H Books

Awesome book. I enjoy reading it. It's easy to read and very comprehendable. It's good information!

I ordered this book and received it very quickly. The book came in new condition as described. Thanks!

The book arrived ahead of schedule and it was in mint condition. I am satisfied with the service and the product.

I am happy with the purchase that I Made. It was delivered on time and was in great shape.

I was asked to evaluate ths for the textbook selection committee at a local high school for possible use as the text book for an environmental science class next year. Since my degree is in Environmental Science, and I have done a lot of work with environmental education, I have read a large number of environmental science books and have seen the good, bad and worst of books on the market.

At first I just planned to skim the book, but after reading a few pages I decided to look at the book more closely, and I was impressed with what I saw. The book is well written in clear, easy to understand language, using a good amount of well done graphs, charts and photos. The layout, in addition, was good, making the book flow in an orderly manner.

The information in the book was excellent, and covered the entire range, as much as is possible in one book, of environmental science. The biology and chemistry were integrated nicely and flowed smoothly.

I have rated this book as four stars only because I feel the authors didn't cover the section on renewable energy as well as I would have liked. The book tended to move through the subject rather quickly, offering only a limited view of what can be done to eliminate the use of fossil fuels. In all other ways this book was superior to many I have read.

I would highly recommend this for an introduction course in college, and also think it would bean excellent choice for a text at the AP or regular high school level, provided the students had enough science background to be able to understand the science. I even believe that a motivated home schooled student could study from this book and do quite well in the subject. Overall, one of the best introductory text books I've had the pleasure of reading.

Although the title of the book is Evolving Halakhah, truthfully, Rabbi Zemer argues convincingly that in many cases, a hard line interpretation was never the actual halakhah concerning a given question. Therefore, reaching a progressive approach to a qustion, rather than evolution, may actually be a discovery of what the true hahakhah is. In other words, the evolution may have been towards a stricter interpretation and an honest reading of the sources would indicate a more lenient approach. A number of topics is covered including fairly recent hot button issues such as the "who is a Jew" issue regarding accepting converts for purposes of Israeli citizenship. Another such topical issue is assuring that a woman in a civil divorce be able to obtain a get.

Rabbi Zemer looks at issues in Israel such as the desecration of Shabbat. This issue involves the stoning of cars being driven on Shabbat as well as other acts that would violate Shabbat in order to "enforce Shabbat." This book provides an interesting analysis of many topical issues and some of these analyses, such as the halakhah concerning abortion, is sure to lead to lively debate.

Evolving Halakhah: A Progressive Approach To Traditional Jewish Law is drawn from author Rabbi Moshe Zemer's thirty-five years of work in the Israel Movement of Progressive Judaism. Examining traditional Halakhah (Jewish law) as it applies to marriage, divorce, illegitimacy, conversion, the state of Israel, the status of women, medicine, burial practices and more, as well as striving to find an approach that is both flexible for modern circumstances yet sensitive to traditional issues of both morality and faith, Evolving Halakhah is a quite thoughtfully written, articulate, and persuasively presented.

I found Evolving Halakhah to be a fascinating book. It covers everything from converts to Judaism, to the peace process. Rabbi Moshe Zemer put a positive interpretation on Halakhah, enabling progressive jews to awake to the possibilities of jewish tradition. I strongly recommend it to anyone searching more about Halakhah.

Moshe Zemer's Evolving Halachah is indeed a late 20th landmark in liberal Jewish thought, for it is the first time a comprehensive philosophy of Jewish law has been in articulated in English. Zemer's position as Chairman of Israel's Reform Jewish Bet Din, or religious court, gives him the authority to speak on his subject. The book looks mostly at Halachah from the vantage point of Jewish issues in Israel, such as conversion, Sabbath observance, military service in the territories, women's rights in marriage, divorce and the synagogue; Jewish burial customs and issues; and many others.

