Future Books

This book was perfect for my 8yr old daughter. My son is 10yrs and has Asperger Syndrome so this book helped my daughter out tremendously with the millions of questions she has been asking. My daughter has the option of reading it on her own (which she does sometimes) and also we read it together. We are very pleased with this book.

This is a nice book to use to explain to "typical" kids what is my son's situation. It has examples that speaks to their age. Even without sitting there and reading the actual books to kids, I use the ideas to speak to friends' kids and others.
Very good.

I loved reading this book with my nine-year-old. She really got a better insight into her sisters behavior. It gave us a starting point for discussion.

I am 10 and I have a 12 year old sister who has Aspergers Syndrome. My mom and dad have been trying to help me understand it for years. My sister always seems to get away with a lot of stuff and she embarrasses me a lot. I like this book because it really explains how I feel. I get annoyed just like Emily and then I feel guilty because my sister has autism and can't help what she is doing. This book let me know that it is OK to get annoyed and for some reason that makes me less annoyed with my sister. I don't know why but it does. Emily says that she feels like the big sister and that is exactly how I feel! I don't like worrying about my sister so I don't like it when we do the same activities. This made my mom understand a little better too. I really recommend this book because it is really true. I haven't really liked any of the other books my mom got me on autism because they weren't really about how I felt but this one is great.

This is a sterling work that I highly endorse. This is an invaluable work for people who have siblings with autism; for families; for educators and other interested persons.

Emily's older brother Daniel has autism. She naturally wants to know why she cannot communicate with him consistently and what prompts him to behave and respond as he does. Emily's parents acknowledge Emily's anger, concern and other feelings and allow her to explore. I like the conversations they had. I also like the way Daniel is accepted and how some of his more outlandish behavior is explained and not condoned. Reasonable expectations are set for Daniel, always with the hope of contant, continued improvement.

The dynamics among this family are what makes this book so strong. It is a book that will resonate in one's mind long after finishing the last page.

One of my all-time favorites from childhood, and I was pleasantly surprised to find it holds up just as well on a re-read as an adult. Maybe better; I didn't get all the humor and wit at age ten!

The lone average child in an extremely eccentric family, Jack feels left out and begins a campaign to be special too.

Highly recommended!

If P.G. Wodehouse had been writing novels for young readers during the last quarter of the 20th century, he might have come up with something like "Ordinary Jack," the first in Helen Cresswell's series The Bagthorpe Saga. Jack, a hopelessly conventional and normal boy stuck in the middle of the madcap, eccentric Bagthorpe family, known for their prodigious achievements, wonders how he can ever get himself noticed. Uncle Parker, not so brilliant himself, sympathizes and comes up with a plan: Jack will become a prophet and go in for such mystical pursuits as visions, water divining, crystal-ball gazing and Tarot-card reading. Of course, all sorts of complications and much hilarity ensue. This very funny book and its six sequels can be found in British paperback editions and ordered from Amazon.co.uk.

This book is usually billed as a children's book. I'm pretty
sure that's the reason it's out of print. It's an *excellent*
book, one of the best I have ever read. The characters come
vividly alive, driving the storyline. The plot is deeply
involved, yet easy enough to follow. The prose is crisp and
colorful and draws the reader into the story.

The only problem is, the vocabulary is a little more advanced
than a lot of children these days can comfortably handle. If
the book were marketed for adults, it would be a bigger hit.

This is not to say that children cannot read this book. They
can, if they're avid readers with a good grasp on vocabulary.
I could have read it by sixth grade or so -- about the same
time I was ready to read Dickens and Shakespeare. I didn't
happen to run into it until somewhat later, however, and I can
confirm that it's a great book for adults.

This book will exceed your expectations and capture your
imagination. You'll read it in notime flat, because you won't
put it down for mundane things like meals.

The second book, Absolute Zero, is just as good. The others
in the series are also not bad, though the first two are easily
the best. This is the one to get first.

It's been a long time since I read a children's book that really knocked my socks off. I had heard in various children's book circles about the mysterious Bagthorpe saga. A series of stories in which a single ordinary boy must learn to live with his genius/insane family. What I had heard, however, was not exactly conclusive. For all I knew, these books could be good or they could be overrated justly forgotten tripe of the lowest order. Out of the merest curiosity (and because I could locate a copy in my library) I found an original 1977 edition of the book, complete with illustrator Trina Schart Hyman's fabulous cover in which every single Bagthorpe member is rendered in the flesh. What I discovered will now eat up hours and hours of my spare time as I systematically track down each and every Bagthorpe edition in the series available to me. This is an amazing children's experience that must be read to be believed.

