Enterprise Books

The author of this book is intelligent and thoughtful in her approach to starting a business. This book is completely different than other books I have read on this topic. Instead of espousing the standard "so you're starting a business" rhetoric, Ms. Bulger helped me to evaluate my goals from a point of view that is more realistic for my particular life. She provides plenty of exercises to help you get through the planning steps of starting a business, and she has many other references that are quite helpful. I really liked this book and will continue to use it as a reference.

This book was an excellent source for inspiration on many levels. It challenges the reader to think outside of the narrow path that the step-by-step business development plan suggests. The author provides insightful exercises for the reader to contemplate the desires behind a developing business idea. She also suggests as she believes that there is a greater power out there who has a hand on the successful and sometimes not so successful outcomes that should always be chalked up as learning lessons or blessings in life. It is an amazing and easy read that would be an excellent course requirement for any university business program.

The author has provided an excellent framework for examining one's goals and personal beliefs, and will help in creating a cohesive strategy to keep their life in balance. This book is a must read for anyone interested in starting up a business they feel passionate about.

The Enlightened Entrepreneur, by Grace Bulger, is not your ordinary "how to" book. It starts with the simple premise of creating a business from the "inside out", from one's passions. Developing a business is not simple, but with Ms. Bulger's advise, insights and poignant questions, you can mold your passions into a successful business. From experience, I highly recommend her book.

I admit that I wasn't all that thrilled when my aunt gave me a "book" for my MBA graduation present. It felt a lot like getting socks and underwear for Christmas as a kid when you really wanted a new bike. And after years of hitting the books, I was in no hurry to pick up another one.Needless, to say, it's taken me a few months to actually pick up The Enterprising Woman and take a look. And after reading the first couple of chapters, I realized that it's not only good, solid information-like I got in my $$$ business school-but there are all kinds of real life anecdotes of business owners (who ALL just happen to be women-very cool) talking about how THEY did it. Not only that, but the author has also put in a great deal of reference information, so you don't need to go hunting for important things like the number to the U.S. Patent Office. The Enterprising Woman turned out to be the best gift I got for graduation. I spent the money, went on the trip, already broke the CD player (oops, sorry, Dad), but I'm using this book a lot. The Patent Office number came in handy for my new software security business I'm developing, and the book's chapter on Intellectual Property really got me thinking.

I don't really consider myself a business book buyer . . .even though, technically, I'm a business owner. But I saw the author on Great Day America and really liked what she had to say. Not surprisingly, the book was just as informative and encouraging as the author. This isn't a book you just buy and put on your shelf. Use it!

Lots of books tell you how to start a business and even more show how THEY did it, but this is the first book I've found that gently told ME how I could create and start a business that was uniquely my own. After years of working for someone else, I'm now ready to jump out on my own. And I'm going to use Enterprising Woman as my primary reference book.

The Enterprising Woman was a gift for me and my 2-year-old business. I've read it from cover to cover and it was really comforting to see that other women entrepreneurs have problems too...and they've survived. It's easy to get discouraged when you work for yourself. This book not only provides you with sage, well-researched information, but (as it promises) inspiration from lots of successful women who have gone through the same things you're bound to experience. I also like how Florence validates the qualities in women that make us good in business. You don't hear much of that these days. I've recommended this book to lots of people. If you're starting a business, YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK.

I give this book a definite thumbs up. It is one of the most all encompassing titles out there on this subject. It has information on writing a business plan, getting financing, motivating salespeople, motivating employees in general, proper compensation for employees, inexpensive promotion and advertising, pricing products, and a lot more. It is written on a very practical and "how to" level. This book is less about business theory and more about application. Calvin's experience in starting/buying businesses and running them is apparent. I definitely recommend this book for anyone who wants a hands on tactical approach to running a small or start up business - or even big business for that matter.

Our team has started borrowing heavily from Calvin with our consulting focus on female entrepreneur clients.
Key suggested readings are the chapters dealing with writing an effective yet focused business plan and knowing key control points of your business.
We have just put this book on our suggested client reading list.

