Columbia Books

This is an excellent parenting book that gives solid Biblical principles on parenting and also provide very practical advice as well. The personal anecdotes of the Hughes' family are also heartwarming and make it evident that the Hughes' have truly lived out these principles. It is an encouragement to read as we struggle with raising our children in the Lord day by day.

When I first read Kent Hughes book on "Disciplines of Godly Man" I realized that Kent had more than a godly family but is leaving a godly resource for the body of Christ. This is a must read for any family who wants to build godly traditions and holiness within the family. I also recommend highly both Kent's wifes book "Disciplines of a Godly Woman" and the foundation discipline book "Disciplines of a Godly Man" which is up there is Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. If you are looking for becoming a disciplined person in your family, then is the the right book for you. Kent has also written commentaries on several books of the Bible which are also helpful to the lay bible reader. He is a faithful pastor and joy to read.

This book is a re-release/update of the Hughes's book "Common Sense Parenting," which is out of print. I've bought quite a few used copies of that one, but I keep giving it away because it's so good. My (current) copy is heavily underlined and highlighted. That's why I was so happy to see "Disciplines of a Godly Family." The Hughes share biblical principles of family, using their own experiences with their four children as examples. The book takes parenting seriously but also has a lighthearted, humorous approach. It gives solid spiritual advice and also wonderful practical advice--all the while backing it up with the Bible. It also includes family-friendly book and movie lists and even recipes. It would make a wonderful baby shower or baby baptism gift.

I personally love it because, while acknowledging the foibles of their children (and themselves) and the fact that their family life was not perfect, it stays away from a lot of the sarcasm and negative humour you find in many parenting books. The Hughes's love for each other, their children, and God is evident here. As they say, their only regret is that they didn't have more children. I highly recommend this book!

I've lived in Texas for 24 years and found out recently that I love South Carolina cooking. This cookbook has some real winners in it. The shrimp and artichoke casserole was a big hit at my last dinner party. My Texas friends really liked the corn\black bean salsa.

This was a well written cook book with great recipes and easy to follow instructions. I definitely recommend it. In addition, the young lady I got the book from was gorgeous.

Down By The Water is a fabulous collection of recipes complete with seasonal menus, a wine overview and a resource guide for ordering stone-ground grits and other unique ingredients. There are over 300 triple tested recipes using fresh ingredients. Featured selections are Piedmont Punch, Blueberry Pound Cake, Black Bean Lasagna, Charleston Chicken Salad and many more. Recipes include selections from area chefs as well.

The book is a durable, easily cleaned hardcover and lies flat for convenient use. Friends have mistaken this book for a coffee table book rather than a cookbook because it is so beautiful! Down By The Water is a must have!

Excellent view into the world of ecology and ecosystems! A must use for college and graduate ecology courses!

This book will change the way you look at the scientific world.

Ulanowicz sets out towards creating a firm mathematical foundation for ecology, and in doing so, he exposes many faulty assumptions that dictate the direction of mainstream science. He doesn't stop with criticism, but instead suggests a new direction that can lead to fruitful advances in all areas of science, and proceeds to develop the beginnings of a new mathematical paradigm for studying complex, real-world systems.

Drawing on almost forgotten advances as well as modern research, Ulanowicz weaves together the soft, crude world of ecology with the "hard sciences" of thermodynamics and information theory and comes up with something truly novel. The discussion examines issues as fundamental as causality and the direction of time, and yet remains strongly tied to the real world with examples and data.

This book is absolutely indispensable for any scientist.

