Industrial Books

This is a book that should be in the library of anyone interested in (or working with) fireworks, pyrotechnics, colored flame compositions, rocketry, or any other combustion-related aspect of chemistry.

It's definitely not the slickest presentation, nor is it full of color pictures. The text looks like it came out of a standard typewriter, rather than being typeset, and the illustrations are primarily hand-drawn. Instead of "glitz", what this book gives you is simple, practical information about the chemistry of fireworks, the art and techniques needed to produce various effects cleanly and effectively, and the safety precautions needed to do so safely.

Takeo Shimizu is an expert (possibly *the* expert) in this field, and his writing reflects a long career full of practical experience. You will not go wrong by adding this book to your library. It is an invaluable reference book, and widely considered to be one of the few standard texts (along with Lancaster's book Fireworks Principles and Practice) in this industry.

It was years ago when the tradition of me making fireworks for newyearseve started.I always combined existing pieces of firework. As an result i became interested in making the real stuff, so i turned too books (i advise for you to doo the same ),this book was recommended by someone who was active in the trade.

Its a book that gives you an insight in all the facets of fireworks. It sometimes however does not go as deep into subjects as i would have liked ,but its probably a pleasant too read masterpiece by not doing so. It explanes a lot and in regard of safety features it scores very high in my book. So if you are interestit in firework the art the science or the technique this is the book too buy,i at least can safely work on somewhat nicer projects for next newyears in a safe setting .

be safe , greatings, arjan

Dit is echt een goed boek! Een uitgebreide beschrijving van de verschillende chemicalien en veel composities. Alleen de tekeningen zijn wat eenvoudig.Ook aandacht voor de veiligheid. Een echte aanrader voor elke pyrotechnicien!

Shimizu is a true pyrotechnic master and gives a view of the Japanese Pyrotechnics technique.

For a long time getting of this book was my dream of life, because it is extremely difficult in Russia to get any information about pyrotechnics. (The Internet is only possibility). After I have received this book as gift from my American friend I felt actual happiness. As far as I feel, this book is the best for anyone who know that fireworks are great art like classic baroque music or paintings...

My sincerely thanks to Dr. Shimizu for this beautiful book

This is a great book on the theoretical aspects of gas turbine engineering. It is a basic text that introduces all the basic concepts. It also has a lot of fundamental governing equations (i.e., mathematics) and formulas useful for engineers needing a basic introduction. It explains the state-of-the-art. Heavy emphasis is on industrial gas turbines (power plants for electricity generation). There is also reference to future gas turbine technologies.

I have acquired the fifth edition of Gas Turbine Theory by Professor Saravanamuttoo to add to the previous four editions in my library. Like the previous four editions, I have found the latest edition to be the best book ever written on Gas Turbine Theory and Design.
I have noticed many improvements throughout the new edition with updated information on both Industrial and Aero Gas Turbine applications. In fact, it is the only textbook that covers both types of Gas Turbines with great clarity and depth for students ande practising engineers.
In particular, it has more illustrations with pictures and reference to actual Gas Turbine plant performance and design features as compared to the previous editions which makes it most relevant to real world applications.
As a practising engineer(O&M) in a Gas Turbine Generating Plant(630MW), I have found the inclusion of Performance Monitoring and Degradation to be most welcome given my special interest in this area.
I used the second edition as a student at University and the latest edition as my preferred and favourite textbook for the Gas Turbine part of a course that I teach in Thermal Power to final year students reading for the BSc in Mechanical Engineering at the University of the West Indies.
After comparing it to all other textbooks in this area, I consider it to be the most outstanding and excellent coverage of Gas Turbine Theory and Design for both students and practising engineers. It is extremely comprehensive with geat emphasis on details and contains the depth to provide the reader with a thorough knowledge of the subject matter.
It is my opinion that this book culminating in its 50th year of existence since the birth of the Gas Turbine engine would become a collectors item worth much more than was paid for it. It is real value for money and may be grossly underpriced. What a great bargain if ever there was one!
I would strongly recommend this new edition for students pursuing courses in gas Turbine Engineering at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and practising engineers involved in all applications of the Gas Turbine.