Jack is just your average kid. In any other family, this would be a good thing. In Jack's family, it's just short of catastrophe. For you see, in the clan of the Bagthorpes, everyone's a genius. Jack's brother William has a ham radio, plays darts, enjoys the bongos, and often goes about searching for new exciting talents to add to his bag of tricks (or, as they say, strings to their bows). Rosie, Jack's younger sister, is an accomplished portrait painter and recently beat Jack at swimming. Living in such a conceited family might push anyone over the edge, but fortunately Jack has one person he can count on. His Uncle Parker married into the family and, though extraordinary in his own ways, he's just as normal as his nephew. Together, the two plan to make Jack into the kind of guy his siblings see as an equal. They're going to make him into a prophet. This may mean they'll have to employ dowsing rods, crystal balls, purple suits, bear costumes, and tarot cards, but in the end it'll all be worth it.

So many in-jokes, clever puns, and smart plot twists pop up in this book that you'll wonder how long these characters were wandering around author Helen Cresswell's head before she committed them to paper. Adults reading this book will recognize characters they've met in real life while children will read about them and find themselves wishing they belonged to families just this crazy. There's more than a little "Cheaper By the Dozen" in this book, except that each character you meet in "Ordinary Jack" comes with their own very particular personality. I can even pinpoint the moment I feel head over heels in love with the book. After a particularly disastrous birthday celebration that ends in the dining room catching on fire, Uncle Parker laments that, for him, the real loss of the evening was that he won't be able to get the little mottos out of the crackers now. Americans, unfamiliar with crackers, may need a bit of explanation about this Britishism. Those who know what they are, however, will be delighted by Uncle Parker's assertion that he collects them so that at parties he can "stop conversation dead" with one.

Will kids like the book? They won't be able to help but do so. Jack is completely sympathetic, dealing with his crazy relations by becoming even crazier than they are. I loved his self-esteem talks to his dog Zero and how the women in the family suddenly start to get involved in Yoga for no particular reason. Reading this book, you'll forget it was originally published in 1977, so contemporary are some of the terms and fads. You can only assume that had no-carb diets been around in the late 70s, the Bagthorpes would've been involved in those as well.

There are hundreds of children's books that center on crazy families. Heck, Polly Horvath's practically made her living off of the genre. But the best of all these, by far, is Helen Cresswell's really breathtaking Bagthorpe books. "Ordinary Jack" is one of the best children's books I've ever had the pleasure of reading. A brilliant book for any kid with a sense of humor and a yen for the bizarre.

How COULD they have stop printing these books? I have loved the Bagthorpes since I first got Ordinary Jack as a kid and wanted to get the Bagthorpe series for my niece and friends who are having children. Even though I was labeled "gifted" as a child, Jack is readily identifiable and the books are written with such a gentle humor that they are well worth fighting for.

Really, are we supposed to let "Sweet Valley High" set the tone for our pre-adolescents?

We are at a critical crossroads in the socioeconomic evolution of our society. Technological advancements are changing the way we live, work and play faster than ever before, and now--more than ever--we need someone to guide us. Authors Timothy L. Jenkins and Khafra K. Om-Ra-Seti step up to the challenge in their book Black Futurists in the Information Age....According to the authors, the key to taking advantage of this paradigm shift is KyberGenesis--the futuristic beginning of a major industry movement for scientific and technological development in the black world.

I consider Black Futurists a must read for anyone interested in learning how technology will effect our world in the future. This forward thinking book sheds light on existing and forthcoming technologies and how they will profoundly impact our everyday lives.

For Black Americans, Timothy Jenkins and Khafra K Omrazeti have performed a very important service. With an insightful foreword by former UN Ambassador Andrew Young, Jenkins and Omrazeti have combined their considerable talents and insights to create the case for black Americans to advance into the future using their intellect and technology to create new and untold opportunities for Black Americans. The book is well researched and draws upon the work of successful black technologists and scientists who in the past, leapt ahead of their time to make important contributions to the world at large. This book is easy to read and will serve as an excellent foundation for understanding how we arrived where we are, and more importantly it highlights some of the challenges Blacks will face in the future unless current leadership undergoes a change in consciousness.

BLACK FUTURISTS IN THE INFORMATION AGE is a must read for anybody interested in communications technology. The authors give a lot of information on all the latest technological advances. Probably more than you ever want to know but all the things that you need to know. It discusses how African Americans need to get ahead of the curve and expand their information to the African Diaspora. While there are many disadvantages that African Americans must necessarily face in this country such as the assault on affirmative action, a disinterested market in terms of targeting African Americans, unemployment, redlining in housing and loans, poor schooling opportunities, there are many up-beat reasons to continue pushing forward to make sure that we are not left behind. Concrete ideas for technology savvy are given which is a major plus. Also included is an overview of the change in FCC rules and deregulations.