However, the problem this writer sees with the work, is the nature of the author is up against. Solomon Freehof, the pioneering American Reform Halachist, compiled a series of Reform Responsa or letters of commentary on Jewish legal issues over the nearly five decades he was active in this field, and so has his successor, Rabbi Walter Jacobs. However, Freehof's vast compendium of published work is not once alluded by Zemer, and only 2 of his responsa are noted in the entire book, while the volumes Jacobs compiled are nowhere noted.

Further, the principle notion of Reform has always been accommodation to modernity, but the limits of that accommodation have never really been clearly articulated. From the earliest days of reform in Germany 200 years ago, convenience has played a large role in determining the Reform outlook, which is why for example the Reform movement has issued 4 major `platform statements' on theology and Jewish Practice in the last 130 years.

Zemer's biggest problem though is twofold: the ignorance of his Reform laity on the one hand, and the deeply embedded charisma of a clear, and charismatic Orthodox worldview on the other. Of his 11 proposed principles to govern halachic change, only one reminds the worshipper of God or would provide even the slightest incentive to practice, which is the inherent holiness of the mitzvoth. In the Orthodox realm, they have 13 principles of halachic change, fist articulated in the Talmud 1500 years ago, and part of the daily prayer service every day to this day.

This writer would say therefore, that while Zemer's book is an outstanding pioneering effort, it bites off more than it can chew, essentially arguing it's principles without an adequate philosophic grounding. However, while the grounding of this work is week, that doesn't mean none exists; merely that it must come from another quarter. In "Jewish History and Divine Providence(available here on Amazon.com)," I supply the rationale missing from Zemer's text: namely an argument which examines the relationship between Jewish law, Jewish history and it's actual practice, shows how the mitzvoth have actual effect in the real world, and how Jewish practice or the lack of it has influenced modern Jewish history.

With "Jewish History and Divine Providence" and "Evolving Halachah," the reader will have a complete praxis of liberal Judaism, one by which to live and practice, not avoid.

Rabbi Moshe Zemer's 'Evolving Halakha' is a well presented, lucid explanation of the development and interpretation of Jewish law in many areas of human concern. In clear, articulate language Zemer describes the origins and development of Jewish law from its biblical origins through many centuries of rabbinic interpretation. Divorce, abortion, euthanasia, business ethics and environment are just some of the many contemporary dilemmas Zemer discusses from a modern Israeli Progressive Jewish perspective. As an educator, I have found this text very helpful for extending my own understanding of Jewish Law, as well as being a useful basis for informed discussion in my High School classes.

This little book is enormously helpful in identifying birds' nests and eggs. It is an easy read and very informative. Would recommend to all who are interested in birds and birding.

This is a highly recommended book for identifying bird's nests. It's amazing to see all the different types of nests that birds make. These creatures have true workmanship. It must have been a great challenge for the photographer(s) to find and photograph all the different nests throughout this fascinating book. You don't see many books out there on the market like this, so I recommend it.

I was giving a class on monitoring bluebird boxes and I needed to show people the nests of predators and other birds that use the bluebird boxes. I wanted people to be able to see the difference between the nests built by bluebirds as compared to house sparrows, for instance. Also, I needed to show the different colors of eggs.

This book was absolutely essential for this. Once examining the photos in the book and reading the text, people were easily able to identify the different kinds of nests that had been built in the boxes we were monitoring.

I discovered this book while doing coursework at a teacher institute in northern Wisconsin. Like many amateur naturalists, finding an egg that has fallen from a nest is a momentous event, but I wasn't always sure of the bird that laid that egg. While I still might need to actually connect the actual bird with the egg visually, this guide goes a long way toward narrowing my choices.

A list of characteristics, such as oval, long and short pyriform shape, is clearly illustrated in a chart on the endpaper, accompanied by a ruler for measuring in the field. Most incredible to me are the photographs of bird nests in site containing typical egg clutches. Anyone who is a birder knows that these nests are very often difficult to access, as high as 80 feet up a tree! For the photographers to have not only located, but photographed, all these nests is nothing short of remarkable--and helpful. Detailed descriptions accompany the photos. The book is arranged in taxonomic order, making it easy for those of us used to this arrangement.

