Practice Management Books

Great and informative book. Puts a lot of the problems now faced in the west into their context. Covers a lot of land history in the west not generally covered in school, but definately not a dry read!

A very though look at the major issues dividing westerners today. Looks at ranching, water, and logging in a very readable style. Do not loan this one out because it NEVER get returned. The only downfall is that this book is already dated because of the rise of the Wise Use movement.

An excellent rendition of how western law had transformend the American West into a land for humans, filled with dam after dam. Wild salmon have no where to go. Laws seem to be more powerful than Nature!

Wilkinson offers a balanced account of the forces that created the law and policy of the American West, and also of the forces that keep those outdated policies active in a very different West. As a native of Colorado, it was apparent that Wilkenson has spent a great deal of time in the American West and truly understands the complex issues that the region faces today. Very well researched, very easy to read.

A very scholarly, but accessible, history of the development of the West and the social/political/economic structures that shaped land, water and resource rights there. In particular, Wilkinson is addressing the notorious Hardrock Mining Act of 1872 (still in effect), the distribution of land and grazing rights, the fisheries of the Pacific Northwest, and the timber industry. His analysis of the Lords of Yesterday - his term for the antiquated statutes that govern those industries - is very convincing. The book's only weakness is that this is a 1992 text (presumably researched in the decade previous) that doesn't reflect changes in the laws and political pressures over the past decade. It would benefit from a new edition.

I have read through both Volume 4A and 4B. These two texts are invaluable resources for teaching Environmental Chemistry at the Junior-graduate school level. Both books are well written and include the fundamentals of studying air, water, and soil pollution. As a former student of Dr. Yen, I can say without reservation, that he is a motivational and superior college professor. Now that I am teaching college-level courses, I always recommend that my students make the investment and purchase his books. Personally, I have found them to be invaluable as reference materials.

Environmental Chemistry is a fine text book. It would provide a solid basis for any Environmental Chemistry, Environmental Science or Environmental Engineering Course providing the basics in understanding Environmental Chemistry. The book features a quantitive, mathematical approach to the subject. It is well referenced. And the problems at the end of each chapter will help a student better understand the material presented in the text. I look forward to the publication of its companion volume.

I have found this book to be excellent. As a researcher, educator and consultant, I often need a book that explains chemistry and its impact in environmental engineering. Rarely have I found one book that covers the field so completely as this book. What I like most is that it is an applied book. Environmental Chemistry is clearly and concisely covered. Recommmend it as a textbook for undergraduate and graduate level classes as well as a general reference source for professionals.

The vol.4A of this book includes every topic of our environmental problems, from lithosphere to biosphere and was decribed from the view point of a engineer. Many principles of evvironmental chemistry and engineering models are introduced in this book. And all of these materials were written by the author in a very clear way, so the students can follow this book very easily. It would be a good book in the courses of environmental engineering or applied chemistry.

This book provides an extensive introduction to environmental chemistry. Although it is most suitable for a graduate level course in environmental engineering, it is also a good reference book for chemical/petroleum engineers and environmental chemists. The short introduction for each chapter enables students or engineers to review the basic problems before going to the thoroughly discussion of the principles. The unique feature of this book is that the overall theme of the book is to link chemical principals with environmental issues.

The first chapters are an overview of physical, organic, analytical, colloid and surface chemistry. The technical level of the chemistry presented in these first chapters and subsequently applied in rest of the text are fairly high. This suggests that the student taking a course based upon this text needs to have some previous coursework in chemistry, particularly physical chemistry.

The remainder of this volume treats each of the five major global cycles (envirospheres), and focuses on the important environmental chemistry issues: The lithosphere - minerals and energy sources The atmosphere - air structure and properties The hydrosphere - water resources The pedosphere - soil chemistry The biosphere - life

The text is written clearly and topics are covered in a logical sequence. The book covers the important aspects of each of the envirospheres and is fairly comprehensive. No text (even in 762 pages) can cover everything, however. One omission noted, for example, was that there was no mention of natural gas hydrates in deep oceans or permafrost regions. These ice-like solids account for a significant amount of carbon in the lithosphere and also may play a role in the balance of methane as a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. In the chapter of atmosphere, it is also lacks of some detailed discussion on free radical chain reactions, oxygen radicals, and hydroxyl Rradicals.

