1 comments about Physics for Engineers and Scientists, Extended Edition.

1. The language in this book is clear, and there are lots of pretty pictures to help you out. I thought that the explanation was rather weak at times, and there were simply not enough words in many sections to understand the material.
   
   I guess the thinking was that the example problems would clarify much of the material, and they did help to some extent. However, I found myself leaning heavily on the format of the example problems to solve the homework problems, and if one of the homework problems didn't follow the format of an example it was difficult to figure out just from the reading. There are a _lot_ of problems though, so that makes it easier to prep for tests, the downside being that the answers in the back of the book aren't very helpful in comprehension.
   
   The book is definitely no substitute for going to class, and if you have a poor teacher than you might want to invest in the solutions manual (I haven't ever read it, so no guarantees).

5 comments about Examkrackers MCAT Physics (Examkrackers).

1. The ExamKrackers Books Break everything you need to know for The MCAT down their simplest forms.



2. I find that this review book does the best job of directly telling what will and what will not be on the MCAT (I'm basing my comparison to Kaplan's and Princeton Review's Physics materials). Be forewarned, you must have a good background knowledge of introductory Physics to get the maximum benefit from this book. If you are in need of deep, thorough review of Physics (i.e. your Physics is weak), I wouldn't start here. I am using this book as a complement to Kaplan's review book that I received when I enrolled in Kaplan's MCAT course.
   
   The book is broken down into 8 chapters, or lectures, each with a new Physics topic. There are discrete problems within each lecture, as well as a 30 minute "mini-MCAT" to take after you've completed the reading for each lecture. Though I am very pleased by the abundance of MCAT-like questions (and satisfied with the explanations), I find the questions emphasize a conceptual understanding of the material, and don't require a lot of calcuation. That's great for aiding in your conceptual understanding, but I'd also recommend doing additional practice with MCAT problems from another source to get used to doing relatively complex compuatations quickly and without a calculator.
   
   Overall, however, I'm please with this book; it's the best Physics review book I've come across so far.



3. not the best mcat physics review book, IMO. the list of formulas is nice but other than that, just an OK book.



4. The book is great. It covers everything you need for the MCAT without giving to much detail. I'd recommend the whole ExamKrackers series. How much better are the new updated edtions? I'm not sure.



5. not full of fluff, tells you exactly what you need to know and has plenty of practice problems!!

4 comments about Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes.

1. The second edition of "Solar Engineering..." is a much expanded and updated version of the original, which was already a decent textbook. It covers almost everything there is to know about engineering of solar energy systems, and the presentation is clear and well organized. The division into "basics" and "applications" sections is a very sensible way to get oriented before plunging into the depth of a specific technology, especially since solar thermal applications tend to cover a wide variety of technologies. The gradual and systematic approach makes this book a very good textbook for beginners. The wide scope makes it also a pretty good reference source for practitioners who are looking for a specific bit of information.

   The new chapter on photovoltaic cells is a nice touch. While this is not a "thermal process," it is still important for any practitioner of solar thermal to know what's happening in the other corner of the field. A presentation of PV at the level that can be understood by non-physicists is a very welcome addition.

   My only complaint is that recent significant developments are not well represented (I guess much of this developed after the book was written, so this complaint is not really aimed at the authors). Topics such as non-imaging concentrators, high-temperature thermal receivers for Brayton cycle, and solar chemistry are either briefly mentioned or absent altogether. The more traditional applications such DHW are of course presented in detail, but their significance to the energy market remains negligible. I would prefer to see more on applications that have the potential to make a major impact. Hopefully this will be included in the next edition...




2. This is the textbook of fundamentals of solar energy engineering.



3. This is the best book to have an initial view about solar energy and its aplicattion.



4. This book is a must for the Solar Thermal Engineer. It is very comprehensive and covers a very wide range of topics. Excellent work by Duffie and Beckman.

5 comments about Noise, Water, Meat: A History of Sound in the Arts.

