Research Books

This book is the most complete and clear text about the transition that many companies are doing from product centric to solution enabler organizations. A must read, highly advisable if you are in the IT business.

This book is absolutely the best! It provides frameworks to structure and implement an effective professional services organization (PSO) for an IT product vendor. A product company PSO matures over time through various phases characterized by the types of services it offers. This book is full of practical yet winning strategies and tactics to maneuver the high risk waters of professional services. There are clear directions on how to manage key levers that increase profitability but it also sets realistic expectations. Although the book provides the `recipe' for a sample $100 million professional services organization, it lists all the necessary `ingredients' to cook up a PSO of any size.

I liked the fact that it is written in a style that is free of any jargon. Authors are professionals who clearly understand the industry from inside. My least favorite part are the diagrams and illustrations which are at best adequate but could be better. Highly recommend this book!

This is the absolutely best book devoted to building pro services organization in a product-based company. While there are a lot of sources on managing stand-alone pro services firm (i.e. accounting, law), this book addresses the common pitfalls in moving into services for product-oriented companies.

The book is easy to read, well organized, and packed with sound practical advice you can start applying right away, whether you're in delivery, sales, or marketing -- you'll be going back to it often.

This book absolutely is the best book I've ever ready regarding professional services. They describe a pragmatic approach from their experience at SGI services. This book will take you through planning an PS organization, development of various groups, reporting strucutures, templates for tools to help you.

It's focus in on a PS organization of a product company but you can take much away from this book if you are purely a services organization.

What I like the most is that it helps you do begin to address the various challenges where other books gloss over these topics and leave it to you.

This book as become my day-to-day bible to managing a professional service division within our product-oriented company. If you have your objectives and strategy clear, this book will help you getting organized with the tactics.

This seering uncompromising volume is one of the most important books published in the past thirty years.

The many excellent chapters penned by world-class historians and analysts destroy the mendacious rationale for the welfare-warfare state, that monstrocity at war with America itself and the world.

In particular, Murray N. Rothbard's two essays, "Two Just Wars: 1776 and 1861" and "World War I as Fulfillment: Power and the Intellectuals" are especially crucial to understanding how this messianic drive for empire and regimentation came about.

~The Costs of War: America's Pyrrhic Victories~ is a compelling and powerful anthology directed against the imperial psychosis of our times. It offers a sweeping indictment of the costs of war in terms of loss of life, the effect on morality in the aftermath, inflation, mounting debt, statism, the loss of civil liberties and economic freedom. A multitude of collaborators have contributed to this powerful anthology including John Denson, Samuel Francis, Thomas Fleming, David Gordon, Paul Gottfried, Robert Higgs, Justin Raimondo, Murray Rothbard, Joseph Stromberg, Clyde Wilson, et al. In the words of Justin Raimondo, the "noninterventionist movement" has been "relegated to the margins of American politics, confined to pacifists and extreme leftists, on the one hand, and extreme rightists, including libertarians as well as members of the John Birch Society, on the other." Many of my nominally conservative friends have been of the mindset that a martial obsession is a novel conservative value. However, if they study history more objectively than they will find that there is nothing particularly conservative about being "warlike" and obsessed with "militarism," particularly within the Old Right conservative tradition at home in America. The neoconservative interlopers have led them astray. Notwithstanding our present-day abandonment of the non-interventionist tradition, its roots go back deep into America history. The founding fathers enshrined their commitment to non-interventionism in the Neutrality Act of 1793. "The Great rule of conduct for us," proclaimed George Washington, "in regard to foreign Nations is in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as possible... It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world." Thomas Jefferson further lauded the virtue of strategic independence, in proclaiming: "Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none." John Quincy Adams surmised, "America does not go abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own." Some of our "monsters" in recent years whether Osama Bin Ladin or Saddam Hussain were actually considered our allies. Moreover, these "monsters" were foreign aid recipients and are actually "monsters" of our own countenance at one time. In my humble opinion, America's security lies in a foreign policy based on strategic independence and armed neutrality, not in reckless intervention abroad or in countless foreign entanglements, alliances, and commitments to international bodies like the United Nations.

