Book Description
The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the TalibanÂ's backyard
Anyone who despairs of the individualÂ's power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of PakistanÂ's treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools—especially for girls—that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles MortensonÂ's quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.
Customer Reviews:
Three Cups of Tea.......2007-10-17
It was a book required to read in an English class. The book has a good message.
Admire the Commitment and Accomplishments, but..........2007-10-15
What Mortensen accomplished with commitment and perseverance is undoubtly a great humanitarin effort. However, the book is irritating to read. Mortensen's name is used so many times over and over it is distracting. "Mortensen this" and "Mortensen that"! It reads like Mortiensen is a demi-god and it really presents like this when you realize he is a coauthor. Why not write this inspiring story in "first person"?
The humanitarian effort is inspiring if you can get through the book!
A book every American should read.......2007-10-15
An excellent story and very well written. It is particularly timely today given what is going on in that part of the world. It certainly gives much to think about. I would recommend this to everyone I know.
Timely.......2007-10-14
This story provides much needed insight to the central Asian world. Greg Mortenson is a true hero for all humankind.
Seeking to understand other cultures and creating peace.......2007-10-14
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Three Cups of Tea, and have recommended it to many. I found it hard to stop reading it, finished it in only a few days, and was sorry there wasn't more to read. The story itself was exciting, and had many cliff-hangers, but at the end, the messages of peace, charity, and understanding other cultures were the feelings that endured.
Book Description
A dazzling novel in the most untraditional fashion, this is the remarkable story of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who travels involuntarily through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare's passionate love affair endures across a sea of time and captures the two lovers in an impossibly romantic trap, and it is Audrey Niffenegger's cinematic storytelling that makes the novel's unconventional chronology so vibrantly triumphant.
An enchanting debut and a spellbinding tale of fate and belief in the bonds of love, The Time Traveler's Wife is destined to captivate readers for years to come.
Customer Reviews:
Perfection.......2007-10-16
There is no review I could write that would do this book justice. I read this book Christmas Eve and thought of nothing else save the characters. This book is the most moving work of fiction I have ever come across. The book takes the reader on a journey of love that is unparalleled in it's devotion and in many ways realism. This is my favorite book and have given it as a gift to everyone I love without a single complaint.
The writing is exquisite and draws you in but it is the raw emotion that will linger long after you have set the book aside. For anyone concerned by the idea that it will be too "sci-fi" for him I can assure you it is well grounded and while may incorporate elements that make it more fantastic those events are only necessary to explain the truth of the characters who have made the decision to begin a life together while accepting that their time together will not be shared. The husband, without control, changes to different period of time. The book is about how they cope and how they love despite this unusual problem.
If you are not crying by the end you do not have a soul. This book will change your life. It is a work of fine literature for the ideas, for the writing but mostly for the hope and the imagination that it will spark in the reader. It is more than a novel about love it is a novel about our dreams.
sci fi but not sci fi.......2007-10-16
Odd mixture in many ways, combining sort of science fiction (time traveling) with an unusual love story which starts when the female character is 6. Don't be put off thinking it's too sci-fi or some slush fest as it never veers too far in either direction. The books is beautifully written, really drawing you into the story and making you feel for the characters. I did find the dual narrative style a little difficult to follow at times (it's told from the perspective of both the main characters) and the last third of the book was a little drawn out once you can kind of guess where it's going but overall it's a very moving book and well worth a read.
Frustratingly Inconsistent.......2007-10-15
I wish I could rewrite this book.
The first half was exceptional. I was so often drawn in to the characters' lives. I eagerly awaited the point where it would become obvious that Clare and Henry were meant to be together. As I reconsider the novel and the expectations I held while reading this half, I can't help but realize how deeply I was disappointed by the second half. I often felt that Niffenegger lost touch with her characters as the novel progressed. Rather than feeling as though the love between Clare and Henry deepened as their lives became more complicated, their characters started to unravel. Story lines were picked up, only to be dropped abruptly without explanation. Side characters were pigeonholed to an almost insulting degree. And the time traveling, which provided such substance and meaning to my understanding of Clare and Henry early on, added very little value my experience of the second half of the book, except to infuse everything with dread. Ultimately I was waiting for the novel to amaze me, which, unfortunately, it did not.
There were many things I loved about the book, not the least of which is how heavily detailed it was. I only wish that the potential it held for me could have been reached.