1. This astonishing history of twentieth century art offers a deep and profound view of intermedia and multimedia through the aspect of sound. Kahn's narrative is beautifully written and well researched. He supports the text with a wealth of documentary sources that permit further research. This book is a seminal contribution to research in intermedia, multimedia, and media studies. KF

   Book review published in Design Research News, Volume 6, Number 8, Aug 2001 ISSN 1473-3862.




2. Kahn's text sprawls over 358 pages, and is filled with innovative insights into the auditory component of the 20th century avant-garde. I found the most brilliant section to be his critique of John Cage. Cage created music with the aim of "quieting the mind, to open it to divine influence." Kahn is the first to articulate what I have felt, that Cage, the zen anarchist, is just as manipulative with this goal as any tonal symphonic architect! As Kahn puts in,

   "...Cagean silence...has silenced other things, as it dwells at the problematic edge of audibility and attempts to hear the world of sound without hearing aspects of the world in a sound" (p. 4) Kahn turns on its head Cage's stated aim of "just letting sound be," speaking rather of "Cage's dominion of all sound and always sound," a project to turn all sound into music! (p. 197)

   Much of the rest of the book, the sections on "Water Flows and Flux" and "Meat Voices," is a wandering chronicle of various avant forms, and Kahn has fun with organic analogies. But it's a fascinating trip through little-known terrain, and Kahn is a fearless and creative guide!




3. The subject and content of this book is of great interest to me, and the book delivers quite well. The only fault I could find was in the use of a superfluously extensive vocabulary. I would compare it to listening to comedian Dennis Miller do stand up. It's often funny, but the guy is so knowledgeable as to leave me blank too often. It is such a good book that I'm discouraged by what I perceive as a limited audience potential.

   Still, I give 5 stars without hesitation, since the book is a great read that got my creative juices flowing and brought me up-to-date regarding the history of art forms in which I am deeply involved. Setting aside the excessively rigorous verbiage, it is very well written. I highly recommend it.




4. If at times overly academic, Douglas Kahn's seminal work "Noise, Water Meat: A History of Sound in the Arts" should be required reading for any course related to sound and such audio-visual domains as film and television.
   
   In his book Kahn adresses the historical changes (or, development?) in noise abatement, looking at noise as a cultural, musiological and essentially political phenomenon (with an apparent inspiration from Jacques Attali). Accompanying the different types of noise abatement in Western modernity (as voiced e.g. by Arthur Schopenhauer), are also - as Kahn illustrates - different experiments into the use of noise, whether defined as a strictly musical or cultural phenomenon. In music we thus find such experimental composers as John Cage and Pierre Schaeffer (exploring different types of musique concrète), in film we find early auteurs as Dziga Vertov, Sergei Eisenstein and Grigori Alexandrov (through the use of natural sounds, asynchronism and different sonic counterpoints). Even in other - less obviously sonic - arts may we find otherwise elaborate experiments with sounds and noise(s). Take for example the vivid attempts at breaking the rigid rules of communication and narration through distinctly phonetical, verbo-literary experiments in the works of James Joyce and William Burroughs - or the creative disruption of the organic line in the paintings of say Gerhard Richter.
   
   Further examples could be found ad nauseum, and Douglas Kahn goes to great length in his interesting and well-documented explorations. Noise IS a part of the arts as much as our close environment, whether we register or hope to reject it.
   
   Kahn's pioneer-footsteps, thus, leave a vivid trail for others to follow, for in his book - if nothing else - he has shown how different sonic experiments (and, more specifically, different types of noise) are all around us. Instead of conservative strategies of silencing and abatement, we should listen!



5. Whereas our present technology upheaval is driven by the computer, about eighty years ago it was driven by audiophonic technologies: radio was new on the scene; film and animated cartoons were moving to sound; dramatic improvements were occurring in phonography, microphony, and other audiophonic technology; and the prospect of television was in the air. But artists were slow to take advantage of the possibilities opened by these new media; and radio art, audio art, asynchronous sound film, and soundscape experimentation based on recording technologies were postponed for decades. The discontinuity of these artistic traditions stands as a historical lesson that, even though the technological and conceptual requirements exist and have generated sporadic material realization, these requirements are still insufficient for maturation into an artistic practice.
   