This is one of the best books available in the market today covering both the theory and applications of gas turbines. It is unique in that the treatment contains both theoretical and practical aspects of gas turbine engineering. As an engineer who has spent over 23 years working with gas turbines I have used earlier editions of this book and it has helped me immensely in getting a clear understanding of gas turbine operations and specifically of the components and matching of turbine and compressors. It is a well-written and organized book that has clearly stood the test of time- this being the 50th year of its publication. Unlike many other traditional gas turbine textbooks, Prof. Saravanamuttoo brings his vast practical and industrial experience into the text -a feature that many operating engineers will appreciate. This edition is noteworthy as it incorporates latest technologies relating to gas turbines (advanced gas turbine, low NOx combustors, new cycles etc.) while retaining it classic lucid writing style. Every engineer who operates a gas turbine can benefit from this book as it will provide a deeper understanding of different components and their interactions. I highly recommend this book!

This is a great book for students who face by first time a gas turbine course. The only disadvantage is the lack of explicit information about turboprop, turboshaft, ramjet and scranjet. But, overall is a good book.

I have always used this book as a textbook of the gas turbine course for mechanical engineers and I find it perfect for its clarity and completeness.

A good introduction to the theory of generating functions and their uses. In fact, the only readable introduction I could find. It is NOT one of those many generation functions books written by mathematicians for mathematicians.
Shows lots and lots of neat tricks that become available for a "generatingfunctionologist" in the fields of combinatorics and probability.
All the material is presented in a very clean, organized way, with good examples. I use it as a hands-on reference book.

Generatingfunctionology is, in my opinion, one of the best mathematics books ever written. If you want to read one mathematics book that really makes a difference, this is it! I read the book twice, and I plan to read it again. I went from being rather inept at solving combinatorial problems to being a virtual "master" almost overnight! Wilf's writing style is clear, concise, and even humorous at times. Reading this book is like being blind and then having your eyes opened for the first time. Generating functions are an extremely powerful tool in number theory and combinatorics. Don't pass up this book! You may never become an Euler, but you sure can come close!

Interested readers should be made aware that if a person does a net search for "Herbert Wilf's Home Page", and then goes to that site, the author has this book (and a number of other things)available for FREE downloading. That might be a great way to preview the book, even if you later decide to spend the money to get a nicely bound traditional copy here.

This book is freely available online, but it is so good that it is worth buying a hard-copy of, and it's reasonably priced too. I would advise potential buyers to check it out online; you'll probably find that you like it, and you'll probably buy it after you get tired of staring at your screen or making printouts.

Wilf is an outstanding writer, among the best writers in mathematics; this book is a true pleasure to read. His explanations are lucid and he has a great sense of humor. This book is not particularly advanced, although it is one of those texts that you can keep coming back to; it takes quite some time to exhaust the material in it and I have certainly not come close to doing so. It covers generating functions in the form of ordinary power series, exponential power series, and Dirichlet series, and it touches on a few other types of generating functions as well. There is a chapter on the exponential formula and a chapter which explores a more systematic approach to counting. The last chapter is on analytic methods to study asymptotic approximations to counting functions. The book is well organized; topics flow naturally, and yet it is easy to skip topics and move around freely. The exercises are immensely useful. They start simple, but there are many of them and they become progressively more difficult in a natural way.

This book would be suitable for an undergraduate course in combinatorics, and it also makes a good supplementary text for anyone studying combinatorics or possibly complex analysis at the graduate level. I find this book is excellent for self-study at any level as well. Check it out for yourself!

A wonderful book; sometimes it isn't so much formal as requested for a mathematical exposition of the subject. It does not contain so much about analytic combinatorics (study of G.F. according to complex analysis), and hypergeometric functions. But it remains a good book for everyone who never saw something about this subject. It presents to the reader a great variety of manipulating techniques for combinatorial sequences (and not only); I think it is a must-have (also must-read) for everyone who wants to start working in combinatorics; you must read it at least two times to master all the techniques.
Well, and it is written by H. Wilf...I think this can be a good motivation to read it.

