Our War for the World: A Memoir of Life and Death on the Front Lines in WW II

Book Description

A Memoir of Life and Death on the Front Lines in WWII

An American combat surgeon's riveting and eloquent eyewitness account of battle in France and Germany during World War II.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent memoir.......2007-08-09

I have known Dr Phibbs for decades; he was one of my mentors in medical school and in my residency. He continues to practice cardiovascular diseases full-time, despite being 85 years old.

Many years ago, when Brendan first told me he was publishing a war memoir, I rolled my eyes: I had heard so many veterans make similar claims that I didn't believe it. I was quite amazed when I found a copy of his (then new) book in a local bookstore. Reading it, I knew immediately that this was Brendan; word for unvarnished word and clearly not the product of ghostwriting or extensive editorial reworking.

Several years later, after I left the University of Arizona and was faculty at the University of Washington Medical School, I invited Brendan to give a lecture to the housestaff about electrocardiograms, that being a favorite topic of his and one on which he is an expert. To my surprise, Brendan closed the lecture with a short talk on the responsibility of physicians to humanity in general and their own patients, in particular. He showed some slides he took during the war, including those from Dachau, the liberation of which he describes in his book. The gasps were audible and the silence was palpable. It was an unforgetable moment.

Later, Brendan gave a lecture at a restaurant sponsored by a drug company. Brendan has a long and consistent record of refusing funds from these companies and did so this time, too. In contradistinction to every other such lecture I've attended, the luminaries of the UW cardiology faculty turned out for this talk en masse: a fitting tribute to a great man.

Anyhow, this is a fine book by a fine human being. It's worth reading and remembering.

Half Memoir, Half Philosophy.......2006-12-19

The beginning of the book is compelling. It starts with a large German woman spitting on the body of a dead American soldier. One of the medics chases after her with a rolled up stretcher. Germans peering out from windows laugh when he hits her in the bottom. I roared as I read that.

The author hates authority, though he is a major in the Medical Corps. He loathes the rear echelon brass. He heaps scorn upon General Patton in particular. He writes that General Truscott made Patton back down in meetings. How does the author know that? Was he a witness?

That is the weakness of the book. It is half memoir, half philosophy. Nevertheless, it is compelling reading.

One of the Best????.......2006-11-11

It certainly seems like I'm in the minority on this one, but I did not like this book at all. In fact, I still have not finished it, and may not. Its called a "Memoir of Life...", but I'd call it "My Philosophical Meanderings".

I've read a number of personal accounts of the war from a rifleman's perspective and really looked forward to hearing how a doctor performed under the rigors of combat, making life and death decisions and treating the wounded. There was almost none of this, probably less than 5% of the book.

So if you are looking for a first hand account of the combat experiences of a front line doctor and how he performed his duties, this is not the book for you.

Can you feel it?.......2006-10-09

If James Joyce had lived in a different time, and been a young soldier in WWII, this is the memoir he might have written.

The style takes some getting used to, but it is worth it. Dr. Phibbs reaches out with the style to grab your mind and show you some of the absurdity and horror and insanity that he saw. And yet, there is humor, irreverance, and even some reminders of the democracy of the men on the line. We, who were not there, cannot fully "get it", but Phibbs lays a bass line down that picks us in our soul-strings and makes us think that maybe we do understand. Perhapse on a genetic level, given our species old love of violence, but there none the less.

This is one of the best war memoirs I have ever read. Of any war. No matter what you think about war and volunteer vs. reluctant soldier, you should read this.

Best Book I've Ever Read.......2005-07-11

I first read this book under its original title "The Other Side of Time" in 1989. After speaking to Dr Phibbs a few years ago I re-read it under the new title which includes pictures the first edition did not.
A revealing and thought provoking book about war and human nature itself it is difficult to put down.
With all due respect to Richard Wheeler's "Iwo" , "Our War For the World" is the best book I have ever read.....on any subect.