Many people see the Second World War as a defining case against non-interventionism, but if they studied history more objectively than they would see how American intervention in the so called war to end all wars, the Great War, in fact paved the way for the Great Crusade in the Second World War. Woodrow Wilson's intervention in the Great War and his campaign to "make the world safe for democracy" actually served to make the world safe for both Hitler and Stalin. The seeds of Nazi Germany were planted by the forced abdication of the Kaiser and the vehement economic retribution perpetrated by the Western Allies like England and France against Germany, which only served to destabilise Germany and radicalise her body politic.

John Denson astutely surmises, "The greatest accomplishment of Western Civilization is arguably the achievement of individual liberty through limits on the power of the state. In the war-torn twentieth-century, we rarely hear that one of the main costs of armed conflict is the long-term loss of liberty to winners and losers alike." War for America, despite our overwhelming victories, has been one Pyrrhic victory after the other. "Beyond the obvious costs of dead and wounded soldiers, there is the lifetime struggle of veterans to live with their nightmares and their injuries; the hidden economic costs of inflation, debts, and taxes; and more generally the damages caused to our culture, our morality, and to civilisation at large." With this erudite anthology, Denson and many others illustrate the costs of war and the heavy toll that an imperial mindset unleashes on a nation. To encapsulate some of the brilliant content therein: Richard Gamble takes on the perennial champion of imperialism in the nineteenth-century Abraham Lincoln in a terse analysis of his sordid legacy, his war of aggression; Richard Raico sketches the costs of America's needless involvement in the Great War, in an essay entitled `World War I: The Turning Point;' Robert Higg's profound essay entitled `War and Leviathan' sketches a history of how war preparedness has led to a continual aggrandisement of power in the hands of the state while proving itself to be detrimental to freedom; and Paul Gottfried asks the most heterodox question of our time, in his essay `Is Modern Democracy Warlike?'

This book squarely challenges the prevailing myth that our sustained history of war in the twentieth-century has made us freer and secured more freedom at home. War is an engine for aggrandisement of power in the hands of state, centralisation, as well as sweeping cultural and moral changes. After WWII, Americans became acclimated to payroll withholding, a hefty income tax, and a mammoth centralised bureaucracy. Nonetheless, the idea that there is somehow salvific cleansing power in the spilt blood of the America G.I. continues to prevail. I whole-heartedly recommend this book. Thomas Woods put it best, "The Costs of War is easily one of the most important books to emerge from American conservatives in a generation." I whole-heartedly recommend this jewel, which is a reminder of the costs of war and a defender of the non-interventionist tradition which must be recovered.

_The Costs of War_ thoroughly examines how the US has gone from being a peaceful republic to the empire it is today. From the Civil War to the Spanish-American War and the World Wars, the essays in this volume tell you about the individuals who deliberately turned the country against its long-standing isolationist tradition, and how and why they did it.

More importantly, in keeping with its title, the book also describes the high price we've paid for the warfare state, not only in human lives, but also in damage to the economy, the culture, and especially liberty.

This book is essential for anyone who wants to understand what's going on in the world today in the context of what has gone before. The information and ideas here are extremely important, now moreso than ever, and I give the book my highest possible recommendation.

John V. Denson edited a useful anthology that undermines the "popular history" (popular nonsense)of recent U.S. History and the rise of empire which is a term the Establishemnt does not like because empire is an honest definition. Denson chose excerpts which deal with the rapid growth of centralized government, the disintegration of constitutional rights, and an ever increasing national debt all of which is related to unnecessary war since the Civl War or the War of Southern Succession.

Denson's introductory essay is worth reading. This essay gives the reader a glimpse of the book's theme, and his essay is a good introduction to the rise of militarism in the United States since 1860. Denson's introduction presents the reader with a cause-and effect relationship between war and the erosion of rights.

The essays that examine the Civil War, especially Murray Rothbard's essay, gives a view of the Civil War that reveals that actual origins of this tragedy as opposed to the childish convention that somehow the Civil War began over the issue of slavery. Readers should note that Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson was opposed to slavery. Gen. Robert E. Lee emancipated his slaves. On the other hand, Gen. Grant had to free his slaves to take command of the Army of the Potomac. Gen. Sherman of the Union also owned slaves. As some of the essays clearly state, Pres. Lincoln antagonized the Southerners with manacing military actions especially on Virginia's border which resulted in the Virginians joining the Confederacy.