For the technologically uninvolved it is a tough book but one that helps explain the new world in a reasonable, understandable format.

Reviewed by alice Holman
of the RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Black Futurists in the Information Age is a wake-up call to Black people. It is a jolt toward the realization of the role they can play in the technological age. It is a look at past and future contributions to technology and information, and more specifically how these contributions will effect us all as we enter the 21st century.

This book is essentially an overview of the development and evolution of the Internet, ending with the browser war between Netscape and Microsoft. It was initially published in the UK in 1999, then in the US in 2000. There is some discussion of the intellectual backstories such as Norbert Wiener's cybernetics and JCR Licklider's ideas on interactive computing, but the book is mainly about the birth and growth of the Net. This book lacks detail - and is in that sense superficial - but it works well as the general overview the author meant it to be.

What does the Internet mean for the future? An answer partially depends upon an analysis of the past, and John Naughton's Brief History of the Future is the first book to cover the entire history of the Internet's development, from those who first thought of it in the 1940s to the scientists and engineers who brought it to life. Anecdotes blend with history to provide an intriguing blend of personal and scientific observation.

Reads like a sci-fi novel while providing a solid understanding of how and why the Internet works. At times the detail is almost overdone but this only adds to the credibility of the author. I started with a Timex Sinclair computer and have lived through the period covered in this book without really understanding just what made the internet work. Now I know!

Next time you take a transcontinental flight to a technical conference, skip the airline movie and just read this wonderful book cover to cover. I wish history class in high school had been this much fun. Naughton has written the definitive history of the Internet so far. For example, when the Pentagon asked AT&T to build an early prototype of the Internet for them, AT&T pooh-poohed packet switching as a worthless idea concocted by some young whippersnapper (Paul Baran of the Rand Corp.) who knew nothing about proper telephone engineering. The book is full of anecdotes and funny stories. Great reading for old fogies and young fogies alike.

I've worked in the software industry for twenty years, and now I finally have an entertaining, enjoyable book to give to friends and family who don't really understand what I do all day. If you've ever struggled to explain how the internet works, or why anybody would use it. This is the book. I gave a copy to my 77 year old flight instructor, he loved it.

Following a concise and accurate history of the markets last 2-3 years and the possible developments that may effect participants in the markets.

This book is worth a read, by anyone interested in the markets.

I'm only sorry that I think the political aspects of these changes not happening is not addressed.

Patrick Young looks into his magic eight ball and reveals what the future holds for the financial markets. Very radical and probably very acurate. A must read for those traditional brokers who are contemplating a second house in the Hamptons

As the cover of this book says: Liquidity! Accessibility! Transparency!

The authors take a European perspective to challenge the traditional way that financial markets have operated in the United States and elsewhere. They point out, correctly I think, that the revolution is here. Fully automated markets now do the bulk of the worldwide futures trading. For example the Chicago Board of Trade was overtaken in futures volume by the fully automated German-Swiss EUREX in Frankfurt in 1998. London was charging from behind to take a big piece of the automated futures business as well. Automated trading experiments are going on in a number of other places, as well.

The vision the authors have is captured by a quote from Ludwig von Mises: "Economic history is the story of the gradual extension of the economic community beyond its original limits of the single household to embrace the nation and the world."

This vision is essentially of convergence into one global market, with one clearinghouse, and one regulator to do everything. The need to get costs down will require that convergence as the ultimate solution. How imminent this vision is has to be a guess (the authors convey the vision in the form of a dream), but the stories in the book show how often the complacent, traditional view has been wrong. The authors are good at pointing out the speed bumps that will delay progress, and outline good ideas for better and faster implementation.

But they are definitely tolling the bell in the near future for face-to-face selling. "In the future there will only be electronic traders." They also see a rise of small traders, small banks (doing direct placements of IPOs over the Internet with traders without underwriting syndicates), and greatly squeezed paychecks for traditional investment banking and trading activities.

I found the book to be consistent with my own vision. I was still left with the question of why the transition has not been a faster one. Financial markets should be converging at a much faster rate, if one looks only at the technology and the use of the Internet. Which aspects of human stalls are the worst delayers? Probably the tradition and bureaucratic stalls, because the existing markets and regulators are very slow to see new opportunity. Consider how recently fixed trading commissions disappeared. Those should have been gone in the Roaring Twenties.

If you want good detailed information on the state of the electronic market revolution, this book is essential reading. If you own a seat on an exchange, your pocketbook requires immediate attention.