Clever Idea, But Over-rated and Unsatisfying.......2007-10-13
Henry DeTamble is a handsome young librarian who lives in Chicago and time travels uncontrollably into the past as well as the future. Many of his travels take him back to see his future wife Clare Abshire as she grows up.
I thought the premise of the book was very interesting and kept me thinking and flipping back and forth to see when events happened in time.
I really enjoyed the first half of the book and I thought Niffenegger did a very good job of making the characters of Henry and Clare come to life. But the second half of the book, after Henry and Clare are married seems to be written in a completely different style. I'm not sure what happened but the story just seems to fall apart and go nowhere. There are many pages devoted to Henry's time travel but few sentences devoted to developing realistic relationships between the characters she created.
I think this could have been a really great book but I honestly didn't feel the love in the love story. And the more I dissected the novel the less satisfying it seems to me.
Okay so that's what I'm going to say without mentioning specifics. If you keep reading you will find...
***SPOILERS AHEAD*** I guess the one thing that seems to be starkly absent from this story is the reason that Henry continues to visit Clare as she grows up. Why does he do that? It seemed to me that he was grooming her to be a better wife in the future but we never see what sends him back to her.
Some other things that seem missing are the realistic details of daily life, like when Gomez and Charisse have their children, their births are not mentioned. When Clare's brother and his wife have kids their births aren't mentioned and their names are never given, they are just referred to as their kids. I think Clare and Henry's heartache over not being able to have children could have been illustrated using the births of the many children in their life.
I thought the story line of Gomez being in love with Clare was left completely unexplored.
I thought the fact that Clare's father and brother never say anything about what happened in the field in 1984 was unlikely. Wouldn't she have talked with them about those events, at least after Henry died?
And what did they tell Alba about her abilities? I think the author addressing that would have given a richer and more realistic feeling to the book. It almost seemed like she was overly focused on the time travel and failed to pay attention to the underlying story she created.
Highly original, entertaining and moving.......2007-10-13
Whew! Did I ever love this book. Niffenger breathes such life into her characters that I actually found myself relating to the woman married to the time-traveler. It's a sweeping love story told from the perspectives of the husband and wife, and he's a librarian and they both love to read so there are lots of literary references to delight book junkies. And Niffenger is a fabulous writer; here's an analogy I loved:
"...smiles in an exhausted but warm sort of way, as though she is a brilliant sun in some other galaxy."
Book Description
Chaisson/McMillan's writing style and pedagogically driven art program are recognized as being scientifically accurate yet accessible to non-science majors. The integrated media program contains the market's only E-book. It provides readers with innovative and interactive tools to learn and test their understanding of astronomy concepts. Topics covered include Astronomy and the Universe, Our Planetay System, Stars and Stellar Evolution, Galaxies and Cosmology, and more. For one or two-semester introductory astronomy course.
Customer Reviews:
New Book that was NOT a new Book.......2007-06-08
Simply put - I purchased this Astronomy book through Amazon because the price was the same as elsewhere but I would save on shipping. I expected a NEW book but received a Used Book in good condition.
The Book itself so far seems well laid out and interesting but the course I am taking has just reached the 1/3 mark toward completion.
For the Non-Science Major.......2007-03-08
This book is designed to be the astronomy book that non-science majors would use to meet their one-year of science requirement as part of their undergraduate degree. As such it is written without the mathematics content that would be normal in a course aimed at astronoly or physics students. In addition, this particular book has several advantages. To identify just a few:
1. Throughout the book there is an emphasis on teaching the scientific method. This area has been strengthened in this edition because (I'm guessing) the current attempts by the un-intelligent design people to disparage scientific theories.
2. Revised to include the latest discoveries being made by the Mars rovers and the down grading of poor Pluto to a minor planet.
3. Updating the current theories regarding dark matter and dark energy.
In summary this is a well written, well illustrated text, ideally suited for the non-scientists.
Astronomy Today 5th edition.......2006-03-11
I have had a lifetime love of Astronomy but have lacked the mathmatical background for a thorough understanding. Most popular books on the subject rarely cover the field in the manner that I desire. Astronomy Today is a textbook for a beginning course in astronomy at the college level and does, in fact, cover a great deal of information without the need for mathmatical knowledge. The authors express their ideas and information in clear, concise language and clearly manifest an enthusiasm for their subject. I have enjoyed the book immensely.
