Professional Books

I recommend Roger Mellott's Stress Management tape to anybody, not just working people. His presentation & stories are hilarious! Funnier still because they are so human, accurate, & can be applied to ourselves as well as to others. You won't waste your money on these tapes because you'll want to listen to them multiple times if you're interested in improving your "people skills" & understanding your part in creating your own stress. These tapes are for open-minded people who can look at themselves objectively & still laugh. Great for listening with good friends, too.

I inherited this tape series from a colleague who never wanted it back. I have learned so much from it and always refer back to it. The tapes are very worn out so I will purchase new ones. If you are stressed out I highly recommend you go out and find this series.

The author, Roger Mellott, seems to truly understand human beings for what they are instead of what they should be. He understands the importance of managing existing stress, instead of the futile attempt at trying to make stress disappear completely. What I liked best about it was the advice given: Figure out those things you value most and support it behaviorally.

I purchased this audio cassette set several years ago and listened to it many times. Recently, I listened once again. I realized that I had adopted some of his principles and benefited. The key word in his title is management. He teaches us that stress cannot be eliminated--only managed. His personal illustrations will touch your heart and make you laugh and cry. He tells us that having children is the best and the worst thing we will ever do; he cautions us about "Hoover"ing (vacuuming up) others' problems and claiming as our own. He teaches us to listen and not to offer advice. You will enjoy his personal stories about getting locked out of his hotel room and his graduate class in Sweden. In both cases, the absence of clothing gives the listener hilarous illustrations that make these cassettes entertaining. His simple philosophies are powerful, valuable, and realistic.

We first listened to these tapes about ten years ago. They were loaned to us by a friend. They made such a lasting impression! When we reached a point in our lives where new stressors were becoming over-powering, we searched and located a new copy of these audiotapes. We highly recommend these tapes for anyone who wants to learn how to remain functional with today's stresses.

There are now more than 1 million nonprofit organizations in the United States. The fundraising industry provides one in every ten jobs and is one of the
fastest-growing segments of the economy. In Successful Fundraising, nationally recognized expert Joan Flanagan gives readers the information they need to capture a
fair share of available fundraising dollars. Community volunteers and professional fundraisers alike will find helpful tips and advice on time-proven fundraising
techniques and the most profitable new ways to successfully raise money.

Are you looking to raise $1,000-or $1,000,000-for a particular cause, group, or charity? Successful Fundraising by Joan Flanagan will arm you with the information you
need to capture your organization's fair share of available fundraising dollars.

Whether you are a community volunteer or a professional fundraiser, expert Joan Flanagan offers helpful tips and advice cm gaining access to funds, building
relationships with donors, raising more money in a shorter period of time, and developing a more productive fundraising organization.

Packed with real-litc examples from the author's extensive fundraising experience, this essential handbook is complete with planning guidelines, sample worksheets and
timetables, and all-new information on using the Internet, F-mail, websites, and on-line auctions as fundraising tools. It also includes expanded sections that cover
working with celebrities to raise funds and winning corporate dollars. All the tools you need to plan, create, and execute a successful fundraising effort are included in
this comprehensive guide.

Successful Fundraising is a great resource for non-profit agencies! It is very easy to read, straightforward, and actually a fun read too! Joan gives great examples and stories to illustrate her points.

I recently had the opportunity to attend one of Joan's courses - and she is just as wonderful and helpful in person. She presents the daunting tasks of fundraising in simple language, common sense and humor.

This book should be the "bible" of every non-profit fundraiser!

I'm not a professional fundraiser, but I plan to become involved in nonprofits, and this book was great! I know of some nonprofits that get all of their money from corporate donations and then complain about not having enough money. This isn't the way to do it, according to Ms. Flanagan. In order to be a successful fundraiser, you need to ask, ask, ask, and you need to provide many different ways for different people to give. Flanagan goes into many aspects of the game, including how to send follow up letters, when to ask, how often to ask, and different ways of making it easy to get big gifts. I especially liked the way she talks about the psychology of rich people and poor people, and how both tend to give in different ways. She tells us never to make decisions for givers--just ask, present them with the different options, and let them decide. Great advice.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get involved with charity. The marginal profit from the first day will probably cover the cost of this book many times over.