There is an excellent section on how to prepare for the transition, and another one on the dangers to be cautious of.

Good look in building your wealth faster through more efficient markets!

In reading the book, there are many things that would scare traditionalists in our business. The rules are changing, and unless we adapt as traders and exchanges, we will be doomed. As I have discussions with other board members, and other floor traders, some intuitively understand the coming electronic age. Others pass it off as a purely European phenomena. "It won't happpen here.", is a phrase I hear every day. Brokers and traders see that the computerized competitors are having a tough time gaining a foothold in the American futures market. They rest thinking that their future is secure, and that maybe their margins will be squeezed a little. The revolution has only begun. While some of the positions the book posits seem outlandish, Columbus was seen as outlandish in 1492 too. This is a must read for any person associated with floor trading or an exchange. This also makes good reading for anyone involved in government regulation. Barriers are being broken down. Borders set by politics are not relevant to the sea change taking place in the financial marketplace. The U.S. is the titan of investment capital today, but a government that shackles the growth of the marketplace due to over regulation, is doomed to see all that capital leave for less regulated environs. I am on the Board of Directors at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, so I speak from experience. The revolution has begun, and we are trying to embrace it.

Building on the monthly news and insight from Patrick Young's ADTrading.com newsletter, Patrick Young and Thomas Theys have put together a concise history of recent developments in capital markets, especially the futures markets, and the steady advance of electronic trading. As a longtime reader of the newsletter I have been exposed to most of these ideas on a monthly basis; as an industry executive I have watched the events unfold day by day. Nevertheless, this compilation provides fresh insight into Capital Markets trends.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in an overview of the recent history of the futures, equity and FX markets and a plausible view where the markets are heading.

I would also recommend Capital Markets Revolution to industry insiders who are well aware of the events and ideas discussed, as they can benefit from the framework and view of the future into which current events are placed.

The computer and natural language is a sub-domain of computer science in which one of the major aims is to imitation of man, focusing on two topics: psychology and linguistics. If we wish the machine to do something, we must tell it what to do and it must be able to understand us. The easiest way to tell a computer what to do is to give it a program to run. "Humans, if they are machines at all, are vastly general-purpose machines and what, is most important, they understand communications couched in natural language." Work must be done for a machine to understand natural language. "Man's capacity to manipulate symbols, his very ability to think, is inextricably interwoven with his linguistic abilities." A machine must be able to extract semantic content from the messages impinged upon it, adopt a syntactic structure of a visual scene and adopt a certain conceptual framework. The question of what comprises a visual symbol is in question. The developer defines the elements of the machines primitive vocabulary. Robert Lindsay said, "high quality translations could be produced by machines supplied with sufficiently detailed syntactic rules, a large dictionary, and sufficient speed to examine the context of ambiguous words for a few word in each direction."

Eliza was a program consisting mainly of general methods for analyzing sentences and sentence fragments, locating so-called keywords in texts, assembling sentences from fragments and so on. Eliza created the remarkable illusion of having understood in the minds of the many people who conversed with it.

In ordinary two person communication, each has a working hypothesis, a conceptual framework, concerning who the person is and what the conversation is about. The hypothesis serves an indicator of what the other person is going to say and what he is going to mean by what he is about to say. Often, the erroneous prediction is falsified before the sentence is completed and the listener makes corrections on the fly and virtually unconsciously. Each brings into mind an image of the other person, the image consists in part of the other's identity, attributes based on evidence derived from independent life experiences of the participant. "Our recognition of another person is thus an act of induction on evidence presented to us partly by him and partly by our reconstruction of the rest of the world; it is a kind of generalization". Eliza starts with the hypothesis that the system does understand.

Rogar C. Shank, based his theory on the central idea that every natural-language utterances is a manifestation, an encoding, of an underlying conceptual structure. Understanding an utterance means encoding it. The theory proposes a formal structure for the conceptual bases for making predictions. The theory creates formal rules for converting utterances into a conceptual base. One difficulty is that every individual's belief is constantly changing mean that an individuals entire base of conceptions is changing. "When a person enters a conversation he bring his belief structure with him as a kind of agenda."

Terry Winograd, of M.I.T, was working with a group were building a computer-controlled "hand-eye" machine; the computer could see its environment and manipulate objects in its environment by means of a computer-controlled mechanical arm. Winograd design and coded the software to enable humans by natural language, too instruct the computer, how to manipulate and explain events with respect to the toy world of blocks, in a natural language. "The robot can manipulate toy blocks on a table containing simple objects like a box." The robot could be ask to manipulate the objects, doing such things as building stacks and putting things in a box. It could be questions about the configuration of blocks on the table, about events that were going during the discussion, and it could be told simple facts about the objects which could be stored and used for reasoning later. The conversation goes on within a dynamic framework - "one in which the computer is an active participant, doing things to change his toy world, and discussing them."