Customer Reviews:

Required Supplement to LabVIEW Documentation.......2007-10-01

This book fills in the yawning gaps of LabVIEW 8.xx's documentation and ambiguous and dense "HELP" sections. For example, as a retread LabVIEW user from over a decade ago, I looked for a simple step-by-step procedure to turn on, write, a single digital line. Just to turn on and off a single LED. The LabVIEW HELP returned many dozens of topics and forced me to read many extraneous topics to come to the conclusion that I was not going to find any help. Then, I tried to use the "easy" virtual instruments already made for the occassion, but the only one found after navigating through a thicket of unrelated virtual instruments was one which wrote a digital port of eight channels and no explanation of how to set it up to write one digital line. LabVIEW for Everyone... solved my problem and a whole lot more. This book is needed by anyone who is not an experienced LabVIEW programmer and who does not have the time or resources to attend training classes and wants to get started as soon as possible. Travis and Kring have created a readable and effective reference source for LabVIEW programmers. It is possibly the only book which addresses recent LabVIEW 8.xx software and truly does make it easy and fun.

A good introduction to LabView.......2007-08-26

While there is a a lot of good information of the NI website, I thought buying a book would be helpful as I needed to learn LabView quickly. I thought this book was very helpful and would definately be a good book for someone new to LabView. My only wish is that it would have more converage on the DAQ part. To me this is not only the key part of LabView, it is the only part that got me confused (and still does) at some points. Some additional coverage would have helped.

The Single Best Overall Book On LabVIEW.......2007-07-03

If you are a beginner to intermediate with LabVIEW, then the 3rd Edition is the single best book on LabVIEW available to you as of summer of 2007. If your budget only allows for one or a few books, put this one at the top of you list. I have read this book cover to cover, twice, and some sections in further detail as well as worked through all of the example code in detail.

I won't repeat the fine comments of others in their reviews. I speak from the perspective of 15+ years of working with LabVIEW, as a beginner in the early 1990s, a Certified LabVIEW instructor in the mid 90s, a small control and test system business founder and owner since the late 90s and an enthusiastic member of the LabVIEW community all during that time. I have bought most of the LabVIEW books that have ever been published as well as the (late) LTR newsletter and this 3rd Edition is the best book I have come across. If I were hiring someone new to do LabVIEW work, I'd give them a copy of this book first. The investment is a no brainer.

A great book for beginners.......2007-04-30

LabVIEW stands for: Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench. Unlike traditional programming languages (Basic, C, C++, Java, etc.), where you have to write text instructions line by line, LabVIEW is a graphical programming language. Here you create a program using a graphical notation; in other words, you interconnect functional blocks (or icons) via wires, through which data flow. LabVIEW is specifically designed for data acquisition (DAQ), data analysis, and presentation of results.

If you have never worked with LabVIEW, you are like me. First you have to acquire the basic concepts. After that you will be able to read and fully understand more advanced LabVIEW books (at amazon.com you will find a lot of them).

LabVIEW for everyone give you those basic concepts. It has 981 pages divided into 17 chapters, 6 appendixes and 1 glossary. The fundamentals of LabVIEW are shown in the first 10 chapters. Advanced topics can be found in the last 7 chapters. There are plenty of illustrations (almost every page has at least one).

In this book authors explain, step-by-step, every pop-up menu, every pull-down menu, every functional block and its applications, etc. To follow those explanations, you just need to have the basic knowledge of your PC's operating system. There is an accompanying CD-ROM that includes a 30-day evaluation version of LabVIEW 8.0 for Windows, which allows you to practice all activities (exercises) found inside the book.

Well organized, best choice I know of.......2007-04-02

Labview is a problematic language. At first it seems so easy, and then something comes up and you can spend a lot of time tracking it down.

This book is well organized and has a lot of good content. Other books I've bought were terrible by comparison. This is written by those who know what they are doing.

However, you still have to get under the hood and practice and learn how to work with the program. The book will help.

Average customer rating:

Moderately good
Not Good
not very helpful
The only LabVIEW book you'll ever need
Great Book, Especially for the Working Person

LabVIEW Graphical Programming
Gary W. Johnson , and Richard Jennings
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Modeling & Simulation | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

LabVIEW for Everyone: Graphical Programming Made Easy and Fun (3rd Edition) (National Instruments Virtual Instrumentation Series)
LabView: Advanced Programming Techniques
The LabVIEW Style Book (National Instruments Virtual Instrumentation Series)
LabVIEW for Data Acquisition
Advanced LabVIEW Labs

ASIN: 0071451463

Book Description

LabVIEW is an award-winning programming language that allows engineers to create "virtual" instruments on their desktop. This new edition details the powerful features of LabVIEW 8.0. Written in a highly accessible and readable style, LabVIEW Graphical Programming illustrates basic LabVIEW programming techniques, building up to advanced programming concepts. New to this edition is study material for the CLAD and CLD exams.

