Metabolism, Movement and Control (Foundations of Biology)

Average customer rating:

Poor Book: Not Recommended

A 'must' for any involved in the sport's finer issues

Interesting overview on a controversial topic

Very Poor

Boring Book

The Juice: The Real Story of Baseball's Drug Problems
Will Carroll
Manufacturer: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Drug Dependency | Recovery | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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Juicing the Game : Drugs, Power, and the Fight for the Soul of Major League Baseball

Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports

Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big

Clearing the Bases: Juiced Players, Monster Salaries, Sham Records, and a Hall of Famer's Search for the Soul of Baseball

Saving the Pitcher

ASIN: 1566637201

Book Description

Baseball is a game that sparks passion, writes Will Carroll, and any attempt to change the game, for almost any reason, meets a nearly universal blockade. The specter that has been presented to fans--that steroids have somehow changed the game--has never been scientifically tested. For me, that's the necessary gold standard of proof, and it should be used with a healthy skepticism for conventional wisdom. The process I went through writing this book was one of discovery. I came into the process with an open mind and a pocket full of questions.

Customer Reviews:

Poor Book: Not Recommended.......2005-12-11

Unfortunately, I purchased and read this book on steroids. Of all the books on the subject, this was by far the worst. The "sources" of information (if you can even call the people sources) are questionable at best. He invents information and passed it on as fact. He will take 1 out of 25 studies -- the negative one and cite that as proof of his point, while ignoring the other 24 favorable or neutral ones.

I disagree with the 1/2 of the reviewers in this topic, though some bring up good points. Mr. "Objective" Nugent is not one of them. He has a major axe to grind.

All in all, not worth it.

A 'must' for any involved in the sport's finer issues.......2005-10-07

Steroids and sports are in the news more and more, especially in baseball: despite the news, few coverages examine how steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs work and how they affect athletes and players. Will Carroll is an acknowledged authority on baseball medicine, and his coverage in The Juice explores legal supplements, illegal drugs, baseball law and performance standards alike. A 'must' for any involved in the sport's finer issues.

Interesting overview on a controversial topic.......2005-07-05

"The Juice" provides a nice overview on topic that sports fans hear about constantly but nobody is really saying anything new about.

The book discusses many of the drugs in question -- both providing a history of PED (Performance Enhancing Drugs) and their effects (both positive and negative) on the human body. Included in this discussion is a section on supplements and other PEDs (caffeine! amphetamines and the like) which I found an interesting side note in the PED conversation that is often left out (how many players who get caught say they were taking a supplement).

The best sections -- which play to Will Carroll's strength, a conversational writing style that makes complex medical issues understandable, are the interviews with a Minor League player and steroid user, a high school baseball player and HGH user, a PED Lawyer, a Trainer who knows PED, a man who runs a top testing company, and a man who claims to have created THG (at the center of the Balco trial).

Those sections provide a behind the scenes look if you will at the issue.

My biggest criticism of the book is that in the end, Will Carroll doesn't seem to draw any new conclusions despite all the information he provides. I wish he had been better able to tie the book up, somehow his conclusions (which were nothing new) left me unsatisfied.

Still this book is a quick read, tightly written book that raises the bar on the PED discussion -- giving you a view of the other side (which is never heard), providing the reader with important information and raising critical issues in this debate.

Very Poor.......2005-06-19

I am the FAN in fanatic when it comes to baseball. If there is a book, I read it. If there is a game, I watch it. If Twins's tickets are available, I am there.

This is probably the worse baseball related book I have ever read. I like Will Carroll's column but he should stick with that style of writing but cause his book writing is awful. If you are looking for a book book on baseball or the subject of steroids, this sure ain't it.

Boring Book.......2005-06-16

A rather spirited debate among reviewers for a book that is rather boring. What did we learn from The Juice?
1. Steroids are bad. This is a revelation?
2. Players such as Giambi and Bonds used steroids. In case you are the one person who has not seen the 176 specials about steroids on ESPN, this could help.

Other than this, the book really revealed nothing new. And the big story is from a source that is anonymous? What are we talking about, baseball's version of deep throat? You have to do better than this.

