AS

The UK/Australian version is called "Dr Xargle's Book of Earth Tiggers".

It is hysterical, and the illustrations terrific. The under-6 crowd perhaps don;t really "get it" - it requires the capacity to understand word jokes.

The picture of the mother spooning out "meatblob" (cat food) whilst wearing a handkerchief round her face is a killer! The look of dismay on the little girl's face as the "meatblob"lands on her ice cream is priceless. Perfect depiction of the gloop in tins produced for cats!

A lot of fun this book.

My then-7-year-old daughter received this book for Christmas last year, and even a year later it makes her laugh! As a family of cat owners, we found the book to be as accurate as it is funny. We highly recommend this and any other "Professor Xargle" book.

In this book (the twelfth edition) every economic subject is very well explained without difficult mathemayical concepts. People who like the mathematical approach can find something in the appendix. There are a lot of examples about real facts happened to real companies (Microsoft,...) or organization (OPEC...). The logic approach and the examples are very usefull for a beginner that first of all has to understand the main concepts rather than struggling in a difficult language or math.

The authors have explained all principles with remarkable ease taking numerous to the point examples.

Kenneth Boulding used to have his office in the bungalow I work in now, so I became curious and had heard of his reputation as an economist. This book is basically a collection of lectures for high school teachers from the olden days. He interprets economics as it relates to different sciences and social sciences. Though some of his thinking is dated by now, it is nevertheless refreshing and inspiring to hear his perspective on different aspects of my favorite field of study. Because he is from the old school and because he helped branch the field out in different directions in his own research, he really understands where the ideas we study in economics came from, how they changed as their context changed. If you have a background in economics you find this book a good read and not demanding or quantitative. If you know a little economics you will find this book very informative. You may find yourself knowing more economics than many professional economists do! To me this sort of thing is important to general health of the social sciences and economics in particular.

If you are studying economics, or even if you know nothing about economics, this book has quite a bit to offer. It is great for a student doing research on economics, and even good for someone interested in sociology. A must read for anyone into either subject!

As a non-specialist, I found this a very readable journey through ancient Chinese philosophy: from the Analects to Xunzi via the Daoists, following the thread of wu-wei or comparable metaphors of relaxed states. I found this book comparable in scope and quality to Chad Hansen's "Daoist Theory of Chinese Thought", although Edward Slingerland does not define himself as a Daoist. His use of the new field of "conceptual metaphor" is remarkable: it says that the basic metaphors in various cultures arise from the body and its movements; like walking, moving (effortlessly, on a Way...) or through simple actions of daily life, like filling a container with water, that triggers the metaphor of the true Self as a container, that is filled with an artificial social self of desires (ego) that to a Daoist must be emptied to allow the Dao to fill the true Self. Incidentally, this also could provide a solid basis for C.G. Jung's cross-cultural archetypes, that are in fact such metaphors; I'm thinking of his studies of metaphors in the I Ching for example (although E. Slingerland does not discuss Jung in his book.)

[We've been trying for 4 months to get Amazon to update the book description (which is several years out of date), to no avail, so direct action (as opposed to effortless action) seemed called for. Below is the actual book jacket description and back cover blurbs. The automated system forced me to rate the book in order to post this, so please ignore the 5 stars....]

This book presents a systematic account of the role of the personal spiritual ideal of wu-wei-literally "no doing," but better rendered as "effortless action"-in early Chinese thought. Edward Slingerland's analysis shows that wu-wei represents the most general of a set of conceptual metaphors having to do with a state of effortless ease and unself-consciousness. This concept of effortlessness, he contends, serves as a common ideal for both Daoist and Confucian thinkers. He also argues that this concept contains within itself a conceptual tension that motivates the development of early Chinese thought: the so-called "paradox of wu-wei" or the question of how one can consciously "try not to try."

Methodologically, this book represents a preliminary attempt to apply the contemporary theory of conceptual metaphor to the study of early Chinese thought. Although the focus is upon early China, both the subject matter and methodology have wider implications. The subject of wu-wei is relevant to anyone interested in later East Asian religious thought or in the so-called "virtue-ethics" tradition in the West. Moreover, the technique of conceptual metaphor analysis-along with the principle of "embodied realism" upon which it is based-provides an exciting new theoretical framework and methodological tool for the study of comparative thought, comparative religion, intellectual history, and even the humanities in general. Part of the purpose of this work is thus to help introduce scholars in the humanities and social sciences to this methodology, and provide an example of how it may be applied to a particular sub-field.