The average birdwatcher will probably be happy with a basic field guide to identify birds by sight. For those of us who always need "just one more field guide," this guide to nests is a unique addition to that ever-growing library.

We used this book as part of a homeschool/4H project to identify nests that we had found on our property. Using the detailed nest descriptions, photographs of the nests, and sketches of the birds (along with our pocket guide to Wisconsin birds) we had a great time identifying our nest collection. The book's organization makes it easy to narrow down the identification possibilities.

Expert/Advanced/Basic Fly Casting Techniques, Bait Casting Techniques, Packtrain and Camping techniques for everyone to use before going into the mountains or on regular camping trips. Detailed drawings that will be useful for camping in wilderness areas. Special handling techniques of equipment in the Sierra Neveda Mountains and United States of America. Float tubing techniques.

A book for Fishing Guides and Fishing Instructors to teach the basics and master the hand, arm, foot positions, and body motions.
Applicable camping techniques for those who enjoy the Rocky Mountains and Eastern Coast states, and packtrain information.
Excellent guide reference book everyone will enjoy reading before entering the wilderness on opening fishing season and the summer months. Pier Techniques. Float Tubing Techniques for all experienced and beginners. Traveling techniques. Numerous Fly Casting Techniques that are applicable to stream and ocean fishing.
Hand Drawings are unique, very detailed and informative.

Detailed information for fishing and for horse back riding and packtrain trips in the mountains, detailed technical drawings by the author with expert advice on bait and fly casting techniques for all ages. An excellent guide reference book everyone will enjoy reading before entering the wilderness on opening fishing season and the summer months. A book for Fishing Guides and Fishing Instructors. Pier Ocean Fishing Techniques. Float Tubing. Traveling techniques. The Fly Casting Techniques are applicable to freshwater and Ocean Fishing!

This books provides illustrations that will challenge the ability to lift the fishing line with the guidance of body movements that combine foot position, turning waist-shoulders, wrist-hand-arm usage, and eye sight. False Casts, Forward Casts, Back, Roll, Why, Side, Extreme Side, Blind Back, Shoot Line, Quick Pulls and Release of Line, Clothing Applications and Fishing Equipment Handling and much more! Bait Casting Techniques for the Mountains and Salt Water Techniques.

This technical and visual arts will give any fisherman techniques for improving and enjoying the higher skills of fishing and camping in the outdoors. Float tubing, bait casting, trip planning, fishing techniques for backpackers and much more!

The book Forged By Fire is about a boy and his little sister conquering and surviving fears with their family. After Gerald's Aunt died, he has been forced to move in with his mother, his little sister, and his mother's boyfriend, Jordan. While Gerald is there, he has to deal with Jordan abusing his family. Angel is also being sexual assaulted by Jordan. Jordan is than sent to jail. The question is is will Jordan get out of jail and come after Gerald's mother,his sister Angel, or even him? And/or will Gerald be able to provide for his sister more, since they are the only one's that have each other in life since their mother is an addict. I have to rate this book a four star because the story is a realistic fiction book, and children around the world go through things like this everyday. I recommend this book to anymore who is looking for a good book to read or wants to read a book dealing with real life situations.

Forged by Fire is a moving book that will make your emotions run through out your body. The book is a magnificent book that is a fictional drama written by Sharon M. Draper. It is about a young boy, named Gerald, whose like is like a nightmare when a fire occurs in the house. The fire changed his life for the better and he was able to live with his considerate Aunt Queen, who took great care of him through out his 6 years of living with her. But when his mom comes back after being in jail for several years, everything goes down hill and it gets worse when Aunt Queen unexpectedly dies. The mom ends up having to take in Gerald and he quickly learns he must protect his little sister, Angel, from their abusive stepfather, which they all secretly fear. However, to get the courage to do something about the pain and suffering might be the hardest challenge yet to come.
Forged by fire is a book that shows the strength and love people have for one another and the bravery one might have to risk for someone. This book has sequels. Tears of a Tiger and Darkness Before Dawn continue this thrilling story after the first book shuts. If you are the type that enjoys books that make you cry, laugh, and smile, then this is the book that you should be recommended to read, in hopes you will feel the same emotions others did.