This is a book that begins simply with a few core ideas about how to monitor and track the flow of matter through ecosystems. Anyone with a background in either accounting or macro-economics will immediately see that Ulanowicz's simple calculations tracking energy flow through ecosystems, parrallel our best practices for tracking monetary flow through corporations and economies. Within this clear and quantifiable framework, The Ascendent Perspective then develops some less than obvious biological/economic notions: Throughput (the amount of energy flowing through an ecosystem), Overhead (alternate energy pathways) and Ascendency (orderliness of energy flows). With just these three termsm, Ulanowicz develops a convincing and empirically testable model of the growth and development of ecosystems,through four stages(i) growth, (ii) development, (iii) maturation and finally (iv) senescence. The model is illustrated with long-term ecological data from estuary ecosystems, which centered at the confluence of marine and freshwater, are notably complex and difficult to characterize. In the context of the case studies, concepts such as eutrophication (systems with *too much* nutrient inflow), ecosystem flexibility, and stability are introduced and illustrated as representing particular patterns of ecosystem growth. The focus on quantification, and large-scale, long-term behavior of ecosytems makes this book particularly suitable for environmental managers planning long term monitoring systems towards natural resource sustainability. Finally I have to mention the most counter-intuitive part of this small book. Beginning with some strictly mechanistic ideas and "ecosytem accounting" practices, the book gradually develops a counter-intuitively non-mechanistic model of ecosystems, and neatly links the observed behavior of ecosystems to some very old philosophical ideas such as Aristotles model of causation, and newer philosophical notions such as Poppers account of *propensities* (a probabilistic view of systems dynamics). You may not agree with Ulanowicz's ultimate conclusions -- but it's fascinating to watch the chain of reasoning unfold, one small step at a time -- beginning with some non-controversial methods for measuring ecosystems to increasingly surprising conclusions based on the methods. Less than 200 pages with no complex calculations -- it took me only a few hours to read the book -- but I found myself thinking about (and arguing for and against) its conclusions weeks afterwards. If you're interested in ecosystems, sustainability, complexity and prefer good questions rather than simple answers -- this is a book whose questions will engage you for a long time.

This short book is an outstanding analysis of how nations end wars, or accept peace. Ikle shows how governments often prefer obviously self-destructive courses rather then compromise peace terms. The problem is most acute when factional interests dominate strategy rather then a rational unitary interest. In such a circumstance, factions that benefit from continuing the war will accuse those pursuing peace of treason. Sadly, there is no equivalent derogatory word in English for those who pursue war to the detriment of their country.

The book was first written in 1971, and most of the examples are from the two world wars. The work is still extremely relevant, and at 130 pages it's well worth the time.

Highly recommended as a first book to read on ending war.

This book should be read by everybody on any side of the current debate as to what are future Iraq (Iran?, N. Korea?- w/ the current set of maroons you never know) policy should be.
Ikle was Undersecretary of Defense for the Reagan administration. He is one of the original neocons. This book had an enormous influence on how Bush I and Powell decided to end our first Gulf War. He revised this book in 1991 and revised it again and wrote a new intro in 2005.
My point is that this man is no cut and run liberal (and I should admit that, right now, I am leaning toward just that position). However, what makes Ikle stand out from his demented neocon brethren is that he is willing to face up to ALL of the possibilities, the difficulties and the ambiguities that are inherent in any foreign policy, let alone a war. He mentions many of the wars and theatres of those wars in the twentiety century and points out how many times politicians and generals went wrong because they would not 1. clearly set out the goals they were trying to accomplish in a war and 2. constantly reevaluate those goals in light of the developing situation.
Ikle outlines a few of the difficulties that are obstacles to such a course. Rather prophetically, he talks about how difficult it is to get good intelligence to base your policies on. Sources from within the country of your opponent may mislead you for their own purposes. Agencies within your own government are posturing with the intelligence to protect their influence. Does any of this sound familiar?
In one of my favorite chapters of this book, Ikle talks about a tendency that occurs when things start to get difficult in a war. Those who are supporters of the war will start posturing as patriots and referring to the opponents of the war as traitors (or, in the parlance of the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, as "surrender monkeys"). Again does this sound at all familiar?
Here is another one for ya. Ilke argues that it is essential to know why exactly you are fighting. Otherwise, you will never really know when you have won. It is very clear that the whole WMD was just what Rumsfeld or Cheney (I have forgotten which- neither one of them has said anything about the war that is worth remembering in a positive sense) said it was-the one justification they "could all agree on." The role of America as the Great Democratizer has faded into memory. Now we are left with The MisDecider telling us that it is all about leaving Iraq with "a viable government" What does that mean? How is that different from what they had under Sadam?
Here is my main point. Here is what makes me so angry. Powell, Rumsfeld, and Cheney all read this book back before the first Gulf War. Nothing has changed in the world to make the recommendations of this book any less vital. These men and women were supposed to be the most experienced foreign and military people the Republicans had produced (which should blow all claims to the Republicans being the party of security out of the water). They ignored these lessons because they choose to and went ahead and made what may be the most serious strategic error since Hitler invaded the Soviet Union.
I am hopeful that the Dems now have more power but only slightly so. We need to have a serious discussion now. Not posturing. It may be that we should simply leave at this point because the decline of Iraq into chaos is inevitable. But as someone who is an internationalist, I think we need to look long and hard at the results of doing that before we simply do so. We owe it to the people of Iraq and the surrounding area to do whatever we can to minimize their suffering, to restore a working infrastructure and government to their country and to restore peace to their daily lives. Facing up and discussing the issues as suggested by Ilke is our duty as a democratic polity. There are no easy answers here except for the obvious fact that we cannot rely on Bush and his minions to do what needs to be done.
Give this book a read. It is not gracefully written but it is short and direct. You may find it one of the strangest ironies of our time that one of the most telling critiques of the administration comes from someone who is their ally. The main difference between Ikle and people like Bush is that Ikle takes the world more seriously than his ideology.