   Music was especially successful in protecting its own domain from new media and consistently refused to incorporate the imitative sound associated with phonography. The line which separated music from noise, which took a new meaning when audio equipment began to chart sound curves and separate them from background noise, was well guarded and seldom crossed. Even the musical avant-garde, which emphatically crossed that line as symbolized by Pierre Schaeffer's musique concrete and John Cage's experimentation with silence, retained some of the conventions of high musical culture and silenced other sounds that also claimed for attention. Nevertheless, the mere existence of the phonograph, its ability to hold any one sound in time and keep all sounds in mind, produced a new status for hearing.
   
   Douglas Kahn, an art critic and academic, starts from the postulate that "none of the art is entirely mute, many are unusually soundful despite their apparent silence, and the traditionally auditive arts grow to sounds quite different when included in an array of auditive practices." The auditive practices that he explores, some soundful in themselves, others contingent on ideas of sound, are associated with the names of of persons or movements that have become largely recognized as precursors to a range of artistic activities: Luigi Russolo, the Dadaists, Dziga Vertov and Sergei Eisenstein, Antonin Artaud, John Cage, William Burrough and other Beats, the musique concrete composers, artists associated with Fluxus, and others. In sum, he offers an interdisciplinary history and theory of sound within the avant-garde and experimental arts from the early twentieth century to the 1960s.
   
   The story starts with Luigi Russolo's founding text, The Art of Noise, published in 1913 and already resonating with the sounds of war. As this Futurist manifesto proclaimed, "we find far more enjoyment in the combination of the noises of trams, backfiring motors, carriages and bawling crowds than in rehearsing, for example, the Eroica or the Pastoral." Although Marinetti's onomatopoeic reportage of the battle of Adrianople opened the way for soundful practices associated with the term bruitism, they also attracted savage criticism such as the following indictment by a Russian avant-garde artist: "the Italian 'amateurish' Futurists, with their endless ra ta ta ra ta ta, are like Maeterlinck's heroines who think that 'door' repeated a hundred times opens up to revelation."
   
   At about the same time, the Dadaist movement, endlessly debating the Cabaret Voltaire of Zurich, also left a legacy of artistic revolution which included sound practices: noise music, noise making, and even sound poetry and other forms of bruitism. On the other hand, the Surrealist movement that took on after World War I was singularly silent, and Andre Breton's antipathy toward music seems to have blocked other artists to explore sound other than through printed words and composed images: Man Ray's playful, punning image of a woman's nude torso with the twin sound holes of a cello painted on her back, or Bunuel's grand piano with dead donkeys draped across the strings in his film Un chien andalou,, were already testimonies that music could shout for attention while staying silent.
   
   John Cage appears throughout the book and is the subject of much attention and critique. As the author notes, many people have heard the world differently because of his efforts, yet they may not have heard all he had hoped to hear, for he wanted to hear all. With regard to the line separating sound and musical sound, Cage played a unique role in that he took the avant-garde strategy to its logical conclusion. 4'33'', his silence piece, extended the field of materiality to all the non-intentional sounds surrounding the performance, including the sound of the growing agitation of certain audience members. Yet Cage's silence, the author remarks, "was dependent from the very beginning on silencing", as it reproduced the mandate to be silent during a concert, when even a clearing of one's throat or murmuring is considered as a breach of decorum. For Douglas Kahn, Cage's silence constitutes a silencing of the social, the political and ecological, and these are the dimensions in sound and music that his text seeks to reinstate.
   
   What I particularly liked in the book are the vignettes into the life of the avant-garde, some of which contradict commonly held beliefs and images. For instance, Pierre Schaeffer, the founder in 1948 of musique concrete, confessed toward the end of his life that "it took me forty years to conclude that nothing is possible outside DoReMi... In other words, I wasted my life." Or Andy Warhol, showing to art dealer Ivan Karp his first paintings where pop icons and cartoon figures were covered by splashing and dripping, justified his gesture by saying: "You have to do that. You must drip! It means that you are an artist if you drip!" Eventually, the art dealer convinced him to renounce the dripping, to which Warhol responded: "That's just wonderful you should say that, because I don't think I wanna drip."

