Industrial Books

This is a great book and very interesting for everyone, not just artistic photographers. I love it! The only thing that was disappointing was that the label on the back of the book put on by Amazon was incredibly sticky and very hard to remove. I nearly damaged the book trying to get it off so be careful. Rubbing alcohol and a dull scraper of some kind works pretty good.

For anyone who appreciates the beauty of books or black and white photography, this is an absolute must have. It is beautiful. Highly recommended.

When I first saw this book in a book store last December, and began looking through the pages, my eyes welled up with tears at the sheer poetry of the images. It was as if doors opened into other levels of awareness. When I put the book down, I realized that I had been looking at it for over an hour, and that's when I knew I simply needed to own it. Since then, the detail and depth of the images have provided a refuge from the news in the world today. There is still beauty and peace. Thank you, Abe Morell.

Some of the photographs in Abelardo Morell's A Book of Books are of great books: A Tale of Two Cities, A Farewell to Arms, Alice in Wonderland. And in placing these photographs together in this wonder-filled volume, Morell has created a great book of his own. For like all great books, this one makes you see the familiar in new ways; offers layers upon layers of meaning; and pushes you to make connections among objects and ideas that sometimes appear to have little, if anything, in common. At the same time, it is a glorious book to look at, to sink into, again and again. If you love books, you'll love this one.

Everything Abelardo Morell does is gorgeous but what makes him such a genius is the mudane things he works with. The only photographer I can compare him to is Josef Sudek.

Let's be honest. Anybody can go to a beautiful place like Yosemite or Big Sur, take a view camera and wait for nice light. Instant Ansel Adams; you can't miss unless you kick the tripod.

But how many people can make a heartbreakingly beautiful photograph from a crumpled ball of paper or some peeling paint? Get this book of books and you'll see what I mean.

This book is a "must have" for breeding farms, whether you are just starting out or a veteran breeding farm manager. It is an excellent reference book, easy to read, lots of pictures and great practical advice from setting up a breeding farm to handling a foal.

I've read many books regarding Equine Reproduction and this is by far the best book I have encountered. It covers all aspects of breeding and foaling. My copy was given to me by my mentor, to her by her mentor, and to her by her mentor. I have loaned it to many friends expecting a foal and make all of my foaling attendants read the foaling section. This book is a must for anyone who is contemplating breeding their mare or just curious about the miracle of life. Buy the book and you'll enjoy it as much as I have.

This is an excellent source of information for breeding horses. It gives terrific information on stallion and broodmare management. It also gives information on diseases affecting the reproductive system in both mares and stallions. The foal development part of the book is also very informative and interesting. It discusses the different stages of foal development from the time of conception to the time of birth.

My friend gave me this book about 10 years ago. I had hoped that there was a newer edition out. I think every breeder should have this book on hand. It tells you everything you need to know about what to do if there is a problem with foaling. Easy to understand drawings of foal's positions and details about what to do if there is a problem. This could be a life saver if you ever have a problem. You don't have time to read and try to figure out what they are talking about. The pictures say it all and tell you how to reposition the foal and when to get the vet to do it. Many helpful feeding information charts on hays and grains, what size to expect your horse to grow up to be, lots of information of potential diseases, how to handle your new foal, feeding your nursing mare. Etc. Well worth the money.

This is a great book that deals with all the aspects of owning/operating a breeding farm. There is more to professional breeding than having a few ponies in the backyard. I especially found the cost analyses and tax examples very useful.

I'm a giver of books: novels, poetry, cookbooks, and more than any other single book, this one: "Bridging." It has art and love, form and metaphor. The beautiful images and the metaphor of "bridging" -- and the personality of the recipient and the occasion for the gift -- make inscribing the book for a friend a pleasure.

I grew up with the Mississippi bridges of St. Louis and have lived for decades with the bridges of New York City -- so I feel that the photographer is a kindred spirit and made this book for me. Cortright awakens the eye and mind to the beauty of bridges -- from all angles and in all weathers. These are not promotional postcards, but lovingly composed and arranged photographs that give us not only the settings but the personalities of these bridges.

See the Civil Engineering review below for a fine appreciation of bridge builders' and Cortright's achievements -- technically and aesthetically. Better yet, take a look at the book.

This unique symphony of pictures can create a newly loved appreciation of bridges or emphasise a love with its array of vivid images from all over the world. One may have had the pleasure to view, experience and feel many buildings, however this book will change the way you see and feel about "just" a bridge.