For anyone with an interest in the TIGER 1 this book is an invaluable asset.The major part of the book covers the various changes in design throughout the production life of the vehicle accompanied by drawings and photographs.
Anyone wishing to produce an accurate model of a particular Tiger from a particular time in its history will find the book essential.The book also contains a number of excellent scale drawings documenting the major changes in design.

This is purely a technical volume on the development of the Tiger I, but it is extreme in its detail and analysis. This took an extraordinary amount of research and effort. If you're into Tiger tanks, all three of Jentz's books in this series MUST be in your library.

This book is very much about the technical aspects of the tank. It includes a comprehensive list of the physical changes made to the vehicle during its production run, with every change dated and explained in detail. This list was painstakingly compiled from original German sources only.
The 7 sets of multi-view drawings of complete vehicles (including the underneath views) were prepared by Hilary Doyle from thorough surveys of surviving Tigers, and they correct the numerous small errors in all previous work. They are complemented by many original German technical drawings of parts of the tank, often unpublished before.
This book has a narrow focus, but in its field it is definitely the leader.

This is about previous Tiger I tanks from official information. The book needs more wide information about the aspects than it study but includes a lot of tables, informataion and detailed pics about the Tiger I. It's not about operations or battles; only about production and design works. So, it's very good for people than keen on the Tiger and need more information than the "traditional", so don't expect for fighting.

Typical of Mr. Jentz's work, the book is derived only from original sources, so he avoids repeating old errors that have percolated from book to book over the last 55 years. Hilary Louis Doyle does his usual superb job on the 1/35th scale drawings which cover all major production variants of the standard gun tank, as well as the prototypes (for a history of the failed Porsche prototype, see the same authors' book now available from Panzer Tracts). This is the first set of published drawings that accurately depicts the asymmetrical shape of the Tiger I turret (it bulges out slightly on the left, so the gun is mounted off-center in the mantlet to bring it back to the centerline of the turret). This is one volume of a three-volume series, the other titles covering the development of the Tiger II and the operations of the Tiger battalions. Jentz's book concentrates on the vehicle's general interior and exterior layout, but doesn't go into the technical depth of Walter Spielberger's books (most readers don't plan to actually rebuild a Tiger transmission anytime soon).

I was curious about the nearly unanimous 5-star rating given this book by other reviewers. After picking up a copy from Amazon and reading it, let me join the chorus with my own 5-star rating! What a find! Murstein seems to cover nearly everything you would want to know about the market in a succinct and humorous manner, remarkable for a volume of only 350 pages. Of particular and topical interest: it has been published recently enough to discuss the impact of the Enron scandal and how investors should approach the market in these times. It is scholarly without being stodgy. Murstein evaluates the great variety of strategies, schemes, systems and newsletters out there with a very critical eye. He names names and doesn't pull any punches. While the book is oriented mainly toward the individual securities investor, he does have a useful section on mutual funds (my special interest). There's one outstanding chapter near the end (alone worth the price of the book) called "Maxims, Adages and Suggestions" - over 70 of these, many of which are very useful. One last word: I'm familiar with and rely on the Lynch and Zweig investment books; the Murstein volume beats them both hands down!

This book is a must for every serious investor. It is informative and based on research findings, but humorous and easy to read. I especially liked the chapters showing that serious individual investors can outperform professional money managers, and how to do it.

I REALLY enjoyed the history of investing in the introduction.

Afterward, I found certain sections to be particularly illuminating with regard to my personal efforts to increase my assets via the markets, but the numerous graphs often left me, neither a psychologist nor a financial professional, wondering.

SO, I've given a copy of this book to my broker, and I hope that SHE will use it to enrich us both.

Getting Psyched For Wall Street: A Rational Approach To An Irrational Market by psychology and behavioral finance expert Bernard Murstein is a superb blend of psychology and finance. Specifically written to help ordinary investors of all background better understand the interaction between human psychology and the ups and downs of Wall Street, Getting Psyched For Wall Street covers everything from why so many people were blind to Enron's problems to why stocks sometimes go up on bad news and down on good news. Getting Psyched For Wall Street is a unique, inherently fascinating, "reader friendly", practical work that should be read by any investor seeking to understand how market forces function and are influenced.