Most people think that all they need is a great idea and they will be able to start a successful business. Professor Calvin outlines, step-by-step, the realities of being an entrepreneur, how you need to prepare, and what you can expect. Specifically, he gives links and resources for doing market research, tells you where and how to go looking for financing, and emphasizes the key control points you must set up and monitor in order to be one of the businesses that actually makes it.

I am a consultant to start-up businesses, refer to his book often, and recommend it to my clients.

Gosh, I had almost given up reading ?How To? books by Top B-School Professors!
University of Chicago Professor Robert Calvin actually writes a book that (while concisely dealing with strategic decisions) gets its head out of the trendy typical pie in the sky themes and goes straight to what drives the bottom-line of the firm!
However, It should be given a new title ?Nuts and Bolts of the Entrepreneur? with subtitle ?Do you have what it takes??
I really liked the section on raising money. Calvin uses insider knowledge of the Venture Capital Trade to get directly to the point of where and where not to look for funds!
If you are serious about making money this book is for you. If you are looking for an easy million this book is not for you. This Book has little sympathy for the quick dollar schemes but is filled with enthusiasm for the nose to the grindstone types!

Reality is what our mind makes of it - and our minds can lie to us. "The Fallen" is a science fiction thriller following Striker Carleson as he faces off against an alien intelligence only known as "The Fallen". He must overcome the strange mind tricks and falsehoods in front of him to find the truth - and only then will he be able to stand up to the alien invasion. "The Fallen" is a philosophical yet entertaining and humorous science fiction novel, sure to please any Sci-Fi reader and a few who wouldn't traditionally read the genre.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3GABE4YKCQNRG

Wow! Mr. Evans's lead character, Striker, is a complex mix of Stoic self-control, timeless heroic compassion, and pure indestructible human will. This newcomer to the world of fiction literature will surely become a household name as recognizable as Stephen King or Isaac Asmov. Evan's has done a masterful job of bringing forth fantasies that every person can share. The story follows pure Machiavellian strategy combined with execution to make even Sun Tzu proud. The Fallen begs to be read time and time again! Jeri Chadwell

The Fallen is a book that should be on every bookshelf in every place, all over the world. John Evans paints a vivid picture of a surreal future that we all have dreamed about one time or another. The Fallen sweeps you away into it's own reality, one that you can wrap yourself in and be deeply immersed by each page turn. The Fallen will keep you captivated like old time classic we've come to identitfy with such as, "Where The Red Fern Grows", "Catcher In The Rye", "1984", "War of the Worlds", and so on. I'm glad I have a book like this, because I can have a peace of mind and be taken away for moments out of a day. This book is worth the read.

If you're a fashion designer with a personal line or label, The Fashion Designer Survival Guide is a 'must have' pick. Libraries and individuals needing fashion designer business savvy will find here a fine guide on all the industry basics, from how to find financing and market and manufacture a line to the experiences of industry pros from Tommy Hilfiger to lesser-knowns such as Zac Posen. The revised, updated edition also offers tips on business plans, sources for fabric and materials, introducing a brand to a store, and organizing a runway show. Essential: a 'must have' title!

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

For anyone that is looking to get into design (or even if you have just started your own line / business), this book is a *must have*. Ms. Gehlhar's breakdown (and overviews) of each category is spot on. I seriously and honestly believe that if this resource had been around when I started my own collection, I would have saved myself a lot of running around and $ in the process. I highly recommend this guide. Plus, it's simply a great read. The insight from other designers profiled is fantastic!

This book is by far the best book I've read. Really helpful step by step guide. I've learned so much from this book. The author also gives insight on the up's and down's of what it is like in the Industry. I highly recommend this book to Fashion Designers. A real, MUST HAVE!!!.

I've read a few books on how to start and run your own fashion design business, and this is one of the best ones I've read so far. Not only is it shorter then a lot of the huge books, but it's too the point and Mary writes in a style that is very easy to understand. She gives great advise and there are good examples and pictures in the book to help you further understand how to do things the best way. I have the first edition that she wrote and that one is great also but this one has new sections and it's a more complete form of the business process.

