5 comments about The New York Public Library Science Desk Reference (The New York Public Library Series).

1. Anyone who is in the sciences, especially the biological sciences, know that the information being discovered it growing at an exponential rate. This makes it incredibly difficult to write a textbook for science, since one way or another, you are going to miss recent knowledge which may not be widely available yet. It is also difficult to decide what science is important to learn. This is one of the major problems in developing science educational standards that all students between K-12th grade should be expected to learn. I am inclined to think that purchasing references books such as this fine example, would almost be preferable to buying textbooks that will be out of date within six months. A reference manual such as this is not intended to be used for reading straight through to gain information on one particular science. Rather it acts as a basic foundation from which to springboard science knowledge. The concept of recommending current reference books, distributing science journal papers and using the vast amount of science knowledge now available on the web is an idea that has been used at the college level for several years. It is now a good idea to extend this practice to the junior high and high school level, rather than attempting to cram textbooks full of scientific information which may or may not be valid and useful to students by the time they complete the class.

   My main objections to this reference book are two. First, for most deaf students (and for nondisabled students too) reseach has demonstrated that the more visual information given in terms of pictures, graphics, photographs, mathematical equations, etc., the more likely students will remember science. This book could definitely use more pictures and graphics, and it could definitely use color for enhancing learning. This particular reference would be great for on-line, especially if the New York Public Library was willing (or Macmillan) to keep it up-to-date...pictures, graphics, and photographs could easily be scanned to make the information more potent to the learner. The other objection is the placement of a large field of study, Neuroscience, in the biology section and it is given barely a nod, when it is as vital to our understanding as genetics is. Even though Neuroscience is considered to be a rather new field, its impact on medicine and behavioral sciences is too large to be dismissed. Perhaps the publishers will rectify this error the next time around.

   Otherwise, I find this to be an excellent resource, both for me and for those I teach. Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh




2. This is a terrific book. Practically every other sentence is a statistic! I love the big list of discoveries and inventions, which dates back to the discovery of fire!
   I love the huge section on computer science, amazing book! worth ten times the price!



3. ...and fun to flip through. And the section on computer science has a handy ASCII chart. Really, isn't getting this sort of spotty, high-level and often outdated scientific information exactly what the Internet is good for? (Do you know that the Internet "has now grown to possibly 2 million host computers all over the world?" - The NYPLSDR does.) If you think a random, off-line, walk through the science tree sounds like fun, get this book. I do and i did and i'm satisfied.



4. While I love the concept of this book, my personal experience was that I flipped, more or less randomly, to four different pages and found errors on EVERY page. Perhaps that was just rotten luck, but it makes me suspicious of all the answers in the book. I think you'd be better off looking at a reference that's written by experts, rather than generalists. Buy a copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica CD-ROM.



5. The book lost immediatly credibility for me when the first thing I looked up contained a serious factual error. The biographical entry for Alan Turing in the Computing section states that he was American, whereas he was in fact British.

   Even if this were the only error in the whole book, how can you trust a book that so immediatly shows itself to be flawed.

No comments about Scott 2005 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue: Countries of the World G-I (Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue Vol 3 Countries G-I).

2 comments about Evolution of the Bicycle, Vol. 2.

1. This is the 2nd volume in the series. The 8 x 11" softbound book contains 238 pages with 100's of full color, sharp photos. Each item is dated. Pricing is 1994-5. There are numerous old bike ads and picture postcards with large photos. Many bike references and dealers are included. A great reference work you'll enjoy and use.



2. The title of the book is somewhat misleading because it does not provide any written history of the bicycle evolution. It merely provides photos of bikes from the 1800s up through the 1970s (with a very few 1980s and 1990s thrown in). The bikes depicted are somewhat intermingled with each other as opposed to depicting them in chronological order. Consequently, there is no index to the book. The photos are very good, however.

2 comments about Collectible Fashions of the Turbulent 1930s.

1. Working in fashion, I found this book gave a very informative overview of not only the clothes but also the accessories. The original photos as well as the sketches were beautiful and extremely detailed.The overall book design layout is well constructed.



2. I just received this book for Christmas along with many other fashion guides. I buy a lot of reference material on period fashions because I own an antique and vintage clothing shop. This book has wonderful pictures that are large and clear. There are a lot of photos as well as textual information that will guide anyone through the decade's different styles. The layout of the book is very nice, also.
   There is quite a bit of information dedicated to menswear and children's fashions also. I do wish the book had more pictures than text, sometimes I'd rather look at the pictures than read about why the style was popular, because the pictures are all I really need to date a piece. Unlike some of the other reference books I have, this book is a little hard to thumb through. Still, If you are looking for a book that covers mens, womens and childrens fashions of the 30s look no further!