5 comments about Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics: Hollywood's Best Mistakes, Goofs and Flat-Out Destructions of the Basic Laws of the Universe.

1. This book examines many things that happen in movies. So, you see a guy with an automatic weapon firing for 20 seconds straight. This book lets you know the firing rate, and capacity so that it would be empty in 1.5 seconds. Also, the weight of bullets, e.g. Matrix Revolutions, at that firing rate, wheelbarrels of bullets won't do it, you need truckfulls. Besides the physics - how fast an explosion goes, versus gravity pulling our hero down to water (they always jump away from an explosion), would give him 17 inches down toward water - oops, fried. Beside the fun physics, what I remember from high school and freshman college physics is in seperate boxes (e.g. Force = Mass x Acceleration) used to give details. You can skip these if they are too dry for you - but I love the backup info. What is great about this book is that the author does not just dismiss stuff - e.g. let's say Superman can fly (given), but if he swooped in to save Lois, coming to an immediate stop, all his kinetic energy would be converted to heat - about 6000 degrees. Or Spiderman, to zip around would need about 1/3 of his body weight to be web creating fluid. Lots of great stuff covered, Star Trek inertial dampers (without they'd be pancake crew), shields in all space movies, Matrix Revolution firing, bullets knocking someone off his feet (e.g. Lethal Weapon), how much explosive to blast the asteroid in Armageddon (oh, about 1000 of the largest nuclear bombs Russia ever built), the bus jump in Speed (how it could actually happen, versus how they filmed it), etc. Lots of great movies covered, without ruining them. Clearly this author loves movies as much as I do, and yet wants to educate readers on physics so you don't try to start a gasoline puddle fire with a cigarette (highly unlikely to work - read the book and see why!). The end of each chapter has a short list of PLUS and MINUS for movies in the category - e.g. [-][-] planets that explode in a few seconds, [0] terrestrial fireballs traveling great distances at hypersonic speeds (incorrect but forgivable), [+][+] fragmentation grenades detonating without large fireballs. So each of these plus and minus relate to movies in the prior chapter, and notice the author often 'forgives' some physics because it is good for the movie/story.



2. What the author doesn't seem to understand, is that most people don't really care about the lack of physics in the movies. Most people go to movies to be entertained. What I find even most absurd is that he bashes movies like The Matrix, the Core and War of the Worlds. What Rogers doesn't seem to realize is that these movies are in the Science Fiction genre. Science fiction movies in general are inaccurate when it comes to science. Most people know this, but they just don't care. Movies are all about suspending disbelief. This books seems to prove that people who study physics have no imagination. What is Rogers going to write next, a book showing why the existence of Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny is against the laws of physics?



3. Unlike a previous reviewer, I watch movies with a very critical eye. It's not just mindless escapism for me. What may be an innocuous or even undetectable detail for one is something that will illicit vitrol from me. One movie that would have fit very well into this book, along with the others the author picks on--including "Speed", "Independence Day", and "Armageddon"--is "The Astronaut Farmer". My disbelief was immediately shattered on Billy Bob Thornton's first attempt to fly into space. An Atlas missile would not have taken off horizontally after falling from a vertical position. Thornton, his wife (Virginia Madsden), his farm, and everything within about a thousand feet would have been blown away, and the movie would've ended right there.
   
   That being said, this is a fantastic book that vindicates those of us who note the details in film. If you really want to know whether or not the bus jump in "Speed" could've actually happened, this is the book for you.