The essays dealing with World War I and World War II should be of particular interest to those not familiar with actual the origins of these wars. Textbook writers give the false impression that Pres. Wilson and U.S. authorities were neutral prior to April 6, 1917 when members of the U.S. Congress voted to declare on the Germans and their allies. The facts were that American bankers and powerful political fugures had given money and resources to the British and French espcially after 1915. Pres. Wilson had U.S. supply vessels sail into war zones to assist the British and French and to deliberately antagonize the Germans into provocation.

Murray Rothbard's essay regarding World War I is instructive. He chides Walter Lippmann for being a ferocious advocate of U.S. entry into World War I as well as a proponent of military conscription (slavery). Yet, when Mr. Lippmann realized that he was of draft age and in good health, he used his connections with Felix Frankfurter to avoid having to face angry gunfire. Lippmann's excuse was that he wanted to help shape the post World War I United States in line what the "intellectuals" thought was necessary for everyone else. Mr. Lippmann annointed himself as one of Plato's philosopher kings. This anecdote is indeed instructive. This is line with the adage that, "War hath no fury as that of the non-combatent." One should note that the current group of armchair patriots have never seen combat. Vice President Cheney had five (5) draft deferments and never saw one he did not like. Yet, he is similiar to Walter Lippmann in that Cheney wants war but never wants to face war's dangers. Lippmann and Cheney fit Andy Jacobs' descriptions of War Wimps and Chicken Hawks.

The essays dealing with the costs of war reveal that the plutocratic rich benefit from military expendatures, but the public never gets to see the bills until later when they come due. Those who prefer to remain ignorant and comfortable about the costs of war only protest when taxes and inflation damage their economic status. Yet, these folks may hold a key to stopping the war machine as suggested in one of the essays if they alerted their U.S. Senators and Representatives.

The appeal to "Demokracy" to initiate wars is ludicrous which Messers Gottfired and Hoppe make very clear. The fact is wars in the name of democracy or wars in the name of the people are the most destructive. A point well made is "Vox populi Vox Dei" applies to war. Modern political views state the voice of the public, no matter how stupid or wrong, is a substitute for reason and knowledge.

Mr. Denson's book is useful for those who are puzzled by the rise of the military state. Readers should also consult the bibliogrphy in this book. Harry Elmer Barnes' anthology titled PERPETUAL WAR FOR PERPETUAL PEACE and James J. Martin's REVISIONIST VIEW POINTS are especially useful. Mr. Denson's THE COSTS OF WAR is timely and well worth reading.

Although soundly invested in the critiques provided in each of the contributions to "The Costs of War: America's Phyrric Victories," I find the refusal by Mises intellectuals to entertain extending the franchise of soldiering to the ruling classes (and even, now, to the comfortable middle classes) by way of compulsory service a hollow defense.

Mr. Stromberg (whose analysis here, as in his articles dating back many years, speaks truth to power most lucidly) himself has been heard dismissing the James Fallows assertion. To paraphrase: that until the mothers of soldiers in comfortable white suburban towns are ringing the phones off-the-hook screaming at their Congressmen "YOU KILLED MY BOY!" the lives of Fallows' working-class "Chelsea boys" will continue to be defiled in the name of state sponsored phyrric misadventures as they are marched off to slaughter.

What other than placing the incidence (costs) of warfare squarely in the laps of the decisionmaking class will stall the state-led rush to war? Surely not the scorn of intellectuals. Surely not the "mature restraint" shored up by our shuddering constitutional system, increasingly torn to shreds by means of "unitary executive" assertion. Alas, surely not the thoroughly "professionalized" "all-volunteer" armed forces, marshalled by increasingly unaccountable yes-man officers, themselves at the beck and call of revolving-door insider-intellectuals, presidents, congressmen, and captains of industry as they engage in the lapping up of the "political means to wealth"--the overwhelming majority "exempted" from their service on the battlefield.

This is an interesting book for anyone who sees themselves serving as an Army Officer. While it doesn't go into too much detail about each branch of the Army (the book assumes the reader knows a little about the branches of the Army), it does stress the importance of being a commander who knows how to use each element of his force. Rivalries will always exist among the branches, but this story illustrates how a task force can accomplish its mission if and only if all of the elements (infantry, armor, mechanics, air support, artillery, etc) function together under a motivated, selfless leader.