Customer Reviews:

Moderately good.......2004-12-17

This book is good for Labview intermediate programmers. It sort of seems hard for a beginner. It does not go into great depths and tricks of programming in labview. if you are in the learning curve this books adds more to that. It is very limited in certain aspects, like real time programming, and does not explain much about DAQ mx. This book is great for people as reference but I guess there lots more to be added.
It did help me intially as I got into more programming, it would not help me.

Not Good.......2004-09-15

This book has little to offer for those that need to do programs in Labview. The first four chapters are useless. If you want a good book get "Labview for Everyone" it will help you to understand Labview.

not very helpful.......2004-03-25

I didn't find this book helpful at all. It is neither for beginners nor for advanced Labview programmers. If you are somewhere in middle and want to enjoy reading a book about labview like reading a fiction, this may be the right book for you.

If you are really looking for a book which you really need to learn something about Labview, this book is not that one. Continue your search!

The only LabVIEW book you'll ever need.......2001-08-27

I've purchased all three editons of Gary Johnson's LabVIEW book and haven't been disappointed yet. This is one of those rare books that lives up to its hype. The writing is clear and engaging, without condescending to the more advanced user. If you're using or learning LabVIEW, check this book out.

Great Book, Especially for the Working Person.......2001-08-22

For those of you who do not have this book, this book is one of the top Labview books available. It goes very quickly through the basics, and focuses more on building actual applications in Labview. Many pointers on how to maximize resources are through out this book. It saved me many hours of trial and error. The book reads as if an articulate person is speaking to you. Very no nonsense.

For example, there's a comprehensive chapter on actually developing a Labview VI for use. It goes through the requirements, the development (internally and also the user interface) and the release of the VI. Further, it has a nice section on DAQ.

Customer Reviews:

Beginners Start.......2000-08-09

Being new to LabVIEW this book was a great help in learning. It starts with the basics and step through each phase. Excellent for any LabVIEW user.

A great book for a novice trying to become more proficient........1999-05-17

I had read all of the manuals that came with LabVIEW, but still needed something more to get me over the initial learning curve; something to answer the "Why should I do it that way?" questions .vs. the "Here's how to do it." The latter part of "LabVIEW for Everyone" did just that, in addition to providing more detail in how to perform basic operations.

Provides enough information to get started.......1998-06-05

Gives excellent overview and lets you see the potential of the software.

Good starting resource - lots of examples.......1997-08-10

I've been programming data acquisition systems for a long time and was daunted by the scope of learning yet another programming language. LabView product literature seemed difficult to understand. But, with the help of LabView for Everyone, I got into the project quickly and get results immediately. The book is easy to read, sometimes cutsey, but filled with good examples that work! They point out pitfalls, problem areas, and provide examples of how-to for many situations (for example, why the wires are different colors and sizes; common errors that result from broken wires, and so forth). Their examples were invaluable for getting my project done in a reasonable amount of time. I'd strongly recommend this book for people faced with getting going with LabView. I developed my project typing with one hand and leafing through this book with the other. I guess it saved me 4 weeks of work. That alone makes it worth the price, several-fold.

Average customer rating:

Very Useful for Creating Professional User Interface.
You thought LabVIEW itself solved all your GUI problems...
GUI Design for Test and Measurement

LabVIEW GUI: Essential Techniques
David J. Ritter
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Operating Systems | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Modeling & Simulation | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Measurement | Experiments, Instruments & Measurement | Science | Subjects | Books

Weights & Measures | Experiments, Instruments & Measurement | Science | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

LabVIEW for Everyone: Graphical Programming Made Easy and Fun (3rd Edition) (National Instruments Virtual Instrumentation Series)
A Software Engineering Approach to LabVIEW
LabView: Advanced Programming Techniques
Advanced LabVIEW Labs
LabVIEW Graphical Programming