4. Book arrived on time, in good condition.
   Contents are very well researched and explained without being didactic.



5. Hollywood writers and director would just love for audiences to "turn their brains off" when they're watching their movies. It makes for much less work on their part if they don't have to research things like the second law of thermodynamics, or even whether a cigarette can really light gasoline (hint: it can't). This book is written for both, the common man who is curious about how things work, and the physics enthusiast. It smashes giant gaping holes through Hollywood's poorly researched attacks on the laws of physics and shows in detail the facts to back up their claims. This is a definate blow against those who thumb their noses saying "it's just a movie" as they contribute to the dumbing-down of audiences everywhere. Most importantly, you can impress your friends and family with your newfound wisdom (while hopefully not ruining their favorite movie!).

2 comments about Exploring Geology.

1. If only we could learn geology though genuine field experiences with a master scientist, geologist and communicator...
   
   This is as close as it gets in a textbook. Based on illustrations of real field locations and enticing geological investigations, this book takes the excitement of field geologists into real-world inquiry of the workings of planet Earth.
   
   Since John S. Shelton's classic, "Geology Illustrated," published just over 40 years ago, no textbook has been centered on engaging illustrations and real locations. But Reynolds et al have presented over 2,700 full color images, diagrams and maps. Like most other textbooks, each chapter centers on a skill set or content area of current interest. But this book and its extensive ancillary materials draws the student into the process of investigation. This approach imparts the basic needs of an introductory college course in geology. By bringing the student into the investigative process, geology becomes a spectator sport and the student an eager participant.
   
   What is lost? Tedium and frustration. The student need not find her way through long passages of text and jargon. In the field, a geologist is hampered by the inconvenience and expenses of long-distance travel, variable weather conditions, a limited view of and from Earth's surface and a random encounter with each process that is revealed. But not here. In other words, not much of educational value is lost.
   
   This is a geology textbook for the 21st century to educate students for a new millenium.
   
   Thomas McGuire, Geology/Earth Science Educator & Author



2. As someone who lectures to adult audiences on Northern Arizona geology using powerpoint slides loaded with photos and drawings, I was very interested in this visual approach to teaching geology. Unfortunately, although the book is billed as suitable for university course, I found it more on the high school or even junior high school level. The photos and diagrams are fine but the accompanying "text", if it could be called that, is inadequate and too dumbed down to qualify for a university level course. "Rocks for Jocks" maybe, but not for serious students of geology. Better to choose a standard text like "Dynamic Earth" by Skinner, Porter and Park, a book that has many excellent and effective visual aids along with a thorough university level text.

5 comments about Seven Life Lessons of Chaos: Spiritual Wisdom from the Science of Change.

1. I absolutely enjoyed this book and found it completely relevant to my life. I have been quoting it since I read it!



2. It is precious stone plenty of wisdom that invites you to see the world and the life from an holistic perspective.
   I have enjoyed each paragraph bringing each message or concept to my own daily experience.
   I strongly recommend it.



3. I purchased this book for a class and told all of my friends about it. It is a perfect explanation of the theory. Real world examples - easy to understand. READ IT!



4. Chaos theory is fascinating, greatly fascinating, and this is a fascinating book about it. It's just beautiful.



5. When life is pulling you in a certain direction, yield a little to the current. You might be amazed at what you find. The key is, it doesn't pay to fight the universe. Absorb the chaos theory as put forth by this book and it can change your life or, at the very least, your way of thinking.

3 comments about Quantum Mechanics for Scientists and Engineers (Classroom Resource Materials).

1. I have used this reference before it was even made into a book for a course taught by the author. Both the authors written and spoken words are incredibly clear and easy to follow. The examples and homework questions help to better understand the material being taught and relate directly to the books contents. I highly recommend this as a reference for students as well as a course book since it would be excellent source around which a Professor may design a course.



2. Although I haven't reviewed this published version of the text, I have read his course reader that this text is based on (and a few others) for an applied QM course at Stanford. Unlike too many graduate courses where course notes are so poorly written and organized that the student finds themselves spending an inordinate amount of time deciphering them, Dr. Miller essentially writes a detailed (yet fairly concise) textbook for just about every class that he teaches. More importantly he is able to convey complex concepts very clearly. Based on my experience reading his course readers, I highly recommend any textbook he writes.