An authority in the field of artificial intelligence and computer science in general, Joseph Weizenbaum provides insight in proceedings in that area but mainly warns about what these developments may lead to. It is very entertaining to read this book some 20 years after original publication and see how many of what we believe are recent developments were actually implemented back then already (on one or two priceless "super" computers).
Very dogmatic and patronizing at times, it still is a good read if only for the thought provoking ideas like: if electronic computers would have been used in the manhattan project, today we would assume that development of the atomic bomb would have been impossible without it.

This book is a basic philosophical treatment of computing. I think that it should be included as a basic part of any Computer Science / Computer Engineer curriculum in respectable universities, along with Roger Penrose book, The Emperor's new mind, it creats a better understanding of what is human and what is mechanic for all those who need to know it.

Should Computer Science / Engineering freshmen/women in universities know? My answer is YES, in their first year !

I read parts of this book, thinking highly of it. I thought one particular passage from it, as quoted in Gates by Stepehen Manes and Paul Andrews, particulary stood amid the limelight: [t]he computer programmer . . . is a creator of universes for which alone is the lawgiver. . . .No playwright, no stage director, no emperor, however powerful, has ever exercised such absolute authority to arrange a stage of field a battle and to command such unswervingly dutiful actors or troops.

This is perhaps the best book ever written on issues of computer technology and modern life, in the sense that it says a lot of really important things and is also very readable by both lay persons and technical persons. People like Jacques Ellul, Arnold Gehlen et al. have written very important texts in this area, but are much less "accessible". If the truth only counts when it is absorbed by persons, Weizenbaum's book stands out as being engrossing and a pleasure to read, as well as saying what needs to be said. It is very sad that the second edition which was supposed to be out a year or so ago has not appeared. But in no way has 20 years "dated" the present text. _Computer Power and Human Understanding_ explains why we have such problems as Y2K, etc.

Not being a student of the future studies specifically, I nonetheless found Dr. Thomas Lombardo's book of great interest and a learning experience. The book has caused me to take a greater interest in the many books references by other futurists. Too few books cause me to really dig into the references as this book does. I highly commend this work as one of the more thought provoking books I have read in the past year. Thank you Dr. Lombardo.

One of the things that intrigues me about this book and its companion volume THE EVOLUTION OF FUTURE CONSCIOUSNESS is their implicit conviction that thinking seriously about the future is a central element in human cognition, past and present, and that as it evolves it necessarily goes well beyond making predictions. I also like its well-informed treatment of science fiction (which I have sometimes thought could as appropriately be called evolutionary fiction) as a complement (and equal) to academic and technological future studies.

"From the genesis of science fiction to its Golden Age and from the history, goals and methods of futures studies to its major theories and visions of the future, Thomas Lombardo in CONTEMPORARY FUTURIST THOUGHT tells the story of the wondrous drama of the future. He has written a masterpiece that inspires, entertains, informs, mesmerizes, and at times even terrifies with its powerful images of humanity's possible futures. This book is essential reading for every futurist. And it is essential, too, for any reader who wants to know what the future holds."--Wendell Bell, Yale University.

I can't imagine a more comprehensive look at humanity's interest in, study of, and planning for our future than Thomas Lombardo has presented us with in his two recently published books, THE EVOLUTION OF FUTURE CONSCIOUSNESS, which focuses on the nature and development of "future consciousness" from ancient times through the 19th century, and CONTEMPORARY FUTURIST THOUGHT which focuses on expressions of future consciousness in the 20th and 21st centuries.

In CONTEMPORARY FUTURIST THOUGHT, Lombardo reviews in detail several 20th and 21st-century movements, or centers of interest and activity, that focus on the future. They include the science fiction phenomenon from Jules Verne and H.G. Wells to recent movies and TV shows, "future studies" in its academic and professional forms, and a concluding section on "Theories and Paradigms of the Future."

I found this last section particularly interesting. Here, Lombardo presents a wide range of contemporary views. Some of these are deterministic; they argue for a predetermined future of one kind or another. Others argue for a future determined by human values and conscious decisions. Lombardo notes that, "A common position held by many members of The World Future Society is that the future is a set of possibilities rather than one definite trajectory. Because the future is possibilities, humans have a choice in what future will be realized. Most futurists in fact talk as if they believe that the decisions made today will influence what our future will be like. We are not passive victims of supernatural destiny or natural laws."