This book provides the reader with time tested ideas on how to raise dependable money from a variety of sources. I really liked this book a lot. I don't know that I can say I like it quite as much as Fundraising for Social Change (ISBN: 0787984558), Fundraising Basics (ISBN: 0763734462), or Effective Fundraising for Nonprofits (ISBN: 1413300944). But it comes close. This book is very well written and well organized.

In Chapter 1 at Figure 1.3 we are introduced to the Individual Donor Development (IDD) diagram that includes the following eight levels (level 1 at the bottom and level 8 at the top):

1. Individual prospects - potential donations
2. Clients - fees for service
3. Customers - product sales
4. Guests - special events
5. Annual donors and members - direct mail, email, the Internet, phone calls
6. Pledgers and frequent donors - credit card and payroll deductions
7. Major donors - person-to-person requests, clubs, memorials, and honorary gifts
8. Planned-gift donors - bequests, insurance, and life income plans

The author has written her book around the IDD diagram. As a result, this book flows very well. It has a wonderful introduction, a good start, and moves logically to the end. After reading this book you should have a good grasp of fundamental principles of fundraising. You should be able to design a sound written fundraising plan. And you should be confident to move forward by implementing the plan you have written. A wonderful book I have read that will coach you in your attempt to write a good fundraising plan is "The Fundraising Planner" (ISBN: 0787944351).

Are you wondering if your NPO is on the right track regarding its fundraising efforts? If so, take a look at pages 19 and 20 in this book where you will find the author's Fundraising Strategy Planning worksheet. After plugging and chugging info into this worksheet you will know how your organizaton is doing and how it can improve. Also, for an overview of the fundraising process in general examine page 21. It's also where the author explains her book and what it is about.

There is no mention of capital campaigns in this book. And prospect research and how to do it is not covered very well. But other books do a good job on these topics. See "Capital Campaigns" (ISBN: 0763730505) regarding CC's. And see "Fundraising Basics" referred to above, and "Building a Strong Foundation" (ISBN: 0871012499) regarding prospect research. I haven't read it, but there is a book devoted to prospect research. See "Prospect Research" (ISBN: 0763751030).

I noticed a few times in the book the following concept: The tried-and-true fundraising system that still works the best is to (1) give your own donation, (2) then ask people you know for money face-to-face, and (3) then send a personal Thank-You note. If you read this book you will get the information you need in order to raise money. It will provide you with the know-how to do it. First, build a broad base of small donors, and then build a longterm relationship with the best ones. It's really just that simple. 5 stars!

I felt this book was reasonably priced and offered a wide array of helpful fundraising advice -- especially for the small to mid-sized nonprofit. It covers a lot of the basics in a writing style that is pleasant to read.

Don't be fooled by the new title and cover, it's the same book inside. Not one word has been changed - I hope!

If you want to learn to "manage managed care," this is your book. It is certainly one aspect of private practice, but a truly "Successful Private Practice" is so much more than knowing how to navigate managed care. One of these days, maybe I will write the real "Successful Private Practice!"

I highly recommend this book to all the clients of my billing service; in fact, I gave copies for Christmas one year! Therapists are launched into private practice with no clue about how to deal with insurance companies or managed care. Suddenly they have to learn (usually the hard way) how to fill out treatment plans and work with case managers. Susan Frager maps out this new world in a clear fashion, and in language familiar to the clinician.

Any well written handbook is a plus to any mental health office. The information on what should really go on a treatment plan is useful information for a billing service or office manager to pass on to their therapists. This book teaches the therapist a "cooled-down" approach to dealing with the managed care companies instead of an antagonistic approach. Start-up billing services will also find the billing-specific information helpful. This information is spelled out clearly and is easily understood.

