5 comments about Designing a Digital Portfolio (VOICES).

1. For several months I searched for an appropriate textbook for a course that I was developing. Several days prior to the deadline for the course outline, "Designing a Digital Portfolio " was published. After reading the book, I realized this was the authoritative text for anyone in a creative field. The book asks and answers all the essential questions. It is perfect for the technological savvy multimedia programmer or for any artist with limited technology expertise. I urge anyone who is even considering developing a digital portfolio to buy this book. Without qualification, this is the most valuable book on the market

   Multimedia Portfolio Instructor/Art Institute/Art Institute Online
   Subject Matter Expert / Curriculum Development Multimedia Portfolio




2. This is one of the best books on its topic that I have ever seen. From the title, I expected to find advice on preparing images for the screen, how to put them on a CD or DVD, etc. Those things are there, but the book begins in a logical place that I wouldn't have considered. Brown's approach is truly holistic.
   
   Check out page 23 for the first page of a three-page self assessment check list. It has you evaluate your professional strengths and weaknesses, goals and personality.
   
   Chapter 3 asks you a bunch of questions to help you identify who your audience really is and focus on them.
   
   The rest of the book covers various digital formats, how to organize your work, how to get images of 3D and oversized work into your portfolio, including choosing a camera and setting up for shooting.
   
   Ms. Brown covers editing your images to remove the most common problems, such as moire, sharpening needs, bad crops, etc. And ... she devotes a section to creating written content to accompany your stunning images, telling you how to write to that audience you defined earlier.
   
   She explains the differences between a monitor screen and a printed page. You need to know that to design the correct interface for your portfolio. She also has a full chapter devoted to marketing and copyright issues.
   
   The entire book is scattered with quotes (in friendly green type) from experts and those who have gone before you. The quotes tell you what agencies are looking for in a portfolio, how others have found success at this, what things you can do to streamline the process, etc.



3. If you set can aside the near 100% focus on digital media (though it is excellent for that kind of format) and not hyperventilate in feeling like you need to come up with Flash or DVDs after reading this, it offers solid points on portfolio content, whatever format you choose.
   
   It covers what should go in, what should not go in, how much should go in, how/if to deal with process pieces, storyboarding,
   thematic ties to pull a disparate portfolio together, and sage advice on basics like the kinds of written copy you want to include, such as design briefs, problem statements, and tag lines. It's my favorite book for this effort right now. My husband's, too. I have to pry it off his desk.
   
   It's also savvy when it comes to marketing, so I think it will have a long shelf life in my library for the days when I need to market myself on other things besides landing a job, like marketing my firm.
   
   It has some printed web site design examples which offer visual eye inspiration for printed page layout. It even has great image workflow tips, towards preserving the best image quality with the least needed resolution, that are comprehensible to the lay person as well as meaningful to someone with a high degree of digital photographic processing background.



4. This handbook is targeted at beginners in designing portfolios to submit their artwork or photos when job hunting. It is filled with information, however most is very basic and will only be a review for most readers.



5. Most artists can't do everything - usually they are somewhere in the middle of a chain of production responsiblities that don't include the skillsets involved with presenting a portfolio, digital or otherwise. Many points of insider knowledge are invaluable - I was on the cusp of using PowerPoint for my CD portfolio (my wife has strong skills with this) before being warned that this bussiness presentation software's would be viewed with derision by art directors, and that a high resolution version of a website format is the way to go here - this one parcel of knowledge was worth the price of the book alone, but it is far from the only lesson imparted. Highly recommended - it doesn't stray into realms of esoterica for the sake of pagecount.

5 comments about Acoustic Design for the Home Studio.

1. The equipment available today at the 'advanced amateur' level far exceeds that which was available to the professional only a few years ago. But the quality of the recordings being made do not come up to professional standards. Apart from skill at using the equipment, the biggest difference is the studio where the work is being done.
   
   If the sound is being bounced all around the room in an uncontrollable manner, this will be recorded faithfully by the equipment. The equipment cannot distinguish the sounds you want (and hear) but takes in what your ears are rejecting.
   