5 comments about Reversible Errors: A Novel.

1. I found this book to be lacking in many respects- the story of a man wrongly accused and about to be executed has been done enough and there was nothing in this one that justified telling it again. The characters were all either unlikable, depressing or boring. The pace was slow and the writing sub par, and confusing when it didn't have to be. I also found the sex scenes bordering on gross- I'm not really averse to sex in novels (and Turow is more graphic than many writers), but I really didn't want to hear about one of the characters menstruating....it just did nothing for the story.
   I plodded through this one, but have concluded the only Turow book worth reading is Presumed Innocent.



2. This is the third Turow novel I have read, with the other two being Presumed Innocent and The Burden of Proof. Overall I'd stay it was a step down from the other two, it just did not grab me at any point during the story.
   
   In the first section of the book, the story flip-flops between present and past. For the second and third sections, everything takes place in the present. Since you are constantly looking at things from a different character's viewpoint, sometimes it was hard for me to remember what one character knew and another did not.
   
   The main problem I had with the book, that others have already mentioned, is that I just did not care about the main characters. They were developed well enough, but I was never really rooting for anybody. There was really nobody to get behind so in the end, you're just stuck with a decent story from a bunch of different viewpoints.
   
   I give it three stars because I think some people will really like the story and the writing style of this book, but it just wasn't for me.



3. Sometimes you read an author because you haven't read him (or her) in a long while and you liked their previous work. Such was the case with this book. I really liked Personal Injuries; the writing was strong and the characters multidimensional and intersteng. But I should have known that I was in trouble with this one because right on the cover it said they'd made it into a CBS Movie-of-the-Week. And that's exactly how it reads, pulpy and soap opera-y. In the first part of the book Turrow goes back and forth in time from present to 10 years ago, contrasting the same characters over that time period, after a brutal murder and confession have put the guilty on death row. Unfortunately, that device is dropped and we're left with a staid court procedural where not much is riding on the outcome. Oh sure, lives are in the balance, loves are at risk, careers could tank, but you just never feel all that involved in any of it. Turrow's a terrific writer, but I'd pass on this one.



4. I had to force my self to finish this book. i kept hoping it would pick up, it would add some suspense. I kept hoping it would go somewhere I had not expected. It didnt do any of those things. The ending was predictable, the twists were predictable.
   The only reaosn i am giving it 3 stars, is because he does have a nice style of prose and does a good job with character development. But it drags, and drags, and drags. Its a slow story. I would never recommend this to anybody.



5. I'm going to swim against the negative tide on this one and say I found the plot interesting and the character development quite good. It reminded me of much of John Grisham's work. The book provides some pointed insights about how the criminal justice system works.

5 comments about The Target.

1. I haven't read the two preceding books, but I sincerely hope that they are better than this one. I'd like to think that a federal judge would have better sense than to keep an obviously raped 6 year old in the woods for a week "until she learns to trust him." Meanwhile, her poor mother is searching town after town with no indication from him that she is even alive. I feel very doubtful that said mother, on discovery of the man with her suddenly verbal child, would say to him, "I would have done the same thing in your shoes." Even knowing that he wasn't the original kidnapper, I'm pretty sure I would have sent my daughter out of the room and shot him anyway.
   
   No thanks to Ramsey, the kid hasn't died from internal injuries, and now that the mother (who is far, far more clever than every incompetent law enforcement agent in Colorado) followed the only solid lead that the police "blew off" and is back with her daughter, I think I'll leave them to go on the run without me.
   
   Lazy writing -- it wouldn't have been hard to create a situation where Ramsey and the child together made sense.



2. I just finished the hardback version of this novel (and because it is the only Catherine Coulter book that I have ever read) I thought I would check out what she has going on Amazon. Admitted, I cannot compare it to her other "better" works, but I must say that I found this book to be very touching. I'm actually very surprised at some of the reviews that I have read of this book.
   
   I won't rewrite a synopsis as this has already been done below but I do have several issues in support of this book to point out to other readers.
   
   There is a tad of the unbelievable in the fact that Ramsey didn't immediately take the child that he found to a hospital; but that is a sign of our too cynical hearts. The reason that it is unbelievable is because most people would be afraid of the consequences of being blamed for molesting her themselves and would therefore have immediately turned her over to the nearest "authorities", felt sorry for her and been done with it. But that is not the nature of the "hero" of this story.
   