A Paradox of Blind Astronomers!.......2005-06-23
This is an excellent textbook, but I deducted one star (from a possible five-star rating) because of the absurd comments made by the authors in the beginning of the book. In this fourth edition of Astronomy Today, a textbook published by Prentice Hall for college students, the authors open the very first chapter with the following statements:
"Of all the scientific insights attained to date, one stands out boldly: Earth is neither central nor special. We inhabit no unique place in the universe. Astronomical research, especially within the past few decades, strongly suggests that we live on what seems to be an ordinary rocky planet called Earth, one of the nine known planets orbiting an average star called the Sun, a star near the edge of a huge collection of stars called the Milky Way Galaxy, which is one galaxy among countless billions of others spread throughout the observable universe."
Huh!? Earth isn't special? Compare the other planets in our Solar System to Earth and tell us it isn't special. And Earth is "...an ordinary rocky planet..."? It's the only planet we know of with vast oceans of liquid water, a breathable atmosphere, lush vegetation, and a spectacular collection of life forms. The authors of this textbook must have been "out to lunch" when they wrote that trite introduction, or... this is just another deliberate attempt by "philosophers of gobbledygook" to strip the Earth of its special place in the universe and to squash any special characteristics that may differentiate it from everything else in the cosmos. I strongly suspect the latter viewpoint is the correct one.
The fact is the Earth is indeed a very special place, and the Sun is a very special star. In fact, the Sun-Earth relationship represents a very special arrangement that permits life to thrive upon our planet. Mercury, Venus and Mars may be nothing more than ordinary rocky planets, but Earth is truly unique from all the other planets in our Solar System, and may be truly unique in all the universe.
I stand by my initial rating of the textbook: 4 stars and an excellent read. I just have a wee bit of a problem with blind astronomers.
A joy to read!.......2005-02-18
This book is really outstanding! It contains 757 pages of text (not counting the preface and appendix), about 480 (mostly quite smallish) photos, some 400 drawings/figures/illustrations and almost 50 tables. The writing style is very clear, not at all dry or overtly technical. It is a joy to read this book. I know of no other book that clarifies all kind of astronomical subjects as thoroughly and understandably as this book (and I did read many books on astronomy.....). Highly recommended!
Book Description
Merlin the Magician will not eat or sleep or speak to anyone in Camelot. What can be done? The enchantress Morgan knows who to ask
for help: young Jack and Annie of Frog Creek, Pennsylvania! The brother-and-sister team quickly head off in the magic tree house on another magical and historical adventure.
Their mission: discover one of the four secrets of happiness.
Their journey: to a land of fierce samurai and great beauty, the capital city of Edo (now the city of Tokyo), in ancient Japan in the 1600s.
Their tools: a research book to guide them and a magic wand with three special rules.
In Dragon of the Red Dawn, Mary Pope Osborne transports readers back to the splendor, rich culture, and magic of traditional Japan.
Customer Reviews:
dragon of the red dawn.......2007-10-15
I LIKED THIS BOOK BECAUSE It's like I'm in another world.THIS BOOK WAS ABOUT an adventure of Jack and Aaney trying to find the missing dragon.
Magic tree house #37.......2007-10-15
Magic tree house #37,I LIKED THIS BOOK BECAUSE:THEY GO ON MESHINS.
THIS BOOK WAS ABOUT:TWO KID'S GOING ON MESHINS.
I GIVE THIS BOOK:5 STARS.
migec tree house 37.......2007-10-15
I like it the book because it's cool.they went to the tree house they went tothe past.I give it 5 star.
dragon of red dawn.......2007-10-15
The book was about a dragon at ancient China. I liked this book because it descibed China's garden.
Magic Tree House #37 Merlin Misson Dragon of the red Dawn.......2007-10-15
I liked this book because we got to see a very very cool picture of Toyko.This book was about two kids who discovered about Toyko.They were trying to save Merlin to get happiness.
Amazon.com
Celebrated economist Jeffrey Sachs has a plan to eliminate extreme poverty around the world by 2025. If you think that is too ambitious or wildly unrealistic, you need to read this book. His focus is on the one billion poorest individuals around the world who are caught in a poverty trap of disease, physical isolation, environmental stress, political instability, and lack of access to capital, technology, medicine, and education. The goal is to help these people reach the first rung on the "ladder of economic development" so they can rise above mere subsistence level and achieve some control over their economic futures and their lives. To do this, Sachs proposes nine specific steps, which he explains in great detail in The End of Poverty. Though his plan certainly requires the help of rich nations, the financial assistance Sachs calls for is surprisingly modest--more than is now provided, but within the bounds of what has been promised in the past. For the U.S., for instance, it would mean raising foreign aid from just 0.14 percent of GNP to 0.7 percent. Sachs does not view such help as a handout but rather an investment in global economic growth that will add to the security of all nations. In presenting his argument, he offers a comprehensive education on global economics, including why globalization should be embraced rather than fought, why international institutions such as the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank need to play a strong role in this effort, and the reasons why extreme poverty exists in the midst of great wealth. He also shatters some persistent myths about poor people and shows how developing nations can do more to help themselves.
