Open Books

I have not worked my way through this book yet but at least want to note how neat it is to have copies of some of the original notes. This should be interesting especially with regard to understanding Frege's development.

Imagine discovering Aristotle's lecture notes on a class he took from Plato. This book is very nearly as momentus, and no doubt scholars 2,000 years from now will be studying with as much interest as we're reading it today.

The introductory material is quite enlightening: not only does it explain Frege's bizzaro 2D notation for his system of logic, it also gives many anecdotes about what Frege was like as a person and what it would have been like to be a student in his class.

Frege is credited with the first real substansive advance in logic since Aristotle, and Carnap was really kicked into a higher orbit after taking this class, going on to become a towering figure in 20th Century philosophy. This book provides fascinating view into one of the most important logic classes which took place last century.

Is this book being published by the OPEC? Seriously, could sombody explain please this price- this is not the way to stimulate the economy.

One thousand, nine hundred and ninety-five dollars for a 100 page paper back book? I bet they are just flying out of the store.

I picked this up on the fly from my local store and I am very glad that I did. This is such a simple idea very well excecuted on every level.
The pad and its magnents are of great qualitiy. On another site, I have heard that the magnents are pealing and the colors were hard to differentiate. However, with the one I have none of things are true at all. The pad worked better than I even imagined at our last session.

The pack comes with more than enough magnents, even with the expected loss of a few here and there.

I highly recommend this product. Every group should have at least one!

I've tried almost everything since the inception of 3rd Edition in 2000: writing on the battle-mat, index cards, dedicated initiative cards, PDA software ... and the Combat Pad Init Tracker is the one we've used for over a year.

There're tracks and indicators for number of rounds elapsed, for readied characters, for delaying characters, and for making notes. It's simple, elegant, and functional.

There are some drawbacks:

(1) Things written on the magnetic tags smear. This drove me crazy, until I bought a bunch of third-party tags, in assorted colors, to write on with permanent marker. Not only do they not smear, but we have permanent effects that are commonly used, like "haste" and "bard song." And the different colors make it easy to see what's what from across the table. You can write with permanent marker on the tags that come with the pad, of course, and there's even a set of additional matching tags available, but I like the MagnaTags I found better.

(2) The pad itself is a little flimsy. It comes packaged with a nice thick piece of cardstock, and it finally occurred to me to use rubber cement to affix the pad to that cardstock. Works like a charm.

(3) It's a little pricey. I got my Combat Pad before Open Mind licensed to Paizo. Much as I love Paizo, their accessories can fall on the over-priced side of things ... the Combat Pad is $3 more expensive now. Not a big deal, but worth mentioning.

Anyway, given a choice between 4 stars and 5 stars (with the opportunity to explain), I'm going with 5. The Combat Pad isn't a perfect initiative tracking system, but it's pretty close.

Whether you are an armchair traveler who loves gardens or international traveler in search of the most beautiful gardens in England and Wales, this book both satisfies the craving for reading about this topic and whets the appetite for more. These private gardens, opened to visits to help raise funds for this charitable organizaton, are described in detail with dates and times they are open, admission fees, directions, parking and what is available to partake of, such as teas and music. There are several pages of beautiful color photographs. This is one book that will be packed in the suitcase or tucked by the garden lover's chair. It's a book I love and never tire of going through time and again.

If you are planning a trip to England and/or Wales and want to know which gardens are open on what days, plus which of those days selected gardens are open for charity, this is the book to buy. GARDENS OPEN FOR CHARITY (2003) is updated every year. The 2003 version is sponsored by "Carr Sheppards and Crosthaite" and contains every thing the avid gardener and/or garden lover and/or visitor will want to have on hand to plan a vacation, a weekend excursion, or a day out. I ordered the 2003 version of the "yellow book" from Amazon-UK and received it very quickly.

Gardens open almost every day through the year, or the growing season plus those only open for special events are included. You can obtain information about all kinds of gardens including the Botanic Gardens (Oxford University) and Hidcote Manor Garden in Chipping Camden (National Trust) that are accessible most of the time to privately owned gardens such as Lambeth Palace (Archbishop of Canterbury) that are only open to the public on special occasions.