   What makes this understandable is the fact that Ramsey is a federal judge who knows very well the system that Emma would be going into once he turned her over. As a federal judge he IS one of the "authority figures" and immediately takes responsibility of a child whose situation has touched his heart. He feels that he is more capable of being sensitive to her situation and caring for her than would male complete strangers in some podunk town in the Rockies. [I don't know about any of you readers - but have you ever had to deal with sheriffs in small rural towns on sensitive sexual issues of rape involving children? Guarantied that most of the people involved would be men, and loud, and insensitive to the fear they inspire in the child just by being men. Just imagine how much more trauma could be caused by this to a child.]
   
   Now, you may then bring up the point that as a federal judge he would know about things like destroying bodily evidence from the child when he bathed her, etc. instead of taking her directly to a medical facility. Remember another thing, they were in a very rural, very isolated location with no phone and Ramsey Hunt was in seclusion over what he claimed was the paparazzi chasing him after having to kill some drug dealers in his courtroom. But in reality he is having nightmares, etc. of guilt over having taken a life and doesn't feel good about being considered a hero because he lost it to his anger and killed someone. He was also having feelings of impotence over the fact that because the system was so overcrowded criminals would walk free in too short of a time period anyway. Emma's situation was one he had control over. He felt that he could do a better job than the local authorities who would hurt her feelings and didn't want to turn over the responsibility of her too quickly.
   
   As for the comments about him being almost as sickly obsessed with Emma as the pedophile - again I must point to too cynical hearts. Have any of you ever been exposed to a truly caring male? Not a homosexual with feminine tendencies but a heterosexual man with a caring soft heart? I feel sorry for our society if you haven't. I have. I was raised by one. I was married to one. I have uncles and cousins who are just as family oriented and nurturing - who take on half the care of the kids especially if their wife is pregnant again. Who would be just as outraged to their souls by what happened to that child as Ramsey Hunt's character is. Who may be just as deadly and want to take care of it on their own. (my late husband was a professional martial artist)
   
   Especially if it's a male Cancerian and Ramsey Hunt's character reads like a male cancerian. A male cancerian would be capable of taking a look at a poor, beautiful, abused baby and adopting her. He'd want to be her father and take her in, want to care for her, "mother" her in a male fashion, feel responsible and think that no one would be able to do the job as well as he would himself. He'd take over her life and would then extend that love to her mother. (I remember a male friend telling me once that the way some men find their mates is that they see a beautiful child and then want to meet its mother because the woman who produced such beauty had to "fine" herself.)
   
   So he never says "I love you" to Molly but he does admit, as far as he is capable, that he more than likes her. He comes to appreciate her qualities as a unique person and begins to picture them as a family. He shows her how he feels in his actions towards Emma and Molly. He takes them in and takes them over and nurtures them and lets himself be mothered by the women in his life at the same time. It's typical cancerian.
   
   As for Molly, she comes to appreciate him and his strength and his love for her daughter. He's a handsome, caring, successful, strong, man who will care for her and protect her without patronizing or smothering her. What sane woman would pass that up? She doesn't need money she's rich. What she needed he provided. It's a formula for successful marriage more enduring than the raw "passion" of most romance novels. It's a love story of a family who comes together and of love that grows between them after they have come to appreciate one another, their strengths, and their weaknesses.
   
   I found this book to be very touching. It left me with a bittersweet smile on my face for them as a new family and for the road that Emma would have to travel in life in order to be whole again. The mystery surrounding who was really behind the plots, them on the run, and the chase for the child molester, etc. was pretty good and kept the pages turning. Other commentators were right - it wasn't the most suspenseful book that I've read but it was a very good read. That's why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. Any other comments I make would be spoilers - and I hate spoilers. So I will leave you with a strong recommendation for this book as I really enjoyed it. The male character is not the typical stubborn, brooding Alpha man but caring and sensitive while still being strong and decisive. I will definitely be looking into more of Catherine Coulter's books. Ciao.



3. This book had a refreashing plot. It keep you thinking. But,I really don't think men are that mesmerised by a woman that easily. I give them more credit than that. I received it in great shape.



4. I have read several of the reviews and everyone has their own thoughts but I liked the book but not as much as The Maze. I think I liked the humor and romance between Sherlock and Savage more than the characters in The Target. One Reviewer talked about Ramsey being obsessed with Emma and even said he touched her too much and etc. I didn't see that. He saw her at the worse time right after she had been beaten and abused by this horrible person. I thought he handled it well, gaining her trust and protecting her. If police and therapists had been brought into it at the beginning, she would probably have been more terrified. Ramsey and Molly did seek professional help later. I thought the author's idea for Ramsey was a sensitive caring man and he was devastated by the ordeal of Emma. He indeed did love her and was protective of this little girl who had been wonded physically and mentally. I think Ramsey did love Molly but the author leaves you thinking he marries her just to get Emma, but still think he was in love with her and she him. I have noticed in Catherine Coulter books, she seldom has the romantic characters say "I love you". I kept looking for it in "The Maze" and believe I saw it once from Sherlock. The characters have other ways of dipicting they love the other person but kept wondering why they doen't just say it. Interesting! If I had a problem with the book was a Federal Judge being able to accept the Crime Lord's way of killing and getting away with it. I'm sure that is the way of real life but I had a hard time dealing with that. However, I found the book a "Thriller" and kept my attention from the beginning to the end.