Gerald goes through his life in a very suspense and dramatic atmosphere. He lived with his mom until he was three and was hurt in a fire. His mom, a drug addict, was taken away. Many years later after living with his aunt, his mom came back on his birthday with a man and a new child, by the name of Angel. A dramatic scene occurs, which forces Gerald to move in with his mom. His mom, Monique, had a boyfriend that didn't treat them nice at all. He treated Gerald's young, skinny, but beautiful sister in the cruelest ways possible. Their stepfather is as hurtful as a fire in a forest.
When Gerald was finally settled with basketball, another horrifying problem occurred. I got so into the book during this interesting, but extremely emotional ending. I loved the description and I could tell the Author really caught my attention to this book.
Read this suspenseful book, it will blow your mind away! It made me want to never stop flipping the pages. This is an amazing book for anyone, talking about a teenagers struggle threw life. After reading this book, you can read the rest of the series to figure out how there life went. This Sharon M. Draper novel is only $5.99. This book was published in 1997 by Simon Pulse. Read all of the fascinating Hazelwood Books: Tears of a Tiger, and Darkness Before Dawn.

How much are kids suppose to go through? Well young Gerald has a tuff life as a child. He goes through countless hardships and dangers many kids do not experience that early on in life. When his caring aunt dies, he is forced to live with his drug addicted mom and his new step dad, Jordan. While he was living with his loving aunt for nine years, several things happened he did not know about, his mom remarried and had a baby, named Angel. Gerald figured out what was most important while living with his mom, new dad, and new sister. After going through many painful and emotional months of abuse, Gerald decided that something had to be done. Will Gerald be able to stop his abusing stepfather for the last time? Or will he keep living through abuse, hatred, and betrayal?
I tremendously recommend this book to any person who wants to learn how to deal with death, love, and life. Forged by Fire gives a detailed explanation of what some teenagers go through and how the deal with it. To Gerald, life is like a nightmare that he has been trapped in. What made this book great was the love, hurt, and friendship that is scattered throughout the book. Even though the book has immense emotion, it at the same time shows what we, as humans, do in time of need.

Forged by Fire is a book written by Sharon Diaper and is very touching. When Gerald was six, his warm loving aunt died. He is sent to a home where his brutal step dad abuses and molests him and his sister, Angel, and their mom does drugs. When Gerald finds Angel crying with her dad touching her, in bad places, he turns to someone he can trust, Mr. Washington. Jordan is put on trial and is found guilty for abuse and for molestation. However, that is not where it ends.
When Jordan comes back, Angle and Gerald are a lot older. Jordan says he has changed, but they don't believe him. Jordan once again, starts to beat them.
A few weeks later Angel is home alone, Gerald is on his way back from school. Angle is making some hot dogs then walks in the drunken Jordan, screaming furiously. He screams he wants to play some "games", but she pleads no. While this is happening, Gerald is sprinting up the stairs because their apartment is in flames. Gerald finds them and tells them to get out of the apartment, but Jordan doesn't get out. He tries to swing at Gerald. Gerald leg gets broken and Jordan tries to get out. He falls right before the door, dead and Gerald and Angle trip over him. They land in the hallway and the firefighters find them.
Forged by Fire is like a car crash, you don't know if you're going to live.

My interest in this book was triggered by an encounter with a brother-in-law who denied any blood-atonment incidents in the early Basin Kingdom. I knew otherwise from reading Mike Quinn and Mountain Meadows history. Forgotten Kingdom was a good dispassionate source confimring the rough-and-tumble times of early Utah. Full-fledged democratic institutions hadn't yet taken shape in the US generally, much less on the frontier, much less in a territory dominated by a theocratic kingdom not yet ready to accommodate outsiders. Violence was a part of life, just as it is now (only more institutionalized now).