Finally! A book every individual investor can understand and use immediately. Murstein is both lucid and witty. His analyses are scholarly but clearly presented. Practical? Check his chapter on a rational approach to selecting stocks. My own investment strategies will never be the same. Professor Murstein, where were you when we needed you at the beginning of our investment rollercoaster?

James Rudnick has created not only an everlasting memorial and tribute to New York, but has set the standard of excellence by which all others must attempt to meet. The book design is elegant and exquisite. The photographs are some of the most beautiful of the city I've ever seen.

Philip Bogdan

This book is beautifully conceived. The photographer, James Rudnick, had the foresight and the love for these icons of New York City to preserve them photographically for generations to come.
The design is elegant. The text is interesting and important.
A great book.

Rudnick's book is monumental both figuratively and literally. In photographing the restorative work performed on New York's most recognizable structures, Rudnick has forever preserved an important piece of Americana. With a discerning and creative eye, he juxtaposes images of exquisite detail and grandiose sweep, of human form and man-made object, of decay and renewal. One of my favorite shots is that of Liberty's internal spiral staircase (p. 75). This photograph could just as easily be a study in abstract form; three ghostly lights punctuate an array of metallic angles and curves in an enormously deep field of vision. Another stand-out is a view of Liberty through scaffolding (p. 67). The torch rises dramatically above the gridwork, suggesting that American freedom can never be constrained. There is obvious forethought to Rudnick's work -- as in a shot of ironworkers on the Brooklyn Bridge perfectly framed by the Twin Towers (p. 49) -- but his photographs never appear cliched or stilted. Gotham Restored offers up new rewards with each viewing. It should serve to place Rudnick among the pantheon of living photographers. Highly, highly recommended.

This beautifully designed book presents monumental icons in a way that is both insightful and inspirational. The subject matter in this work is so very familiar (the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, Grand Central Station and the NY Public Library) that it would have been temptingly easy to trivialize and display these structures as they are frequently seen in glossy calendars and travel books. In contrast, Rudnick's exquisite work transcends these more commonly seen depictions. His intimate knowledge of, and obvious reverence for, the structures allows him to share with the reader unique perspectives that revitalize our appreciation for these great national treasures. The book celebrates the exhaustive and impressive work that the restorations entailed and the presence of the various craftspeople in the shots allows one to appreciate the enormous scale of the projects. Those who spend time with this book will never look upon these colossal structures in quite the same way again.

A curious thing happened to me as I read the text and looked at these photographs. They made me feel somehow comfortable and pleased. I realized this after going through the entire book. It was comforting to see how these standard landmarks are rejuvenated to be enjoyed for time to come. Far more than a "coffee table" book on famous sights (or sites), the images are embued with the authors sensitivy to the aesthetic of the structures and the city. If you love New York you will enjoy this volume. Wonderful book and a great gift for anyone who knows NYC.

I have been working on opening a specialty food shop/cafe and got stuck on the logistics of planning. After using several guides and books I randomly found (and getting NOWHERE) I decided to buy Gourmet to Go on a recommendation. It is THE best thing I could have ever bought, hands down. It seems that all the questions I had were answered in the book, and the structure of the book leads readers down a logical path through the maze of planning for this type of business. If you are to buy any book on this topic, this is the one. The money spent on this book will save you thousands later on. Two thumbs up!

This is an excellent treatise of starting a specialty food store or, perhaps is even more beneficial to one who wishes to wholesale food products to place in food stores or delis..

People wanting to cash in on the current trend towards take-out convenience need this book, as well as From Kitchen To Market and How To Get Your Product Into Supermarkets.

The three books are invaluable for overlapping reasons. A prospective store operator needs to understand how to setup his or her store and, just as important, how their competition operates. Beginning store operators also need to understand their industry in detail not merely from the viewpoint of their competition and from their customers, but from their suppliers position.

Gourmet To Go does a great job from a narrow viewpoint. Probably the only topic not suffriciently explored is the hands'-on advice. Perhaps the next edition will detail the possibilities for including rollergrills, microwaves and how to earn what the industry refers to as "Plus-sales." I'm speaking of the technique in all fast food chains and convenience stores to get customers to spend more money.