"CIVIL ENGINEERING" PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS LONDON, NOVEMBER 1998

Bridging - discovering the beauty of bridges

This is a little book (235 x 187 x 13mm) in metric measurement, but it is a very big book when one considers the quality of its construction and the quality of its contents. Its stitched signatures contain 283 glossy full colour bridge photographs from 16 North American and European countries. The photographs selected for publication were of bridges constructed throughout the last 20 centuries, including 20 stone structures of Roman construction. The book consists primarily of photographs, with a brief introductory text for various book divisions, and brief and generally interesting photo captions. The book appears to be a labour of love for Mr Robert S. Cortright, a retired banker, and his patient and supportive wife Kathy who initially were

`enthusiastic tourists, thrilled with all of the sights encountered in travel. Gradually [their] focus of attention and the focus of the camera began to be concentrated upon bridges. Ultimately, that concentration escalated to the level of an obsession.'

This obsession, supported and guided by a perceptive eye and an intuitive appreciation for the conceptual genius and exceptional craftsmanship displayed by early bridge builders, and by the time, patience, and persistence to locate suitable perspectives, resulted in a portfolio of over 4,000 bridge photographs from 20 countries. Of these, nearly 300, considered by Robert Cortright to be his best, now grace the pages of this fine publication.

Unfortunately, the editors, in an apparent effort to achieve page format variety, an effort that has generally succeeded, spoiled a few of the larger photographs by superimposing caption text directly on the photographs. However, this one fault diminishes the overall quality of the book only slightly.

Bridging will make a suitable companion to Fritz Leonhardt's Bridges: aesthetics and design and to the Highway Agency's The appearance of bridges. It should be in the personal library of all bridge engineers, architects and other fine bridge enthusiasts. For those interested in this book, copies should be obtained as soon as possible, since the modest cover price of $29.95 suggests that its first edition may not be available for long. M. P. Burke

Like most people, I'd never really noticed bridges before reading this book. After looking through this book at my father in-law's house, though, I can't stop noticing every one I encounter.

Bridges are little pieces of land suspended over a precipice. Engineers have spent the last 3000 years trying to solve the problems of seemingly uncrossable rivers and chasms, and Cortright's photographic selection of bridges, spanning more than two millenia and 16 countries, traces the increasingly more sophisticated ways that builders have triumphed. Interestingly, many seemingly high-tech solutions go right back to the very first arches and cantilevers. Others seem totally out of this world.

You'll learn alot about the different kinds of bridges and their basic principles, but more than that, this book is downright entertaining. Cortright appears to be one part expert photographer and one part eccentric, and his gorgeous photographs are grouped by in ways that tickle one's fancy rather than in a dry, dusty textbook manner. Categories include Stone Bridges, Wooden Bridges, Bridges of Iron and Steel, Bridges that Move, bridges that people live on, Aqueducts and much more. It even has a photo of a bridge with a giant troll living under it (I kid you not). The final chapter entitled "The Little Woman" is sure to catch you by surprise, and best sums up the quirky charm that enlivens this book.

Long on great photos with just the right amount of text to help you appreciate them, this book is great for an eight year-old or for a highway engineer.

Highly highly recommended.

I bought this book sight-unseen on the basis of reviews and, honestly, was a little disappointed. This book is basically a collection of the author's own pictures he has taken in his years of travelling the world and visiting bridges. I think the personality of the book will win you over because he really does have a wonderful appreciation of bridges. But if it was cloudy the day he visited that bridge, you get a picture on a cloudy day. I also thought the printing was not great quality.

This book has beautifull photographs. The book is much deeper than other Chicago architecture books because it has a well thought out historical review of the progression of Chicago architecture. Interesting even for the lay person like me.

My nephew loved it. He grew up in Milwaukee, went to school and lives in California. He comes to Chicago about every other year.

I thought this book was very interesting it has great pictures of the buildings in Chicago. It has alot of information about the beginning of when Architects wanted to build something modern but unqiue at the same time. Get inspired by the great exterior and interior of these amazing buildings.

This book provides an excellent introduction to Chicago's numerous schools of architecture over the years. It also provides a photographic tour of the city's important buildings, from the late 1800s to the present day. The photography is great! Highly recommended for fans of Chicago or architecture buffs in general.