It was long, drawn and no real "meat" to it. More hype than anything. And I got sucked in with the advertising. Canseco's book was interesting. Great stories and easy to read. At least he gave me something.

I have to agree with some of the critics. Mr. Carroll did a disservice to his readers by including the nutritional stuff with steroids. Most people I know use a lot of this and it is fine. It would be like the president says all drugs are bad - cocaine, heroin and cough medicine. Silly example because we all know that cough medicine is not harmful assuming someone does nothing stupid like drink the whole bottle but it does illustrate the point. He was wrong and should have done his homework or avoided the subject altogether since he seems to known pretty much nothing about it.

Anyway, I like Mr. Carroll but this is subpar. Guess that's why it's not selling really well.

Average customer rating:

Excellent Source to Find Out About Japanese Particles

Beautiful Work!

Great for any student.

Very Good Reference

Great learning book

All About Particles: A Handbook of Japanese Function Words (Power Japanese Series) (Kodansha's Children's Classics)
Naoko Chino
Manufacturer: Kodansha International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Sentence Patterns (Kodansha Dictionary)

Basic Connections: Making Your Japanese Flow (Power Japanese Series) (Kodansha's Children's Classics)

The Handbook of Japanese Adjectives and Adverbs (Kodansha's Children's Classics)

The Handbook of Japanese Verbs

Making Sense of Japanese: What the Textbooks Don't Tell You (Power Japanese Series) (Kodansha's Children's Classics)

ASIN: 4770027818

Book Description

All students of Japanese, whether they have studied physics or not, know the word "particle," and they realize that particles, like English prepositions, require a special effort to master. Thus the high evaluation of the previous edition of this small handbook, which provides all the information students need in a scant 128 pages, was not surprising. All About Particles covers 69 particles, the most common ones along with the less frequent. The particles are shown to have some 200 usages-sufficient to keep most students hard at work for a good many years. The book can be approached as a textbook and studied religiously from beginning to end. All About Particles shines: light enough to carry around, slim enough to fit into the corner of a shoulder bag, concise enough to take one quickly to the crux of the matter, it combines the best of several worlds and is priced to be affordable. No wonder, then, that wherever students of Japanese congregate, there is bound to be a copy of All About Particles around. By the author of A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Sentence Patterns and Japanese Verbs at a Glance.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Source to Find Out About Japanese Particles.......2007-05-30

Before describing the book, a word or two has to be mentioned regarding the publisher, Kodansha International. I don't know if it's because of the policy within Kodansha, or the Japanese culture in general, but you can feel the tidiness, accuracy, and meticulous nature of each author, and the effort expended in order to convey information to the reader the best possible way.

When first starting to learn Japanese on my own, I had tried grammar texts and dictionaries from two other publishers. I found out after a couple of months, that they only cause the reader great confusion, lack a lot of important concepts, the print is often ineligible, and the sentences are in Romaji and not in the native alphabet (Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji), which is so necessary in order to learn the language properly. Other Kodansha publications which I found useful for learning Japanese are Kodanshas Essential Kanji Dictionary (Japanese for Busy People)The Kodansha Kanji Learners Dictionary (Japanese for Busy People)Kodansha's Furigana Japanese Dictionary: Japanese-English English-JapaneseJapanese Verbs at a Glance (Power Japanese Series) (Kodansha's Children's Classics)The Handbook of Japanese Adjectives and Adverbs (Kodansha's Children's Classics)

The material is divided into groups of particles. The most common particles are presented first. The description for each particle is divided into sections. Each section discusses a different meaning and use of the particle. The particle "de" for example, means "a place where an action takes place", "the means by which the action is performed", as well as "the reason of the action". Each section includes a heading, which describes the particular meaning associated with the particle, and then follows with three sentences each in Japanese, Romaji, and English, where this particle is used. Where appropriate, a cross reference is given, regarding the use of different particles for the same situation. For example, "ni" indicates the location of a short term action, whereas "de" indicates the location of a long term action. The particles in each Japanese and English sentence are highlighted in bold, making it easier for the reader to pinpoint it. The index is in English. Sometimes the English translation isn't the way it is spoken in the US, but I don't see it as a major drawback.