England and Wales are divided into shires and maps are shown for each jurisdiction. The gardens discussed in the catalogue are noted on the map. This is one of the best if not the best guide you will find to gardens in the U.K.

Herbert Vollman examines many real world issues such as financial markets, class struggles and physical health all from a spiritual view point. The book also gives new insights to much-examined passages in the Bible. All in all, a great book displaying practical applications for spiritual Truths.

I would highly recommend this book to all seekers in their quest for the "truth." Very enlightening and encouraging at the same time, it is interesting and easy to understand. Genuine food for thought.......

....for any collector of books or, for that matter, collectors period!

Spanning the long period from ancient times, when books were hand-copied, to the modern day, "A Gentle Madness" takes us on a strange and exciting journey through the world of rare book collectors. Our society owes a lot to book collectors. Determination, time, and money have enabled them to seek out and preserve rare books, manuscripts, documents, and letters of profound cultural and historical importance. Many of the most noted collectors have ultimately given their world-class libraries to colleges and universities, where the fruits of their labor have benefited generations of scholars and researchers. This book demonstrates, in a colorful manner, how book collectors are driven to seek out new acquisitions for their libraries. For some, it is a consuming passion. For a few, it is a dangerous obsession that forces them to sacrifice the basic amenities of life, or even break the law. Nicholas Basbanes not only introduces readers to book collectors throughout history, but also to the books themselves, and to the methods employed to obtain rare books. While anyone interested in history and scholarship will thoroughly enjoy this book, book collectors will have a very difficult time putting it down, except maybe to run down to the local antiquarian book store and spend some money!

I used this book years ago and found it extremely helpful. Now, as my second child is about to embark on a college career, where else should I advise her to turn but to this admirable little text.

Of course, the book is a little outdated but the principles hold good. Despite the modern trends in education, and particularly at the college level, little within the book has diminished in relevance.

Northedge is especially good at providing succinct direction in clear and lucid language, hardly surprising as the target audience is the adult learner who has been away from school or study for a number of years. In fact, I would consider this to be a major selling point and the continued success of the Open University in Great Britain is a testament to the work that has gone into this student manual.

I would highly recommend this book to students of all ages in preparation for the voyage of discovery that is higher education.

I have been recommending this book to undergraduate and postrgraduate students for over 10 years now. It is an excellent guide to what is required in order to make a success of your studies. I particularly commend Andy Northedge on the contents of chapters 10 and 11 which explain how to write good essays and assignments. Buy this book, read it and then apply its lessons to take your grades to a higher level.

Fuller makes creative use of ideas from political philosophy to come up with a model for science policy. Encapsulating the model is the principle of "the right to be wrong". This is central to the political tradition of "republicanism", which appears to have been sidelined in public debate by its better known rivals, liberalism and communitarianism. Fuller examines and rejects liberal (free market politics) and communitarian (identity politics) arguments for the organization of knowledge. The liberal ideology punishes individuals whose ideas and projects are made "wrong" by the market - not by taking away their freedom to exist but by making it harder for them to move on and acquire intellectual capital. Dissent is highly risky in the absence of a safety-net in the case of failure. The communitarian ideology would forbid the very expression of certain ideas; it places cultural hurdles for individuals to dissent from their community, which in the case of science, is the academic discipline that they are a part of. By contrast, republicanism both encourages free expression and recognizes that specific steps must be taken to provide more than a few risk-takers with the incentive for such expression. Relying as it does on large-scale state-funded resources, "Big Science" undermines the republican ideal, Fuller argues - failure becomes too costly. Now that the question of government versus private funding for science is regularly being debated in the media, Fuller's proposals detailed in the book provide an interesting and thought-provoking alternative to the usual positions. But apart from science policy people, those interested in political theory should also find this book worth a read.

This book is much more politically minded than Fuller's usual stuff and he says things that have needed to be said for a long time - namely, that organised enquiry is threatened by both the political correctness brigade and grant racketeers. There are some pretty wild positive proposals in here as well, which include enabling people to gamble on alternative research programmes as a way of raising public interest (and perhaps even support?) in science. Definitely worth a look, even if with arched eyebrow. Certainly much gutsier than run-of-the-mill science studies.