ASIN: 0071364935

Book Description

"Dave Ritter is unique in the breadth of his abilities and the depth of his understanding of LabVIEW - and how to teach it..." - Gary Johnson, author Lab/VIEW Graphical Programming *Describes how to implement modern GUI (GraphicUser Interface) methodologies within the LabVIEW application *Provides interface design strategies and basic graphic design principles *Includes over 100 step-by-step LabVIEW GUI Code examples *CD-ROM includes every VI (virtual instrument) mentioned in the book, Quicktime videos demonstrating key aspects of the hands-on section, and a trial version of LabVIEW 5.0

Customer Reviews:

Very Useful for Creating Professional User Interface........2006-02-25

The book is well written and the examples are extremely useful. I have been programming in LabVIEW for 10 years and found the book to be very helpful for improving my programming techniques. My latest user interface is significantly improved over my previous efforts.

You thought LabVIEW itself solved all your GUI problems..........2005-04-21

As a long-time LabVIEW developer, one of the things I like about LabVIEW is how easy it is to whip up a sharp looking GUI. However, along with this easy-of-use comes a responsibility to develop a user-friendly GUI as well. Though the title of this book implies that it only addresses GUI design, there is a significant amount of time spent on software engineering, understanding users, graphic design and coding techniques. This book is a whopper at over 500 pages, and there is no skimping on discussion of any of these topics.

As a developer who is equally at home with computers and people, it is hard to remember that I am in the minority, and the majority of users of my software are likely to be technophobes. The first 5 chapters of this book address user expectations and how, in a deterministic manner, to come up with a GUI that will be friendly to the target users.

Chapter 6, as another reviewer mentioned, is a crash course in graphic design. Over 50 pages of "put this here", "choose these colors", and "use this font". A great reference.

Chapters 7-9 discuss the mechanics of how to make a good GUI. All the regulars are here: VI Server, Custom Menus, Queue and Event-driven architectures, and Property/Attribute Nodes. But there is some neat stuff I have not seen elsewhere, such as how to make pop-up menus, custom toolbar buttons and floating menus/toolbars with minimum hassle and overhead.

Chapter 10 is a guide to everything graphics. It covers different image formats (jpg, bmp, png, etc.), transparency, where to get "free" graphics, as well as a primer on Adobe Photoshop.

The rest of the book (chapters 11 & 12, plus appendix A) are use cases.

In the back of the book is a CD-ROM with most of the examples, plus a ton of great free stuff (e.g., custom buttons) and trial stuff (e.g., Adobe Photoshop).

Complaints: this book is getting a bit long in the tooth. LabVIEW 7 is out with user-defined events, and 8 will be out shortly with a whole new development paradigm. While much of this book remains relevent, some parts are in need of updating (property nodes have been out how long now???).

My other complaint is that this book looks like a pre-publication proof. Nearly every page has a major spelling or grammar error. It is as if no one could make it through the 500+ pages for a final proof before printing. As an example, from page 181: "At this point, it should be stressed that the visual hierarchy is your GUI panels should be governing by more than aesthetic considerations alone." (yes, this is an exact quote)

GUI Design for Test and Measurement.......2002-02-13

As a long-time LabVIEW programmer, I know how easy it is to create rich, graphical user interfaces with LabVIEW. I also know how frustrating it is to have an end user sit down in front of my LabVIEW masterpiece and not have a clue of what to do. In his easy to read style, Dave explains effective user interface design and how to apply it to test and measurement.

I especially appreciated Ch. 6 "Graphic Design for Engineers 101 - A Crash Course in Layout and Design." The discussion on designing an effective layout and the provided templates are excellent.

Book Description

Patterson reassesses the basic premise that guided electricity for more than a century in light of new understanding, pressures, and opportunities. He investigates the changes in progress, those that may follow, and their implications for policy. As the world pursues sustainable development, what might sustainable electricity' mean, and how can it be achieved?

Customer Reviews:

Revolutionary Change Ahead for Electric Power.......2000-06-29

Walt Patterson does an excellent job in his book Transforming Electricity. He provides the reader with a basic understanding of the evolution of the electric power industry in the context of history. He then identifies, clearly and understandably, the forces that are changing today's grid based electric power industry. Especially chilling is his look into the future down two very different but possible paths -- one that leads into a bleak world of power scarcity and unreliability and one that leads to a new and brighter alternative of distributed on-site power. Transforming Electricity could be considered the Rosetta Stone for a radically changing industry -- NextGen Power.

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