In short, I recommend it for every English speaking Japanese student learning on his or her own, or even as supplementary material at college.

Beautiful Work!.......2007-03-12

This book was indespensable in my study of Japanese. The 69 different particles are all explained and used in examples. This makes an excellent supplement for study in a class and it is even good for independent students as well. There is another book by the same author called "How to tell the Difference Between Japanese Particles." It is every bit as good as this book, but its format is different. In this book, the particles are simply explained one by one. In "How to tell the Difference," the particles are grouped according to their function, in categories like "expressions of time" and so on. Either book would be excellent, but have a look at that one before choosing, so you can study with the format best for you. I personally like this one, because I look up unfamiliar particles more than I simply study them.

Great for any student........2007-03-05

This book is wonderful. With how complicated the Japanese language is, this book has made it a bit easier dealing with all the particles and how they are used.

I am in first level Japanese and I love this book. I even bring it with me to class for reference and it has helped me greatly.

Very Good Reference.......2006-08-17

The only flaw that I could find from this book was that it had no excersices for one to practice but overall the book was great. Good explanation and contrast between particle function and usage.

Great learning book.......2005-03-11

This is a very good book for beginners, but you still have to sit down and practice the basics with it... it's very good.

A Dictionary of Japanese Particles (A Kodansha Dictionary)

Average customer rating:

Very good, but not in-depth enough.
This book is absolutely perfect.
Great book on Japanese particles
I never knew there were so many particles!
She is my teacher!!

A Dictionary of Japanese Particles (A Kodansha Dictionary)
Sue A. Kawashima
Manufacturer: Kodansha International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 4770023529

Book Description

For English-speaking students of Japanese, particles are perhaps the most difficult aspect of the language to learn. It would be no exaggeration to say that, for most people, they can never be completely mastered. Thus, the study of particles is a lifetime undertaking, and students need a
lifelong companion to help them along the way. That companion is A Dictionary of Japanese Particles.

Covering over 100 particles in alphabetical order, the dictionary explains the meanings of each (most have more than one) and gives sample sentences for each meaning.

Illustrations are provided where necessary for clarification. There are also exercises at the back of the book for those who wish to test their knowledge of particle usage. Appendices and endpaper charts are provided for easy access.

A Dictionary of Japanese Particles is an essential reference work, meant to be used over the years as students continue to confront puzzling particles.

Customer Reviews:

Very good, but not in-depth enough........2005-07-20

I may be 13 years old, but I have been studying Japanese for about 10 months. Yet I already know about 340 kanji, can write kana almost as well as english, and already studied particles from a previous book. The book I previously used was barely in-depth at all. I had so many questions that I couldnt have answers to. So I came on Amazon to look for a better book. I saw this book, read the reviews, and got it.
I bought this book about a month ago, and when I first bought it and looked at it I thought it was awesome. However, the more I read in this book, I had more questions than answers. This book covers the basic particles wonderfully and deeply, but it lacks in some details with other particles. Like the difference between "made" and "kiri" to translate into the word 'just' and so on and so forth. This book is great to begginners, but I dont recommend it to people who want and in-depth study into particles.

This book is absolutely perfect........2005-04-14

You cannot make progress, let alone master this language, without proper comprehension of particles and their rules and exceptions. This book is an indispensable companion for any student. The book simply explodes with information, including many good example sentences, concise usage explanations, and quick-reference sections with english equivalents and review exercises.
You should have this book.

Great book on Japanese particles.......2004-03-10

In some ways, particles are the key to Japanese grammar, which are one of the many ways Japanese differs from Indo-European languages like English. As the author points out, someone can have a very good grasp of nouns and verb conjugations in Japanese, and yet without particles, still can't construct a grammatical Japanese sentence. And by using two different particles, two sentences that are otherwise the same can be made to mean totally different things.

The definition portion of the book discusses all the particle meanings, giving main as well as variant meanings. There are lots of example sentences, which are in both Roman transliteration and Japanese script. Another helpful aid is the 12 x 14 table of particles in blue in the front and end papers of the book, which is very convenient. At 340 pages long, there is a lot of material here considering it's not that expensive a book.