Other hands-on topics that should be discussed are controlling theft and the experience of many store operators who have lost significant chunks of money in providing lottery tickets. I know of a feww whose losses exceeded $10,000. Adding insult to injury, lottery only reimburses stores from one to three percent of gross sales and pay-outs for winning tickets. Despite such a poor return on investment, many stores consider it mandatory to provide lottery.

Further, computerizing the store could be considered, as well as installing UPC readers. It is not uncommon to see even the smallest store using such equipment. Yet, those installing such systems all seem to have to reinvent the wheel.

Again, buy this book but augment it with From Kitchen To Market and with How To Get Your Product Into Supermarkets so you can keep up with and, perhaps, improve upon your competition and keep customers, suppliers and yourself happy!

Although, as the name suggests, this book is geared mainly towards gourmet to go operations (specialty food stores with emphasis on catering and gourmet take-out) it is an invuluable resource for anyone thinking about entering the gourmet food industry.

I wasted all kinds of time and money on general business start-up books and learned little more that nothing about starting a gourmet food store (or any business for that matter). The business plan section alone is better than a whole book I purchased on the subject. I found every bit of Gourmet to Go to be extemely useful and after reading it couldn't believe I had even considered going into business without it.

Having some experience with new product projects for major corporations, this somewhat smaller scale, but nonetheless similar principled look at the operations and craft of specialty food store biz is well-done.

It is full of relevant and cogent thoughts for anyone interested in this market niche. What I found very well done is the sections of writing the biz plan and the steps therein critical to putting together and then implementing such.

Also included are fairly thorough lists of resources such as consultants, trade journals, suppliers, etc.

What could possibly have been additionaly useful was stress on two key areas: concentration on obstacles and their probability of happening (i.e. scenario plotting) and finding and use of two key players from the outset: attorney and accountant/tax specialist.

A friend recently opened a store and this book has acurately addressed some of the issues we are experiencing. The author has a knack for addressing both personal issues such as self doubt, fear, relations with partners as well as topics related to the business. He compels the entrepreneur to think hard about the objectives of his undertaking and then walks him through it step by step.

The sections on site location and templates for creating a business model, mission statement and feasability study are better than two other books that I had purchased.

Most of the book has little to do with specialty food and more about the decision and execution process of opening a new place. I would recomend it to both someone just toying with the idea and someone who is already established.

I purchased this book when first released and utilized the techniques to assist in solving some performance issues at the office. I've seen some amazing results. So amazing, I purchased copies for my management team and we're working our way through the book now. Tremendous results. Kudos to Douglas Walker!!

I loved reading "A-ha Performance" and can definitely use all the wisdom in it to motivate not only my employees, but myself. I learned so much about management and my workplace environment and can see the positive results already.
Choose to Be Happy: A Guide to Total Happiness

Using this as a textbook in Managerial Motivation Class at local college. Interesting format with logical real life scenerios. Great discussion forum.

A-HA! Performance provides a very clear method for understanding what makes your employees tick and how to manage the process so that you end up with a win-win situation. This book is great for new managers and a wake-up call for those of us managing for many years who thought we already knew how to manage. I will keep this book behind me at work to refer to regularly and to help remind me what type of manager I want to be. Good stuff!

Before reading A-HA! Performance, we focused on motivating the workforce based on what the company thought employees should be motivated by. Now that we understand how to find their Intrinsic Motivation Points, it gives us tremendous insight about what Really motivates each individual. We have magnetized employees to the company's goals.

This book is a terrific reference. It presents copious examples along with very thorough identification for sources. It allows me to quickly pick a style that fits the need and also provides enough information to allow me to dig a little deeper and investigate a particular style through other reference material. Just perfect for what I need and wonderful for my uses.

This is an indispensable resource for the novice or serious designer/painter. Some designs are very small, and others are so ornate that they would be difficult to reproduce without spending considerable time and effort. However, I found most to be easy to scan, print on a transparency, and enlarge with an overhead projector. The section called "bands" has beautiful designs that could be handpainted or made into border stencils. Chapters include geometric designs, natural forms such as foliage, fruit and flowers, mythical creatures, individual ornaments, capitals and bases for columns, decorative panels, vases, several lettering styles, and much more.