I resonated deeply with Lombardo's closing statement: "I think that the cultivation of wisdom is an essential ingredient to creating a positive future. Wisdom integrates intellect, emotion, and action. Wisdom is grounded in an expansive awareness of the whole that acknowledges and values other people and their points of view, and involves the recognition of human fallibility and the need for courage, faith, and tempered optimism in the face of the uncertainty of the future. Wisdom is the highest expression of human development and future consciousness. If our minds are evolving and we are moving toward a New Enlightenment, then I would suggest that the essence of the New Enlightenment will be the individual and collective development of wisdom."

This volume is much more eclectic than the usual review of the field, enfolding the `zeitgeist' of the study of the future as well as the methodology. The author does this by including some of the less traditional expressions of futures thinking, including an extensive review of science fiction as it is relevant to futurist thinking. Lombardo looks at science fiction not as just an entertainment medium, but as it captures spiritual and mythic themes and he quotes some of the deeper practitioners of that field, including the incomparable Olaf Stapleton and the thoughtful HG Wells. This sensitivity to the underlying cultural currents (which of course shape all foresight work) is evident in a quote taken from Neil Postman. "What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one." And unfortunately, both of these dystopian visions have now come to pass in some way.

Lombardo points out that beginning with the work of HG Wells, future studies evolved beyond mere methodology for `prediction' to assessments of human society and normative proposals for improvement. And he quotes Ed Cornish concerning the movement away from the `scientific' belief in progress after World War II toward a more value-oriented recognition of the role of uncertainty in future-studies...restated by Mike Marien as the categorization of futures into `possible, probable, and preferable.'

However, this `Western scientific view' of futures was soon expanded by scholars like Richard Slaughter in a call to look beyond technology and rationalism to the humanistic and intuitive elements of a more integral (objective/subjective, individual/social) vision of how the future unfolds. What is refreshing about this book is Lombardo's willingness to look at these often opposed viewpoints in their own context and accept each of them as part of the large future studies universe. Although he has his biases, he states them clearly and gives all sides a fair hearing.

And as foresight continued to evolve, he notes that the growth of new disciplines such as complexity and chaos theory, creativity dynamics, open systems, quantum mechanics and the study of unintended consequences brought a fresh and energizing influence to the futures field. Indeed it sometimes seems to this reviewer that the ongoing debates between various `schools' of futuring concerning their perceived strengths and weaknesses may serve as a sort of Social Darwinism, that challenges and improves the tools and techniques of these various schools of futurist thought.

In a wider context, Dr. Lombardo relates the themes of change, growth, fundamentalism, cultural evolution and even temporal physics to the larger world and how these futures concepts play out in conflicts over sustainability, religion, freedom, organizational behavior, cultural pluralism and science policy. While it is not within the range of this review to do justice to the richness and depth of this compendium, the author has worked heroically to do justice to the complexity of futures thinking and capture the thought of nearly all of its leading thinkers.

I was impressed with the thoroughness that the authors displayed in their coverage of what they refer to as "indicator volcanoes," and the "greater activities" by which three specific volcanoes will indicate when Earth changes and floodings are to strike in the western U. S. and around the shores of the southern Pacific Ocean. The authors also deal with Cayce readings that talk about torrid area volcanoes that will erupt prior to a shift in the poles of Earth's rotational axis. These volcanoes will erupt in response to some sort of upheavals in the arctic and the antarctic regions. The authors provide evidence that in 1999 there were upheavals of lava on the floor of the arctic ocean northwest of Europe that may have caused torrid area volcanoes to erupt. Then, in what may be an original research finding, they show that the big Alaskan earthquake of 2003 led almost immediately to eruptions of two, maybe three, volcanoes in Ecuador, indicating that the Cayce prediction came true. If so, maybe we can expect a pole shift soon. Speaking of the Cayce readings' pole shift, the authors seem to think that the many other Earth changes predicted by Cayce will occur as a result of the shift of the poles. This pole-shift part of the book takes some study to understand. The authors think the shift will be small. They have a table in the back that indicates how the elevations of various cities will change relative to sea level, as a result of using their computer model. Would you believe that Miami will rise 908 ft, Honolulu will sink 171 ft, Los Angeles will rise 634 ft, London will rise 710 ft, Moscow will sink 149 ft, and Tokyo will sink 1126 ft? No wonder that a reading says that the greater portion of Japan will go into the sea, presumably with pole shift. All in all this is a fascinating and challenging book from may angles. The authors have convinced me, at least, that pole shift and Earth changes may really be future events to consider and even, perhaps, to prepare for.