   This is an excellent book that gives a bit of the theory of acoustics and studio design and then gives practical examples of studios that were constructed using these principles. There are a number of designs described which cover a range in cost from near nothing to designs that you'd better discuss with your wife before you start spending money. Most of these designs do not involve altering the basic structure of the room itself, just panels you might attach and then take down when you move.
   
   This book is an excellent introduction to a fairly arcane subject.



2. It used to be that musicians went to a professional studio to make recordings; but with all the advancements in computer and recording technology, such a studio is affordable for the home - and ACOUSTIC DESIGN FOR THE HOME STUDIO tells how to make a room perfect for the recording sound desired. Tips on how to sound-proof a home or project studio tell how to use an existing room, whether it be garage or bedroom, and provide diagrams, photos of revamped rooms, and tips on getting the most from such a project.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



3. There are a lot of books on setting up and working in a home studio - very few on treating the frequency response - fewer on doing it on the cheap using the room you have. This is such a book. The case studies are useful and after seeing a few, a pattern emerges and the mystique falls away and you realize that its not such a black art and you can do it yourself using various inexpensive materials. I definitely found this to be a great reasource for getting my room response under control while spending just a couple hundred dollars.
   
   This book is a gem.



4. Before this book I read Basic Home Studio Design by Paul White. This book was very introductory and helped me get somewhat comfortable with the terminology and some standard ways of treating rooms.
   
   Mitch Gallagher's book was definitely a step up from that. It was much more informative and introduced many ways of treating a room (broadband absorbers, bass traps, foam, ceiling clouds, etc.)
   
   This book will without a doubt help one get associated with acoustics. Read the book in its entirety. The only crucial thing that I don't think it focused on much was how to measure your room yourself (acoustically, for flutter echo, decay time, frequency response, etc.)
   
   But, it does give some information that one will be able to figure out and apply properly with a little internet research.
   
   All in all, a very good book that will be very helpful.



5. I have read many articles online concerning acoustics as well as have had the pleasure of working in some wonderful million dollar + studios. I must say that this book is perfect for the Novice who is just getting into acoustics as well as someone like me who has a backing and understanding as well as experience in the field. For its price, I recommend it to EVERYONE!

5 comments about Sync: How Order Emerges from Chaos in the Universe, Nature, and Daily Life.

1. In his 1987 book Chaos, James Gleick noted that choatic systems produce periodic patches of order.
   
   At that time and during that state of research, the answer to the question of why this should be so remained largely unresolved. And to be honest, after reading this book and learning about the sync or synchronicity of how fireflies light up the night in unison and how inanimate pendulums can come to swing in unison the question will be still be largely unresolved.
   
   However, you will leave this book with some additional interesting food for thought.
   
   Why do periodic patches of order emerge in choatic systems?
   
   Well, one answer suggested seems to be that if that chaotic system produces periodic amounts of a like particle -- like an electron -- that those like particles can generally be relied upon to behave similarly. Then maybe it's the delicate calculus of these mutually constitued similar behaviors that helps give rise to the rise of order.
   
   But maybe not...and such is the state of research into this important issue.



2. This book gave both nature and theoretical explanation of what sync is and how it might
   happen. Of course, its raminifaction still need a lot of exploration. This book is a good start and definite a good read for scientific inquiring mind. Read it and you know if you sync with this book.



3. What a fun book. Strogatz has managed to talk about the leading edge of mathematical modeling without a single equation! He uses a comfortable prose and never strays too far from the story of his research. The reader is treated to a view of the way that the world network of scientists organizes itself within areas of research and finds unions where research from one speciality can contribute to another. Who would have thought that the western power grid, the Internet Movie Database and the nervous system of a worm called C. elegans could be effectively modeled with the same operational principles.



4. What I found most interesting about Strogatz's sync theory was the position that it did not require an extensive measure of complexity in order to achieve synchronization. It merely required a critical mass or critical repetition in order to effectuate a phase transformation. The phenomenon of resonance performs similarly. Synchronization may be a form of resonance which has been overlooked, thus far, in our reality (biosphere).