[...]

You can see the Authors website and download a free pdf version of this site. Its available via creative commons non-commercial.

I studied this book and it gave me a great understanding of the material(from programming understanding). Very clear, concise and to the point. It gives great examples and gets you up to speed.

I wish more books about software in general were written in this form of a field guide.

These guys deserve a medal.

1 Introduction 1
1.1 Genetic Programming in a Nutshell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 Overview of this Field Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Part I Basics 7

2 Representation, Initialisation and Operators in Tree-based GP 9
2.1 Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2 Initialising the Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.3 Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.4 Recombination and Mutation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

3 Getting Ready to Run Genetic Programming 19
3.1 Step 1: Terminal Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.2 Step 2: Function Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.2.1 Closure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.2.2 Sufficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.2.3 Evolving Structures other than Programs . . . . . . . 23
3.3 Step 3: Fitness Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.4 Step 4: GP Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.5 Step 5: Termination and solution designation . . . . . . . . . 27

4 Example Genetic Programming Run 29
4.1 Preparatory Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.2 Step-by-Step Sample Run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.2.1 Initialisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.2.2 Fitness Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.2.3 Selection, Crossover and Mutation . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.2.4 Termination and Solution Designation . . . . . . . . . 35

Part II Advanced Genetic Programming 37

5 Alternative Initialisations and Operators in Tree-based GP 39
5.1 Constructing the Initial Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.1.1 Uniform Initialisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.1.2 Initialisation may Affect Bloat . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.1.3 Seeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.2 GP Mutation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
5.2.1 Is Mutation Necessary? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
5.2.2 Mutation Cookbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
5.3 GP Crossover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
5.4 Other Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

6 Modular, Grammatical and Developmental Tree-based GP 47
6.1 Evolving Modular and Hierarchical Structures . . . . . . . . . 47
6.1.1 Automatically Defined Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
6.1.2 Program Architecture and Architecture-Altering . . . 50
6.2 Constraining Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
6.2.1 Enforcing Particular Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
6.2.2 Strongly Typed GP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
6.2.3 Grammar-based Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
6.2.4 Constraints and Bias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
6.3 Developmental Genetic Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
6.4 Strongly Typed Autoconstructive GP with PushGP . . . . . 59

7 Linear and Graph Genetic Programming 61
7.1 Linear Genetic Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.1.1 Motivations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.1.2 Linear GP Representations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
7.1.3 Linear GP Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
7.2 Graph-Based Genetic Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
7.2.1 Parallel Distributed GP (PDGP) . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
7.2.2 PADO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
7.2.3 Cartesian GP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
7.2.4 Evolving Parallel Programs using Indirect Encodings . 68

8 Probabilistic Genetic Programming 69
8.1 Estimation of Distribution Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
8.2 Pure EDA GP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
8.3 Mixing Grammars and Probabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

9 Multi-objective Genetic Programming 75
9.1 Combining Multiple Objectives into a Scalar Fitness Function 75
9.2 Keeping the Objectives Separate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
9.2.1 Multi-objective Bloat and Complexity Control . . . . 77
9.2.2 Other Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
9.2.3 Non-Pareto Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
9.3 Multiple Objectives via Dynamic and Staged Fitness Functions 80
9.4 Multi-objective Optimisation via Operator Bias . . . . . . . . 81

10 Fast and Distributed Genetic Programming 83
10.1 Reducing Fitness Evaluations/Increasing their Effectiveness . 83
10.2 Reducing Cost of Fitness with Caches . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
10.3 Parallel and Distributed GP are Not Equivalent . . . . . . . . 88
10.4 Running GP on Parallel Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
10.4.1 Masterslave GP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
10.4.2 GP Running on GPUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
10.4.3 GP on FPGAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
10.4.4 Sub-machine-code GP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
10.5 Geographically Distributed GP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

11 GP Theory and its Applications 97
11.1 Mathematical Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
11.2 Search Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
11.3 Bloat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
11.3.1 Bloat in Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
11.3.2 Bloat Control in Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Part III Practical Genetic Programming 109