The subjects of "Earth changes" and "pole shift" are dominant themes in this book, based upon several of Edgar Cayce's psychic readings. One reading even speaks of the greater portion of Japan going into the sea (during a pole shift) and the breakup of the earth in western America. Another reading predicts the destruction of San Francisco and Los Angeles, "before New York even." The authors explain how these events could take place given an understanding of the science of geology as it is practiced today. Humanity has some responsibility for some of the disasters to happen, it would seem, for in a chapter dealing with pornography, lust, and Los Angeles earthquakes, the authors assert that "as the present culture of science and materialism comes to a climax, it has to be destroyed. A 'flood' comes - namely violence, lust, barbarism, spiritual wickedness, and loss of truth. Then an ark is made to survive the flood and keep alive knowledge for the next culture, in the next cycle." This book presents readings' ideas about how to build one's own (psychological) ark. I particularly like the chapters about how to awaken to the new spiritual imperatives before us, and how to be worthy enough to be a part of the purity of the new cycle.

This is actually five books in one. Although the price seems steep, at 571 pages including multitudes of charts, graphs, photographs, excerpts from Edgar Cayce's psychic readings, and a comprehensive index, it is well worth the price--a real reference manual for those interested in Cayce's trance readings on earth changes, lost continents, pole shift, and human inference in these effects.

William Hutton is a professor of geology with an impressive resume as an oceanographer and geophysical researcher with extensive university experience in both the U.S. and Canada with over 100 published articles and project reports. He writes under a pseudonym to preserve his professional integrity in the academic community. But, he is also fascinated with the Edgar Cayce's psychic readings on the geological past and future of our planet. He brings his scientific expertise to an exploration of the psychic's trance readings on the earth's catastrophic past and future.

Co-author Jonathan Eagle uses his technical expertise to produce pole shift models, charts, graphs and maps. For up-to-date bulletins on earth changes, visit their comprehensive web site at www.HuttonCommentaries.com.

The five books included within one cover are:

1. Earth Astir--Cataclysms and Catastrophes. This section describes earth's most active volcanoes and pinpoints those which may indicate global upheavals according to Cayce's psychic source. In this part of the book, the authors Hutton and Eagle also delineates earthquake zones, possible tsunamis including an Atlantic tsunami, and, what I like best, an explanation of the causes of earthquakes.

2. Pole Shift. An intriguing section contrasting the rotational poles and the magnetic poles in which the authors consider whether a pole shift is in progress at this time. They draft a pole shift model that explains Cayce's predictions of earth changes and then delineate the areas which will remain above water as safety lands.

3. Recovering History. This is my favorite of the sections because my own books describe my search for corroborative evidence of my hypnosis-induced Atlantean memories. This part is rich with excerpts from the Cayce readings on that famous lost continent. The authors pinpoint those areas of the earth which Cayce's source says are remnants of Atlantis and they also describe their recent geological explorations around the Bimini islands off Florida's east coast where Cayce said that if a geological survey were done, evidence of Atlantis would be found. In this fascinating section, the authors also discuss the lost continents of Lemuria and Latinia as well as new evidence that shows that the Amerindians could be Atlantean descendents. They also describe the locations where Cayce said records of the Atlanteans, including those describing the workings of their deadly Great Crystal may be unearthed.

4. Human Responsibility. An absolutely fascinating section on the effect of humanity's thoughts and behaviors on earth's stability or lack of it. Although one would expect this section would be about the environment and nuclear testing, it is surprisingly also about the U.S. obsession with pornography and lust. The authors correlate a possible preponderance of earthquakes in the Los Angeles area with the center of the porn industry being located in that area, again turning to the Cayce readings, which emphasize that humanity has far-reaching effects on the planet. This chapter also addresses earth changes, Divine Law and visions of an age-ending fire in comparison with the deluge which ended the last age and each individual's responsibility in this precarious time of great change.

5. Reliability and Truth. A chapter on the reliability of Cayce's source.

Carole Chapman is the author of When We Were Gods and Blessed.

The authors' discussion of geologic evidence leading to a Pole Shift is stimulating to the scientific mind. However, the section on Human Responsibility: "Human Accountability", "The Developing Religious War", "Earth Changes and Compliance with Divine Law" culminating in "The Answer To World Conditions Today" makes a fascinating contribution to an explanation of why we're here and what our future and that of the earth might be.

Having worked for years at a U. S. Government weapons laboratory, I am familiar with the final storage of plutonium at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. This book states that there may be a connection between the coming sinking of "the southern portions of Carolina and Georgia" that would nullify adverse environmental effects of the huge store of plutonium there. Other locations of plutonium are mentioned as well, and all of them are in earthquake prone areas. I like the way that the authors have referred to Rolling Thunder's view about man's pollution causing earth changes and relating these to the Cayce predictions. This chapter makes a good case for man's inability to handle the radioactivity he has collected together at earth's surface, and the
consequences that may result from that activity.