I didn't sense any particular ideology or ax to grind. You don't get that voyeuristic feel of sensationalism that you might with a less sympathetic view. Biglet lets the story tell itself. He doesn't pull punches or whitewash, but neither does he judge from a 21st century view how these frontiersmen made do in their lives. The most important thing I look for when I read a history is a sympathetic storyteller - someone who doesn't judge participants from a narrow point of view. Bigler's history is sympathetic and compassionate.

I have ancestors who settled in southern Utah, and Bigler helps me understand better what they went through. The vision of an independent kingdom of God was doomed from the start, for the same reasons that it failed in Ohio, Missour, and Illinois, You can't help but admire the audacity and tenacity of these early settlers, though. Forgotten Kingdom does a useful services by shedding light on these times.

I agreed with the previous reviewers in saying that this is one of the best books regarding the theocratic state that the Mormons tried to create during their early territorial years. The book does a wonderful job contrasting the theocratic values of the Mormon's ideal world to the republican ideology of the United States at that time.

The key figure of this book proves to be the theocratic dictator of Utah Territory, Brigham Young, prophet and president of the LDS. Its pretty clear by the book that Young saved his church from destruction and with his single-minded clarity of mission, managed to saved Utah for the Mormons. But in doing so, he committed himself to unforgivable sins, worst being the cover-up of the Mountain Meadow Massacre. But it was also interesting how he created a shadow government to off set the loss of formal position. But to paraphase one of the quotes from the book, "I may be the governor of the territory but Young is the govenor of the people" (close?). His defense of polygamy aided the enemies of his church and his willingness to over looked the misdeeds of his underlings marked him as a great but deeply flawed man. The book covered this struggled between Young and all his foes who stood against his theocratic dictatorship.

The book appears to be very well researched, clearly written and easy to read. Its an interesting read of Utah's politics, wars and religious conflicts as the Mormons slowly but surely, began to assimulated into the American society.

If you are looking for a comprehensive and accurate history (1847-1896) of the Mormons this book is the one to buy. David Bigler's ability to accurately research and write about Mormon history is second to none. From the discovery of gold at John Sutter and James Marshall's lumber mill to the Mountain Meadows Massacre this book covers some of the most important events in the history of the United States.

This important and seminal work should be required for those interested in or those currently studying Mormonism and its forgotten legacy to western America.

Beggining with the Arrival of the Mormons in 1847 and the creation of the state of Deseret we are taken through the many twists and turns of the Mormon effort to establish a country west of the mississippi. Truly a tale of endurance and originality. This was the only state ever created in the americas not relying on colinialism to create it. Here the 'Saints' built schools, railroads and an army. The settled the land from California to Nevada to Arizona and beyond. The almost came to war with the American government in 1858. Some mormons massacred a group of Gentiles traveling through Utah(but gee history seems to have forgotten the massacres of mormons back east). We learn of the regime of Young.

The book details the indian wars and immigration. Like estbalishing the state of Israel by the Jews, these pioneers esablished their own Zion which in many ways parrallels the creatiion of the Jewish state a 100 years later.

This bridges the gap between the mormon histories of Nauvoo, the hero making of Orrin Port Rockwell, and the modern mormon books that detail the power and secrecy of the chruch. This book also goes beyond the sensationalistic accounts of the Mountain Meadows Massacre(titled 'American Massacre' it would have been more aptly named for the Waco massacre in 93.)

An important book, well written and structured so as to make it easy for the reader to grasp.

Westerners International gave David L. Bigler's Forgotten Kingdom its Best Book award for 1998.

Will Bagley, Series Editor

We are at a critical time period in church history, where we must be rethinking almost everything we have presupposed in our modern philosophy and methodology to reach post-seeker generations. Jim gives a portrait of the rising landscape that is forming in the Future Church.