If you are riding in a combat vehicle that weighs over 11 tons, and you have to read this book. It takes basic tenants from Duffer's drift and puts it into a mechanized framework. Read Duffer's drift first, then this book. It will change the way you look at terrain or I'll eat a box of MREs!

Today no one thinks that they could fly a jet or command a ship. But everyone thinks that they could command troops in the field. This book shows its not as easy as it looks. You don't line your tracks and grunts up in a line & go get them. This small, slim book is a great primer for the people who are going into the Mechinized Infantry or if you are going into the NTC for fun in the Sun.
Altogether this is a great companion for the "Defense of Duffers Drift" and should be read and shared by the rough ,tough soldiery of the Green Machine.

This allegory about LTC A. Tack Always having to serve his time in purgatory (the NTC) is an outstanding read. Having served 12 years in the Army as an Armor officer I found this book dead on about tactics and operational planning. This book is geared more toward someone who has some military knowledge, though. If you are a civilian with no military knowledge then this book might be a little hard to understand. Overall it is a great read.

The Defense of Hill 781 is the clearest and most accurate depiction of what the National Training Center at Fort Irwin is all about. I've deployed there three times and still learned from this book.

I am a reader of historical novels but this non-fiction book is as easy to read as a novel!

Brad Matsen is an excellent historian. Not only is Matsen' book a first rate adventure story about Beebe and Barton's explorations in the Bathysphere but he gives historical prospective on the times they lived in, including the influence of the media and the politics of science and exploration in the 1930s. If you ever wondered what it would be like to sit in a four foot metal sphere a half mile under water, read this book.

The deep-sea expeditions of Otis Barton and William Beebe revolutionized undersea concepts and exploration - and at the height of the Depression years, when money was tight. Beebe was a famous naturalist who became obsessed with oceanography, and had his own research station off Bermuda, along with the support of many industrialists of his times. The younger Barton was heir to a fortune and had his own dreams of deep-sea exploration and adventure. Together the two opened a new world, directly observing new life in the abyss until a bitter dispute left them estranged. Descent: The Heroic Discovery Of The Abyss re-creates their adventures and discoveries.

Rebeccasreads highly recommends DESCENT by BRAD MATSEN as a fascinating time capsule of the early beginnings of oceanographic exploration, as well as a detailed narrative of scientific vision & determination set against the 20th century era of great wealth & discovery. An absorbing recreation of the life & times of Barton & Beebe, their Bathysphere & what they survived & discovered as they descended into the abyss of the Caribbean.

The reviewer below says that this book is a historical novel: it is not. This book is historical fact.

I am a graduate student and had a difficult time writing my first paper. I bought this book and it clarified all the hidden rules that you are "supposed to just know." Buy this book, then set aside time to actually read it!

This is an outstanding book on how to improve the writing of biomedical research papers. It is well organized, well presented and extremely helpful.

I bought several writing books at the same time and this one stands out because not only is it a "how-to" book, but it is a workbook and mostly consists of exercises. There is plenty of space in the book to do the exercises right in the book. This is extremely important, because you can read about the rules for improving your writing, but you really don't learn how to use them until you practice rewriting actual sentences.

Significantly, this book has dramatically improved my ability to edit my own papers, which has been one of my nagging writing weaknesses.

A good book for beginers, clear and easy to read.

My close friend who is one of the nicest person I ever met, recommended me this book. Upon opening the first chapter, I already know that this book is amazing. My writing improves a lot. If you are an international student like me, you might also have hard time on writing as well. I guaranteed that this book is really invaluable.

we used this book as part of a class i was taking. i am so glad that the professor picked this one out!
the beginning of the book gives you the building blocks, and the later chapters help you put it all together. i realized that a lot of people who help you with proofreading don't really look for some of the organizational items that the author stresses.
i reccommend this book for any graduate student, as well as anyone else who is looking to improve their writing. it might also be a good tool for mentors to use to work with their students.

