues that fed into the world's anger that fueled this war. Everyone should read this, especially the gripping account of a kamikaze hit the ship took. It is sobering and intense. I have read many of the greats of literature and R. H. Langley Wood ranks with them.

"Barney Beagle Plays Baseball" was the first book I ever read as a child. All these years later I still remember the book with joy. I've since grown up, graduated from college and read several books each month but I've never forgotten "Barney Beagle Plays Baseball". Every young boy will enjoy this book and, yes, some girls will like it, too. I recommend this book without reservation for all youngsters.

This is a very cute book with simple language that will greatly entertain young children. Barney the beagle wakes up his owner (Barney calls him "my boy") on the day of the big baseball game. After helping his boy to find his equipment, Barney goes out to the game and tries his best to help his team. Not all of his efforts are understood and he doesn't understand the boys' angry reactions. However, as Barney is ever upbeat and trusting in the goodness of his boys, he saves the game when the ball is hit out of the park and becomes a beloved member of the team. This is a sweet story full of lessons on trust, understanding, and love.

Now out of print and available only as a series of audiotapes, « Basic American Government » was initially published as a massive 480-page volume, not counting the notes, glossary, index, and the 60 pages of firsthand documents such as the Declaration of Independence, The Federalist N°10 or the Constitution itself. Its author, Clarence Carson, is the author of more than 500 articles and about 15 fifteen books, including a six-volume history of the United States.

The book is divided into four sections : - Section 1 (35p) deals with the basic principles of the American system of government. It starts by reminding the reader that the United States, contrary to the platitudes that are mouthed by today's journalists and politicians, « is not a democracy. It is a Constitutional Federated Republic. » Carson then goes on to explain what these concepts of « constitution », « republic » and « federalism » mean exactly, thus presenting the « sum and substance » of American govenment. - Section 2 (150p) delves into the intellectual background of the American political system, from authorities such as Aristotle to the English heritage of the 17th and 18th century, including 12 pages on John Locke, Trenchard and Gordon, William Blackstone and Adam Smith alone. The American colonial experience, the American Revolution and the Constitutional Convention are then summarized, but of course with much less detail than in Carson's « Basic History of the United States » or his « Rebirth of Liberty ». - Section 3 (130p) traces the evolution of the American system of government in the 19th century, from the establishment of the Federal Government after the ratification of the Constitution through the major decisions of the Supreme Court and the upheaval of the Civil War and Recontruction. - Section 4 (135p) deals with the 20th century and the advent of Leviathan (or big government), examining how socialism, by deliberately refusing to call itself by that name, entered the American mainstream ; and how Franklin D. Roosevelt « broke the constitutional dam » with his New Deal and the Court Packing Plan of 1937- a process culminating in a government that has become « out of control ».

First published in 1993, Clarence Carson's masterful volume « Basic American Government » ranks among his best, and is to my knowledge the most profound, principled and systematic treatment of the subject ever printed- far better than R.V. Denenberg's « Understanding American Politics », and incomparably superior to David Cushman Coyle's pitiful « The United States Political System and How it Works».

True to the founding principles of the Founding Fathers, enlightened by a genuine understanding of economic principles (Carson is well-read in both the classical economists and the Austrians, and is the author of a helpful treatise on « Basic Economics »), it opens with what I consider to be the most powerful statement ever printed on the current condition of the US government : « It would be considerable fraud to do a book on American government which talked as if the Constitution were still being substantially observed, that pretended that when Presidents took the oath of office they intended to observe the bounds set by the Constitution, that Congressmen recited their pledges with the same intent, and that Federal judges were still construing the Constitution as it was written. In sum, any book on American government worthy of the name ought to make clear how remote from the Constitution the government has become. »

Carson's own suggestions as to how to restore the integrity of the US political system are extremely simple. As he says, the text of the Constitution itself is still intact, so what is necessary is merely to make US government officials obey it. Did you know for instance that, in the Constitution, « there is no authority granted to levy taxes or to contract debts to provide for any foreign country » and that « the United States is specified alone as the beneficiary for all tax collections » ? (p445) More specifically, Carson suggests repealing the 17th Amendment (which undermined the federal system by reducing the power of the states to check the central government) and making it a treason for any US government official to betray the Constitution.

In other words, the way for Americans to bring the government back to its function of protecting their rights to « life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness » is simply to make their servants obey the charter which was initially adopted to limit their powers.

Dr. Carson has done an excellent job covering the history and philosophy of the U.S. Government.
Section 1 Intro. and Examination of American Gov.
Section 2 Background of Political Thought and Practice.
Section 3 American Gov. in the 19th Century
Section 4 American Gov. in the 20th Century (Also entitled: Leviathan)
Well documented facts and insightful. Dr. Carson gives insights into plenty of quotes from the Founders and other significant figures in history. Cetaintly worth the money and time of its readers.