5. Author Steve Strogatz's book "Sync" ostensibly concerns the spontaneous synchronization of oscillators, where an "oscillator" is anything that exhibits periodic behavior -- be it a clock, a flashing firefly, or an electron in a superconductor.
   
   The book is clearly modeled on James Gleick's book "Chaos": both books follow various researchers who originally work in isolation but who gradually recognize that they are investigating different aspects of the same phenomenon. As Gleick did for chaos, Strogatz tries to portray spontaneous synchronization as a fundamental, unifying phenomenon in nature. However, many of Strogatz's examples are unimpressive: sleep patterns, the coordinated flashing of lightning bugs, etc. In the more important cases -- the heart's pacemaker cells, phase transitions -- the mechanisms' details haven't been elucidated, so it's not clear how synchronization actually operates. Gradually Strogatz wanders: He argues that in order to progress, science should abandon its traditional analytic approach of investigating the bits of a system and instead should investigate the interactions between the bits; in this connection, he discusses the game "6-degrees of separation," in which very different people are "linked" by chains of acquaintances.
   
   (Strogatz also follows Gleick's footnote format, which is a nuisance.)
   
   In reading this book, I had hoped to find deep insights from a principal investigator in the field; instead, I found entertainment for the math-phobic.

5 comments about Sonar 7 Power!: The Comprehensive Guide.

1. As I entered the world of DAW (digital audio workstation) Music Creation and Recording, I found that the technology was way over my head and therefore sought to familiarize myself so as to get up to speed. I plunged straight into Sonar 7 Producers' Edition by Cakewalk and was equally overwhelmed as I was fascinated with this monster software. I bought the Know-it-all tutorial video and wasn't much less overwhelmed because of the fast pace at which the instructor covered the material. It seemed that that video was for someone who already knew it all...
   In my quest for knowledge, I found the Sonar 7 Power book on Amazon and have been thrilled that this book, may as well call it a TEXTBOOK, is easily understood and gives in-depth, hands-on instruction in navigating the program. It not only gives written instruction, but it contains screen shots so as to give the pupil a visual reference. I'd literally be lost without Sonar 7 Power as my roadmap!Sonar 7 Power!: The Comprehensive Guide



2. This book is a must have for every Sonar 7 user. I have found my way around the progam much easier after reading it. Sonar is a difficult program to grasp if you are a beginner, but if you have some basic knowledge of midi and audio recording the book will help out a great deal.



3. I've been using the Garrigus Power books series since Cakewalk 9. I think they're great for learning Sonar.. probably I didn't need this book but I I think they're so great and you always learn something new that I decided to buy it. Sorry for my english.



4. I purchased Scott's Sonar 7 a few weeks ago and have had time to digest it, and put it to use. This is a great reference for Sonar 7 users. Of course it's going to overlap with the "official" manual, it has to. It is written in a clear, concise, readable style. Scott has a knack of explaining technical items by writing very plainly, and throughly. The diagrams are very helpful...although I wish they were in color.
   I strongly think you should break out and write a history book Scott. You would probably be a wonderful writer for school texts because your explanations of things bring the topic at hand to a level that young folks could easily grasp. I know because I'm a former teacher.
   Keep on keepin' on with your writing!!!



5. If you are starting or even you are an expert with synths, this is a very nice an helpful book to be always with you.Very comprehensive guide, will introduce you in the art of making music using Sonar 7.The author did a very good work here because he teaches you all the features in Cakewalk's software.
   So add it right now in your shopping cart....you won't regret it.

5 comments about Complex Adaptive Systems: An Introduction to Computational Models of Social Life (Princeton Studies in Complexity).

1. Living systems are generally complex, dynamic adaptive systems with emergent properties that analytical models attending only to the local interactions of the system fail to capture. We must complement the standard analytical methods of physics, biology, and economics by additional mathematical tools, such as agent-based simulation and network theory.
   