Each chapter concludes with a problem set. In many cases these exercises serve the purpose of giving a student an "order o magnitude" appreciation of different environmental chemical issues.

Besides references to other books and papers at the end of each chapter, there is an appendix that lists a number of relevant web sites. This is a nice touch for the new electronic age. One gripe is that several figures have very small type from being shrunk to fit, and so the text is very small, and sometimes is barely legible.

There is a companion text, volume 4B. This book has as its focus the application of chemical engineering processes and unit operations to solving environmental problems.

Definitely would buy again from seller. Book was Brand new and price was unbeatable! Book came right on time.

This text arrived in great condition and is a comprehensive look at all aspects of managed health care over the course of managed care history.

Excellent, comprehensive primer on the intricacies of managed care. Covers all the major topics, including delivery systems, public and private sector forms of managed care, regulatory and legal issues, medical management, information systems, and operational issues. Thoughtfully done by Dr. Peter R. Kongstvedt and contributors.

The author created an invaluable tool to help begineers understand the rather complicated topic of managed care using a straightforward linear approach to the topic. All topics are covered early with references to indepth coverage found later in the volume.

Getting the book is just a tool though, you really gotta want to learn the material because as practiced as the author is at putting the pen to paper, it's a very difficult topic and therefore, read.

The book was easy to understand and was written from the perspective of someone who is unfamiliar with the managed care topic. I recommend it highly

This book will give you insights into what to expect when "the event" occurs. It should be read before you except the responsibility. An executor is not just another job.

After reading this book you can probably be an executor for an estate without hiring an attorney (assuming no legal documents have to be prepared or filed in court). I found this book in the reference section of the Westfield Pubic Library (NJ) along with its companion book: A Family Guide to Wills, Funerals & Probate (ISBN: 081604550X). This book was written for an executor to read, and the companion book concerned much of the same material but for the decedent to read before he or she dies.

I thought this book was great, and that it will help an executor gain a grasp of his or her responsibilities when administering and closing a decedent's estate. It is written without legal jargon. Have you ever had to administer an estate and gone to an attorney for help? Did you expect the attorney to tell you about your duties and delegate as much of the work to you as possible? And did you find the attorney did a lot of work you think you could and should have done? Well, if so, then this book probably could have helped you talk to the attorney and have more worked delegated to you.

This book is as comprehensive as it needs to be to educate an executor about his or her duties. When those duties can be complicated, the authors explain the basics so an attorney can be consulted to provide legal services. Keep in mind that many estates can be settled without any legal help being needed. Thus, I recommend an executor read this book before ever seeking an attorney for help, guidance, or services.

The edition of the book I read was hardbound and very pretty. There was an index of terms in the back of the book. However, I would have liked the book better if there had been a glossary of terms back there, too. Don't worry that the book doesn't have your state in its title. It is written so it is applicable to executors in all 50 states.

I found the book to be deficient in covering (failed to cover) the various tax forms (federal estate & income; state estate & income) that must be filed. They mention them, but I would have liked the book better if more had been written about them. Filing the tax returns is often the most complicated aspect of doing executor work. Most of the other things just take time.

I purchased this book months ago to prepare myself for the future when I will have to handle my mother's affairs. To my absolute surprise, I have recently been appointed as administrator of my long lost cousin's estate. Yeap, he died intestate, without a will. Luckily I was just finishing this book so I had a clue what to do next.

The book has already proven to be a valuable resource of information. As I go through the probate process, I am referring to it to help me along. I put Post-It note flags on the tops of certain chapters to speed up the information retrieval. The Table of Contents is well organized.

The only thing I would suggest to the authors is to put a bit more "how to" instructions into the book. For instance, I need to do a Postal change of address. The topic is well covered in the chapter "The Deceased's Mail" but it does not tell you how to locate the Post Office where he once lived. A website address would be most helpful.