Despite some crushing statistics, The End of Poverty is a hopeful book. Based on a tremendous amount of data and his own experiences working as an economic advisor to the UN and several individual nations, Sachs makes a strong moral, economic, and political case for why countries and individuals should battle poverty with the same commitment and focus normally reserved for waging war. This important book not only makes the end of poverty seem realistic, but in the best interest of everyone on the planet, rich and poor alike. --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
A landmark exploration of the way out of extreme poverty for the worldÂ's poorest citizens
Among the most eagerly anticipated books of any year, this landmark exploration of prosperity and poverty distills the life work of an economist Time calls one of the worldÂ's 100 most influential people. SachsÂ's aim is nothing less than to deliver a big picture of how societies emerge from poverty. To do so he takes readers in his footsteps, explaining his work in Bolivia, Russia, India, China, and Africa, while offering an integrated set of solutions for the interwoven economic, political, environmental, and social problems that challenge the poorest countries. Marrying passionate storytelling with rigorous analysis and a vision as pragmatic as it is fiercely moral, The End of Poverty is a truly indispensable work.
Customer Reviews:
The End of Poverty?.......2007-10-16
I recently read Jeffery Sachs' The End of Poverty. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but was excited to pick up at development best-seller- not a common combination! While I usually try to avoid non-fiction when I'm not at school or working, and tend to have a fiction addiction, I think TEOP will find its way onto my 2007 top ten list.
The book does a great job of summarizing most of my four year international development degree, from discussions of absolute versus relative poverty, to the best way to address the issues of environment, health, education and livelihoods in the developing world. And Sachs does it in a way that makes development concepts accessible: he looks at development as a ladder, and those facing extreme poverty have not been able to get their feet on even the first rung. Thus, the requirements of aid can be seen as inputs to help that group reach the bottom of the ladder and begin to work their way up. He also brings down the issues to a single number: $75billion dollars a year until 2025, at which point he believes that all human kind could be on the development ladder and extreme poverty would be eliminated. Hence, the End of Poverty!
Situated, as he is, in the heart of American development politics and economics, Sachs was also able to do a good job of explaining the successes and deficiencies of his country's aid contributions. Like the discussion in the previous post, this has helped to give me a more detailed view of America's role in the development world, which I find really interesting. He called on a number of American thinkers and activists to give power to his arguments for the potential of the end of extreme poverty. Paraphrasing Martin Luther King, Jr, Sach's says "The bank of international justice is not bankrupt," and explains how people like King, Gandhi, and Mandela "transformed the impossible into the inevitable." While many people think ending poverty is impossible, and that we in the West can't afford it, Sachs is busy making us realize that we can, and we should.
His point is obviously more and better action, which is heralded over and over again by poverty activists like Bono, Angelina Jolie or Bob Geldof. But the good thing about Sachs is that he manages to mainstream his ideas about aid and development, and introduce them in more conservative economic circles than would usually listen to the rockstar rolemodels. In his final "to do list", Sachs calls everyone to "make a personal commitment," something I believe in very strongly. He ends the book with this quote:
Let no one be discouraged by the belief that there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills- against misery and ignorance, injustice and violence...Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. -- Robert Kennedy
Passionate, but conveniently ignores historical reality.......2007-10-15
Sachs passionately promotes the Millenium Development Goals devised by the UN and pleads that if the developed economies of the world commit the resources they've promised these goals will be met. The book is well written and very engrossing.
Unfortunately, much of what Sachs promotes does not relate well with historical reality. The UN and its associated aid agencies have consistently developed grandiose goals which are never met, mainly because the personnel developing the goals are not the same ones determining the contributions and don't determine their objectives based on financial limitations. Sachs does not indicate how the developed world's contributions will be more effectively managed than in the past. Also, since it's apparent the developed world is not going to provide the funding required by the MDGs, he provides no suggestion on how the MDGs can be scaled to provide the most effective use of resources. It's an all or nothing proposition.