This book described many of the significant architects in Chicago history. I found it to be informative and very readable. It is the best book I have found which summarizes Chicago Architecture. The color photograghs are excellent

I absolutely love The Comprehensive Guide to Chocolate Molds: Objects of Art & Artists' Tools. It has beautiful photographs of molds with their values. This was of great interest to me since I have a mold collection. Also I use my molds for chalkware and have for more than 15 years. It was exciting to see photos of other chalkware artists' work. In all I love the book and hope Wendy comes out with Volume Two as there are many more molds to cover. Thanks, Carol

I have enjoyed the book on chocolate moulds and it is very informative for the antique moulds. I would recommend this book and am happy that I ordered it. It has many pages of information and pictures.

this book was well worth the money, it was well done. very informitive, unique and happy to own it

Wendy Mullen found her first chocolate mold over fifteen years ago and loves writing about chocolate. She has published articles about chocolate molds and this book displays a wide array of antique chocolate molds that include everything from Easter eggs to cats and angels. There are molds for butterflies, bunnies, frogs, turtles, goats, roosters, pigs, lambs, dogs, elephants, teddy bears, deer and just about any other animal you can think of including storks, seals and stylized dolphins. Fairy Tales are also featured and you can may enjoy seeing a Hansel and Gretel house, Red Riding Hood and Snow White Scenes.

All the prices are included so you can have an idea of how much you want to spend if you go looking for these molds. All the main holidays are represented, as are unique items like the the Krampus mold familiar in Austria. Neptune also appears and then there are may pages of Santa. If you love collecting Santa items, there is page after page. Christmas takes up at least one fifth of the book and is perfect for getting ideas if you make chocolates for Christmas. There are snowmen, angels, Christmas ornaments and even manger scenes.

Even if you don't want to go looking for a three hundred dollar scallop shell, at least you can get ideas for what you want to go find online. Many of these molds seem to be useful for candy making and for making soaps.

Additional creative finds at the end include hearts in a postcard style which are very beautiful once painted or if you use three types of chocolate. There are castles, temples, crowns, shoes, cars, boats and even hot air balloons.

A special "Collector's Tips and Closing" section shows how to purchase antique chocolate molds, explains how they must be cleaned and handled to prevent rusting.

From the information in this book, you could actually buy a new chocolate mold that looks antique. Additional information on suppliers is briefly discussed. To find most of the molds, you only need to do an Internet search because all the items have collection information and the names of the specific items.

As a coffee table book this is highly entertaining, but the usefulness factor is especially enjoyable because of the way the book is organized. A lovely gift or a research tool for your own journey of chocolate art.

~The Rebecca Review

Wendy Mullen's The Comprehensive Guide To Chocolate Molds: Objects Of Art & Artist's Tools more than just a collector's price guide, Wendy Mullen, chocolate maker for 15 years, delves into the history of antique chocolate molds and their design and production, packing over 1300 photos of such antiques with discussions of all kinds of molds. Topped by an interview with the great-granddaughter of one of the best German mold specialists in history, Anton Reiche, The Comprehensive Guide To Chocolate Molds is unparalleled in depth and detail: there's simply nothing like it on the market, past or present.

I have many books on numerical methods and most of them are hard to follow when trying to solve a real problem. This is the only book that I keep on my desk whilst discretising my equations, I am glad that I have this book.

I refer to this book as my CFD bible. I first used this book approximately 19 years ago as part of a two semester course in CFD. Since that time, I have refered to this book often.

The authors treatment of the subject aids in the understanding of the subject. Their building block approach tends to lead the reader from simple examples to more complex problems. Their treatment of both Euler and Navier-Stokes equations and their solution has been a great benifit in my work. Their explinations of potential theory and it's use as a CFD tool have been responsible for many hours save on development and coding of computational tools to analyze aerodynamic shapes.

I am so thankful for the text I currently have that I plan to pick up a second text just to have the updated material.

The book is one of best books in Computational Fluid Mechanics And Heat Transfer area I have read. It not only covers basic knowledge but also talk a lot about advanced technique about CFD. It is very helpful for students just like me. After I bought this book by using a discount from coupons-center.com, I have used the book for one year. I also found CFD code is very helpful. If you are beginner to CFD coding or want to some free code as reference, this book has many good code examples. you can learn from the code examples and then can easily make your CFD code.

As a researcher working with CFD codes, I found this book very useful. It has algorithms to all types of problems ranging from simple heat or wave equation to Navier-Stokes equations. All the algorithms are well explained and precise. I strongly recommend this book for anyone pursuing CFD.