Kudos to Jim for a great book that captures the essence of the emerging church movement. Often times when we think emerging churches we think of candles, poetry, tattoos, and experiential worship. Future Church is a great read because it boils down the movement to the core transferrable principles. As a new church plant it was most encouraging to hear stories from other new emerging churches and their struggles. I say this is a must read for all church planters and pastors.

Jim Wilson has shed light on the most crucial element for church leaders -- how to be THE CHURCH God needs to reach a lost and dying world. As a member of a church staff, I've witnessed firsthand how our church has grappled with finding the appropriate identity to draw those in need of the Gospel message into our church. FUTURE CHURCH helped me understand the issues and challenges our church faces. Rather than offering a purely theoretical approach, Jim provides case studies of actual churches -- from big to small; urban to rural -- which are shining examples of the FUTURE CHURCH. Thanks, Jim, for reaching out to us who are struggling to get where we need to be.

I lead a church plant in Seattle called Cascade Hills... We've been at this for 2 and a half years, and are discovering that "contemporary worship" is neither contemporary, or real worship. There is a stirring in us for more of God, and less of "churchianity." We have been on a journey of discovery, and have found ourselves outlining a ministry plan that literally has lined up with each of the 7 fulcrum points Jim Wilson so clearly articulates in "Future Church". Here's where it gets interesting . . . we did the plan, then discovered the book! I have not been able to get past the idea that this is a move of God on His Church, and that something huge is about to happen... Not just in Seattle or the West Coast, or even America, but worldwide. Thank you Jim!"

Finding our way into the future is too often like taking a trail, any trail, and hoping it leads to the mountain top. Jim Wilson has given us in Future Church a trail guide to creating a church whose best days are ahead,not behind. Based not on theory but on actual case studies, Wilson takes us behind the scenes of churches that most of us would never discover otherwise. There we meet fearless leaders and focused congreagations who are influencing the world in which they live in ways that lift up the hope and the winsome nature of the real Gospel. I'm recommending Future Church, not only to all my pastor friends, but to the leadership teams within our congregation. With a guide to a preferrable future at hand, we hope to continue the process of shaping our church into one that shapes our community for the better.

Ed Rowell, Teaching Pastor
The People's Church
Franklin, Tennessee

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.

I have no experience with other geometry books--although I did use the Schaum book and other "outline" help books early in the school year as a reference. Actually Jacobs was easier to use than the "outline" help books. Many problems skate close to calculus (limits are introduced) and analytic geometry. Some problems are quite nearly elegant. Highly recommended.

A good geometry book for high school students. It teaches everything one needs to know about basic euclidean geometry with intuitive lessons and clear explinations of all the content. One thing to note though is that you need a strong understanding of the algerbraic principals of equality, and the fact that the teachers edition is very hard to come by.

A very clear, very entertaining textbook for a high-school course on geometry.

This book introduces logical proofs right at the beginning; you may have some difficulty convincing your kids or yourself that you need to work out all these silly logic puzzles in order to begin studying geometry, but you do.

From there on, the book is a sheer joy to read, full of interesting and tricky problems, clear explanations, and of course those famous B.C. and Peanuts clips.

This is the second book on geometry which I have read almost cover to cover. The first was Geometry by Ray Jurgensen and Richard G Brown written in 2000. Each of these texts seem to me to provide a good introduction to the basics of geometry. I suspect, even someone at the college level, can learn some items which could be quite useful for math, science, or engineering courses. The author has a wonderful sense of humor, which he springles over the text. I have not read the most recent edition of this book, but I hope to one day. This last edition is 17 years younger, having been published in 2004, instead of 1987.

I really enjoyed reading this text. This book is very sensitive to students who are encountering proof for the first time. Jacobs does a great job in building the subject. His motivations and also the humor in text is what makes this book so enjoyable to read. What's more amazing is that he still maintains all the rigor that is critical for advance studies in mathematics.