Sachs links too many items simply to dollar figures and fails to take into account ethnic conflicts, religous and societal beliefs, as well as any of a number of other factors that can derail aid providers' well-intentioned efforts. He brushes aside poor governance in Africa by stating there are a select few other countries around the world that are even worse. Poor governance and corruption prevent development regardless if it's the worst in the world or not.
Regardless, Sachs does promote a number of ideas that are valid and likely to be successful, such as malaria nets and debt relief to countries that have shown they have taken steps to govern their finances in an acceptable manner, especially if applied and monitored separately and not part of a comprehensive plan to fix everything at the same time.
This book should be read with William Easterly's "White Man's Burden", as Easterly provides the counterpoint to Sach's big Planner approach to foreign aid, and suggests that a more market-based approach, with limited, clearly defined goals would provide a better use of the limited resources available to aid providers.
Smarter than I'll ever be, but still..........2007-10-12
Sachs makes some great points but spends way too much time patting himself on the back. He really has amazing ideas, if you can put that stuff in the back of your mind. He focuses a TON on the successes he's had, and tends to gloss over the countries and economies he made mistakes with. But it's a captivating read- you'll want to pick yourself up and change the world.
Read with a grain of salt. .......2007-10-05
This book covers some concepts that at face value and first read - especially people like me who are not economists - seem quite enlightening. But the more you read, the more you have to question how it seems that the view he presents is a seemingly simplistic solution to what is in reality a complex problem. One of the reviews on here talked about how it is not "infrastructure" that is key to solving the problems, but rather an access to market. I'd have to agree. Companies are not flocking to sub-Saharan Africa to utilize the labor there. Companies are moving to China and India. This is not a simple matter of infrastructure, but a matter of economic policy and much more.
The book points to some villages in rural Africa where things appear to be improving - a choice village or two where Jeffrey Sachs and the Earth Institute at Columbia pour in their resources (these are subsequently called Millennium Villages to coincide with the Millennium Development Goals) - and it makes you think that he might possibly be making some sense. However, what about generalization to a whole country? Of course if you take all your resources, all the scientific knowledge accessible to you from the Earth Institute, and then some, and pour these into a village, what village will not transform? But is it sustainable? Is it generalizable to the whole country? Change needs to occur at the policy/governmental level concurrently, in order for real success and improvement.
While this book may be interesting, it is important to remember that it is not THE way; it is A way, and along with it, it has its flaws. Ask some other economist what they think - I did, and got an earful. The opinion was that Jeffrey Sachs is just recycling his ideas that he used decades back during the 80s, and that to counter this viewpoint, I must read William Easterly. I'm sure there are others out there to read. But again, one good read does not solve all the world's ills. If you don't have access to an economist, read ALL the reviews on here because there are some other points that need to be considered. And I don't appreciate the impression I get that ideas for solving poverty in places like sub-Saharan Africa comes from a simplistic seemingly-enlightened Westernized view of "this is what is wrong with Africa".
We need to end poverty.......2007-09-28
The book is great. It puts the poverty of the world, including America into light. It lets the reader know that poverty can be ended in our lifetime. It is very serious topic and book. We have the opportunity to end poverty, but will we be the generation that sits by and watches our fellow humans starve and die of disease or not?
The book got to me in a very timely manner and was inexpensive.
Book Description
A brief, introductory astronomy book designed for readers with little or no scientific background, A Beginner's Guide uses an exceptionally clear writing style. The authors present a broad view of astronomy without complex mathematics, yet the book discusses important concepts without simplification. The book's organization follows the popular and effective “Earth-Out” progression, starting with our planet and then moving through the solar system. A study of the Sun as a model star follows, then the book covers the Milky Way Galaxy, cosmology, and the universe as a whole. Because of its easy-to-read yet comprehensive coverage of astronomy, this book can serve as excellent reference material for those readers interested in learning about our universe.
Customer Reviews:
Solid Intro Astronomy Book.......2007-03-28
This textbook presents information about the Earth, solar system, and universe in a clear manner that avoids technical jargon while staying scientifically respectable. The author demonstrates the practical uses of mathematics throughout the book and the end of chapter questions challenge the reader's grasp of the material. It's a rarity for such a readable book to be written by a person with this author's impressive educational creditials. I would definitely recommend this text and any other written by Chaisson.
good condition and speedy delivery.......2005-09-19
item arrived in 2 days and was in perfect condition. completely satisfied. would recommend to others!
Way too expensive for a paperback.......2004-08-27
Attractive book but not a good value. All the information is available for free on the internet where it is periodically updated and can be referenced for free without wearing out.