I learnt CFD on this book. Definitively I give it 5 star, unfortunately I can't give it 6. It covers all the CFD from the beginning to the advance level. You will use it as an undergraduate, graduate, PhD, post doctorate researcher. No kidding. There are some codes, the book contains all the information you need, it is easy to read, never criptic like many others. I suggest you to buy this book without any esitation if you are really wanting to learn and do CFD. There are more specific books on some arguments, say, turbulence, but none is more comprehensive and well written like this one.

To the practitioner: this book aptly shows how the concepts of good management can be applied in one's professional life and unabashedly explains that much of management is common sense (while admitting that common sense isn't very common).
To the lecturer: whether you're teaching freshman or experienced executives this is the book that will get your students interested in the study of management. It is the perfect introduction.
Students love it because it's affordable, short, and easy to read (particularly those who speak English as a second language). Teachers love it because, by presenting a wide succinct, spectrum of fundamentals, it provides an intelligent springboard from which a more in-depth examination can proceed.
Forget all the other 300+ page, hundred-dollar-or-more verbose introductory management texts. The Concise Handbook of Management is the best way to begin your business or management curriculum and/or brush up on your management skills.

This little gem, which graciously (and refreshingly) operates under the concept that less is more, reads like a Cliff Notes on Management. As far as I can tell, it's also one of the very few management books out there that understands and emphasizes the importance of customers - then backs this imperative up in every chapter. In addition, because the entire book is condensed and to the point (none of the chapters is over four or five pages in length), it is very reader friendly. All in all, Jonathan Scott must be one of the most easily understandable authors writing about management today.

I teach at both the (under) graduate and post-graduate levels and have found that students (whatever their age or experience) cannot fully grasp in-depth or abstract management theory without a solid understanding of basic management principles. This book fills that bill. It injects the saturated subject of management with a directness, clarity and conciseness that is difficult to match. Perhaps the reason for this is that the author is not an academic, but rather a professional writer and successful practitioner who managed a number of businesses in several different countries. What a difference application makes. The book's short, anecdote-laden layout, bristling with substantial and timeless research, makes for a quick and easy read and the importance of customer orientation is carried throughout. If I could award ten stars to this nifty and valuable book, I would gladly do so.

Author Jonathan Scott returns the subject of management to its rightful position as a human endeavour, not a mathematical one. Chapter One is the opening salvo, setting the tone by focusing on what management really entails (forget all the academic nonsense you've heard). Scott insists that accountability, hard work, integrity, training and maturity are the keys to business success and pulls no punches in explaining why they are necessary and how they can be acquired. Bravo!

Straight-forward and realistic without being patronizing or pedantic. This is one of the few management books out there that will open your mind, teach you things you didn't already know, force you to re-examine your own management methods and abilities and show you how all the different aspects of management are tied together. I highly recommend it.

For most, Charles Dickens is the only source we've encountered regarding the awful human misery of the early industrial revolution. However, Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx reported on it, too. Indeed, most of their criticisms were far more applicable to the raw capitalism of contemporary England than their native Germany.

Engels stayed in Manchester, the premier industrial city of the time, during the early 1840's to research his book. And he produced a devastating indictment of the truly miserable and life-threatening living conditions he found. Unlike Marx, Engels had a pronounced flair for writing; he makes it a fascinating, eye-opening journey back through time.

The topics he includes cover: struggling labor movements, the denigrating effects of immigration on domestic workers (due to competing subsistence-cost labor), the ignorance and crippling of child workers, the sexual exploitation of women workers, the displacement of male heads of household by lower-cost and more pliant women/children, the unbelievable filth and subhuman housing conditions workers endured, the dangerous and unhealthy working conditions of miners/factory workers, rampant substance abuse, doping of children by babysitters, the total lack of legal redress for the poor, the displacement of labor by machinery, and the role of unbridled competition in perpetrating economic distress.

While we all know communism has failed, its rise was due to these very real and serious problems, some of which remain with many Western workers today. And most of these conditions do very much persist in emerging economies right now. So, even though the book is well over 150 years old it is still highly valid!

The main fault of course with Marx/Engels' communist philosophy is that ALL humans are greedy and lazy - it's just that the clever ones (whether they originate from 'bourgeous' or 'working' classes) will always exploit the others. And it doesn't matter whether the system is capitalist or communist - those at the top will always exploit those below for personal advantage. Probably the best response has been the progressive social reform in Western nations over the last 100 years. (Revolutions and dictatorships usually only lead to mass murder.)

