5 comments about Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology (8th Edition).

1. Publishers are driving me nuts with their inflated prices...they made a small number of edition #6 which was considered their best one and then let their supplies run out so that schools would have to buy their "new" one. After flipping through it, it is clear that it is nearly identical to the sixth edition lab manual. Such a waste.



2. I bought this book for school, since my school was out of the book and this one was cheaper. It does the job, it is probably less expensive than your school, and you can't get a used one because usually some of the pages you need are missing.



3. This "lab manual" is VERY thick and far too wordy. Really, it's more of a spiral-bound textbook than a lab manual. Additionally, the lab questions appear in list format at the end of each section, so there is virtually no standardized answersheet for students to record their work on. That not only makes it harder on the students, but efficient grading is nearly impossible unless the instructor makes his/her own taylor-made answer sheets for the students to use on EACH lab. As if that weren't bad enough, the lab manual's companion web site is horrid. I am amazed that the AGI and the NAGT produced this lab manual.



4. I inherited this lab manual when I started teaching physical geology this semester, and I told my students to return it to the bookstore. It contains factual errors (such as referring to hornblende and other non-metallic minerals as metallic, which they are not - metallic minerals are opaque in thin section), and the pedagogy is highly questionable. In the rock and mineral sections, it relies too heavily on photographs. Students already have a tendency to want to simply match minerals and rocks to pictures, which doesn't work, and this book encourages this. The book is too much talk and not enough action. Students in a lab should be guided to work with objects, not to simply answer questions out of a book. There is too much explanation provided, with little left for students to figure out on their own. Labs should be presented to students as mysteries to be solved, and this book takes all the mystery out of everything.



5. I was concerned because this book was used & included a CD. It was in very good shape and the CD was unopened. Thank you!

5 comments about Introduction to Genetic Analysis.

1. The first time we recieved this book it was the answers to text questions only. The second time we did not order it but somehow by just looking at the web site it got orderd thus we had to return it cause we had already purchased it somewhere else.



2. Covers the topics very basically. Good for an undergrad class but not anything more.



3. I found this book to be confusing and hard to decipher at times!! I sometimes had to read the paragraph several times to get it and then I would find later in the book somewhere, what I was confused about was explained somewhat better. This book caused me to waste a lot of time trying figure out things. Perhaps better organization would be helpful. I wouldn't recomend this book.



4. We use this book as the main textbook in my Genetics class. Although I agree that the problems at the end of the chapters are quite useful, I think most of the time the book never gets to the point.
   1.Its historical facts sometimes make more than half of the chapters and it really annoys me, specially if I need to learn the concepts for next day.
   2. Sometimes concepts are explained with examples, examples which may not be clear for everyone and may not help get the general idea.
   3. The order of the book is kind of mixed, some concepts which have already been mentioned in early chapters are not explained until some chapters later.
   
   As famous as this book is for Genetics, I do not recommend it for students like me who need to understand the concepts and apply them next day at a lecture and who have had already a good background of cellular and molecular biology.



5. After having studied this book whole-heartedly for an entire semester, I feel that it just doesn't do a very decent job of relating the material in an inviting manner.
   
   The topics are typically unorganized and almost seem to ramble, resulting in frequent, incoherent jumps. As such, I was forced to read and reread each and every sentence to try and follow the authors' intended message. Moreover, the authors' have seemingly tried to insert unnecessarily long words where their shorter, more easily understood counterparts would've more effectively conveyed the meaning of the text. After all, verbosity leads to unclear, incoherent things.
   
   In conclusion, I would not recommend the purchase of this book. The authors' are not well versed in textbook construction as it seems they put less effort into instructing the students and more effort into writing an impressive-sounding, but generally over-inflated, book.

2 comments about Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing and Healthcare: A Guide to Best Practice.

1. I'm enjoying this book and finding it a great reference in teaching the basics of evidence based practice. I would definitely recommend it as a required text at the bachelor's and master's level.



2. This is an excellent resource for nurses in all clinical settings who are interested in providing evidence-based care...
   makes the research process user-friendly especially for first-timers.

5 comments about Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (Laminated Cover) (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (Laminated)).

1. What do I ned to say? It is a wonderful dictionary, thank you...Oh, your prices are fair.
   
   Best regards,
   
   Anthony G. Maglio



2. We used it in our job.This dictionary is very specific.It has 15,700,000 citations from which their lexicographers chose 10,000 new words, for a total of 165,000 entries and 225,000 definitions.
   The most interesting option is the date feature. Paging through the words attributed to a particular year is a definite retrospective of recollections.The most interesting option is the date feature. Paging through the words attributed to a particular year is a definite retrospective of recollections.
   Manuel



3. Very nice looking Dictionary. Always good to have a dictionary in your home. Never liked the smaller more handy dictionaries with a condensed word list. One day a word will bedevil you and you'll be gad to have the answer within reach.



4. My wife has reentered college, and desperately needed a dictionary. She is wearing the pages out on this one, and uses the CD version quite frequently, especially the links to other types of reference, such as the thesaurus and the encyclopedia. Highly recommended reference that is a must have.



5. Super great for my grandson when he is doing his homework. Really helps alot.

5 comments about Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence--from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror.

1. I bought this book for a class I'm taking in college. It was very helpful and informative. Herman discusses several different types of trauma and coping mechanisms.