Beaudette has revisited the cold fusion controversy and teased the actual findings of Fleischmann and Pons He has also evaluated the intellectual atmosphere of the first months and years from the 1989 announcement. He did a good exposition on the difference between good and bad science for the lay audience.
He also showed the politics of big science and the poor showing of protocol for the evaluation of the cold fusion phenomenon. The phenomenom is real. It just doesn't work as hot fusion would.
The conflict of paradigms is fascinating to see played out in the world press.
The book is quite readable without complex mathematics to bog down the mind.
Highly recommend the book for moderately educated layman.
With the gas prices being what they are cold fusion deserves more than a cursory look and it does a good job delineating the various sources of xs heat
Sincerely
Doug Hulstedt

This book is a magnum opus on this fascinating field. Together with Fire from Ice : Searching for the Truth Behind the Cold Fusion Furor by Eugene J. Mallove, this is one book you really need to read. Not only because it is highly interesting, and a great work and example of what really good scholarship means, but also because it is very readable, detailed, honest and accurate. It provides a excellent insight about the early days of cold fusion, the confusion, and the later shortsighted, stupid rejection of the entire field by scientific establishment and mainstream media. The latter can be forgiven, they have no knowledge nor interest in the truth, but the scientists are really to blame. As you can see from previous reviews posted here by exceptional great minds like Arthur C. Clarke, prof. Bockris, and others, this is no joke at all. This is pure, honest, cutting edge science. This is the frontier thinking and research that made our age of technology possible. This is the science the world is needing so badly. Mr. Baudette has done a excellent job of presenting the fact and history of this exciting field of science. For people like him, and like Mallove, Clarke, Bockris, Pons & Fleischmann, and many, many others, I personally have the deepest respect. The truth will come out, one day. Let the critics state one desperate non-argument after the other - this is stuff is for real, and it's here to stay, boys and girls! And it's going to change our world for the better - sooner than you think. I wish I could rate this book 6 stars.

As a journalist covering cold fusion, I turned again and again to this book to check or confirm facts, data, dates, chronologies, and other details and have found it to be the definitive resource in the field. Written by an engineer and vetted by scientists who participated in cold fusion research, the book is an indispensable guide to anyone interested in the history, data, issues, and future of this subject. Recommended without reservation.

I am a teacher. Several months ago I received an e-mail message from a high school student. The girl wrote; ". . . In my chemistry class, I am doing a project on Cold Fusion.. . . I was wondering if you could give me some advice or information?. . ." Beaudette's book is an excellent summary of what has been done in the field of Cold Fusion since 1989. It is a must for any teacher who is interested in the subject.

In addition to summarizing results of many interesting projects the author offers several philosophical observations about scientific methodology and protocols used in various scientific disciplines. Referring to the Cold Fusion controversy he writes: "to discard a well made observation is to violate modern protocol [scientific methodology]. If widely practiced, such a course would quickly undo science. The most interesting and perplexing observations, though accurately measured, would have to be refused by the scientific community because their cause was obscure. Does this mean that any claim of observation must be accepted as worthy of scientific study? Certainly not. It means something quite different. It means that the controversy must center about the quality of the measurements and not about the source or cause of the phenomenon. . . If conflicting data is prohibited from contention, then theories are no longer falsifible. Were it to enable such practice, science would evolve into secular theology."

Beaudette's book has many other interesting observations and quotes, together with the scientific background of major cold fusion researchers. It certainly deserves a place in libraries, especially in high schools and universities. The level is appropriate for an educated layman.

I have read this book, "Excess Heat". I simply could not lay it down until I had finished it entirely. During the process of reading it, I kept repeating to myself (and my captive wife) how excellent a job "this man" did on setting down in philosophically logical terms the convincing facts and logic of the science of cold fusion. At one point I remarked to my wife that "this man" must have taken Apologetics in college and received an "A" mark, but then I remembered that such courses might not have been offered at our Alma Mater (MIT). I was impressed with the way the heretical errors developed, flourished and were brought out in clear plain logic in the book. I want to humbly congratulate the author on such a masterful account of what has happened in this important field. I predict this book will be required reading in some of the "truly best", finest universities in the future. Historically, it will be recorded that Beaudette wrote the truth at a time when science was a bit confused and not quite willing to accept it right away. Slowly it will gain momentum, understanding and finally acceptance. Congratulations on a book that is very well written with class, authority, and no doubt, with hard work, the old fashion way: a book for all seasons.
Dr. Michael R. Staker, P.E.

This book builds on a couple decades of research into customer engagement and new product development. Related methods to involve customers and users are Probe and Learn, User Toolkits, Lead Users, and in service innovation, co-creation.

The Internet and other lowered costs of communication and development have made it cost effective to try and fail and try again, rather than to analyze.