This chilling book is the real-life Oliver Twist exposed.I think Fredrick Engels wrote this book,in part to clear his conscious.And largely, to shed light on the fetid ,wretched underbelly of the 19th century industrial-age society.The nameless toilers working ten to twelve hour shifts,in a factory operation they had no vote or control over.Marx and Engels had many valid arguments for improving the workers lives.Did their end-results justify their means of social revolution? Engels would be amazed at the former textile towns,like Manchester,absorbing the large influx of Asians,Moslims and Africans today.It is still being debated,whether history has proven Engels & Marx right.This book is still a historical classic,thats presumptive findings give the modern reader,reason to pause. So,look all around you. -A Great Book !

Fabuous book. Engels wrote this when he was only 24- and what a tour de force.

The work is detailed, beautifully observed and elegantly written. Despite the depressing nature of the subject matter, the tone is always possible about a better world beyond the evils of capitalism.

Unfortunately 150 years after this masterpiece was written things dont seen to have gotten better under capitalism. Rather, the old evils of poverty, infectious diseases, starvation have been replaced by the modern evils of capitalism: obesity, alienation, mass materialism, depression, plunging fertility and marriage rates and so on...

Engels was the engine behind Karl Marx, one that gave him all the support he could, so to permit Marx to dedicate himself almost completely to the completion of his works. Judging himself many degrees bellow Marx in terms of intelect, Engels nonetheless is capable of writting a book such as this which describes all the impoverishment of the working class in the beginning of the industrialization in England, being helped by some well porputed factories labor fiscalization agents who allowed Engels to flip trough their reports. Strong terms like "the dark satanic mills" describe fully what were the working conditions of the time in a so rich country as England. An historical document lest no one forget what can happen again if the free hand of capitalism is allowed to run free of any barriers.

Friedrich Engels' classic "The Condition of the Working Class in England" was written when he was only twenty-four, and had but recently abandoned his Calvinist upbringing for a more critical, socialist, point of view. Yet this book reads as if it were written by an experienced political commentator or a radical sociologist, without actually at any point becoming melodramatic or dense.

Engels' main purpose is to confront the bourgeoisie with the reality of their mode of production and to contrast this with the rhetoric of "free choice" and "civil liberties", as well as the capitalist apologia of the political economists of his day, in particular Andrew Ure. With great insight into both the causes and effects of the capitalist system, Engels catalogues the endless want, filth, despair and misery experienced by millions of labourers every day in 19th century England. He pays attention to housing, to factory safety, to unionism, to the physical condition of the workers, to alcoholism, the state of the Irish underclass, to prostitution and disease; in short, all the ills attendant on industrialization.

What gives this book such power is that Engels on the one hand proceeds in an analytical manner, making use above all of sources from the bourgeoisie itself and from Parliamentary reports, in explaining the functioning of the capitalist system and the competition between capitalists and between labourers. On the other hand, he writes in a particularly readable manner and at no point bores the reader with the mere summing-up of statistics. On the contrary, every analytical truth is accompanied by a vivid description, taken from Engels' excursions into working-class neighbourhoods, of the terrible state of humanity that the economic laws of capitalism cause for a great number of people.

For those interested in political economy, it may come as a surprise to see how much of the functioning of capitalism Engels already understood at such an early point in the development of theory. This gives the lie to the many theorists who would later claim that it was Marx only who worked on economics and that Engels was a mere epigone; this book should be a vindication of Engels. His later sketches of the political economy and of the historical development of capitalism would lay the foundation for both the Communist Manifesto and Marx' economic works. But the core insights that would create the modern theory of socialism are for the first time fully expressed here, and in a most appealing and shockingly effective manner.

In other words, an absolute must read for every person of intelligence.

This book is a steal. I've read more than a hundred of the best general business books and yet Merrill's book managed to stand out among them. Merrill's teachings are sound and proven. His writing is fluent, clear and concise. His observations of successful business practices are rewarding for the reader - intellectually and financially. As Mae West said, "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful." Anyone interested in business who doesn't read Dare to Lead is making a big mistake. I highly recommend this book.

Review of "DARE TO LEAD!"
Author: Mike Merrill, published by Career Press

Talk about mindsets! When the reviewer, having a military background, was asked to comment on this work, knowing that the author was a second generation West Pointer, said reviewer automatically presumed that the book was going to be about some aspect of military leadership.