When my family gathered a few months ago for my father's 75th birthday party, during one of several conversations we had, he out of the blue advised me that he'd named me to be Executor of his estate -- possibly because I'm first-born, but more likely because I'm the only sibling who is speaking to everyone else. I agree that I'm probably the best choice -- but his announcement scared the heck out of me. I had no idea what an Executor did.

I'm glad I ordered this book! It made the role of an Executor very easy to understand, and the few dollars I paid for this book will save me hundreds or thousands of extra dollars that I'd be paying an attoney (out of my father's estate) to do, when now I know how to do some things and how to proceed.

As a social worker -- not a lawyer! -- the book's intelligent explanations helped educate me, while not "talking down" to me in simplistic terms. This is no "Probate for Dummies" type of book. It's a valuable, intelligent, well-organized and resourceful book, and I'm hanging on to it to help guide me through the time when I get that late-night phone call I dread so much...

This book gives great overview but it is not a do-it-yourself book. You'll still need legal advice. Highly recommend as a read so you can be educated before speaking with a lawyer.

In the argument on whether or not to save old growth, this book draws scientific blood.

I read this book non-stop until I finished. I've never come across a work that so succintly explains the scientific research on old growth forests in the Northwest.

Want to understand why old growth is important? Read this book.

Not only was The Hidden Forest a pleasure to read, but Jon Luoma told me so many things I didn't know. I thought I knew a great deal about forests, since I live next to a park, hike in the mountains, and have read many books about trees, but this book showed me that there really is a hidden forest right under my nose that I'd been mostly unaware of. Now, as I walk the trail through the woods, I think of the 16,000 tiny insects beneath my foot every time I take a step, and I think of the vital work they do that supports all life on Earth.



Policy decisions are being made every day--just recently the Bush administration announced plans to increase logging of old growth forests--in a political and economic climate in which most people are ignorant of the science of forest ecosystems. How can we possibly make the right choices if people are not properly informed? For example, many people have bought into the notion that protecting old growth hurts the economy and costs jobs. In fact, the losses in the salmon industry, billions of dollars, could have been prevented if old growth forests had been protected. Also, millions if not billions of dollars of damage caused by flooding in Washington and Oregon could have been avoided if the Forest Service had followed the advice of the scientists at the Andrews Experimental Forest.



Still, these scientists haven't even begun to scratch the surface of what we need to know about forest ecosystems. They haven't even identified half of the species that live in our forests. How can we know the value of what we are losing if we don't even understand what it is or how it works? Their work should be funded at a much higher level. (Check out their web site: http://www.fsl.orst.edu/lter/index.cfm )



While this book is not for everyone, it should be read by the following people:

--Policy makers in the Forest Service.

--Everyone in the Bush administration.

--People who vote.

--People who live in wood houses or use paper products.

--People who enjoy clean water.

--People who like to breath oxygen.



The rest of you needn't bother to read it.



(While I sound like I'm being paid by either the author or the Scientists and the Andrews Forest, I had never heard of either of them before my mom got me this book for my birthday. I just really liked the book--one of the best and most significant I've ever read.)

I don't think I can add anything of much value to the editorial reviews, all of which are excellent and fairly describe this book. For all you who have ever walked in an old forest, gone hiking in a forest preserve, felt the immensity and wisdom that is offered there, this book brings that gloriously to life again. Luoma's description of his ride in the crane is worth the price alone. Sweeping over the forest canopy twenty-five stories in the air is not for the faint of heart. Only 209 pages of reading, it flies by in just a few days. And he brings the scientists who work on all this to our dens with such intimacy. These are people who work in the field, not huddled over their microscopes, mostly. Pick it up; you won't be sorry.

Luoma knows how to take important scientific work in forest ecology, and turn it into a book that is a pleasure to read. If learning had been this much fun in school, think how well educated we would all be today! Seriously, I like to read well-written books, but I prefer them to be to tell me things I din't know. Hidden forests does. Another really good read out this season is Bullough's Pond, a treatment of ecological history and industrial revolution that I found fascinating, and it read like a novel.

