Elephants Books

Pictures make the difference. Emily Bolam is a popular illustrator of children's books.
This story is a neat variation on one of my favorite "Just So Stories", "The Elephant's child". It about a too curious elephant. You may want to also look at other versions of Kipling's tale. Now it is a little archaic so do not let your nose bet bent out of shape.

As a sample survey practitioner for over 25 years, I very highly recommend this book. It accomplishes what other books claim but fail, to be both for novices as well as the more experienced.

The author graciously understates his position as one of the luminaries of sampling, as evidenced by his professional publications from the 1960's, to his colleagues choosing him to write six entries (at last count) on various aspects of sample surveys in the Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences. The author is a major contributor to the main theoretical approaches, as well as their arbitrator and conciliator. His depth of understanding of both approaches (he has "been there", after all) coupled with his clear writing style allows him to gently guide the reader through this fascinating and important area, engaging us with a seemingly whimsical but ultimately profound exercise in weighing elephants!

Even if you only buy one book on sample surveys, buy this one.

The elephant seals in this book jump out of the pages at you. It's the next best thing to being there! A very creative idea and my grandkids are sure to love this book as much as I do. Like all the Bellissima books, the theme is inspirational. The Comeback Kids idea is great because when you see these photos you realize anything is possible and that species can make a return, and it gives you hope all is not lost when a species becomes endangered. The book is a large 11" by 8.5" size with full page photos on one side and poetry on the opposite page. Well done and it really captures the essence and character of these animals!

The Tower of the Elephant is one of Robert E. Howard's more famous stories, originally appearing in the pages of Weird Tales in 1933. Conan at this time was very young, perhaps just 17 or 18 years of age and encountering a civilized city for the first time in Zamora's fear city of thieves Arenjun. Conan hears tales of the legendary tower of the priest Yara and the fabled riches it holds and proceeds to try his hand at thievery where many before him had failed. It's a fabulous story and the basis for this game module for the Conan RPG from Mongoose publishing.

The premise is the same...the player's party consisting of 4 - 6 characters of approximately 4th level have come to Arenjun and heard it's many fearful tales about the tower which is guarded by things far more fearful than men. The writers have bulked up the story by providing a bit of back story and adventure to hook players into the grand escapade of assaulting Yara's tower. The story involving a caravan guard named Buryal and his role in stealing a powerful poison called Green Lotus can be played as a mini adventure or, if the GM wishes, just skipped so the players can get on with the tower.

Full maps of each of the six levels of the tower and its gardens is included as the party will first traverse the gardens with it's guardsmen before moving onto each more difficult level of the tower, encountering the same horrific animals and beasts that Conan encountered. The module can be played on its own but suggestions are provided to tie in the adventure to a GM's existing campaign.

As with the other Conan RPG items, Conan and the Tower of the Elephant remains loyal to the spirit of the source material. This is a short, but fun module to play in or run as a GM.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

This is the review I wrote for Mr. Schefrin's book when it first came out. It's been two years and it is still a great book:
"I am thoroughly enjoying this book! It's superbly written and narrated, and is a fascinating take on an already captivating historical event. This is simply the most interesting historical fiction I've ever had the pleasure of reading, peopled with complex characters and set at a crucial point in this country's history. As the author mentions, it is easy to dismiss John Wilkes Booth out of hand as a lonely madman, but we're given a chance to explore this man's experience and psyche in a compelling piece of fiction. The theme music, intro and outro are all excellent, and Mr. Schefrin has obviously spent a lot of time working on this project to assure good production values. This is one hell of a great book!"
-George, Fort Worth, Texas

Advertisements say more about the society they are created for than they do about the products they advertise. As a class of information, advertisements are visual, evocative, and abstract. Analyzing ads can be a tricky exercise, particularly if you are looking to them for the story they tell, rather than trying to prove a point. Advertising analysis contributes a lot to any discussion that involves consumer issues or cultural studies.