The twentiety century taught us a lot about wars and how they end. World War I showed us that making strong demands on the defeated (who didn't admit defeat to their own people) set the stage for the next big war.

World War II was fought until the Unconditional Surrender of the Germans and Japanese. Something that thinkers still debate as having made them fight all that harder.

VietNam was fought with no clear end in sight, and "another VietNam" entered our language.

The first Gulf War was ended when Colin Powell and Bush II debated how to end the war. They stopped before they had to go in and see what the Sunni's, Shiite's and Kurds made of the power vacuum left by the removal of Saddam would have created. Bush II is learning about this now.

This is the second revised edition of this book, originally published in 1971 and then updated in 1991 and now 2005 to reflect happenings in new wars.

Still some of the old wars had interesting insights that I didn't know before, such as how Finland, originally on Germany's side against Russia, made a peace with Russia and kicked the Germans out before they became a Russian province. Great Book.

The book was very interesting. I am in disaster cordination for our funeral directors Assn. I fond it elpful in knowing there procedures used and agencies involved.

Funeral director Byron Starr presents Finding Heroes: The Search for Columbia's Astronauts, the true story of his participation in mass volunteer search to find and catalogue the debris and human remains from the tragic space shuttle Columbia explosion that happened in 2003. Part memoir, part firsthand chronicle of sad history, Finding Heroes narrates not only the difficult hunt through the pinewoods of East Texas, but also the coming together of a community, and compassion amid fellow human beings in the wake of national loss. A touching and inspirational chronicle.

Having worked with Mr. Starr as he completed this book, I found myself fascinated by his account of his personal participation in the search for the astronauts from the Columbia shuttle. He introduces the widely varied searchers and support people involved, who outnumbered the entire population of the tiny town that was the center of the search. Old and young, from many areas, from organizations and alone, volunteers came. Local people worked endlessly to offer them food, housing (mostly tents) and all kinds of support. Starr manages to make everyone come to life, so that the reader feels he knows them personally. I am proud to have worked as his mentor as he produced this work. I think anyone will find i interesting and enjoyable.
Ardath Mayhar

What can i say. I have numerous books on the subject and this one, like all the others books written by Turner, are top ranking. With detaild information on how the plants were used by indiginous people.

This richly illustrated book details over 150 plant species used by First Peoples/Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest Interior.

Revised and redesigned for easier use, this handbook includes detailed botanical descriptions and notes on habitat and distribution.

Groups covered are the Stl'atl'imx (Lillooet), Secwepemc (Sushwap), Nlaka'pamux (Thompson), Okanagan, Ktunaxa (Kootenay), Tsimshian and Athapaskan groups in the north, and others in northwestern U.S.A.

Nancy Turner explains how aboriginal peoples harvested, prepared and preserved the roots, leaves, fruits and other parts of wild plants. She also describes some non-native food plants used by interior peoples and several species they considered poisonous or inedible. Color pictures enhance descriptions and make identification easier.

This book is really impressive. It has a lot more information than a standard "pocket guide" book. There are numerous food sources in this book that i have never seen in other similiar books. an example: this book explains in detail how native americans harvested the inner bark (cambium) of the western hemlock to make a flour like substance. I have never read this in any other plant books. The book also includes information on how to prepare the food in traditional ways, as well as stories related to particular plants. All in all, this is probably the best book I know of concerning edible wild plants in the pacific northwest.

If you love maths and play with numbers it is a great book for you

The best book of mental calculation of the world.
You will be impressed by Klein's method to extract the 13th
root of a 100-digit number in 1mn28s, the very famous world
record of mental calculation. But do not forget that Alexis
LEMAIRE extracted it in 13s: 44800613, also divisible by 13,
in the year 2002=154x13! This is another story...

The book is divided into three sections, covering the psychological aspects of rapid mental calculation, the mathematical methods involved, and brief summaries of the lives of the great calculators (which include particular methods used by each person). There are extensive quotations from the calculators themselves, explaining their methods and how they learned. The book is so well-written it's hard to put down, yet it covers the topic in great depth. Smith surveys all the prior literature on the subject, and has also interviewed many of the living calculators. His knowledge of both math and psychology is impressive. This is a MUST for anyone interested in the subject, or just interested in improving their calculating abilities.