Thomke tells how to do it. And he does it clearly, with a minimum of jargon.

Buy this book!! Thomke's important new book on innovation is the best that I have read. As a lecturer in product development, I would recommend it highly to anyone with an interest in innovation. In particular, it will be of benefit to company executives wishing to improve the efficacy and efficiency of new technology generation and product development within their firms and students of all levels in this area.

New technologies have allowed for experimentation to be conducted on a much larger scale and in a much more cost effective fashion than ever before. However, what most organisations do not realise is that merely employing new technologies is not sufficient to unlock their true value. The organisation itself must be structured to fully exploit their potential. In today's competitive environment, innovation is crucial and speed is the essence. How this can be done most effectively within organisations is the critical issue addressed in this book. Six simple yet practical principles have been promulgated by Thomke to help senior managers optimise value from experimentation.

The importance of experimentation in driving innovation is wonderfully highlighted and Thomke discusses important paradigms such as failing often to succeed sooner as well as contemporary issues thrown up by new technologies such as what to do with the opportunity to experiment more. He even delves into real-world issues of engineers not trusting computer simulations resulting in the seeming paradox of even more physical prototyping.

The book is written in a highly readable style which engages the reader. Particularly fascinating are the case study examples which illustrate vividly the importance of experimentation in driving innovation and the practical value of the principles which he advocates. These studies cover such diverse companies as Eli Lilly, BMW and there is even one on the design of yachts for the America's Cup! User-friendly boxes explaining important concepts such as computer simulation make the book accessible even to those unfamiliar to this field.

All in all, this is an excellent book and it is highly recommended. Five Stars!

Stefan Thomke has produced a landmark book that beautifully reinforces an often ignored aspect about innovation -- experimentation matters. Indeed, experimentation is at the heart of innovation, and Thomke has delivered that much-needed message very well. Drawing upon his extensive research and with many insightful case studies from across the industries, Thomke's book is a powerful account of how new technologies and processes
can be leveraged to innovate and compete. This book is a "must read" for anyone who believes that innovation will increasingly be the driving element of competitive success, and that strategic experimentation design and management are at the center stage of innovation. Those not believing so, needless to say, will obviously be left behind. Read this book now and implement its ideas faster than your competitors.

Observation, exploration and experimentation have been the three basic means of learning for scientists. Of these, experimentation calls for the highest levels of external intervention and as a topic by itself has always been of interest to statisticians who have developed powerful techniques to derive maximum information through the least possible number of experiments. Application of these statistical techniques has resulted in substantial reduction in research expenditure, quicker understanding of scientific principles and shorter time to convert ideas into useful products. On the other hand new technologies like simulation, CAD/CAE that harness the advances in computing have completely changed the experimental landscape by providing powerful techniques for rapid and economical experimentation on our desktops and servers. To cite one example discussed in this book, car maker BMW's crash simulation test progressed from 3000 to 700000 finite elements between 1982 to 2002 while simultaneously resulting in reduction of processing time from 3 months to 30 hours. Power of computing enables "front-loaded" innovation - understanding the phenomenon before committing resources into physical manufacturing.

But the lacuna is that experimentation has never been thought as a separate management discipline cutting across functional silos to bring innovative solutions into the marketplace. Experimentation as a strategic tool that needs management attention and involvement is the core theme of this book.

Management deals with producing results under uncertainty. Uncertainty can be broadly classified under technical, production, market and customer needs. Experimentation should tell us not only what will work, but also what does NOT work. The knowledge so derived should seamlessly flow across the Design-Build-Run-Analyze cycle that cuts across departmental boundaries in large organizations. This is analogous to the concept of ERP in business processes. Though this concepts looks simple, organizational barriers prevent the seamless sharing of information for innovation. Design, manufacturing , marketing and procurement functions fail to optimize on the organizational repository of knowledge that can put winning products into the marketplace. This book is an excellent study on how management can use experimentation as a unique strategy within and beyond organizational boundaries. Case studies are quite detailed and well illustrated.

Read this book. It is worth experimenting.