This book is a rare example of how to go about doing an advertising analysis, and a rare example of what might be considered an intermediate phase of work (for super-scholarly analysts). Poltarnees is content to leave his work as "an appreciation," which means it doesn't have a big, over-arching thesis. I think this makes the book both simple to understand and useful as an example to follow: these ads can be classified in these ways whether you think they are negative for women, or are looking for tactics to help sell your new face cream.

Not to mention that it's a beautiful book, unlike many of the ones which serve up advertising analysis in the service of a Big Point. Its appearance also makes it really accessible--who doesn't like to look at pretty pictures?

Bonus: the book comes with stickers that reproduce early 20th century beauty product labels!

In the poem "The Mathematician, Counting" (from Cath-
yrn Essinger's terrific book 'A Desk in the Elephant House')
there's the line: "Such guts, such pizzaz!" Well, that pretty
much sums up the collection-- wonderfully strange and strange-
ly wonderful-- what a way she has for making the mundane spe-
cial (if you feel something the size of an elephant sitting
next to you, if you feel the power of the air sustaining the
life of birds or notice the Gorbachev's rummaging through the
lettuce at the grocery store("Are you my Angel?")-- welcome
to Essinger's world. Like Shakespeare, she knows that humor
(and wit)is serious business:

But at the end, when the software
fails and the radiation is rising,
I think that even an English major
will be resourceful enough to loop
the string of the window sash to the neck
of the coke bottle, balanced
to tap out some erratic Morse Code
to a world half annihilated
by the wonders of modern science.
ON THE BEACH

So, never mind deciding on a diet plan or whether to take
a vacation in Iceland or Malta, do something that will really
be worth it: Buy 'A Desk in the Elephant House'--the Muse will
thank you for your excellent taste.

This book was first published in 1974 and yet it still contain items of significant interest for today's modern scuba diver. Jacques Cousteau will forever remain the world's greatest diving pioneer and it is through these books that the modern diver is able to add something to their own knowledge of the sport of scuba diving - a "something" that is not found in any "how to learn to dive" book.

In this particular book, we share the Cousteau team's encounters with three great creatures of the sea - the Sea Lion, Elephant Seal and Walrus, in several of their worldly habitats. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to dive in amongst that local colony of Seals, this book will point the way.

As with all the books in this series, it is well written and soon becomes a good read. There will come a time, of course, when it is no longer available and those divers who have not yet added it to their bookshelf will then be found spending many fruitless hours searching for a copy.

NM

This book was first published in 1974 and yet it still contain items of significant interest for today's modern scuba diver. Jacques Cousteau will forever remain the world's greatest diving pioneer and it is through these books that the modern diver is able to add something to their own knowledge of the sport of scuba diving - a "something" that is not found in any "how to learn to dive" book.

In this particular book, we share the Cousteau team's encounters with three great creatures of the sea - the Sea Lion, Elephant Seal and Walrus, in several of their worldly habitats. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to dive in amongst that local colony of Seals, this book will point the way.

As with all the books in this series, it is well written and soon becomes a good read. There will come a time, of course, when it is no longer available and those divers who have not yet added it to their bookshelf will then be found spending many fruitless hours searching for a copy.

NM

This book was first published in 1974 and yet it still contain items of significant interest for today's modern scuba diver. Jacques Cousteau will forever remain the world's greatest diving pioneer and it is through these books that the modern diver is able to add something to their own knowledge of the sport of scuba diving - a "something" that is not found in any "how to learn to dive" book.

In this particular book, we share the Cousteau team's encounters with three great creatures of the sea - the Sea Lion, Elephant Seal and Walrus, in several of their worldly habitats. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to dive in amongst that local colony of Seals, this book will point the way.

As with all the books in this series, it is well written and soon becomes a good read. There will come a time, of course, when it is no longer available and those divers who have not yet added it to their bookshelf will then be found spending many fruitless hours searching for a copy.

NM