"Slingerland shows that wu-wei is a much richer and more pervasive notion than anyone has ever imagined. His work will convince even the most entrenched skeptic that it is an important and often neglected concern of just about every major religious thinker in early China." -Philip J. Ivanhoe, author of Confucian Moral Self Cultivation and Ethics in the Confucian Tradition

"Edward Slingerland is one of a group of exciting and creative young scholars revolutionizing the study of Chinese history, culture, and religion by applying the recently developed tools of cognitive analysis, especially conceptual metaphor analysis. Effortless Action is a remarkable work that explores the meaning of the crucial concept of wu-wei in a depth never before achievable, showing how Chinese metaphorical thought forms a nexus around this most central of ideas. If you care about China, about its culture, history, and religion, you will find this book extremely enlightening. And if you are a humanist seeking a deeper understanding of culture and history, this book will open up new worlds to you." -George Lakoff, Professor of Linguistics, UC Berkeley

I leave this book out on my coffee table so friends can see that my son is into really intellectual stuff. I asked a science teacher to read it and tell me how accurate the was.

He said it was the straight stuff and praised how good it was. He said about all it left out was the E = mc squared stuff. I told him that it wasn't there because kids this age can't multiply. Things like getting heavy and time getting distorted could be covered without math.

Yeah, here's relativity without math.

I've read all eight books in the "As Dreamed by Itsy" series to my 5 and 7 year olds. They're wonderful, all eight of them, so when you look at the others, you'll find this same review for all eight.

My kids loved them and wanted to hear them over an over. I noticed that with each reading, they comprehended a little more about the story. Even the first reading they loved and picked up a lot of information from, but they were so interested in the story to pay much attention to the concepts. After all, they didn't view the story as a lesson in science. On later readings they showed a great deal of interest and even awe at that the world really operates in such ways.

And me - I'm not a scientist, am even afraid of science, but this was easy. I picked up more from these stories than I learned in high school. Of course the kids asked questions I couldn't answer (but not too many), but they ask such questions every time we go to the park or the supermarket. I just passed off their questions in the usual way. Now when I someone says something about the Big Bang Theory, molecules or such, I feel well enough informed that I no longer quickly change the subject.

I recommend the books and hope the publisher adds more titles soon.

I am in the profession of marketing ELISA and other immunologicals. I read the book last month on job from a friend. Now it is on my priority list to read it once again to gain knowledge on ELISA AND USE IT IN MY CONSULTATIVE AND SPECIFICATION BASED SELLING. Thanks for providing me the opportunity for getting access to the book online now.

I am microbiologic technician in china. I wish to get this book. Could you tell me how to get this book? This book is very important for my work.

This is the must have reference for all you TV buffs. Very interesting reading, not just a boring refernce guide. I read it cover to cover.

found the book to be very thorough, reads well. Loved reading about the creation of these great daytime tv shows there casts and from the time they aired to the time they were cancelled

An amazing collection of facts, stories, biographies, theories, and not a few myths all relating to Freemasonry. If you are interested in the subject, you will find each entry to be informative, and perhaps even entertaining. You never know what nugget you will find next as you go through it.

This encyclopedia was originally written in the late 1800's and went through several revisions during the first half of the 20th century. This Kessinger reprint appears to be a facimile of the 1920's version. As with most Kessinger reprints it is essentially a bound xerox kind of quality, which is suitable for a "working" copy. This also is the only version still in print. Those buyers with patience can frequently find old originals with their ornate bindings and color plates at auction web sites (including Amazon's) in the fifty to one hundred dollar price range.

This encyclopedia covers in depth the wide range of lore, terminology, and history of the Craft. I would recommend it as an excellent gift for that newly made, or veteran Master Mason.

Many futurist, spiritually-based writers seem to find reasons why the future is disastrous and find ancient-derived and channeled insights to justify their pessimism. Leslie and Hugh, on the other hand, using wit, extraordinary insight and intuition, well developed reasoning powers, and some of the same information sources, show the extraordinary future that lays ahead for us. All we need to do is claim it. A well written, optimistic and joyous handbook that does and extraordinary job of boiling down complex and sometimes-difficult-to-understand scientific and metaphysical subject matter into easy and entertaining reading. It is medicine and inspiration for all on a self-discovery journey.

If you have, even for a moment, ever thought about how quickly things around us are changing in the world we live in, then you definitely want to dig into this thought provoking...and extremely timely book. Will it scare you? It may. Will it disturb you? Perhaps. Will it empower you? Most definitely! The End of the World mixes humor with well thought out cultural research, it blends a refreshing spiritual optimism inot a subject that has otherwise been described by calamity, disaster and catastrophe. It's a fantastic book for anyone looking to shed some spiritual light onto the perceived darkness of the 'end times.'