   A complex system consists of a large population of similar entities (e.g., human individuals) who interact through regularized channels (e.g., networks, markets, social institutions) with significant stochastic elements, without a system of centralized organization and control (i.e., if there is a state, it controls only a fraction of all social interactions, and itself is a complex system). A complex system is adaptive if it evolves through some evolutionary (genetic, cultural, agent-based silicon, or other) process of hereditary reproduction, mutation, and selection.. Characterizing a system as complex adaptive does not explain its operation, and does not solve any problems. However, it suggests that certain modeling tools are likely to be effective that have little use in a non-complex system.
   
   Such novel research tools are needed because a complex adaptive system generally has emergent properties that cannot be analytically derived from its component parts. The stunning success of modern physics and chemistry lies in their ability to avoid or strictly limit emergence. Indeed, the experimental method in natural science is to create highly simplified laboratory conditions, under which modeling becomes analytically tractable. Physics is no more effective than economics or biology in analyzing complex real-world phenomena in situ.. The various branches of engineering (electrical, chemical, mechanical) are effective because they recreate in everyday life artificially controlled, non-complex, non-adaptive, environments that can directly apply the discoveries of physics and chemistry. This option is generally not open to most behavioral scientists, who rarely have the opportunity of ``engineering'' social institutions and cultures.
   
   Miller and Page stress that complex systems cannot be properly modeled using the statistical and mathematical tools associated with differentiable manifolds and normal statistical distributions. Rather, complex phenomena exhibit power law behavior in which statistical distributions have "fat tails" that lead to considerable activity far from the distributions central tendency. A rather stunning example, discussed in Chapter 9, is the size distribution of wars in the world occurring between 1820 and 1943. When the number of deaths in a war (a good measure of the size of the war) is 10 to the power n, the number of wars with this size is about 2 x 3 to the power 7-n.
   
   Miller and Page do a find job of making complexity analysis accessible to the non-expert, without overwhelming the reader with specialized aspects of agent-based modeling or dynamical systems. They provide an exciting stepping-off point for detailed studies in particular disciplines.



2. I found this book to be a bit more technical than I expected. Very good reference book.



3. Sometime I encounter books that are extremely important, that give me an appreciation for a knowledge domain I do not know enough about, and that I simply cannot read and review.
   
   This book, and Generative Social Science: Studies in Agent-Based Computational Modeling (Princeton Studies in Complexity) are two such books. I got half-way through this one, did the introduction to the other, from which I was immediately grabbed by the concept of:
   
   "instead of explaining it, can you grow it?"
   
   Howard Bloom, in Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century teaches us that the only way to create a sustainable peace in the Palestine region is to provide absolute security for an entire generation, and raise two whole generations, one on each side, from kindergarten on us, generations that do not consider "the other" to be "pigs and monkeys" by the age of five.
   
   Similarly, the literature on wealth of networks and the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid is growing, and I am convinced that public intelligence (decision support, full disclosure, end of information asymmetries) is going to accomplish two things in the next twenty years:
   
   1) Eradicate corruption and enforce the triple-bottom line
   
   2) Elevate five billion poor by teaching them one cell call at a time so that they can create infinite stabilizing wealth.
   
   See for example:
   Infinite Wealth: A New World of Collaboration and Abundance in the Knowledge Era
   The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom
   Revolutionary Wealth: How it will be created and how it will change our lives
   The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits (Wharton School Publishing Paperbacks)
   
   So the very best thing I can say about this book is that I am glad I bought it, I am very glad to have a sense, however weak, of this important exploratory area, and now I know that I need a team of generative social scientists that can do complex modeling for peace and prosperity solutions.
   
   See also, just published at Amazon and free online at Earth Intelligence Network, Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace
   
   I urge one and all to become familiar with World Index of Social and Environmental Responsibility (WISER), as best I can tell that is the center of gravity for empowering individuals with deep knowledge of the true costs and many human rights abuses and other crimes that we support today for lack of knowledge. I also recommend the pioneering EarthGame work of Medard Gabel, at BigPictureSmallWorld.



4. The authors do an excellent job of introducing the field to an educated audience. Any one who has a general college level education can read and understand the basics after reading the book. Tables and charts succinctly illustrate points Miller and Page make and illucidate the text.
   