In the grammar discussion section, the author shows why you just can't replace the prepositions in an English sentence with the particles in Japanese. For example, take the sentence, "My mother and my father had dinner at a restaurant in Tokyo with a friend," which is Watashi NO haha TO chichi WA tomodachi TO issho NI tookyoo NO resuturan DO yuushoku O tabe-mashita in Japanese (the particles are in all caps). This sentence contains 8 particles serving various functions and only two prepositions, so obviously they aren't equivalent.

Particles can serve many different functions, ranging from altering the meaning of the verb to functions that resemble case-marking in Indo-European and other Ural- Altaic languages. The Negara particle indicates that the action described by the verb it follows is being carried out at the same time as another action is taking place. The English approximation is "while doing" or "also doing," as in Boku WA ongaku o, kiki negara doraibu o shita, which means, "I was listening to music while I drove."

Other interesting particles include Tara, which indicates the subject or topic of the sentence, similar to the case marking in so-called Active languages, as opposed to the Nominative-Accusative pattern in English in most Indo-European languages, or the Ergative-Absolutive pattern found in Eskimo, Caucasian languages, south Pacific island and Austronesian languages, and so on. (Basque is also an ergative language, but is the only one in Europe that is.) Then there is the Nite particle, which is placed after a noun of location, which shows where an action took place. This also seems similar to the locative case in many languages, although technically Japanese lacks cases. To give one final example, the TO particle performs a listing function and is used when naming things in succession.

Since Japanese has no case structure and all but two of the verbs are completely regular, Japanese lacks many of the difficulties encountered in other languages. Compared to Indo-European patterns, it isn't very rich in verb forms that deal with time, and it even lacks a true future tense (which Latin does too, interestingly enough). However, it makes up for this in it's variety of modal constructions which indicate the speaker's attitude toward the subject, possibility, probability, conditionality, and so on, and in the complex particle system. This book will help you master this extremely important aspect of Japanese grammar.

I never knew there were so many particles!.......2004-03-07

I've been studying Japanese for about 3 years and I'm approximately JLPT 2kyuu level. However, I was dumbfounded when I saw this book. Every page there's particles I never even knew existed. I mean you always learn the basic particles in school: wa, ga, de, ni, to, mo, made, kara, yo, ne, bakari, hodo, yori, etc. And you even learn how to combine particles for compound particles: ni wa, ni mo, made ni, kara mo, just to name a few. But do you know what "made mo" is? In all the Japanese books I've ever seen, this has never even been given a mention. Did you know that "nite" was equivalent to "de" to mean the location where an action takes place? I'd never even HEARD of "nite". How about "kara shite"? I learned "tokoro de" to mean "by the way", but I had never even thought of the fact that perhaps "tokoro e", "tokoro ga", or "tokoro wo" existed. And they don't mean anything like what you might expect.

This book is a true gem.

She is my teacher!!.......2000-09-08

This book is outstanding. It has helped me tremendously. Combine this book with a Japanese dictionary and you've got just about everything you need to excel in your studying of the Japanese language. Also, as an added benefit, she happens to be my teacher. She is an excellent teacher and one of the best teachers I've ever had the pleasure of being a student under. She exemplifies what it is to be a teacher. So pick up this book and look out for her next book, "Doctor In My Pocket."

Average customer rating:

A valuable reference
The most useful book on particles I have ever seen.
Recommanded for self-learner

All About Particles (Power Japanese)
Naoko Chino
Manufacturer: Kodansha America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0870119540

Customer Reviews:

A valuable reference.......2001-05-01

This book is an excellent reference for the student of Japanese, and especially for those who do any kind of Japanese-to-English translation. Particles are the most difficult aspect of Japanese to understand, and arguably one of the most important. This book sets itself the task of taking common particles in modern Japanese and explaining to the reader what they do in a sentence, with examples and elementary as well as advanced usages. It accomplishes this task, in my opinion, very well. It's one of the books I keep by my side as I do translation work; All About Particles is more helpful to me than my dictionaries in cases where a particle is confusing me (rightfully so; one can't expect a dictionary to fully explain all particles in such limited space).