Not only does this book contain a huge assortment of extremely clean and scannable examples of ornamental designs from different periods and cultures, but also provides diagrams and information you can use to create your own original designs in a given style. This may be the last book I buy (except newer copies of THIS book!) on ornamental design.

Originally published in 1888, this book is the real deal. Honestly, this book renders so many others I have on the shelf useless. It goes through EVERYTHING ornamental from furniture, to alphabets, to architecture, to tracery, plain design, cutlery, and everything else you can think of. At first, I scoffed when I got this book because it covered such a wide range of ornamentation. I mean, what book have you ever seen that does a GOOD job covering a range? Then, when I got into it, I realized that it DOES go into detail in each section. Having 3000 images makes this possible, but what I like too, is there is a substantial amount of text explainig where the design comes from.

I think its nearly impossible to find a book this rich in resources for less than $20 USD.

This book has been in print since 1888! Yes, it's that good! It's a bound version of an earlier work that was a folio. Forty years ago, my art teacher showed me his copy. I went out and got one. It's still on the shelves, but price has risen. It a collection of drawings from many sources: Cathedrals, Estates, Chateau, public buildings, museums and their contents! All collected before the Franco-Prussian war. Many things that no longer exist in this world. If you wish to depict life in the dark ages, the renaissance, Atlantis, Troy, the enlightenment, Hyboria, Byzantium, Rome, Carthage, etc., YOU NEED THIS BOOK!!!

This book is well written and up to date. I needed detailed information on shading and it was covered very well. If your new to patent drawings, this is covers the subject well.

I found this book to be excellent. Lot's of information and concisely written. A MUST reference if you are planning to make your own patents. Some good info on CAD drafting software, also.

I bought this book and Patent Pending in 24 Hours. The latter was a complete disappointment (read my review of it). This book however, was fairly detailed and answered quite a few questions for me. I am trained as a Graphic Designer. So I was very interested in doing the drawings myself on the computer. While the book focuses on traditional drawings for the most part, the information is still relevant for computer drawings. The book tells you what parts you need to draw and what to leave out. It also talks about how to shade the different elements. Which is one of the major things the examiner uses to differentiate the parts of your invention that connect or are attached. The book also goes into detail about how to label your figures and numbering of parts.
The one thing that did bother me about this book is that more than once they tell you to reference Patent It Yourself for more information. I bought this book because it implies that it will tell you everything you need to know about making patent drawings. I thought it was ridiculous that they spread the information out into their other book as a ploy to make more money. Luckily, there is enough information here to do what you need to do.
Overall I thought the book is a good collection of information. Despite the references to their other book.

On the last couple of patent applications I submitted, I ended up doing 90% of the drawings myself because it turned out to be easier than continuously having to correct the mistakes of the draftsman. My attorney said that my drawings just needed to be shaded and cleaned up a bit, and have the legends applied, but otherwise what ended up going into the applications was essentially my drawings with a few more bells and whistles. His draftsman had just put them on a light table and copied them as is. But I still had to pay for the drawings!

This book was able to get me the rest of the way there by detailing the regulations that the USPTO puts on drawings. They're not really difficult, but they ARE specific. Don't be intimidated by them. The very simple drawing style specified by the USPTO is to allow clear reproduction and printing. My attorney charges $295 per figure, and one page can have 2 or 3 figures on it! The last application we submitted had about a dozen figures total. Some of the expense is the work of integrating and describing the drawings, but it is guaranteed to save you money if you do your own drawings. Besides, this ensures that you will be satisfied with the quality and accuracy. Don't forget you can also have the draftsman do the difficult 3-D "Figure 1" bit, and you do the simpler stuff. Like me, I'll bet you'll find it easier than you thought!

I have all of David Pressman's books on patenting, you know why? Because I filed my own patent using these books. That's how good they are. They really do have step by step instructions. He also has software that helps you prepare the docs. I sort of used that as well. Again, reasonable priced, and useful. I strongly recommend these books for anyone that wants to File a Patent. They will allow you to do it yourself without an attorney.