Wrong!

However, there are some commonalities, in that the brand of leadership that the Military Academy teaches translates into `getting down into the trenches with your troops', and this book gives concrete examples early on of that type of leadership practiced by men and women who thought `outside the box', who acted as ticket agents and as members of cleaning crews for failing airlines, as well as for `start-up' air lines; for successful entrepreneurs who were cooks for their own businesses.

Although relatively small - not the size of a `full sized' book and less than 225 pages - this is an extremely well researched and documented work, indicating many, many hours of painstaking research, countless interviews, etc.

There are a few central themes running throughout the book. One is "change". This book is composed of relatively short vignettes covering a wide range of businesses, mostly but not all, small ones, several of which were on the brink of failure and needed `change' to survive, to prosper.

It is also about "people", people who were not averse to getting their hands dirty, not afraid to ask for advice from others more successful than they, men and women who - one has to read between the lines to see this - put in horrendously long hours, who lived literally hand-to-mouth, in some cases for years, in order to succeed.

Another theme is "persistence". Few if any of the entrepreneurial folks featured in this book had instant, `flash-in-the-pan' ideas. Almost without exception they were in a sink or swim situation; a change had to be made, creditors, investors had to be convinced, as well as entrenched bureaucracies in some cases. This takes patience, persistence, and leadership.

Still another is "guts", the intestinal fortitude required to take an idea that one believes in and push it - often in the face of opposition, the specter of failure, until the idea is proven to work.

The book is well written, sometimes in the first person, indicating in-depth knowledge of the problems, which is accurate, since the author has been CEO of at least two firms.

Another trait common to military leadership that the book evokes is "Take care of your people and they will take care of you".

How often do we see situations today where upper management takes care of themselves to the exclusion of the people, the employees whose hard work, loyalty has put these managers where they are?

This is a highly recommended work, an excellent and enjoyable read!

Reviewed by Thomas W. Leo, CPP, USMA 1959

Dare to Lead! will be of most value to a CEO who is new to an organization or who is starting up a company. Those who want to become CEOs in the future would also do well to read this book.

Mr. Merrill read about a number of successful entrepreneurs and succeeded in interviewing a number of them. He clustered the lessons that the CEOs described about themselves into 18 principles which are each exemplified by 3-4 brief stories. The most interesting stories came from JetBlue, Boston Beer Company, Google, 99 Cents Only, Panera Bread, Columbia Sportswear, Trader Joe's, JOE BOXER, and Medtronic. The stories are the best part of the book. The chapters don't offer much guidance aside from what is contained in the stories. Several of the stories were new to me, and I found them to be interesting and helpful.

Here are some of the key lessons in the book: Set a good example; pursue strategies that take you around obstacles; pursue your idea to its logical limit; look for good ideas that can be transferred from other industries; concentrate your focus on what you do best and do it better; repeat and build on success; use innovative promotions to attract partners and customers; listen to and observe customers; have senior management handle customer complaints; focus on what you can do today to make progress; put your employees and customers ahead of your profits; let employees solve problems; help your customers sell to their customers; work more closely with outside partners; and make your company's purpose and values seem more real to your employees and customers.

As you can see, none of these principles are new. They are a good antidote to much of the overly analytical education that new MBAs receive. New MBAs won't probably want to read this book, but they should.

The book would have benefited from sharing fewer lessons and doing so in more detail . . . along with more advice on how to follow through in these areas.

The writing is smooth and easy to follow. You'll find yourself finishing the book in one or two airplane trips. Take it along on your next JetBlue flight!

Dare to Lead! is exactly what I was looking for. All the essential lessons from actual business leaders packed into one book. No theoretic nonsense from someone who never led anyone, but a valuable collection of the essential factors that allowed 50 real leaders to beat their competition and to successfully drive their business. A great reference for anyone in business looking for swift inspiration! I highly recommend it!

I'm always so hopeful when I start a business book that there will be real "meat"; information of value that can be internalized and used in my own working life. Mr. Merrill crafted a fast paced book broken into small bite-sized chunks that makes it easy to grasp and a joy to plow through. More important, he brings to life a wide variety of business examples that we are all familiar with (or thought we were), in order to make a point. It's a quick read that is full of food for thought.

An essential book for the medievalist or art historian. Explains techniques and methods that have been lost to modern people over time.