This book is excellent. The author's information is presented clearly, giving us mental health providers reassurance that we have a chance with Managed Care. The book is well organized and the information is helpful. Managed Care is a bureaucracy and we must learn the language and the procedures if we are to use Managed Care. This book will help you do that. If you are new to the field and considering Managed Care as a referral source, this is an excellent tool. If you have been struggling with Managed Care for some time, do not hesitate. This book will help you manage your managed care referrals so that you can be a more effective therapist. If you are a mental health provider and are debating about becoming a managed care panelist, you owe it to yourself to read this book before you take the plunge.

Don't be fooled by the new title and cover, it's the same book inside. Not one word has been changed - I hope!

If you want to learn to "manage managed care," this is your book. It is certainly one aspect of private practice, but a truly "Successful Private Practice" is so much more than knowing how to navigate managed care. One of these days, maybe I will write the real "Successful Private Practice."

This was an excellent textbook that allows teachers to supplement their lesson plans using activities that utilize the multiple intelligences. Jensen's book should be a bible for any new teacher entering the profession and for educators who need to emancipate themselves from the sit and lecture method.

Being a Trainer myself.

I highly recommend this book as a resource for learning new tools for beginning trainers.

I bought while I was at Trainers Training

at Idea Seminars with Rex Sikes.

I learned more techniques and exercises

from this book than any other Trainers

book out there.

Useful for creating seminars, training

and computer courses.

TNT will present the Ron Clark Story on Sunday night. Friends star, Matthew Perry, will play the teacher that cared about his students. Watching the movie will give you an idea of what Super Teaching is all about.

The theme of Super Teaching is also embodied in the quote from Senator Robert Kennedy:

"Some men see things that are and ask `Why?' and others see things the way they could be and ask `Why not?'"

Both Ron Clark and Sen. Robert Kennedy, along with Eric Jensen are people who ask "Why not?" They are not satisfied with the way things are and they want them to change. Jensen gave us a guide book to becoming an effective teacher - a way to shake up the way things have always been done. Jensen shows a way to get away from the teacher-centric classroom that turns learners off to a learner-centered lab where students can grow and achieve.

There are over 1000 tips in this book. It would take pages to do them justice. There are tips on learner planning, not lesson planning; tips on the classroom environment, with a huge emphasis on music; tips that address ways to reach Gardner's Multiple Intelligences; ways to make discipline effective; establishing relationships with your students; and how to do effective assessment of learning. It is almost a teacher certification program in one book.

I found that this book has more answers that I could ever formulate into questions. It is an invaluable tool that I will read over and over again. I truly believe that is every teacher used the tips presented in this book, then there would actually be No Child Left Behind!

Excellent examples and lists to use the next day in class. A very practical and meaningful source of information for teachers. If you want to start teaching for learning, this is the book to get you there and you'll have fun doing it. As well as your students!

I encountered this book through one of my professors in grad school and I just had to get my own. It touchs on several topics that all teachers should be interested in. It is exactly what the title implies super book. I thought it would be helpful to have professionaly instead several different books on various topics and I am glad I got it.

Hume's book is an invaluable asset for anyone even considering going on the market. It covers every detail of the job search: application packets, interviews, campus visits, follow-ups, and negotiating. Moreover, it provides specific advice for landing a position at both research and teaching institutions. Particularly helpful are the lengthy lists of interview questions and the sample documents--which go well beyond the simple CV-and-Cover-Letter combination. Make reading this book the first step of your job search, and refer to it regularly as you work through the process.

I can't overstate how valuable this book was to me when I was on the academic job market (2006/2007 academic yr). From my earliest pre-planning for the job search (including tips for professional development and invaluable timelines) to the moment I touched down to all of my campus visits (questions to ask, questions to avoid, tips for the job talk) and even to that final stage: managing offers and contracts, this book helped me figure out how to proceed on the academic job hunt. If you think you'll ever apply for an academic job in the humanities (even years down the line), this book will be useful to you now.