Luoma takes the reader on an intimate, guided tour with some of the tenacious pioneers of forested ecosystems research and the mysterious processes whereby the woods become established, grow and change--in the case of the moist coastal uplands of western Oregon, processes that take centuries to complete all their steps. For those who like their science in the field, in the raw, and introduced by the human practitioners struggling (and loving) the dance of theory and experiment, this is a must-have. Ancient Forests rhetoric too frequently airbrushes over the hard scientific inquiry that helped reveal both the uniqueness of the Oregon forested ecosystems research site and yet suggests that some of these hidden processes, or ones similar, will be found to play crucial roles in other forest places as well. If Luoma doesn't beat me to it, I could do worse than spend the rest of my career writing a series for all the Long-Term Ecological Research stations that perform the valuable work of building baselines and foundations in ecology for every major ecological region. At least, this is the sort of book that makes a reader feel that way!

For a paperback, this is top quality information,for plant operators.However,this book may be too basic for some plant engineers.I think many shop operators will find this book ,an excellent resourse guide for machine repair.It helped me understand reduction of machine fatigue and obtaining peak reliabilty.The proper maintenance of machines,eliminates unnessary repair tasks and unwanted expenses on the balance sheet.Each chapter has a test and an answer key at the end of the book.The book helped me visualize procedures. Answered many questions about reading concise data for avoiding adverse conditions,spotting defects and reducing machine downtime.It's one of the best user-friendly guides for industrial machine repair.

This is an excellent well organized resource for those in the manufacturing business. Everyone liked it so much we bought three more at work!!

We have recommended this book to all our maintenance personnel in the US and Europe as a "must have" in their locker.

"Industrial Machinery Repair is a must reading for all maintenance personnel and management. It clearly shows how to improve equipment reliability and performance. Ricky Smith does a wonderful job at making the complicated day-to-day maintenance issues very plain and simple. If you are serious about maintenance in your organization, then you must read Industrial Machinery Repair."

I keep pouring over my new copy of Industrial Machinery Repair - Best Maintenance Practices Pocket Guide as each chapter is better than the last. This handbook is a must have for anyone involved in industrial maintenance and machinery repair. Ricky Smith and Keith Mobley speak in human voices that we can all understand and they offer information that can be put to immediate use. In addition, the handbook includes a very comprehensive maintenance skills assessment that is worth the the entire price. Buy a copy for every maintenance person at your plant. Terrence O'Hanlon, Reliabilityweb.com

Finally a book that everyone can understand. This book completely explains EDS. It also has many references and websites for further information. This also is a great book to use as a resource for family, friends, and even health care professionals to further understand Ehlers-Danlos syndrome!

this book is easy to understand and a quick read.it is a real help for patient/doctor communication,especially for doctors who do not specialize in these disorders.it gives your family doctor many tips to help with management of this disorder.i highly recommend you purchase it and take it with you to all doctors appointments.

This book is simple but not oversimplified. It is an excellent basic resource, giving a clear, concise, and useful overview for those (like myself) who live with hypermobility. By covering a variety of related symptoms, it answers many of the questions that occur as we try to put the pieces together following diagnosis. Doctors should suggest it to every newly diagnosed patient. The author should write more on this topic!

I have Vascular, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome but have problems with dislocations in my shoulders as well as increasing hip problems and pain. I was reluctant to purchase this book as I didn't know how useful it would be to me as a Vascular type.
I am glad I purchased the book as it does address the different types of EDS and will help me and my medical team better understand vEDS in addition to the joint issues. It will be a useful tool in helping me obtain the type of care I need to manage my disorder. Well worth the investment and I may buy another copy so my doctor can have one too.
Thank you, Dr. Tinkle!

This was a great book for an education on Joint Hypermobility and EDS. It's written so that an everyday person like myself can understand what is being said. Plus, it makes for a great reference (because it also has medical terminology) for a doctor's visit. I highly recommend it. We need more books like it!

this book covers many important aspects, and thouroughly discusses everything it has set out to. The chapters are broken down sensibly into meaningful sections, handy for speed reading. Not nearly as painful or dry as I had feared.

Great book, I needed it for class. It provided a lot of detail on the specific cases that have made the changes in special education through the years.

Excellent source book for both the novice or experienced pracitioner. Very helpful, concise and comprehensive

I bought it for one class and have used it for every class. I use it everyday and would not want to be without it.