There might be less than 10 mathematics books in the world that I am glad to put under my pillow when I go to sleep. And this book is one of the top three.

I have some 47 books in the geometry section of my shelves. If I had to discard 40 of these, Geometry and the Imagination would be among the 7 remaining.

Geometry is the study of relationships between shapes, and this book helps you see how shapes fit together. Ultimately, you must make the connections in your mind using your mind's eye. The illustrations and text help you make these connections. This is a book that requires effort and delivers rewards.

The leading mathematician of the 20th century, David Hilbert liked to quote "an old French mathematician" saying "A mathematical theory should not be considered complete until you have made it so clear that you can explain it to the first man you meet on the street". By that standard, this book by Hilbert was the first to complete several branches of geometry: for example, plane projective geometry and projective duality, regular polyhedra in 4 dimensions, elliptic and hyperbolic non-Euclidean geometries, topology of surfaces, curves in space, Gaussian curvature of surfaces (esp. that fact that you cannot bend a sphere without stretching some part of it, but you can if there is just one hole however small), and how lattices in the plane relate to number theory.

It is beautiful geometry, beautifully described. Besides the relatively recent topics he handles classics like conic sections, ruled surfaces, crystal groups, and 3 dimensional polyhedra. In line with Hilbert's thinking, the results and the descriptions are beautiful because they are so clear.

More than that, this book is an accessible look at how Hilbert saw mathematics. In the preface he denounces "the superstition that mathematics is but a continuation ... of juggling with numbers". Ironically, some people today will tell you Hilbert thought math was precisely juggling with formal symbols. That is a misunderstanding of Hilbert's logical strategy of "formalism" which he created to avoid various criticisms of set theory. This book is the only written work where Hilbert actually applied that strategy by dividing proofs up into intuitive and infinitary/set-theoretic parts. Alongside many thoroughly intuitive proofs, Hilbert gives several extensively intuitive proofs which also require detailed calculation with the infinite sets of real of complex numbers. In those cases Hilbert says "we would use analysis to show ..." and then he wraps up the proof without actually giving the analytic part.

If you find it terribly easy to absorb Hilbert's THEORY OF ALGEBRAIC NUMBER FIELDS and also Hilbert and Courant METHODS OF MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS, then of course you'll get a fuller idea of his math by reading them--but only if you find it very easy. Hilbert did. And that ease is a part of how he saw the subject. I do not mean he found the results easily but he easily grasped them once found. And you'll have to read both, and a lot more, to see the sweep of his view. For Hilbert the lectures in GEOMETRY AND THE IMAGINATION were among the crowns of his career. He showed the wide scope of geometry and finally completed the proofs of recent, advanced results from all around it. He made them so clear he could explain them to you or me.

I agree that this book, co-authored by the co-greatest mathematician of the first quarter of the twentieth century, is a masterpiece to be treasured and kept in print, as other reviewers have stated.

However: The Preface states: "This book was written to bring about a greater enjoyment of mathematics, by making it easier for the reader to penetrate to the essence of mathematics without having to weight himself down under a laborious course of studies."

All I can say is that if you read this and find it "easy," then you have terrific mathematical talent! Yes, the drawings and the intuitive descriptions are helpful, but much of the book is so obscure that I have been told that one of the world's leading geometers is working on an annotated edition explaining what the authors were talking about. On topics which I had already studied elsewhere, I found the presentation illuminating.

I still recommend this book.