   If you are looking for a book that discusses progamming, how to do, or other deeper aspects of the field, you will be disappointed. However, if you are just curious and want a good general introduction to the field, perhaps with the goal of further exploration, it is a good anchor from which to base your learning.



5. A nice introduction material. You will learn how complex phenomena are currently studied . I will use this book as an intro material to complex systems in my economics course.
   My only complain is that the book scarcelly discuss aplications in social sciences!!! I have to use specific articles with applications for that. the author should supress the subtitle. but it is still an excellent book.

5 comments about The Sound Reinforcement Handbook.

1. This book covers absolutely everything you'd really want to know about live sound in a little more detail than most people care to digest. A must read for anyone seriously involved (or hoping to become) in pro audio. The major shortcoming of this book is that it deals with audio technology of 21 years ago. Most of it still applies, and a lot of it hasn't even changed, but these days everything is going digital. Gating and dynamics processing has become so much different in execution (not principle) that a newer book would be very helpful.



2. This book really good. I've almost read the whole thing. There is alot of good information and conceptual stuff like the science behind sound. There is also alot of application in the book except that the application part is relatively general about sound technique and equipment usage but nontheless very much helpful. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get serious or learn more about sound reinforcement as well as for people who have been in the business for years. This book has something for everyone.



3. the book is old, second printing 20 years ago and that is a lifetime in these digital technological days.
   it presents info that will always be valid but it does not integrate it with newer technologies.
   do not waste your money.



4. This was, is, and will be the definitive live sound guide. Take it from MANY professionals. I studied music and this was what was recommended for live sound reinforcement and funny enough when I checked recently - it still is. So never mind the "these digital times" review - this is indeed like learning an art from a master with timeless and always-pertinent concepts useful to those who know this and use this powerful material. The concepts are solid and still pertinent. If you want to learn how to use modern digital equipment specifically and ignore that the concepts in this book can be applied since the acoustics and challenges of live sound remain relatively unchanged, read the manuals that came with the digital equipment. Then read this book to REALLY learn how to do more with whatever you have.



5. The Good - This book is one of the industry standards for sound reinforcement and Loudspeakers. It is very complete and covers everything from the fundamentals to advanced topics. It can be used to introduce you to the topic and as a reference.
   
   The Bad - Reads like a Textbook or an Owners Manual, and as it covers everything some parts will seam simple and others extremely hard to understand.
   
   Summary - It is all there. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I work in the speaker industry and almost everyone has a copy. If you want to fully understand Audio Reinforcement and Loudspeakers this is a great book. If you want a light read for casual understanding try a For Dummies book.

5 comments about Mastering Audio, Second Edition: The art and the science.

1. This was a gift for my son-in-law, who works in the computer sound industry and he was thrilled.



2. This book was exactly what I was looking for - a moderately technical and detailed reference. The only thing I don't like are the physical dimensions of the book.



3. I've seen no better book on how mastering works, all the elements, what they mean and what they do.
   
   Moreover, anyone involved with recorded music should read this. The insights into why things sound as they do, how all the steps, processes, tools (plugins and hardware) work are invaluable. Engineers of any skill level will benefit. Musicians, home studio operators will benefit as well understanding how to prepare you projects for best chance of success, and how to best work with any engineering professional you choose to involve in your production process.
   
   Highly recommended!



4. As a college student who has gone through an intense recording program, and is now going into mastering as an internship, this book is amazing. Not only did it give me an idea of what I'm getting into at most mastering houses, but it gave me a head start in knowing what I might be doing there. Bob Katz's book is great for any student who has gone through at least three years of experience in an intense audio program. Less than that and you won't understand the book to it's full potential.