Astronomy Text Book.......2004-01-06
Text book arrived in excellent condition (brand spankin' new) and in a timely manner (about 3 business days). I got a great deal too! No problems whatsoever. Thanks a bunch!
Great Textbook.......2001-03-01
For anyone who has a vague interest in astronomy, this would be the book to read. Albeit not entirely simple, this is a relatively straight forward book that uses excellent examples to explain difficult concepts. There are many charts and diagrams. How exactly does a black hole work? What's the difference between a nova and a supernova (not as simple as you might think)? Why do we get meteor showers? There is a bit of mathematics involved, but nothing too intimidating. This is an excellent textbook. Best of all, a CD-ROM is included with lots of multimedia content, study questions, and links to more sources. Avoid other dry textbooks and purchase this one.
Book Description
Faced with increasing global competition, every industry, business, and service organization is restructuring itself to operate more effectively. Cost-effectiveness and product reliability without excess capacity are the keys to successful activity in business, industry, and government, and these keys are the end results of methods engineering.
The 11th edition of Methods, Standards, and Work Design provides practical, up-to-date descriptions of engineering methods to measure, analyze, and design manual work. The text emphasizes both the manual components and the cognitive aspects of work, recognizing the gradual decline of the manufacturing sector and the growth of the service sector. The importance of ergonomics and work design as part of methods engineering is emphasized not only to increase productivity, but also to improve worker health and safety, and thus, company bottom-line costs.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book.......2007-09-11
Learn alot from the book about Project management. It does not only apply to management but apply to daily life. It teaches you more than there is. Definitely recommended.
Methods, standards and work design.......2005-09-26
I got the book on the first day that it was expexted to arrive and its in great shape.
11th edition.......2002-08-30
I am one of the professors Dr. Seifert is talking about in his review. I continue to use this textbook in both graduate and undergraduate classes on job design. Every semester I search for a better alternative, but am unable to find it. I find this book to be helpful and a good reference that incorporates ergonomics, work design, and methods engineering. (I also use old versions of the lab book that contain very well-made forms.) This text contains the best discussion of time standards I have seen. The 11th edition contains a new chapter on cognitive work. This is a topic I have always discussed and am glad to see formal treatment of it in the new edition. As with any textbook, I do not use it as the sole source of information taught in the classroom and would not recommend it as a sole source. I use the topics in the text to launch discussions and research papers on systems theory, lean, cycle time, environmental, process improvement methodologies, ethics, and other issues for manufacturing and non-shopfloor applications. I find the book especially useful in the area of work design and time standards.
Students have found these skills useful in the workplace. Many of our students work in process improvement and lean implementations. They use these skills to reduce cycle time and balance the lines to meet the demands of customers. Good implementation of lean requires knowledge of how to balance a line to meet customer demand, identify constraints, reduce cycle time, eliminate waste, understanding and dealing with change, cost/benefit analysis, and a direct understanding the relationship between the customer demand and production rate. This text touches on or covers in detail these topics.
I find that the book appears to focus on machine and operator efficiency and utilization, has a primarily decompositional view of work, and concentrates mostly on shopfloor operations. Even with these drawbacks, the text gives the reader solid information on improving workplace design and reducing cycle time while improving worker safety and productivity. I use the discussion on machine and worker utilization to compare and contrast with other manufacturing philosophies, and to relate what the text is covering to more 'big picture' aspects. Other topics not included are a good discussion of maintenance operations and quality. I suggest using other sources to incorporate those topics. All in all, the book is not perfect. It is a very good reference book and text book.
1955 Concepts in 1999 Edition.......2000-10-07
This antiquated textbook is still used at colleges and universities throughout the United States. The first edition of this book was published in 1955 and, after nine more editions, appears largely unchanged in its mentality. Specifically, the textbook is written for a time when corporations had legions of industrial engineers who did nothing but detailed and tedious time and motion studies. Unfortunately, today's dynamic manufacturing environment renders many of the authors' techniques impractical or even financially hazardous. For example, it emphasizes the need to maximize machine utilization (even if the machine is not considered a bottleneck operation). Practices like these lead to excessive inventory and sub-optimization of the collective manufacturing process. In summary, I believe this textbook does a great disservice to those manufacturing firms that have achieved dramatic productivity gains through the application of lean manufacturing techniques.