This is a tremendously well written book about the authors life in and around Tofino, BC, in the 90's. The amazing good times and bad times he faced are so well written, that you feel it as though you were there. If you ever wanted your life put into perspective get this one. I can't beleive he hasn't published anything since! Yet, hopefully.

Wonderful! Stunning! Evocitive! Two thumbs way,WAY up! I really enjoyed this wonderful masterpiece! Best book I've read in a long time! Cheers, Dad! :D

Wonderful! Stunning! Evocitive! Two thumbs way,WAY up! I really enjoyed this wonderful masterpiece! Best book I've read in a long time! Cheers, Dad! :D

I think every treeplanter can relate to how difficult it is to share their experiences with one who has never gone planting. Words do not suffice. Yet there is a universal understanding among those who have been out there. Helene has captured the experience perfectly with her photographs. Handmade Forests is a beautiful, truthful, nessesary book, and I thank her for sharing it with us.

My brother Jeffrey has worked in the planting world of western Canada for several years, and this book has finally given me a real insight into what his days are like for four or six or eights months a year. I ask myself, at once, why he would choose to do something so horrible to himself, and why I have not given up the mundane and trivial things that fill my own life to confront something so challenging and rewarding, so filled with sights and experiences which, if Cyr's pictures and the accompanying text are any indication, border on the sublime. Of course, it is all made the more powerful when we consider the gigantic favor these laborers are doing for us and the people who will come after us. I am envious of all those whose capacity for physical and mental anguish allows them to reap this kind of reward. Whenever we think we cannot possibly deal with the real world, we would do well to consider the surreal world presented in these pages.

Helene Cyr is right on about treeplanting - she knows the heaven and hell of that life. This is a book I wish my treeplanting buddies and I had put together, so thank you Helene for doing what we'd always talked about. So wonderful to see treeplanting honoured in such an excellent way.

I had the privilege of reading chapters of this anthology before it went to print, and as my first introduction to the intricacies of Chinese poetry it was an excellent place to start.


The format in which the poems are printed, with Chinese and English side by side, helped me to understand translations better. There is also an excellent chapter on ping-ze patterns in Tang poetry, which is a difficult concept to convey in English.

I highly recommend this book to students of Chinese literature and anyone else interested in a solid explanation of Chinese poetic styles.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in classical Chinese poetry and language. It is very different from other anthologies of Chinese literature both in approach and in style, and touches upon many essential features of classical Chinese poetry.

Each chapter is written by a well-known scholar in the field. Together they provide a pretty clear picture of classical Chinese poetry. What is especially worth noting of this book is that, first, it well explains the features of Chinese poetry, such as rhymes and ping-ze patterns; it even gives pinyin romanization and tones for the Chinese texts, in addition to English translations which are side by side with the Chinese originals; and secondly, it not only looks at Chinese poetry from a literary perspective, but also tries to interpret the poetic texts according to the particular syntax of the Chinese language. This last feature well illustrates how different syntactic structures could influence the style and effect of a poem, and how the development of the syntax has impacted the development of Chinese poetry in general. Overall, the book is both resourceful and illuminating.

This book is perfectly designed for a variety of Chinese poetry readers, learners, and even researchers. The eighteen chapters starting from The Book of Poetry and ends with the Ming-Qing poetry cover Chinese poetry tradition of more than two thousand years and all types of Chinese poetry genres and sub-genres in this marvelous tradition. You will easily get to know how Chinese poetry developed for two thousand years even just after scanning the Primary Table of Contents!

In these chapters, authors deliberately choose great poems of each important period or Dynasty in Chinese history. They not only list these poems in Chinese characters, translate them into English (for regulated verses and songs, there is even word by word translation), and show each word in pinyin with tones, but also analyze these beautiful poems in historical background and poetic tradition. The templates of poems, including original Chinese texts, English translation and Chinese pinyin with tones to a great extent help Chinese language learners to learn how to understand Chinese poetry word by word and how to recite them in Chinese. The analysis of poems following will largely improve your knowledge of how to appreciate the beauty of Chinese poems, and more importantly, will help you get to see the great ideas underlying those poetic lines in terms of culture, history, religion, art, music, and etc.

And the well-done thematic table of contents, glossary-index, list of entering tones, and careful explanations of syntax, structure, and many other major issues of Chinese poetry will be very useful even for a scholar of Chinese poetry. You will save plenty of time looking up those important informations in all kinds of Chinese dictionaries!