2. Traumatic experiences can permanently scar or change you. In this groundbreaking work, Judith Herman meticulously explores the impact of trauma on the human psyche, whether the trauma originates from a natural disaster, political terror, captivity or combat. Writing from a feminist political perspective, Herman also investigates traumas that result from domestic abuse, incest and rape, areas largely unexplored before the 1970s. She describes the symptoms of those who have experienced trauma, explains why they occur, puts forth a program for healing and sets it within a social matrix. This often-quoted book on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) changed the way those in the psychiatric fields diagnosed trauma. It also created a new model for treatment. As such, it is required reading for advanced psychology students, therapists, social workers and counselors, particularly those dealing with patients suffering from PTSD. While it is not for the casual reader, getAbstract recommends Herman's complex, carefully constructed analysis to people who have PTSD or know someone who does.



3. Written from the heart as well as the head, Trauma and Recovery is the best introduction to what is more technically known as post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. But don't let that scare you off! It is about what happens to people--may have happened to you or people you know--under conditions of fear, helplessness, torment, abuse, that many people discount as "not having been so bad really."
   
   What Judith Herman shows very elegantly and simply is how the body and mind change, are altered at the physical level, even without our knowing it or sensing it. This book is, in her words, about "human vulnerability in the natural world" and about "the capacity for evil in human nature."
   
   She even explains without rancor why at different times people have a backlash against the whole idea of abuse and trauma. This is an elegant and very compassionate book for understanding a particular kind of fracture of the human heart.
   
   I love books that lift us up even as they delve into the broken places, and Judith Herman's book on Trauma is an enduring classic.



4. This book is a must read for anyone, male or female, who has suffered tragedy/abuse due to someone else's actions and who is struggling to make sense of their lives in the aftermath. It's not fair to label this book as a post-traumatic stress book: it is soooo much more than that. The author explains how trauma affects the psyche: particularly the developing psyche, explains the cycle of abuse, explains crime and the criminal mind, and pedophile behavior in a way that no one has before. The author is bar none brilliant. I predict that this book will become a definitive psychology classic: as far as this book defines things that no one has before, makes obvious connections that no one has stated before. It is the ultimate connect the dot book for trauma. This book and should be reading required reading in all psychology courses and especially criminal psychology courses.



5. The subject matter is hard to read about in large doses but the
   information is very very helpful and clear. It helped me see the issue
   from the victims point of view.
   
   Much of the info is distressing...our society is shown as self protective
   and without compassion.
   
   Not for idle reading but very helpful if one is suddenly put in a place
   to help and understand the effects and recovery process.

5 comments about Exploring Medical Language: A Student-Directed Approach.

1. My son finds this book very helpful in his prenursing course which is also entitled Medical Terminologies. It is thorough and comprehensive. The root words are very helpful and the pictures are descriptive.



2. Classes started and its not a class you want to be behind on. I odered the book though my school, but it was on backoreder forever. Finally got mad, cancalled my order though school and I ordered book here, paid a little more because I wanted it over night! I guess I'm better off getting the book though amazon. Atleast I didn't get far behind!
   
   In a different school, I took Medical Terminology their book is confusing, This book is GREAT, pic to show where stuff is, and explains. I understood this book a lot more then the old one!



3. I paid extra to have them delivered in 24 hours and sure enough, they came. Awesome!



4. This is a great way to learn medical terminology. It's easy to understand, interesting and presented in a way that makes it easier to learn than just straight memorization. I am planning on keeping this book and not reselling it, because I think it will be a great reference for future classes as well.



5. This book was very easy to use. It was just like vocabulary books you had in middle school. You start off learning things like prefixes, root words, suffixes etc. Then they start putting words together. It will help you understand medical terms when you break them down. The flash cards also help.

5 comments about Making a Good Brain Great: The Amen Clinic Program for Achieving and Sustaining Optimal Mental Performance.

1. Good reading for how we can improve our brain power. Lot of medical details (maybe too much for me sometimes). Good information on foods that are good for your brain and also exercise and sports.



2. This book is great. It's a must for anyone who wants to know how to prolong and promote healthy brain functioning. It's full of useful advise on achieving this. It's one of the books that shall be read many more times 'cause it's that informative.



3. This is an excellent book: informative, clear, and packed with practical suggestions. Current brain research coupled with a wealth of individual case studies makes this a valuable guide.



4. This is an outstanding book; easy to read, useful tips, and written in a way that will engage the reader.



5. A thought-provoking an informative book, it provides new insight into the mind-brain system and has made me rethink my own thought processes. Sounds redundant, but it's true! Love the book.

1 comments about Laboratory Manual for Anatomy and Physiology.

1. This book is a must have if you are doing Anatomy and Physiology labs! I bought this book along with the text book used in my class, and I found this is easier to understand and gives more details. I used the Laboratory Manual for Anatomy and Physiology more than I use my own textbook. This book also comes with a Cd and has a companion Website that is amazing. Good book if you want to pass your A&P labs.

No comments about Microbiology: An Evolving Science.

5 comments about ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription (ACSM'S Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription).

1. Excellent resource and very helpful/beneficial. I would recommend it to anyone in the exercise testing field. Easy read and comprehendable.



2. Has all the knowledge you need to evaluate, test, and retest your client, patient, or subject. If you don't have this book (or a previous version of it) and are not following the procedures in this handbook...you're not helping your client as well as you can.



3. This book came in great condition with no marks. It was exactly what I needed for my class and cost less.



4. This book appears to be a pretty darn good resource for fitness prescription and testing. I have read much of it and it is pretty well written and quite clinical. So if that's what you need, then this book is it.
   However, I was intending to get books to study for the ACSM Personal Trainer certification. This is NOT the book for that. Now granted, they recommend this book on their website, and it may be helpful, but the intended primary study source is the ACSM's resources for the personal trainer...book. So if that's what you are trying to do (like i was) then get that book, not this one. If you want a bunch of cool knowledge about exercise prescription, then this is the book for you.



5. Great study guide for the national exam. This is the most comprehensive study guide I have found to date.