1955 Concepts in 1999 Edition.......2000-10-07
This antiquated textbook is still used at colleges and universities throughout the United States. The first edition of this book was published in 1955 and, after nine more editions, appears largely unchanged in its mentality. Specifically, the textbook is written for a time when corporations had legions of industrial engineers who did nothing but detailed and tedious time and motion studies. Unfortunately, today's dynamic manufacturing environment renders many of the authors' techniques impractical or even financially hazardous. For example, it emphasizes the need to maximize machine utilization (even if the machine is not considered a bottleneck operation). Practices like these lead to excessive inventory and sub-optimization of the collective manufacturing process. In summary, I believe this textbook does a great disservice to those manufacturing firms that have achieved dramatic productivity gains through the application of lean manufacturing techniques.
Average customer rating:
- Not Free SF Reader
- Such a good book
- A Wrinkle in Time
- A Wrinkle in Time Review
- Wonderful!!!
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A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L'Engle
Manufacturer: Yearling
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Similar Items:
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Island of the Blue Dolphins
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From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
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Bridge to Terabithia
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A Wind in the Door
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A Swiftly Tilting Planet
ASIN: 0440498058
Release Date: 1973-03-15 |
Amazon.com
Everyone in town thinks Meg Murry is volatile and dull-witted, and that her younger brother, Charles Wallace, is dumb. People are also saying that their physicist father has run off and left their brilliant scientist mother. Spurred on by these rumors and an unearthly stranger, the tesseract-touting Mrs Whatsit, Meg and Charles Wallace and their new friend Calvin O'Keefe embark on a perilous quest through space to find their father. In doing so, they must travel behind the shadow of an evil power that is darkening the cosmos, one planet at a time. This is no superhero tale, nor is it science fiction, although it shares elements of both. The travelers must rely on their individual and collective strengths, delving deep within themselves to find answers.
A well-loved classic and 1963 Newbery Medal winner, Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time is sophisticated in concept yet warm in tone, with mystery and love coursing through its pages. Meg's shattering, yet ultimately freeing, discovery that her father is not omnipotent provides a satisfying coming-of-age element. Readers will feel a sense of power as they travel with these three children, challenging concepts of time, space, and the triumph of good over evil. The companion books in the Time quartet, continuing the adventures of the Murry family, are A Wind in the Door; A Swiftly Tilting Planet, which won the American Book Award; and Many Waters. Every young reader should experience L'Engle's captivating, occasionally life-changing contributions to children's literature. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter
Book Description
This special edition of A Wrinkle in Time includes a new essay that explores the science behind the fantasy.
Rediscover one of the most beloved children's books of all time: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle:
Meg Murray, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their mother are having a midnight snack on a dark and stormy night when an unearthly stranger appears at their door. He claims to have been blown off course, and goes on to tell them that there is such a thing as a "tesseract," which, if you didn't know, is a wrinkle in time.
Meg's father had been experimenting with time-travel when he suddenly disappeared. Will Meg, Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin outwit the forces of evil as they search through space for their father?
Customer Reviews:
Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03
A book for children, but not too bad for that. A bored girl, her brothers and others get mixed up in an adventure across the space-time continuum by way of some nifty tesseract tricks.
When a strange older woman comes visiting they set off to find the father of all these children, who is a prisoner of one of your standard supervillains, a giant disembodied telepathic brain.
Such a good book.......2007-05-04
This has been one of my all-time favorite books since I first read it as a girl. It is excellent reading for elementary school children, but also fun for adults. Highly recommended!
A Wrinkle in Time.......2007-04-25
Everyone in the Murray household is impatiently awaiting the father's return. He had mysteriously disappeared while experimenting with 5th dimension time traveling. Both Mr. and Mrs. Murray are intelligent scientists. The book is about how two of their four children and their friend travel light years through time to save their father. Meg, the oldest and only sister in the family, finds it difficult to conceal her anxiety for her father. To support her and get her through life, she spends a lot of time with her brother, Charles Wallace. The two of them always had a tenacious bond. Charles Wallace is very bright, but is inexplicably known as the "dumb baby brother." Sandy and Dennys are twins at ten years old. Meg once overheard, "The twin brothers seem to be nice, regular children, but that unattractive girl and the baby boy certainly aren't all there."
Meg also has a friend named Calvin O'Keefe. He is a smart, popular basketball player a couple of grades above Meg. He and three witches help Meg and Charles Wallace try to find their father. These witches' names are Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which. They are all helpful and unique in their own ways. Maybe a little too unique. Are they smart enough to keep the three children unharmed?
With these interesting characters and a page-turning plot, there's no way you can miss this Newbery Medal book! As you are reading, you come up with questions such as, what does "tesseract" mean? Or, Will everyone come home safely? How does Meg learn to overcome her weakness to save her brother? Also, ask more questions when you read A Wrinkle in Time's sequel, A Wind in the Door and the rest of the series. [...].