The most useful book on particles I have ever seen........1999-04-20

As the jacket says: "Particles can be difficult. Particles can be tiresome. But there is no denying it: they must be learned to speak decent Japanese." This book takes the pain out of particles and makes them interesting again.

Recommanded for self-learner.......1998-07-26

A very handy reference on Japanese particles for self-learners (basic Japanese kana's and kanji's assumed, although romanizations are also given). Instead of perplexing users with a lot of technical details like other dictionaries did, this pocket size reference gives clear directions on how and when particles are used. An extreme amount of examples are given.

Average customer rating:

good but not so good
Great reference book
This is essential for anyone studying Japanese!
Very helful

Japanese Particle Workbook
Taeko Kamiya
Manufacturer: Weatherhill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0834804042
Release Date: 1998-04-01

Book Description

Particles are an essential component of the Japanese language, and a facility with their use is essential for a mastery of both spoken and written forms. This new workbook will help students acquire that facility. It introduces 60 particles and their 188 basic functions in order of frequency of usage. Each function is illustrated with example sentences, and exercises are presented every few lessons to allow users to test their understanding, writing directly in the workbook and checking their work against the answers provided. A basic vocabulary is employed throughout to allow students to concentrate fully on one important goal—the mastery of Japanese particles.

Customer Reviews:

good but not so good.......2006-04-04

this book gave good examples and explains pretty weel. but the way of doing exercises is wrong. for example wa and ga are used in some specific ocassions but both mean the same thing. one is to introduce the other is to continue with a topic. the book uses as exercise problems sentences. but for wa and ga you need a paragraph to know when you properly should use them.

Great reference book.......2003-04-24

A good exercise book for beginner/intermediate level. However, some of the sentences are not very accurate (according to my Japanese wife). But all in all, a good book to have together with other reference books.

This is essential for anyone studying Japanese!.......1999-11-13

This is the workbook we use in my Japanese class. This has been the best one we have used (we have tried four others! ). No where else is all this info so organized and well-presented!

Very helful.......1998-09-17

It is a no-nonsense workbook ideal for anybody taking beginning Japanese. It divides the particle usage into different topics, making it easy or users to study. I use this for my Japanese class and it is helping me tremendously.

Negotiation of Contingent Talk: The Japanese Interactional Particles Ne And Sa (Pragmatics and Beyond New Series)

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Negotiation of Contingent Talk: The Japanese Interactional Particles Ne And Sa (Pragmatics and Beyond New Series)
Emi Morita
Manufacturer: John Benjamins Publishing Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 9027253803

The Presupposition and Discourse Functions of the Japanese Particle Mo (Outstanding Dissertations in Linguistics)

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The Presupposition and Discourse Functions of the Japanese Particle Mo (Outstanding Dissertations in Linguistics)
Sachiko Shudo
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0415941679

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A Dictionary of Japanese Particles
Sue A. Kawashima
Manufacturer: Kodansha Amer Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Average customer rating:

decorative iron and metalwork

Decorative Iron and Metalwork: Great Examples from English Sources
R. Goodwin-Smith
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Pictorial Encyclopedia of Decorative Ironwork (Dover Pictorial Archives)

Treasury of Ironwork Designs: 469 Examples from Historical Sources (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)

English Ironwork of the XVIIth & XVIIIth Centuries

Masterpieces of Eighteenth-Century French Ironwork: With Over 300 Illustrations

Wrought Iron in Architecture: An Illustrated Survey

ASIN: 0486420582

Book Description

Magnificent study by expert on age-old craft provides a spirited overview. 140 illustrations include grilles, doors, and gates; stair railings and balustrades; small handles, hinges, door-knockers, and keyhole plates; Elizabethan-era firedogs; weather vanes; much more, many never catalogued before. Rich source of inspiration, royalty-free graphics, information.

Customer Reviews:

decorative iron and metalwork.......2007-05-12

very good book shipped soon beatifull examples I feel very pleased whit this book

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