These features were especially useful for me:
*models and tips for CVs, application letters, dissertation summaries
*practice questions for MLA interviews
*what to expect at MLA
*a primer on handling campus visits and job talks
*timelines (how long you can expect to wait to hear about MLA and campus interviews, for example)
*things you'd never think of, like what to ask when you get the call from a department head inviting you to campus.

Having been through this often mystifying and incredibly stressful process, I can attest to the author's sound advice. Now that I'm in a tenure track job (and she has advice for once you get a job, too) I've recommended this book to job seeking grad students in my own department, and I recommend it to you, without reservation.

This is an excellent and very comprehensive guide through the academic job search process. Hume tells it like it is, and much of what you find in this book is (for whatever reasons) not often shared with graduate students as they embark on their job searches. The many anecdotes and sample CVs are a nice bonus. My department buys this book for every PhD student as they enter their job search year--it is required reading.

This book is an excellent resource for any doctoral student's job search. The advice about interviewing, putting together a job application packet, and making the transition from a graduate student to a faculty member is very timely and helpful. The sample documents, which range from c.v.'s to cover letters, are the best feature of the book. I would highly recommend it to anyone on the job market in the humanities or thinking about the process in the future.

For the last 4 years I've been involved in helping our English graduate students find academic jobs. Hume's book was of immense help in this regard. As the placement chair, I ordered it for our department, but I also encouraged our job seekers to get their own copies. It is simply the best book out there right now covering all the ins and outs of the humanities job market. Hume's advice, always provided in clear and direct language, is deeply rooted in both her own experience as a long-time professor at Penn State who has seen many job candidates come and go and the experience of the many students with whom she successfully worked as Penn State's placement advisor. In addition to excellent insights into the dos and don'ts of writing one's job application materials--letters, c.v.'s, teaching portfolios, follow-up communications, etc.--one of the greatest strengths of the book is its presentation of the feed-back Hume received from "her" job seekers in form of long lists of questions people were asked at MLA interviews or on campus, for instance. Working with "my" graduate students, I frequently staged mock interviews with them based on a sampling of the questions provided in Hume's book. Many of our students commented to me that one of the main reasons they felt they did well at MLA or on campus in terms of handling the various and varying questions they had to engage was that they were never really caught off-guard because Hume's book seems to cover every conceivable question one could possibly be asked. Also of great help are the many sample-documents Hume included in her book--again directly taken from her successful seekers. In short, if you at all wonder about the academic job market--what it is like, how you should prepare for it, how you might want to negotiate its various stages, and even how to handle yourself in case of success (negotiating your job offer, becoming a new faculty member)--you could not do better than get your hands on this book. There might be a question or two that the book doesn't touch on--but I can't think of any right now.

This book should be in the library of anyone involved with DC-DC converters. The book covers the theory of converters and the SPICE applications are very helpful. I used the Top Spice demo to simulate the buck converter and was quickly running simulations.

This book is a must have for the power supply designer! I own about every book written on the subject, and this ranks with the top 5. I feel that it is especially valuable to the reader who has studied the subject reading other top books in the field.

Each simulation problem is well resolved with examples and a brief of theory is also included in each. Very good for Spice users but not to much useful for others simulation package users.

Once in a while a book comes along that covers a subject in such detail and yet is chocked with examples that are easy to prove and use by students and designers in the field as this one. It is evident that Mr. Basso went to great lengths to make sure that users of different spice software platforms were included by supplying a CD with models and demos for all the major platforms. I don't know of another offering that deals with closing the feedback loop in the detail as this book does. I think any serious graduate program should consider including this book as a text. Money and time well spent; it is my second reference for serious SMPS work.