This book is a must-have for educators. Since the push for inclusion means many students with disabilities are entering regular schools and classrooms with their peers, it is of great worth that the regular teacher as well as the special education teachers know the background of the laws that pertain to these students with diverse needs. It would be beneficial to both students, teachers, and parents to know and understand how the laws are applied in court, what an IEP is, what is expected of the teachers, and what can be expected of the students. I have the other major law books on disability laws, but this one is more geared toward other participants in the process besides lawyers. It is very readable and very understandable without having to go to law school to get a background in law first. I suggest this or rather recommend this to my friends and students who are interested in working with those with disabilities in regular school settings. Karen Sadler Science Education, University of Pittsburgh, klsst23@pitt.edu

I am currently enrolled in the American College of Physician Executive's MMM program - Master in Medical Management. I ordered this book and read it in one session cover to cover. It was very helpful in determining how much time and effort such a program really requires; I gave the book to my significant other as well to prepare her for the next two years.

As a Business Executive and recent EMBA graduate, I tremendously enjoyed reading Dr. Stellato's book, A Physician's Odyssey to an MBA. Although I am not a Physician, reading Dr. Stellato's personal experience with the program was enlightening because it reminded me of the challenges we each go through and overcome while working full-time and attending school at any level.

The book does a great job of outlining Dr. Stellato's personal challenges with the program while maintaining a family life and busy medical practice. The journal format makes book a very easy and interesting read. A must for anyone considering an MBA program while employed.

I have loaned this book to several family members and friends and they now have a much better idea and awe of the courseload I went through in completing this program. In retrospect, it has also made me realize what an incredible feat this EMBA journey was. Don't let the book scare you away from an EMBA program. Is it hard work? You bet, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

In this book, Tom Stellato captures the issues, emotions, and sacrifices involved in graduate education for working professionals, especially health care providers. Stellato details not only his personal trials, but also documents specifics about the actual courses and course content. After reading Stellato's fascinating. humble, and often humorous account of his "odyssey", the reader is left wondering whether he is a super-husband, super-dad, super-surgeon, or super-student, or simply a super individual that requires little rest. As more and more physicians determine their need for advanced training in management, finance, and other business topics, this book is a must-read for those considering entering into a graduate management program.

An Exective MBA is an enviable educational goal, but until I read Dr. Stellato's excellent account of his experience, I had no idea just how arduous such a program could be. And while most people enrolled in MBA programs probably don't have to simultaneously maintain the rigors of a top level academic surgical career (as Dr Stellato did), anyone contemplating an MBA would be wise to read this book. The term Odyssey is an apt description, but the odyssey is anything but easy.The book conveys the high volume and accelerated pace of the course work as well as the complexity of at least some of the subjects, especially for people with non-business backgrounds. Dr Stellato is obviously accustomed to success in his past education and surgical career but his anxieties and uncertainties about his ability to master the MBA courses are very well described in this book. He is brave to have put these and the insecurities which they produced down on paper for all to read. It was reassuring to see his level of stress decrease and his confidence increase as he adapted to the workload, and his great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction by the time of graduation. I have long thought about enrolling in an MBA program but after reading this book I am no longer so inclined. I am, however, left with great admirtion and respect for those who have or are.

I really enjoyed the uncluttered, honest and open style that allows the reader to accompany Dr. Stellato on his difficult but ultimately satisfying and successful odyssey. He is to be congratulated for both his academic as well as literary success.

As an MD and an MBA, I highly recommend this book.

For any MD considering pursuit of an MBA, it's a "must read" to get a real feel of what it's like to split your energies the way the author did, balancing the personal, professional and student comparments of his life, without short-changing any of them.

For administrators and professors in MBA programs, it can provide a truly inside view of what your students are going through as they pursue the education you provide.

For families of would-be MBA students (especially for families of MD would-be MBA students) this book gives you fair warning of what life will be like for the next two years!

While reading this book, I felt like I was back in business school again, with all of the pressures, but also with all of the good times (yes, there really were some!)