5. After reading (no, devouring) Mastering Audio I had mostly good feelings and it is difficult for me to describe why it wasn't great. Bob Katz is absolutely spot on about the state of mastering in the past decade and that over compressing audio has ruined music. It is without a doubt required reading on the subject. But being that I do not have a state of the art mastering facility (lets be honest, how many of you do?) this book takes a high end view on a subject that has increasingly become a do-it-yourself reality. All in all this is very good book. If I were building a mastering studio it would be essential. If you are mastering your own stuff (for many valid reasons, some being: making sure it turns out right, cost effectiveness, furthering your own creativity) this book may leave you guessing or often times searching the internet for acronym definitions. This could be a good thing, it leaves us to make our own critical decisions based on a foundation. Time will tell if this edition becomes a 5-star classic. Or has it already?

5 comments about Critical Listening Skills for Audio Professionals.

1. I am currently a student in mediaproduction and not too apt in the field of audio. Often I would come across examples in my textbooks on problems concerning EQ, audio levels, sounds masking eachother comb filter effect etc. My biggest problem is that I do not know what I should listen for. I haven't finished this book yet, but I still feel confident enough about in order to praise it in a review. This book is very good. Nice examples on the CD and very helpful. I do not know how useful it is for audio professionals, but for a student I think it is awesome.
   
   In my first review I wrote that I thought the CD was sloppily made. In fact there was no trouble with the tracks, but since I did not realize that the CD contained mp3's rather than ordinary CD tracks my player read track 10 as track 2. Well, I dont know if I would trust mp3's as a listening reference (even if they have a very hight quality). I wish they could have used CD quality Wave files on a DVD instead. Still a helpful book, though.



2. This book contains some clear and self explanatory audio exercises. I hate to acknowledge that most of the exercises could have already been performed by using a 'free' (computer) tone generator to explore the different frequency ranges. Beware, it will require time to learn to listen properly. I was very wrong to believe that by listening to the contents once, I was set. I would suggest to make copies of use a separate sheet of paper to answers the exercises. This way you can repeat it, over and over. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in improving his/her audio listening skills.
   
   *PROS:
   -Good and helpful exercises
   -Nice correlation between the audio exercises and the freq. graphs on the book.
   -If you have no patience to play with a tone generator, this book is well suited for you.
   
   *CONS
   -The CD without the book or the book without the CD become useless.
   -You need to read the book while you listen to the CD.
   -The CD is in fact an MP3-CD, so you may not play it anywhere you want.
   -I have the impression that the book is kind of expensive. Many of the exercises can already be performed by anyone using a (free) tone generator.
   - The book is kind of bulky to take it anywhere.



3. This book is acutally a compilation of two of Alton Everests ear training books. The first, Critical listening skills, plays different frequencies, amplitudes, bands, filters, amount of total harmonic distorion, and revervbs. Then you are forced to recognize changes within these different areas. These are crucial ear training skills for anyone trying to break into the world of audio. It's not somehting you can go through once and leave. The book should become part of a routine of ear training.
   
   The second book, Auditory perception, discusses issues relating to the differences between how sound occurs and how we actually perceive it. Another valuable tool for understanding how sound works.
   
   Aparantly this book has been around for a long time but was, until this edition, only available in very expensive editions that were catering toward institutions. This is done by puting the 6 cd's onto 1 mp3 cd. This is my one complaint about this book, that people trying to become audio pros shouldn't use compromised quality files when training there ears. That is why I use the cd's as a guide and for the projects that require more acurate listening I use a tone generator in my DAW to recreate the sounds at a higher quality.
   
   All in all an excellent tool that has, in a short time, already proven very helpfull.



4. i just tried to listen to the track lessons on my very expensive and revealing audio system, and to my surprise the tracks on the cd lessons are on MP3!!! WHAT??? a book made for critical listeners can't hear it on a high end cd player! i dont believe this. they have the nerve to say this in page 4: "if you cannot hear these extreme tones, it may be either the fault of your ears or the fault of you equipment" ....so my $20,000 cd player is responsible for not hearing you crappy mp3 files?



5. Great book for begginers looking to understant the basics of sound. Clear and easy to understand.

5 comments about Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software.

1. This book is well written and provides an insight to the science of emerergence and how it can help exlain the fundamental texture of everything from ant colonies to cafe-society. It is one of those rare books that readers will benefit from reading many times. For those with a scientific appreciation it fully satisfies while those readers with a more cultural focus will still find it very readable.
   