A Wrinkle in Time Review.......2007-03-16
The Murrys are often gossiped about since the disappearance of Mr.Murry whom disappeared when Charels Wallace was just a baby (Charles Wallace is the youngest of four children).Charels Wallace is a unique boy and many people think he is a dumb and never learned how to talk when he is really in a way a genius .Margret Murry (Meg) is Charles Wallace's older sister and is the youngest of the four Murry children. Meg is doing poorly in school and is upset because of her "plainness". Eventually Charles Wallace,Meg and Calvin O'Keefe go on a crazy galactic adventure with the help of Mrs.Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which and their ability to tesser.
A Wrinkle in Time is an exciting and creative story that definitely deserves the Newbery Medal. The only problems in the story were that some of the characters were hard to believe and a few things were hard to understand but all in all it was a great book.
6th grader from WI
Wonderful!!!.......2007-03-12
I've loved this book since I was a kid. Now I can listen to it while I'm walking in the mornings.
Book Description
This mainstream, best-selling text is noted for its especially strong integration of compelling and engaging "Lived Experiences" - extended examples that focus on various social issues to illustrate chapter coverage. These extended examples are introduced with the social issue or application that opens each chapter and are then carried throughout the chapter in various boxes, features, and exercises. Kendall's text is also known for its exceptional coverage of current social issues, along with its integration of race, class, gender, and age perspectives. The author includes diverse theoretical viewpoints, including feminist theory. The author's vivid, applied, personal writing style engages students, and her compelling everyday examples make sociology particularly relevant to the diverse student population of today. The author shows students that sociology involves important questions and issues that they confront both personally and vicariously.
Customer Reviews:
Boring.......2006-12-03
This is the worst college class I have had. This book is sooo boring. It is all common sense; I learned nothing except how to name everyday knowledge with big words. This class was awful, and so was the book. Sorry I'm usually not negative about anything I just can't help it, it has been a horrible four months. I expect a A, which is a really big deal because I thought I was going to fall asleep in several of the tests. Horrible, just horrible.
A fine introduction to sociology.......2003-12-02
As one of the most recently-developed social sciences, not to mention one that seems to be consistently popular with college students, sociology is a field that truly needs a good comprehensive text. Put quite simply, this is it. Diana Kendall, a well-respected scholar and author in the field, has managed to put together a text that manages to cover all of the major subfields of the field, presenting a lot of information on each, and giving a good general overview. All of the major subpoints of sociology are covered: population studies, race/gender/ethnic relations, collective behavior, criminology, and more. In addition to providing a solid block of information for each subtopic, Kendall further invigorates her text with well-placed contemporary and classical photographs, graphs, charts, and other peripheral information. She also prefaces each chapter with a real-life example relating to the forthcoming information, a quiz about the information contained within (which sometimes will yield surprising results!), and more. Throughout the individual chapters, she also sprinkles dialogue boxes with separate takes on individual subissues relating to the major topic at hand and shows readers how they can get involved. As a bonus for the college student, certain editions of the book feature a CD with access to additional material, and a free four-month subscription to Infotrac, a well-known scholarly index.
Kendall writes well, and she presents a lot of information. Therein, however, lies my only complaint about this text: certain chapters feel overlong. Granted, sociology is a diverse field, and this book attempts to cover it all between a single set of covers. Still, some chapters are so jam-packed with information that they become somewhat tiresome. Nevertheless, it is all good information -- and all worth reading. It is a small complaint, on the whole, that does not detract from the overall quality of the text.
In summary, this is an excellent introductory text both for a college text and for the individual reader.
One of the better Sociology Textbooks.......2001-07-17
There are a number of good sociology textbooks available, and one can choose almost any of them with confidence. However, this is definitely one of the best. It is accessible, yet the author does not talk down to the student. The illustrations are pertinent and timely. The choice of topics is comprehensive. It is a broad-ranging textbook, yet, at the same time, is focused and direct.
The instructor who chooses to use Sociology in Our Times can be comfortable with the choice. The student who is fortunate enough to have a teacher who chose Sociology in Our Times should be confident that they have had a good exposure to Sociology. If one learns the material in this book they will be well-grounded in Sociology.
Sociology in our times.......2000-08-08
this book is very board. it doesn't discuss things in details. Personally, I don't like this kind of book. I would rather get a psychology than this.
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