Charles Denton
Custom Engineering

Christophe Basso worked very hard giving years of his life to produce the best Switch-Mode Power Supply book available, by far. I have a large collection of books on SMPS and although many are very good books, they are not nearly as complete or practical as Basso's book. He derives all his equations and then shows many real world example designs from start to finish. In my opinion and the opinion of many power electronics professionals and power electronics college students, the averaged switch model is the easiest to create and most intuitive to understand and use. Basso has digested the best information from the best references and then creatively enhanced many models and invented new SPICE models/sub-circuits you need for large and small signal analysis and simulations with the SPICE of your choice. His knowledge of creating analog behavioral models (ABM) that perform just like the real components or circuit functions, is amazing. He created ABM PWMs from individual ABM components. Everything he creates, he verifies. You buy this book at a bargain price and get a CD with all the models/sub-circuits you need to check your existing designs and start new designs with the highest confidence. Once you look at his ABMs, you will want to create some of your own because it is so much fun. In a short time, I've used his models/sub-circuits and his techniques with PSPICE to identify lack of or no phase margin in Switch-Mode Power Supplies for a huge corporation. I have many more power supplies to analyze/simulate and several new ones to design.

I've worked as a power electronics engineer for many years and I'm so thankful to Christophe Basso for working so hard and smart to produce the best Switch-Mode Power Supply book ever written. Very thorough and very practical. Get this book and apply Basso's knowledge, techniques, and SPICE models/sub-circuits to your designs and you will never have another unstable Switch-Mode or Linear Power Supply.

The book is hard to find, but just reading a few chapters can be a great help. Especially at tourist spots such as Rome. The diagrams show some best way to put your wallets and alert you when something might be up. The print quality may seem outdated by today's standard though.

This book has been out of print for some time and recently I'v saved enough to buy a used copy of it. Right off the bat, I have to say this book was well worth the money. Not only does it have an in depth look on pickpocketing, it provides useful diagrams that show how the pros do it. The book also describes (and shows) techniques that pickpockets use to practice. This book is a MUST buy for anyone who has ever had any interest in the subject, from magicians to tourists.

Very impressive, most books you will find on this sensitive subject are written for the magician, But most of these tricks wont be done on stage. I actually thought I was safe with a chained wallet. This book shows how the criminals REALLY do it. If you were an aspiring magician looking for some new tricks this will benefit you because rather than just giving you some silly gimmicks it shows the very basic tactics, in diversion, team work, and manipulation and allows you to be creative.

Very informative book. I went through it once, got my friends watch (gave back later). The reason this book is worth so much is that unlike other books, it tells you step by step how to pickpocket somebody when you are not trying to perform a magic act. This book gives many practice techniques and acts to get the mark vulnerable. This book gives you the confidence to perform your magic act, in a non-magic-show enviornment.

This book is a good step intro understanding the principles of Pickpocketing, and helps any magician on their way to adding a powerful new twist to any magical routine. I HIGHLY reccomend puchasing this book.

It's really interesting to get the background and more importantly the story behind the names that you hear in the circles of technology. Visiting laboratories, and libraries named after people you know about is much more interesting than when you have a little knowledge. Technomanifesto's is a unique compilation of technologies' history, a must read for anyone that considers themself a technophile.

As a 75 year old who had 7 children during the years the technomanifestos were being written, this book opened my eyes. I now have some understanding of what led up to my home computer. This is a must read for anyone in my generation, my children, and my grandchildren.

As someone with no background in computers or information technology, I found Technomanifestos to be a key text. The work not only provided a factual background on the history of computers, programming, and the internet, but also demonstrated the ideologies behind their development. In addition, through an engaging narrative and constant use of non-tech analogy and vocabulary, Adam Brate translates the basics of computer and program development into accessible and digestible language. Most importantly, Technomanifestos encouraged me to relate the politics and polemics of modern technology to my own computer use, newspaper headlines, and the history of knowledge.