The spiritual evolution of humanity and the involvement of spiritual consciousness - not often are the workings of those who guide our spiritual evolution presented so simply and in such an easy to understand and succinctly put way. This is one of those delightful stories. In many ways it is a metaphor for a vast spiritual reality - the story of the great evolution of spiritual humanity, as it is happening now. In reading this story, the task for the reader will be to look beyond the apparent details to the underlying concepts. Couched within the details and dialogue of the story are numerous interrelated themes that revolve around how those of humanity who want it are being offered the opportunity to move towards the next stage of evolution. Through this story, the seeds of these simple yet deeply significant truths are being brought to fruition.

The spiritual evolution of humanity and the involvement of spiritual consciousness - not often are the workings of those who guide our spiritual evolution presented so simply and in such an easy to understand and succinctly put way. This is one of those delightful stories. In many ways it is a metaphor for a vast spiritual reality - the story of the great evolution of spiritual humanity, as it is happening now. In reading this story, the task for the reader will be to look beyond the apparent details to the underlying concepts. Couched within the details and dialogue of the story are numerous interrelated themes that revolve around how those of humanity who want it are being offered the opportunity to move towards the next stage of evolution. Through this story, the seeds of these simple yet deeply significant truths are being brought to fruition.

ETA: A Future Tale is a story filled with predictive material for the coming millennia. It is conveyed to the reader in a story that sparks your curiousity of what the future holds for man kind. Well done by two gifted Authors. I would love to see a movie based on the book.

ETA: A Future Tale is an adventure story with many twists and turns. Important spiritual messages are interwoven throughout the story. It explains the truth about extraterrestrial interaction with humans in a practical way, the future world awaiting mankind, solutions to pending earth changes and more. It would make an excellent movie. It is spiritually inspiring as well as informative. Anyone interested in what the future holds would love this book!

I would recommend this book to anyone who is ready to make a transformation on all levels. During my reading of ETA I felt a cellular change take place, an awakening of some kind. It was phenomenal! Only one other time did this happen, when I read The Celestine Prophecy.

Taken into Custody: The War Against Fatherhood, Marriage, and the Family

With "EVERY SINGLE GIRL'S GUIDE", Adryenn Ashley has packaged a necessary lesson for todays' about-to-be-married woman in an easy to read style. With the death rate for first marriages running at approx. 50%, many women will be marrying divorced men. Those men carry a lot of baggage, and step children are, arguably, the least of the lot. There is an ex-wife to consider, and the biases of the family courts, and the child support payments. In a light, sometimes humorous, writing style, Ashley has created a road map through the mine fields of marrying after a divorce. Chapter after chapter covers all the important topics, the financial aspects, the problems you will share with your recently divorced new husband, and the emotional import. Put romance aside while you read for practical effect. A real eye-opener, and a necessary prep before saying, "I DO!"

This book is hilarious and should be mandatory reading for anyone dating a previously married man. It will help you to feel empowered and knowledgeable about the big issues in marriage. As we all know, communication is essential for a healthy relationship and money is one of the most common triggers of fights between spouses (or spouses-to-be). So, here is THE guide to get you talking and laughing at the same time!


Now, if your future husband has children from a previous relationship (and you don't), it would be a good idea to brush up on your safety and read a parenting book or two ;) This can help ease any tension that might creep up with the ex! ;)Care for Kids: The Essential Guide to Preparing Caregivers

Fun book and very easy to read. I have bought several copies and have given them away at my pleasure parties to my brides to be. Plus, I have a gaggle of single girlfriends and have gifted this book to them and they LOVED it, too.

Knowledge is power is my motto. Adryenn teaches you everything you should know before you even think about getting married. Fun read and very sensible advice that you can put to use immediately.

I own this book and found it both fun to read and filled with great tips and must have information for any woman who plans to spnd her life with someone. Whether you're marrying a divorced man, or even just in a long term relationship without marriage plans - like myself - this book will be very helpful to you in planning your relationship strategy.

Adryenn Ashley's book is a clearly written, current, All-in-One, comprehensive guide to creating a marriage financial plan. Don't waste your money buying other books, then try piecing together outdated information.

If you have questions, need help planning your future marriage finances or getting through the legalese, this is the guide for you. Adryenn Ashley's book was written to strengthen marriages through sound and proven financial planning. Every Single Girl's Guide to Her Future Husband's Last Divorce