   The subject matter is highly important and may help create models of better societies in the economically and environmentally challenging years ahead. This book undoubtedly helps us to see a way.



2. This is a pretty good read - it moves quickly and doesn't get you bogged down in the dna of the concept of emergence. go to wikipedia, read it. then pick up a copy of this and it will provide more context and usefulness. while this may not be the 'grand slam' of books...and to some degree it may be viewed as a popular fad topic...this book is better written than many that end up in the waste bend after page 47. if highlighter markings and cryptic notes in the margin are an indicator for me then it is safe to say that i got my money's worth...and...it contributed to my ongoing pondering of this and many other esoteric terms from the science realm.



3. I purchased this book on something of a whim; it was listed as recommended by Amazon and looked like something worth checking out. This is appropriate because software systems that make recommendations based on history and feedback are one of the topics that get discussed in this book. The concept appealed to me for a number of reasons. First, it seemed like a fascinating study of complex systems and the relationship therein between the components, the system as a whole, and that which may be greater then the sum of its parts - that which is emergent. Which in fact, for a while it was. Second, I appreciate the idea that a city is a complex system that is not dissimilar to other complex systems. And third, I felt like taking a chance on something that just sounded interesting. Sadly, after high expectations brought on by a well developed first half, this book ultimately disappoints.
   
   Credit where credit is due, this book starts off as well as a book can. In keeping with the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, there is a wonderful illustration at the start of this book featuring a map of Hamburg dated circa 1850 next to a diagram of a human brain. Whether there is ultimately anything to them or not, the similarities are astounding. It really went a long way towards grabbing my attention and making this book one that I looked forward to reading. For half of the book, my expectations were met.
   
   The first three chapters take the seemingly mundane and unrelated topics of ant colonies, computer programs based on slime mold observations, and city layout, and make an effective comparison. Something I really liked early on about this book was its observation that both ant colonies and cities expand with an order that suggests a central plan, when in fact the main force behind their development is the elemental units just doing the things that they do. Soldier and worker ands don't do their jobs because the queen orders them to, they do them because taking care of the queen keeps the colony alive, thus sustaining their existence. Neighborhoods don't spring up because someone issues a decree to build homes, they spring up because people have wants and needs regarding where they live. And their existence in a certain place creates a continuing cycle, almost fractal in nature, of more people with their own set of wants and needs. The concept of evolution is also thrown in, and quite effectively.
   
   I think that the strongest point the book makes is that cities are not just clusters of people, they are patterns in time. Human beings wired the way they are seem predestined to create printing presses, newspapers, radios, communications networks, TV's, and internets. But here lies the problem with this book. This is potentially a great point, and I would argue a correct one. It's just that it comes along right at about the halfway point in the book. And after that there not much else other than words. The first half of this book does what the first half of a book should do, it develops an idea. But the development of an idea needs to lead to some sort of conclusion that contains some sense of resolution. Unfortunately, somewhere shortly after the start of chapter 4, this book lets go of all of the cohesion it so nicely developed and spins into seemingly endless and tired commentary about video games and the web. Moreover, the commentary is not very good, and becomes repetitive. By the last couple of chapters it becomes quite clear the only thing concluded will be that the author thinks that in a few more years something really significant is going to come about from recent technological changes. They always do. That in and of itself is not worth very much. In the author's defense, I did read this book in 2007 and it was written in 2000. But still, a book should say considerably more this one does.
   
   If the second half were as good as the first, this book could have been ground-breaking. I appreciate the first half, so I don't consider it a complete waste. However be prepared for quite a let down - 2 stars.



4. I saw Steven Johnson's lively and a compellingly fascinating presentation on the topic of the book at a conference, which inspired my desire to read his book.
   
   
   Unfortunately, the 250+ pages of the book provide very little insight beyond a 30+ minute presentation. The writing style is not forceful or engaging, but rather dull and lifeless. The lasting feeling is that the author is attempting to make the book accessible to a group of smart 10 year olds by using short sentences, simple vocabulary and endlessly repeating the same ideas over and over again.
   