Georg Pawer was an extremely well educated German in the Humanist tradition of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. It was natural that he turned his Greco-German name into Greco-Latin, labeling himself Georgius Agricola. Both versions mean Farmer (Georgios) Farmer (Pawer = Bauer / Agricola). He was a physician by profession. Neither side of his background would seem to suit him to write one of the great books on mining and the refining of ores, but as an official town physician, responsible for treating miners at no additional charge, he seems to have won their trust. The result was a manual, aimed not at people who would have to dig up ores, but at potential investors, and officials and lawyers, who would have to deal with financing, administration and litigation. He set out the basic customs and practices of mining, described the remarkably elaborate machines needed to keep mines dry and ventilated, and processing and refining, with their devices and chemicals. Naturally, he wrote it in the language of real scholarship, Latin, not sixteenth-century German.

Since surviving classical Latin is not abundantly supplied with appropriate technical terms, and those which exist are not always clear, the resulting text was soon found to present formidable difficulties, despite important aids from accompanying illustrations. There were early attempts at translating it into German, and even a rendering into Chinese (an early attempt to emulate the mysterious Occidentals and their terror-weapons), but when this translation appeared in 1912, German scholars were humiliated to find that they had been outclassed by a couple of mere "Englanders". They were probably even less happy to find that the translators were Americans.

Actually, Lou Henry Hoover, a good classicist, made a perfect team with her husband, the mining engineer Herbert Hoover, who was shortly to become much better known for humanitarian relief work, and an unhappy experience as President of the United States. The engineering half of the partnership knew what the problems were, and the sort of thing that Agricola must have been trying to say, and the classicist could tell whether the vocabulary and grammar could carry that meaning. The result was a book which was not only beautiful, with its reproductions of the original illustrations, but a genuine contribution to the history of technology.

The Dover reprinting of 1950 was one of the first, if not the first, of that publisher's adventures in bringing important works back into print, in attractive editions, at reasonable prices. It remains a gem, whether regarded from points of view of the history of technology, of art, or of Renaissance Humanism. The only thing missing is Agricola's companion treatise on other hazards of mining, like kobolds and other malicious spirits (yes, I am serious; he had lots of testimony from honest miners, after all).

Of course, nothing human is perfect, and there are some hints of why such a practical man as Herbert Hoover, with a real concern for human suffering, proved so doctrinaire in the face of the Depression. At one point, the Hoovers scold the Romans for concentrating on German metal resources, instead of trying to build up the only true source of wealth, Agriculture. A lovely sentiment, very eighteenth-century Physiocratic, but it did not seem to occur to them that any agricultural surplus would have had to be shipped down the Rhine, into the North Sea, and around Europe, to be of any immediate benefit to Rome. If it stayed in Germany, it would just feed more nasty, Roman-hating Germans -- so much better to concentrate on something more compact and worth carrying across the Alps, or at least useful for arming the Legions. (Of course, there are also the problems of whether Italian agricultural techniques were of any value in the Rhine valley, and why the Germans had not learned appropriate methods from the neighboring Gauls -- but that leads in other directions.)

This book is a great read. The sections are well defined to cover each topic, including measurements where applicable and even the definition of tracts and management of said lands. He has written other books too. I hope they reprint the translations soon.

This early work describes the thinking of early technologists and shows the development of materials technology and related engineering knowledge of the late 15th century. Of particular interest is the detailed research done by Herbert Hoover, former President and mining engieer. His research is detailed in extensive foot notes. The illustrations are exact copies of the originals. Some of the early chapters are the most intersting reading because of the insights gained into archaic thinking that extrapolates to modern times.

This book is not a simple read for those looking for the basics, it a detailed review of the process of mining in the 16th Century throughout Germany with the inclusion of some surrounding regions. All aspects of the search for and creation of metals are covered from how to determine where a vein of materials is most likely to be found thru the methods of ore refinement and ingot production. The footnotes are incredibly helpful and sometimes (necessarily) take up more space than the text they refer to. This is not a basic overview, it is a manual designed to educate in specifics.

As a reference this text is wonderful. The woodcuts alone provide a review of the methods and technology used that is more detailed than any other source I have found - although I am admittedly a novice in this particular field of study in Early Modern German History. As an amateur historian I would say that this manuscript is not a `friendly' read for a general audience, however as a reference for those deeply interested in the subject of mining or Early Modern German metal working it is invaluable. Great companion for Pyrotechnica.