As we enter another Presidential Political campaign, where the issues of saving Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will be hotly debated, this is an important book that documents the history of the Medicare program from the 1930's to the ultimate passage of the program in 1965. Professor Marmor is uniquely qualified to bring life to the events. It should be read by all who will want to understand how we "got where we are", and perhaps give insight to ways to make these important social programs more vibrant in the 21 st century

Have you ever wondered how Medicare-the federal health insurance program for the elderly and some disabled--became such a hot news topic, or why its administration and benefit package (the lack of outpatient drug coverage, for example) seems so inexplicable and byzantine?

If so, Theodore Marmor's reissue and revision of The Politics of Medicare is the book you want to pick up. There is no comparable book of its kind. Other scholars have studied Medicare's origins. Journalists trace the ebb and flow of contemporary Washington battles over Social Security and Medicare. But Marmor, a Yale professor and health policy guru, has written the definitive analysis of how the political battles waged over health insurance and Medicare from the 1940s onward powerfully shape the debate over the program to this day.

Wondering why Medicare, unlike almost all major private insurance plans, fails to cover most prescription drugs? The seeds of an answer may be found in the fears of 1960s legislators that the unpredictable cost of drugs could swamp the program at its outset. Unsure why medical expenditures took off in the 1960s and 1970s? Partly because doctors, who had led the charge against a government-sponsored social insurance program for the aged, benefited enormously from generous rules that were designed to assauge their fears about participation. Puzzled how Medicare became such a political hot potato after years of uninterrupted popularity? Marmor deftly shows how the Reagan administration reoriented widely-held fears about medical inflation into narrower fears about the supposedly unsustainable cost of public programs.

Another reason that this astute volume bears reading, or rereading: Marmor shows that elections can really matter. In the absence of the Democratic majority in Congress that emerged from the 1964 elections, passage of Medicare would have been delayed or forestalled altogether.

Within the cozy world of health policy analysts, Marmor is known for being a staunch proponent of national health insurance and a skeptic about the potential of HMOs and different forms of "managed competition" to control health costs and delivery quality care. His convictions enliven the text rather than detracting from its rigorous logic. This is a book that anyone interested in the politics of health care, and in American politics in general, will appreciate.

One thing alone mars this otherwise impressive book: its packaging. Sadly, any seven-year old with access to Microsoft Excel could have improved on the volume's rudimentary and unappealing charts and graphics. But the reader shouldn't let this superficial flaw detract from Marmor's important and unusually well-written book.

The first edition of The Politics of Medicare, reprinted in part for the second edition, provides an engaging analytical structure for understanding the complex forces of governments and politics. While studying under the author, a gifted political scientist, years ago, the first edition was a cornerstone in our studies of healthcare politics and programs in the United States. The book equips the reader with the tools and knowledge to understand political forces well beyond the Medicare program.

The analysis of Medicare in the 1990s, found in the current volume, is excellent. This is an ideal time to read or reread the book since Medicare program changes will face our new President and the newly elected or reelected members of our House of Representatives and Senate during 2001. This fall I read the second edition and found the book very informative and enjoyable.

Revised for the first time since 1973, Marmor's *The Politics of Medicare* still stands as the best single book on the political genesis of Medicare. In this valuable new edition, Marmor brings his classic analysis up to date while addressing the arguments of contemporary critics of the program. During an election year in which Medicare looms large, there is no better guide to the political past and future of America's public health insurance program for the elderly and disabled.

I have read two reviews of this book in odd places, both of which are highly favorable. According to John Glasel of the Musician's Union in NYC, Professor Marmor's 'perceptive work analyzes the partisan squabbling that hs shaped Medicare over the years. The first part, a reprint of the first edition of this book, traces the history of the fight for government health insurance from the 1930s to the passage of Medicare in l965. The book's second part, completely new in this edition, brings the history up to date. Many scholars, according to Glasel, have long considered the first edition of this book the "definitive work on the subject. Its new edition should now be accorded that distinction." I agree with that judgement very much. So does Jeff Levine of WebMD's Washington Bureau, who described The Politics of Medicare as "a book for serious students of public policy," one which does not simply recite "historical facts" but analyzes the origins of Medicare and then, in a complex and thoughtful way, tells the story from l965 to l999.