Book Review - "An End to Global Warming" by Laurence O. Williams

Laurence O. Williams' book, "An End to Global Warming" foretells of a not-to-distant future in which global warming and melting of ice caps due to fossil fuel consumption will submerge most of the worlds coastal cities. We have all heard predictions of Armageddon from impending environmental disasters and in some cases, have learned to take these predictions with a grain of salt. However if one proceeds through this book with this superficial approach a feeling of uneasiness soon begins to take over.
Williams has laid out his premise in a very logical systems analysis approach starting at the component parts, taking time to define scientific terms and concepts, construct relationships based on tables of relevant data, and extensively referencing pertinent results and extrapolations.
Societies increasing output of carbon dioxide and the correlation's of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere and global temperature changes are frightening. This data, along with observations of recent climactic changes and ice shelf effects, provide support to the seriousness and urgency of this global problem. Although one could possibly argue with the author's timelines as to future environmental disasters, the inevitability of these occurrences if we proceed down our current energy usage pathway is well foretold. As the real and projected effects of this warming on the earth are described and supported one is caught up in an appreciation of the magnitude of this problem could have on our future generations. The comprehensive analyses given to the many elements considered in this book may slow the reader slightly, but the author does an excellent job of putting concepts and terms in simple understandable descriptions. Time is taken, to the author's credit, to point out the colossal waste in burning our limited petroleum products which could be used for the production of needed medicines, polymers and other valuable organic industrial materials.
However, the pivotal concept that makes this book important is that Williams does more than bemoan a bleak, energy restrictive future, he offers us a well thought out solution. This solution, which is based on a clean primary energy source, and a clean transportable fuel, is based on technologies that are themselves not completely new, but on the coalescing of concepts to accomplish this unique energy revolution.
Williams gives a detailed approach for implementation of this concept and it is persuasive and elegantly constructed. The case is made for the need of a transportable fuel, and alternate fuels are compared. However, the choice of the primary transportable fuel is well supported. As a mater of fact, it is not only the optimum fuel it is probably the only choice for a transportable clean fuel. The considerations for the practical utilization of this fuel in domestic and industrial uses are studied in detail.
A new energy source is boldly presented by the author as the primary energy source for the production of electrical energy and transportable fuel. Seawater would provide all of our clean envirinmental needs. It would be utilized in this new low pollution society to more efficiently clean up polluted water and more completely destroy organic wastes. The development of a new power system is the cornerstone of this clean energy concept, and the one that makes to conversion to a pollution-free environment a possibility. More available alternate energy systems, such as solar and fission, may still allow the transition to a clean energy society and afford an interim approach to phase out carbon dioxide producing systems. However, I believe Williams is correct in emphasizing the urgency for an all out Manhattan-type project to develop this new clean power system.
The logic of the overall approach is undeniable and the insight into why, how, and when is sobering, but also interesting and exciting. Larry Williams' enthusiasm and urgency to implement an immediate change in how we look at our energy future and our environment is apparent. This book is worthy of our time to read and our commitment to do some deep thinking on the implication of these concepts on society. Hopefully this concept will motivate us all to become personally involved in the implementation of change to a more pollution-free, energy-rich, future environment.
David W. Neiswander Ph.D. - Environmental Consultant - Knoxville, TN.

Mr Williams has produced here a thoughtful study of what is perhaps the most important scio economic and environmental problem of our age. This is not an overstatement and this work deserves to be read and pondered.

The problem is energy. In this age a large reliable and safe source of energy is a necessity. It is not a luxury that can be forgone and the demand for energy will increase as more of the worlds populations come to demand the fruits of civilization--all of which, from agriculture to cell phones, require energy.

What is urgently needed is a comprehensive scenerio by which this can be accomplished. This Herculean task is what Mr. Williams has attempted--with considerable success.

It is difficult to cover all of the facets of this work in a short review, however,as an overview, Mr. williams concludes that the only vible approach will be to accept the inevitablilty of hydrogen as the portable fuel of choice and--shocking as it may seem to some--nuclear power as the original source of energy.

Along the way to reaching these conclusions, he has found it necessary to evaluate various alternatives--including the popular one of widespread conservation, which would be helpful of course, but is unlikely to be achieved on any broad basis. Mr. Williams give many of these ideas--such as solar power and a host of others--serious and courteous consideration. They all have a place--in this reviewers opinion at least--nevertheless, when examined in depth (as he does) inevitably fall short of promising a long term, ultimate solution. This part of the book is, by itself, worth reading.

The next stumbling block in accepting Mr. William's thesis is his insistance that nuclear power must be the primary source for energy. He envisions large plants producing the hydrogen from water and and, of course, there is a strong cultural bias in the general public agains anything nuclear. The foundations for this bias are dealt with convincingly. The radiation bugaboo is examined as well the general hazards which, as he shows, are no more extreme than in any energy realte activity on a large scale. Suffice it to say that coal mining and drilling for oil present similar hazards and hydrogen as a portable fuel is no more of a hazard than gasolene--although we are accustomed to the latter and familiarity breeds a level of complacency.

One starts reading a work like Mr. Willliam's rather cynically, expecting a grandiose plan for a perfect world--knowing that the devil is in the details, which are usually not provided. I am pleased to report that in this case, many of the details are identified and dealt with in an orderly fashion with a convincing candor. The plan presented here is intriguing and well documented and worthy of serious considersation.

Recommended reading.