The way to succeed is to double your failure rate. That comment by Thomas Watson, Sr. is not among the innovators' words of wisdom in Stefan Thomke's densely informative exploration of technologies and processes of experimentation but it perfectly fits the message. Central to Thomke's message in this book is the idea that iterated experimentation through the use of models, prototypes, and computer simulations is the key to learning and innovation. Getting the key to fit in the lock of increased organizational innovation capability, however, takes some jiggling and struggling. Experimentation Matters details the technologies that can transform innovation but place just as much emphasis on the changes that must be made to business processes, organization, culture, incentives, and management. Thomke provides plenty of detailed illustrations of companies wrestling with these issues, and offers six principles revolving to help companies experiment early and often and to organize for rapid iteration.

The first part of the book explains in depth the reasons why experimentation matters for learning and innovation, and how new technologies are affecting the development of both products and services. Thomke shows how the rate of learning is influenced by several factors that affect the process and how it is managed: fidelity, cost, iteration time, capacity, sequential and parallel strategies, signal-to-noise ratio, and type of experiment. Beneath the bewildering diversity of approaches to innovation in different industries, Thomke uncovers six principles that can improve how experimentation occurs: Anticipate and exploit early information through front-loaded innovation processes; Experiment frequently but do not overload your organization; Integrate new and traditional technologies to unlock performance; Organize for rapid experimentation; Fail early and often but avoid "mistakes"; and Manage projects as experiments.

In the final chapter, Thomke looks at how some companies are "shifting the locus of experimentation" to customers as a way to create new value. This approach, sometimes referred to as "co-creation", not only raises productivity but helps fundamentally change the sorts of products and services that can be created. Innovation toolkits given to customers need to enable them to iterate through the steps of experimentation, be user-friendly, contain libraries of useful, pretested and debugged components and modules, and they must contain information abut the capabilities and limitations of the production process. In addition to the development of a customer toolkit, Thomke adds four other steps for shifting experimentation and innovation to customers and, very importantly, notes how the creation and capture of value also shifts.

One great strength of Thomke's book is the attention given to the managerial and organizational challenges of implementing new technologies such as computer modeling and simulation and combinatorial and high-throughput testing. As other writers have repeatedly emphasized - but many managers have not yet understood - new technologies *must* be introduced only in concert with revised business processes, structures, and management approaches. Iterated experimentation helps learning by increasing the number of failures. But if incentives continue to punish failures, the new technologies will be underused or misused. Financial incentives, organizational culture, and management communications will have to change if experimenters are to feel free to fail at the most productive rate.

Thomke illustrates and details the crucial role of organization, process, and management in realizing the potential of experimentation technologies with a range of illuminating cases. He devotes a chapter to these effects in the integrated circuit industry, examines the challenges faced by Bank of America in its bold service experimentation efforts, and shows how managers at Eli Lilly struggled with non-technological aspects of high-powered experimentation in the drug discovery process. A study of experimentation in the auto industry, particularly at BMW, suggests several lessons regarding the reality of technology introduction: Technologies are limited by the processes and people that use them; organizational interfaces can get in the way of experimentation; and technologies change faster than behavior. Thomke also shows how managers can look at projects as experiments, reiterating, refining, and learning from them as they proceed through the stages of design, build, run, and analyze.

A book I pass around alot! If you are concerned about Earth's natural resources and our future, this is a must read. The author explains the coming world production peak in conventional oil and the facts of dealing with finite resources.

Don't be surprised by the problems we face just around the corner in the new century in energy, minerals and water.

A very depressing book but a very important one if the author is correct. It covers resources of all types: water, metals, oil, arable soil, etc. as it relates to the various economies and lifestyles throughout the world. At the rate resources are being used up, in particular oil and gas, the standard of living outside of the Persian Gulf state could be materially affected in the next 50 to 100 years.

Read it at your own risk: it's going to paint a bleak picture of future mineral resources.

There are many good books on peak oil, but none fly as high as Youngquist's "Geodestinies", giving you an eagle-eye view of how the world works from a resource standpoint. Far more than just the mineral of oil is covered. Youngquist also delves into the role of minerals and good health, their use as currencies, the distribution of minerals around the world, and the most precious mineral of all: topsoil.

The range of what is covered is so vast I can't do justice to this book, but among other things, you'll learn the role of minerals and wars, civilizations, politics, and overviews of alternative energy sources. You'll emerge with a better understanding of how the world really works, what to invest in, and a deep appreciation of the amazing lives we're leading at this peak of civilization.

After I read this monumental book, I was sad and angry that history was never taught this way while I was in school. If there is one book you should have on your shelf for those who make it through the bottleneck of the coming ecological crash, this is it.