3. Reminiscent of Feynman's Lectures on Physics, the author's clear, conversational writing style makes quantum mechanics tangible (and interesting!) to a wide range of readers.

4 comments about Data Analysis: A Bayesian Tutorial.

1. Sivia and Skilling give a concise and clear exposition of Bayesian statistical analysis, and pair it with practical, real examples. It has been a great aid to me in doing actual data work. This text gets the balance of theoretical detail and practicality just right. In particular, abandoning the usual emphasis on analytical solutions and instead pairing real examples with numerical solution algorithms when appropriate, is perfect for someone concerned with applying Bayesian statistical analysis to real problems. A great and genuinely useful book!



2. This book is a must for those that are introducing themselves in bayesian statistics. It goes very strightforward in to the main topics and the mathematical notation is easy to follow. If you are just beginning I would recommend to read this book before Jaynes' book Probability Theory: The Logic of Science and after William M. Bolstad's Introduction to Bayesian Statistics



3. Hadn't the book be entitled A Bayesian Tutorial, it would rank on the top, 4 to 5 stars, because it provides a unifying view of probability / statistics. Very enlightening. Hence it is the kind of book you _must_ read once you think you know about the Bayesian approach.
   
   However, the title is misleading, this is definitely not what I would call a tutorial: it is quite hard to follow, and the author includes far too few examples that could help.



4. This book is not really a tutorial for beginners as it goes directly into the subject. It is well written, rigorous, and not that expensive for people needing to learn the bayesian principles. For total beginners as I was, I would advise reading "Introduction to Bayesian Statistics" by Bolstad before this one. A good book on the topic, with good ideas and recent developments !

5 comments about Bang!: The Complete History of the Universe.

1. The Universe has exploded, and has been expanding and expanding for nearly fourteen billion years. "Bang!: The Complete History of the Universe" is the tale of this explosion that is completely responsible for the book itself- and everything around it that humanity holds dear. It even looks into the future, where everything will be engulfed by a Red Giant Sun billions of years from now, through time in this pull no punches look at the universe, its history, and everything about it. "Bang! The Complete History of the Universe" is highly recommended for community library astrology collections and for anyone who wants a unbiased look at the universe itself.



2. I have to come clean, I was interested in this book because of Brian May's role in the authorship. I am also a musician that prides himself on having outside interests, so seeing what he has accomplished is inspiring. The book itself is an interesting look into the History of Time. Science isn't the main function of this book, not to say that it isn't accurate. It doesn't read like a textbook, explanations are thought provoking, yet easier for the non-PhD to comprehend. I can recommend this to anyone who has spent time watching Discovery Channel and wished for something more, something you could poor over for a moment.



3. Excellent book, purchased for my husband--our night skies are oh, so clear. We live in Mexico on Mexico's Caribbean coast, state of Quintana Roo with the history of the Maya surrounding us. Bang!: The Complete History of the Universe



4. Gene Simmons, a college graduate, has a degree in English; Paul Stanley graduated from New York's (FAME) High School of the Performing Arts--and was born without hearing in one year; Tom Scholz ("Boston") has a Master's Degree from MIT (Engineering), and Brian May (Queen), has co-authored a VERY readable, heavily illustrated interpretation of the history of our universe (with well-known astronomer Patrick Moore). My point: If you have children who sit around at home, listening to their iPod's, and think, for ONE minute, they have what it takes to succeed in this world being rock-stars, they're wrong. It takes intelligence, integrity, and an EDUCATION to succeed. None of the rock-stars mentioned above (and several others I could easily name) have succeeded in life, or business, without an education. Gene Simmons speaks four languages, fluently, Paul is TONE deaf in one year, and Brian May has a Ph.D. thesis in astro-physics. The next time your child says to you, "I want to quit school and play guitar," show him/her this book. Enough said. Excellent reading 5/5 stars--and it supports the notion that extreme intelligence can co-exist with rock music.



5. I had a hard time finding this book in book stores. I got it on Amazon and very pleased. Great book for those intersted. Great writing by a Great guitarist...Brian May.