5. When a kid is smarter than the adults fiction is in trouble. Kidnapping and child abuse are tough subjects, but a Judge who doesn't notify the police and a mother who isn't hysterical are hard to swallow. I've enjoyed Coulter's stories in the past but THE TARGET never worked for this reader.
   Savich and Sherlock do stop by for an encore, but without their normal punch. If you are a fan of her writing you may enjoy it, but for others pass this one by, Ms. Coulter can construct a better story.
   Nash Black, author of TRAVELERS and SINS OF THE FATHERS.

4 comments about Classical Deception: Counterfeits, Forgeries and Reproductions of Ancient Coins.

1. For a long time there was considerable confusion about the authenticity of ancient coins. While considerable quantities have been found in the former ancient sites, and they have been collected since ancient times, few works were available to help the collector distinguish between the actual ancient works and fakes and copies made after. Works that are available are hard to find, usually specific to one forger and quite costly. I can safely say that this book clearly outlines the things to look for, from the commonest tourist cast copy to the advanced techniques used to fool the more advanced collectors.

   If you want to collect coins you should include this book as one of your first buys because it can save you many times its cost with the purchase of just one coin that is not right. This is especially true if you are buying on the internet from sometimes unreliable impersonal sources.

   The format is great with a show and tell approach, easy to use, and references to other works on specialized areas of counterfeiting.

   While it shows and concentrates on mostly ancient coins the information is valid for all copies. There are great plates of the fakes the average modern collector is apt to encounter now on the market. This book will help you acquire the basic knowledge necessary in collecting coins just as in any other facet of collecting antiques or art.




2. This book is a must read for those starting out in collecting coins, either ancient or modern. It explains the differences in the original minting of coins, and the "modern" reproductions, fakes and forgeries, even ancient forgeries. It is easy reading, and will give a good basis for coin collecting. It is worth the short time it takes to read, and it may save you from some embarassment.



3. I enjoy reading Mr.Salyes' books and this one is no exception. He easily one of the best current numismatic authors. This work does a great job of covering the types of counterfeits along with their history and an overview of how they are created. It is a very good book for anyone beginning to collect ancient coins. One thing the book is not is a catalog of counterfeits nor a guide on how to detect counterfeits. These subjects are beyond the scope of any general work and are dealt with by various numismatic associations and their publications. So if you are only looking for a manual or catalog move on.



4. Learn something every day. Love that maxim!! This book gives you the complete picture, well worth the money.
   Dennis Skea

No comments about Classic Perfume Advertising, 1920-1970.

1 comments about Egyptian Tomb (First Discovery Books).

1. A clever visual slight of hand makes this a fun book for children and adults. I couldn't get it away from my six year old long enough to really explore all the contents.

3 comments about A People and Their Quilts.

1. This book is superb & worth the extra effort to special order it. The author interviews women (and a few men) of Southern Appalachia, where quilting as a mainstay of life has never really gone out of fashion -- hence they've never had a quilting "revival" either. Photographs are gorgeous, and the stories about the people make you feel rooted to the land. One of the more intriguing stories is the "Hanging Elephant" quilt, which shows an applique block of an elephant being hung for the crime of killing a Tennessee man in 1916. The book is printed on heavy, high quality paper. Quilt history buffs and anthropologists will love this book. As for hobbyists, it's not a how-to book, but the photographs will furnish much inspiration and food for thought.



2. I bought this book while visiting Williamsburg with a friend. It so captured my attention that I had to read some of the stories to my companion. We were both quickly enthralled. I brought it back with me and introduced my quilting group to it. Several more copies sold the next day. The stories are heart warming. The photographs are incredible.

   The man who picked up quilting only after his wife passed. Well. Just amazing.

   The wedding quilt made in the late 1800s by friends and relatives of the bride. Awe inspiring.

   This book is not a "how to" book. But if you are interested in quilts, quilting and quilters, it is a must for your library.




3. This book isn't just about quilts and not just about people. This book is about how quilts helped a primitive Appalachian people survive the cold winters. Each quilt is not only described but the story of it's maker is told with it and why or how they made the quilt. There are amazing touching stories of survival throughout. A must read for collectors of quilts and for those who want to remember a past so different from today. Any Appalachian grandparent would treasure this book.