I have read thousands of non-fiction books as I walk to work and back ten miles a day -- this is the most important and life-changing book of all of them.

This is one of those rare works that has the power to transform society. It is extremely well written, easily readable and cites an extensive list of references.

This book should be required reading for all college freshmen, and should be included in every high school, college and public library.

It is unfortunate that the book is often out of stock and difficult to find.

While the book reads more like a high school textbook, for the inquisitive mind, the information imparted more than makes up for it. Learning the principle of doubling time and it's portent for future populaiton growth and resource depletion, alone is worth the price of the book. The information presented in the book is sobering and thought provoking, and not a little depressing.
Let's all hope that technology can deliver us from most of the doom and gloom presented in the book. As a geologist I was familiar with the limitations on our mineral resources but did not construct the relational scenarios that were presented in the book. The "oil interval" of earth history is overlooked by most people even in the sciences. It's far reaching implications points out the severe case of myopia from which our society suffers. The fact that we comsume 60% of our soon to be precious oil for the luxury of being able to run to the convenience store for a pack of gum is also sobering. Buy the book impart the information to your kids.

I just got this book yesterday and couldn't wait to read through it.

It contains some vital information that anyone even the slightest bit interested in exploring should read.

So glad that I bought this book.

Good book, informative. Allows the new ghost hunter insight in the tools and practices in the art of ghost hunting.

...of protocols in being an investigator. Whether you are the "novice" or the "beginner" you are sure to benefit from the knowledge of this book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who's interested in investigating haunted places -- both beginners and those with years of experience. The book is written in concise, easy-to-digest language, and outlines step by step what you need to know to be safe, professional and prepared on paranormal investigations. Some of the topics covered in this ghost hunter's handbook are: how to properly conduct indoor and outdoor investigations; what equipment to pack in your ghost hunter's tool kit; what types of spirits you might encounter on your investigations; and what types of places to investigate. This book is a fast read, and you'll find yourself going back to it over and over again for a tip or a refresher course in ghost hunting.

Finally! This book is an awesome tool to begin understanding the paranormal as well as conducting your own investigations. The scientific approach Juliano uses will limit the number of false positives or other mistakes the novice may make, but there is also an emphasis on assisting people who are afraid of what is happening in their lives. There are simple, easy to follow guidelines, as well as pictures showing you how to use equipment properly. This was extrememly useful when trying to download pictures or sound files.

This book as been a valuable resource. If you are interested in Amino Acids and their benefits this book will be helpful.

quite a bit of the research on which it is based is now dated, and some important aspects of nutrition have been completely ignored. It does however give a simple introduction to amino acids, and this is a complex topic, so that it is a good place to start

This book is exactly what I was looking for. I needed information about each of the amino acids, what functions they are involved in, how they interrelate, and what illnesses they are connected with. This book is well-organized, highly readable, and extremely interesting. It was just the right mix of research information, along with dosage and uses.

This book has been very useful in helping me find supplements that are improving my medical issues.

This is a wonderful book for those who are serious about using amino acids to balance the neurotransmitters and avoid the need for prescription medications.

The amino acids in the human body are proving to be potent healing substances. This book reveals the findings of research in the 1980s and 1990s on the beneficial role of the aminos in Alzheimer's, cancer, depression, heart conditions, stress and many other disease states.

The different amino acids are discussed in chapters according to type: Aromatic, Sulphur, Urea Cycle, Glutamate, Threonine and Branched Chain. Their food sources, nutrient interactions and proven benefits are given in detail.

The therapeutic functions of specific aminos include pain relief (Phenylalanine), fighting addiction (Tyrosine), treatment of Parkinson's (Methionine), heart protection (Homocysteine), herpes killer (Lysine). Many of them also play a part in immune stimulation or as anti-oxidants.

There are three appendices: 1. The Problems of Vegetarianism. 2. The Much Maligned Egg: The Best Amino Acid Food. 3. Continuing Breakthroughs in Amino Acids. This informative book with its good news concludes with an extensive bibliography, a glossary of terms and an index.

Everyone can benefit from the use of supplemental amino acids. This excellent book shows how to integrate them in one's own health management programme. Similar helpful books include The Amino Revolution by Erdmann and Amino Acids In Therapy by Chaitow.