Computers have revolutionized our society. Yet most people have little idea of how this happened, who were behind these changes, and what are the issues we still face. This book provides an excellent history of the ideas and the people who changed our lives. I loved the photo inserts of the 20 visionaries the book highlights - from MIT professors in the 1940s in suits and ties, to John von Neumann, Marvin Minsky, and Seymour Papert with their machines, to long-haired Abbie Hoffman, Richard Stallman, and Jaron Lanier. The book is very well written, combining technical details, personal anecdotes, and quotations to give an inspirational overview of how computer technology came to be, and how it effects the world. From information technology to cybernetics to nanotechnology, I learned a lot.

"Technomanifestos" is neither another Unix manual nor another cynical, Gen-X page turner. Rather, it is a thoughtful book that, in accessible language for the non-specialist, excerpts and discusses the fascinating and wide-sweeping ideologies and social goals set out in the groundbreaking writings of the information revolution's key figures. What were the founders of the internet aiming for, beyond another intra-office communication tool or the ability to shop on-line? What exactly paved the way for today's flurry of cyber-activity? How compatible are current attempts to legislate cyber-space with the information revolution's original ideals? How did we move from data compilations to hypertext and Java? "Technomanifestos" addresses all of these questions and more.

Kicking off with a chapter centered on the writings of Norbert Wiener, father of the theory of Cybernetics, the book is structured around the most well-known figures of the Information Revolution, their respective contributions and their visions of where it would all lead, as seen in their own writings. By no means, however, is it limited to just the movement's technical or computer-based aspects and thinkers. On the contrary, tied in throughout the shrewd exploration of the true significance of today's increased communication possibilities are such famous pop and counter-culture icons as Marshall McLuhan and Abbie Hoffman.

From the origins of digital thought to such modern issues as open source, "Technomanifestos" offers a chronological panorama of what the great minds behind the Information Revolution actually thought.

Deep calleth unto deep, this is the closes book ever written next to the Bible itself that pertains to true Revelation into the study on The Kingdom of God.

For scripture searches and their meaning from a premillennial veiwpoint, this is a great work. Small print to fill pages in 3 volumes attests to its magnitude. This work is gold in a mine of confused writers. A lifetime work that is greatly appreciated by me and my premil. brethren. Enjoy.

Though out of print, Kregel Publishing is considering reprinting this book when they have enough interested people. Please contact Kregel on their website and express your interest in getting this most classic prophetic work back in print.

Do you wish to know Biblical prophecies? Are you tired and confused about prophetic authors interpreting prophetic Scripture? Rev. George Peters quotes over 4,000 different sources to bring you a list of observations and principles about all that God has done and is doing to set up His future Theocratic Kingdom that will last forever. Premillenial, Biblically sound, almost every book in the Bible is compared to show you the BIG PICTURE of God's dealings with man. This is a must for every serious student of the Bible.

"Absolutely riveting logical presentation of the Kingdom of Christ foretold in the O.T. While a reference work, this treatise unfolds like a mini-series with lucid and scriptural explanations of the meaning of Messiah's Kingdom in relation to the Abrahamic/Davidic covenants and the real meaning of the New Covenant in the NT. A panoramic presentation of church history is woven in and hundreds of familiar names and their works are cited. It will strengthen your faith clear up much confusion on the role of the Church (definitely NOT the promised Kingdom) in God's plan for the Ages. Drop everything and read this work, highlight it, study it, and share it with your brethren."

This is a must-have guide for anyone in, or preparing to work in, a professional field involving scientific discovery, creating things, or solving complex real-world problems.

Knowing how to increase my productivity has benefited me in several ways: monetarily, satisfaction, competitive advantages for myself and clients, etc. Leohle explains why skill, motivation, and strategic use of time and effort results in professional success. Worthy library addition for any thinker.