This is a marvellous book. I will illustrate by one sample from each chapter (except chapter 1 on "the simplest curves and surfaces" which is the least exciting chapter). Chapter 2 on "regular system of points" contains a beautiful derivation of Leibnitz' series pi/4=1-1/3+1/5-1/7+... If we draw a large circle centred at the origin then of course a good measure of its area is the number of integer points it contains. Now, for any such point, x^2+y^2 is an integer less than r^2. So the number of such points can be obtained by going through all integers less than r^2 and counting how many times it can be written as the sum of two squares. But this is a classical problem in number theory and the solution is known. So this number theoretic result essentially tells us the area of a large circle, so it implies an expression for pi, namely Leibnitz' series. Chapter 3 is on projective geometry. We go through many projective configurations that are not seen very often today, but still the classics are the best, such as Desargues' theorem. If we have a triangular pyramid and cut it with two planes to get two triangles then the three points of intersection of the extensions of corresponding sides will or course be on a line (the intersection of the two planes), which is the three-dimensional Desargues' theorem. But by projecting the triangles onto one of the walls of the pyramid we get two projectively related plane triangles and the theorem holds for them also. All we have to do to prove the plane Desargues' theorem is to prove that all such configurations can be obtained in his way (i.e. that one can always erect an appropriate pyramid based on two projectively related plane triangles) which is practically obvious. Chapter 4 is on differential geometry. The fundamental concept of differential geometry is curvature, which is a number that indicates how curved a surface is at a given point. It may be defined as follows. We draw a little circle around the point on the surface and consider all the normals to the surface at these points. Take these normals and put them with their origin at the center of a sphere; then they will sweep out a section of the surface of the sphere. The curvature is the ratio of the area enclosed on the surface and that on the sphere as the circle is taken infinitesimally small. This quantity is seen to be invariant under bending by triangulating the surface; then the the circles are polygons with fixed angles and the theorem follows from the fact that the area of a spherical triangle is determined by its angles (proof omitted here; see any Stillwell geometry book for Harriot's beautiful proof (a.k.a. "Euler's proof")). Now, there are two fundamentally different types of points. Either the surface bends in the same direction in every direction, as on a sphere, or it bends in different directions like a saddle. In the first case the boundary on the sphere traced out by the normals has the same orientation as the boundary on the surface; in the second case the orientation is reversed. So, using signed area, the second type of points have negative curvature. A typical surface will have areas of positive curvature and areas of negative curvature and in between there will be lines of zero curvature. An absolutely wonderful, although perhaps not entirely successful, application of this concept is Klein's Apollo Belvidere hypothesis that the curves of zero curvature on a human face determine beauty. Chapter 5 on kinematics contains a determination of the curve that "we may observe ... every day in cups and tin cans when the light shines on them", i.e. the coffee cup caustic. With the sun at x=-infinity, the radius that makes an angle theta with the x-axis will point to a point where the angle of reflection is also theta. Consider a concentric circle of half the radius, and another circle with the other half of the radius as its diameter. The arc cut out of the inner circle by the radius and the x-axis is equal to the arc cut out of the outer circle by the radius and the reflected ray (arc with central angle theta in the big circle = arc with central angle 2*theta in the small cirlce). The shape of the caustic follows by rolling the outer circle on the inner. The reflected light rays are tangent to this curve since they are perpendicular to the line connecting the generating point with the center of motion (intersection of the two circles). From chapter 6 on topology one nice result is that any continuous mapping of a disc onto itself has a fixed point. For suppose it did not. Then any point in the circle can be connected with its image by an arrow. Now consider the point on the boundary. The arrow direction varies continuously as we walk once around the circle, and it end up where it started so it must have made an integer number of revolutions. But there is also a tangent at each point, and the tangent of course make one revolution as we walk once around. The arrows always point to some point in the disc so they could never point in a direction parallel to the tangent so the arrows in fact have to make one revolution also (they would have to be parallel to the tangent for a moment to overtake it, and if they stood still they would be parallel to the tangent "at six o'clock" so to speak). But if we consider the same situation for a concentric circle inside the disc then it too must have arrows making one revolution because the number of revolutions can not make jumps since the new circle is obtained by continuous shrinking of the circumference circle. But as we shrink this circle to infinitesimal radius then all its arrows point in the same direction, so they don't make one revolution, so we have a contradiction. One sees similarly that a continuous mapping of the sphere onto itself also has a fixed point. Since the projective plane is the sphere with diametrically opposite points identified this proves that any projective transformation has a fixed point.