It is easy to mistake Graham Harman with an unorthodox Heideggerian, but in this work he develops a philosophy which is, at its core, genuinely independent of Heidegger. Guerilla Metaphysics begins with the objection that both analytical and continental traditions are not interested in objects, but in human access to them. Harman proposes a philosophy which does not aim to reconcile the analytical with the continental, but instead is determined to free metaphysics from its anthropocentric residues and reclaim it on behalf of a direct contact with all nonhuman entities. This is the main objective of Harman's object-oriented philosophy which is comprehensively laid out and pursued step by step. As a "carnal phenomenologist" and a "guerilla carpenter" Harman writes a book that resembles a novel imagined by Alain Robbe-Grillet, but written by William James. Following his renowned teacher Alphonso Lingis, Harman develops a cheerful style which is preoccupied with all sorts of earthly objects such as pollens, bicycles, chess boards, pebbles, puppies, and beads in the most alluring way. For people who imagine that fresh thoughts in philosophy are not possible any more, Guerilla Metaphysics is a lively refutation.

Since most philosophical writing of high caliber usually comes in the obtuse-to-American-ears stylings of continental French and German academia, Graham Harman's book makes for a brilliant gem of thought to American readers interested in high caliber philosophy. Along the lines of Alphonso Lingis, this book flies the flag of a refreshing and inventive turn away from the long obsession with liguistic subjectivity in philosophy departments, demonstrating a movement toward phenomenological reacquaintence with things themselves. This is exciting, intense, relevant philosophy.

In The Gift, the GypsyBridge Friends series of children's books builds on its impressive start in The Vine. The concept for the series initially surprised me and I had to sleep on that surprise before I understood all of my reactions. I can't remember ever having to think a lot about a children's book before. Since then, I've come to be very enthusiastic about the concept.

The Gift is a four-part resource. First, it's a story told as a parable about a child, Sally, and her friends, Dick, Jane and Tom. Second, it's a Bible lesson using the parable. Third, it's a play lesson with reusable materials. Fourth, it's a series of teaching suggestions for parents (located behind the materials).

But to say that understates the versatility of this book. Most such books pretty much can be used only as a picture book and then as a reader at a beginner level. The Gift can be used at three levels: a picture book; then as a book where the child has the material read aloud to her or him; and then as a reader that is appropriate for about third grade with over 2000 words in it.

Here's the parable. The four children are neighbors in a seemingly adult-bereft world. God and Jesus are around . . . but not visibly. Like most children, the four find themselves sitting glumly on a park bench one day because they are bored. "What can they do to make things better?" Reciting the rhyme, "Gifts from God," cheers up all but Sally, who just walks off as they others are getting excited. Sally just feels sad. Jane fixes a tea party for her, but that doesn't cheer Sally up. Antics by Spot, the dog, make Sally cry and walk away again. The other children feel sadder because Sally is sad. The next day, they take her a cake . . . but Sally just cries again. And she doesn't feel like playing. "Who could help them?" They go to their Father's house through the front door with Jesus' name on it. Suddenly, Sally realizes she should pray to Jesus and ask his help. "Make me joyful in you again." "She feels peace inside her, and the sadness doesn't seem to matter any more, Jesus will take care of it." The children tell Father about the problem and He says He can and will fix it. They all feel better. A few days later, Jane visits Sally again to find that Sally has found a new pet, a fluffy white cat named Fluffy. Jane is happy now and Sally thanks Father.

The parable's lesson is from Philippians 4:6-7. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." The parable is nicely explained in this context.

The book's activity involves playing Jane's Game. There are outlines of Spot, Fluffy, a teapot and two cups on a page that can be decorated with dry erase markers (you'll need to use your own). In the example images, there are also shapes like those in The Vine so you could also put those shapes on the outlines.