Politicians have trusted advisers and strategists who guide them in their every move. There are, however, many professions that require innovative thinking and decision making, and whose practitioners have to be their own strategists. Of course, people in such occupations could do what most people do, which is to use a trusted colleague as a sounding board for their ideas. However, many times a colleague is not available, and even if one were, there is no guarantee that he or she will have the level of discernment needed for a particular problem. It is possible to circumvent the lack of a guru, a spin doctor or a discerning friend, by verifying our own ideas before implementing them. Loehle's book Thinking Strategically: Power Tools for Personal and Professional Advancement, teaches us how to condition our intellect to think ahead so that we can plan a strategy to attain that which is important to us. Naturally, this includes choosing the best path whilst avoiding pitfalls, side-tracking and even derailment from the path. For that, we must learn how to study the particular, while keeping an eye on the whole, and to keep in perspective several logical and causal connections simultaneously. Then, when we master how to think by ourselves, we must learn how to be our own sounding board, that is, how to check our results against all possible errors that can occur during the thinking process and compare them objectively against a known standard. This aspect of strategic thinking is referred to as reality check. The author distinguishes two types: internal and external. The former is important because many of the patterns we perceive are not real but artefacts of our imagination or, may have resulted from an array of potential errors of thinking such as faulty generalization, bad use of logic, incoherence and bad risk checking. The external reality check is like scientific hypothesis testing or the test drive of a new car, and it requires us to submit our result to an array of tests to discredit it, and finally to peer review. One does not need to be a book worm to fully appreciate this book but being reasonably well-read in scientific and technological matters will help to fully appreciate the examples taken from the great innovators. Thinking Strategically is a cornucopia of rich pickings of allegories, common sense and wisdom tempered by the amusing illustrations of Richard Loehle. I recommend this book for anyone challenged to provide novel ideas or solutions to problems still untackled by routine manuals. pires.obrien@netmatters.co.uk

This book was higly recommended to me by a colleague, and after reading it I realize that the content is indeed very good. But the aridity in the author's writing style sometimes jeopardize the content. The text should be more pleasant to read, with more passion and more fun, but instead, it reads like a scientific thesis, with almost no emotion. The few times the author tries to throw a little humor into the text, it looks like it's out of context. But, again, it is worth reading for the very well structured message about strategic thinking tools and techniques, even if ater a while you become a little bored.

Politicians have trusted advisers and strategists who guide them in their every move. There are, however, many professions that require innovative thinking and decision making, and whose practitioners have to be their own strategists. Of course, people in such occupations could do what most people do, which is to use a trusted colleague as a sounding board for their ideas. However, many times a colleague is not available, and even if one were, there is no guarantee that he or she will have the level of discernment needed for a particular problem. It is possible to circumvent the lack of a guru, a spin doctor or a discerning friend, by verifying our own ideas before implementing them. Loehle's book Thinking Strategically: Power Tools for Personal and Professional Advancement, teaches us how to condition our intellect to think ahead so that we can plan a strategy to attain that which is important to us. Naturally, this includes choosing the best path whilst avoiding pitfalls, side-tracking and even derailment from the path. For that, we must learn how to study the particular, while keeping an eye on the whole, and to keep in perspective several logical and causal connections simultaneously. Then, when we master how to think by ourselves, we must learn how to be our own sounding board, that is, how to check our results against all possible errors that can occur during the thinking process and compare them objectively against a known standard. This aspect of strategic thinking is referred to as reality check. The author distinguishes two types: internal and external. The former is important because many of the patterns we perceive are not real but artefacts of our imagination or, may have resulted from an array of potential errors of thinking such as faulty generalization, bad use of logic, incoherence and bad risk checking. The external reality check is like scientific hypothesis testing or the test drive of a new car, and it requires us to submit our result to an array of tests to discredit it, and finally to peer review. One does not need to be a book worm to fully appreciate this book but being reasonably well-read in scientific and technological matters will help to fully appreciate the examples taken from the great innovators. Thinking Strategically is a cornucopia of rich pickings of allegories, common sense and wisdom tempered by the amusing illustrations of Richard Loehle. I recommend this book for anyone challenged to provide novel ideas or solutions to problems still untackled by routine manuals. pires.obrien@netmatters.co.uk