   The initial excitement wears off after about first 50 pages and the impetus to try to read it would help you stumble through the drudgery of another 50 pages, but except to give up sometime soon afterwards.



5. The property of "emergence" is essentially the top-level or macro-level view of the behavior or intelligence of a system. The system can be an ant colony, the Internet, a nation, or any collection of individual agents or actors.
   
   To take one example, an ant colony, can be studied in terms of the individual intelligence and actions and behavior of the individual ants in the colony. This is the micro-view.
   
   However, collectively, the ants function together in a system (i.e., the colony). Thus, the colony can also be studied in terms of its behavior, intelligence and actions. This is the macro-view. This is the systems view. Emergent properties are the top level properties that "emerge" from the properties, functions, behavior and actions of the individual units in the system (i.e., the individual ants).
   
   Emergence is a very important concept, especially in terms of group behavior, the world wide web and the Internet, as well as in artifical intelligence and biological and ecological systems. Emergence is also a very important concept in "swarm intelligence" and "hive" type intelligence. These are important concepts for computer science, among many other fields.
   
   Thus the importance of this book which elucidates the concept of "emergence" by describing it in the context of several different areas of study in which it appears.

5 comments about This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession.

1. Like many of the negative reviewers, I found that *This Is Your Brain on Music* didn't enhance either my knowledge of music or of cognitive science. It's not without any substance, but that substance has been spread pretty thinly, and it offers one of the weakest evolutionary explanations for music as a human phenomenon: it demonstrates fitness because it indicates abundant amounts of free time. Perhaps this is true of the drive to perform, but what about the millions of people addicted to listening to music? Isn't music in some way *special* ? No one gets a painting "stuck in their head" for days as happens with music, and there doesn't seem to be a visual corollary to those stroke victims who can no longer speak--but who can still sing. To be sure, Levitin doesn't seem particularly interested in this, but this is part of the problem with the book. I also have to agree with reviewers that felt the book was disorganized and not compellingly written, but I never found Levitin to be particularly egocentric--I think he's making the case that he's well-qualified to discuss both the brain and music. Unfortunately, he doesn't convincingly do either, and the book's most memorable element is probably the title.



2. The author is very experienced in both the relevant science, and the real music industry. I have a strong sense that he knows what he's talking about and is highly credible. The writing style is excellent. There were all kinds of facts in here that ranged from novel to amazing. This really does tell you important things about how psychoacoustics works, and has a lot of ideas and speculations (it's hard to prove) about the meaning and function of music in the human experience. I've been recommending this one to lots of my friends.



3. As a professional musician and a medical doctor, I must say it is the best book on music - in all its facets - that I've ever read.



4. I, too, found the endless name-dropping endlessly irritating. As to the rest - I leave it to the more knowledgeable among us. However, I do recommend reading ALL the reviews before reading the book.



5. One can't expect a thorough look into the interplay of phychology, mind-body mechanics, and music in a shory popular book. That being said, this was an entertaining romp through the field.
   
   The first seventy or so pages was essentially an introduction to music theory and how the mind can proces music as, well, music. For those with a music background it will be tedious and won't tell you much that you don't already know, but for someone who has only touched on it it will be like drinking from a firehose with all the information in the pages.
   
   The rest of the book deals more directly with why certain music is liked, how it most likely evolfved, and the practical utility of music in society and individual survival. If you're ever wondering why there are still oldies stations around, it's because of all the boomers who have an emotional attachment to music of their youth, the time when music tastes are most aggressively defined.
   
   One annoyance was the infantile critique of mind-body interplay, where he ascribes to the opinion of Dennitt that the brain creates the mind. There's not enough room in the review to state why that is incorrect, but it shouldn't have even delved on this weighty topic. Overall though, there wasn't much blanket overgeneralization that plagues many popular science books, though the meanderings of the authors was at times tiring.
   
   Overall, pretty good, and a quick read for someone interested in the topic.