Visually, the book will be very appealing to most children. It uses computer-generated animation methods similar to those in the movie "Toy Story." Since it's about children, they will find the material relevant. Also, there are two girls and two boys so there's a chance to relate to a same-sex character. One of the characters, Tom, appears to be African-American which encourages racial openness.

When I was young, I enjoyed the comic-book versions of the Bible that were distributed in Sunday School. These made the stories come to life for me. Unfortunately, there were no similar materials when I was younger. The GypsyBridge Friends fill in that gap in an imaginative way. Now every day can bring a Sunday School lesson for preschoolers and beginning readers!

After you have been reading this delightful book with your child from a while, I suggest that you pray with your child to ask for God's help. That's a way that you can be a greater gift to your child.

The GypsyBridge Friends series of children's books is off to an impressive start in The Vine. The concept for the series surprised me and I had to sleep on that surprise before I understood all of my reactions. I can't remember ever having to think a lot about a children's book before.

The Vine is really a four-part resource. First, it's a story told as a parable about a child, Dick, and his friends, Sally, Tom and Jane. Second, it's a Bible lesson using the parable. Third, it's a play lesson with reusable materials. Fourth, it's a series of teaching suggestions for parents (located behind the materials).

But to say that understates the versatility of this book. Most such books pretty much can be used only as a picture book and then as a reader at a beginner level. The Vine can be used at three levels: a picture book; then as a book where the child has the material read aloud to her or him; and then as a reader that is appropriate for about third grade with over 2000 words in it.

Here's the parable. The four children are neighbors in a seemingly adult-bereft world. God and Jesus are around . . . but not visibly. God's hand starts the story when a coupon floats down from the sky where Dick sees it. The coupon offers one free vine of life "Guaranteed to bring you Joy. Ask in the name of Jesus." Dick heads down to Dad's store and the person at the Customer Service desk gives him a box with a little booklet and a pot in it containing a vine with two tiny leaves. Dick plants the vine right by his front door and heedlessly throws the instructions away without reading them. He waits for the joy to come. While he's waiting, a mug labeled THOUGHTLESSNESS appears mysteriously. Dick tastes it, drinks more and pours the rest on his vine. When Dick returns home from playing with Tom and his dog, Spot, a big purple vine has taken over the front of his house. He angrily cuts the vine down. Next, he starts playing ball with himself. Spot wants to play, too, but Dick won't let him. A can labeled SELFISHNESS arrives. He drinks from that and pours the rest on his vine. He goes for a walk. Now his house is covered with the purple vine again and a new yellow one on one side. Dick gets even angrier and orders his friends to leave him alone. A glass labeled ANGER appears. Dick drinks and pours the rest on his vine. He goes inside and shuts the door. While he's there the purple and yellow vines return along with a red one. He cannot get out of the house! With clippers he can finally get out a window. He asks, "Why would Jesus do this?" Tom asks Dick if he had read the instructions. Dick finds the instructions and finds out that he should "Plant this vine with the love of Jesus. Water with Prayer. Prune with the word of God." There's a box labeled "Love of Jesus," a jar labeled "Prayer," and a small pair of clippers labeled "Word of God." He follows the instructions and all is well.

The parable's lesson is from John 15:1-2 and 5. "Jesus said, I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a person remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." The parable is nicely explained in this context.

The book's activity is using simple shapes to make an image which can easily be turned into a grape vine climbing a trellis.

Visually, the book will be very appealing to most children. It uses computer-generated animation methods similar to those in the movie "Toy Story." Since it's about children, they will find the material relevant. Also, there are two girls and two boys so there's a chance to relate to a same-sex character. One of the characters, Tom, appears to be African-American which encourages racial openness.

When I was young, I enjoyed the comic-book versions of the Bible that were distributed in Sunday School. These made the stories come to life for me. Unfortunately, there were no similar materials when I was younger. The GypsyBridge Friends fill in that gap in an imaginative way. Now every day can bring a Sunday School lesson for preschoolers and beginning readers!

After you have been reading this delightful book with your child from a while, I suggest that you try to create your own book together drawing from the Bible as your inspiration. That's another way that you can be a branch from the vine of Jesus.