12 Applications 111
12.1 Where GP has Done Well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
12.2 Curve Fitting, Data Modelling and Symbolic Regression . . . 113
12.3 Human Competitive Results the Humies . . . . . . . . . . . 117
12.4 Image and Signal Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
12.5 Financial Trading, Time Series, and Economic Modelling . . 123
12.6 Industrial Process Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
12.7 Medicine, Biology and Bioinformatics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
12.8 GP to Create Searchers and Solvers Hyper-heuristics . . . . 126
12.9 Entertainment and Computer Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
12.10The Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
12.11Compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

13 Troubleshooting GP 131
13.1 Is there a Bug in the Code? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
13.2 Can you Trust your Results? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
13.3 There are No Silver Bullets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
13.4 Small Changes can have Big Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
13.5 Big Changes can have No Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
13.6 Study your Populations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
13.7 Encourage Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
13.8 Embrace Approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
13.9 Control Bloat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
13.10Checkpoint Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
13.11Report Well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
13.12Convince your Customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

14 Conclusions 141

Part IV Tricks of the Trade 143

A Resources 145
A.1 Key Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
A.2 Key Journals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
A.3 Key International Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
A.4 GP Implementations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
A.5 On-Line Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

B TinyGP 151
B.1 Overview of TinyGP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
B.2 Input Data Files for TinyGP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
B.3 Source Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
B.4 Compiling and Running TinyGP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Bibliography 167

Index 225

"A Field Guide to Genetic Programming" is the best introductory book about the growing research area of Genetic Programming (GP). Written by some of the leading researchers in the field, the book explains very well the basic concepts of GP and gives a condensed state of the art of the technology. For practitioners, the book offers free Java-based software, called TinyGP and examples of many successful applications. A big benefit of the book is the comprehensive bibliography.
With its popular style and low price, "A Field Guide to Genetic Programming" can open the field to a very broad audience and create a breakthrough in GP applications.

This book is a comprehensive introduction to GP, and overview of the state of the art of the field, written by the arguably most important reserachers in the field. In other words, everything you could ask for. As a practicing evolutionary computation reserarcher, it gave me a number of new insights about the particular issues involved in evolving programs represented (mostly) as expression trees, and also a good sense of where the current big issues in the field are.

I USED THIS BOOK FOR MY UNDERGRADUATE COURSE IN INTERNATIONAL FINANCE COURSE. IT HAS HELPED ME TO LIKE THE SUBJECT AND GET A FIRST CLASS GRADE ON THE SUBJECT. THANK YOU

This book is clearly written, it has many numerical examples and case studies and has a strong theoretical underpinning. I strongly recommend this book to students studying for Internatioanl Business and Finance at undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

This book is clearly written, it has many numerical examples and case studies and has a strong theoretical underpinning. I strongly recommend this book to students studying for Internatioanl Business and Finance at undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

One of the most interesting and helpful textbooks available on the market for studying International aspects of Financial Management and Business. This book is suitable for Business and Accounting students in their second and third year undergraduate studies as well as for post graduate students. Especially useful for students from Europe and the USA as it has many practical examples and case studies from European and US companies and markets. The book also reviews the findings of many current empirical and theoretical research studies published in top academic journals, thus provides a strong theoretical foundation for the subjects covered in the book. The book has three main sections: International Financial Markets; Internatioanl Risk Management and International Performance Evaluation and Control in Multinational Companies. A Highly recommended text book for anyone interested in studying International Business and Finance.

Buyers beware!!! This book is huge... Amazon should give its dimensions, but I am guessing more than a foot long and 3/4 foot wide. Great reading about history -- if you have strong arms and a sturdy table.

If you thought the TNT "Pirates of Silicon Valley" was good, this expounds so much the TV show left out. This story held me spellbound as it encompassed the whole history of the modern computer. It starts with a young college professor who dwells on the binary numbers taught to him by his mother. He makes a drum with paper capacitors that when spun, the drum would charge the paper and he could perform calculations.

You will understand why Bill Gates is a billionaire - he is probably one the most ruthless & resourceful people ever. Learn how his unkempt appearance is part of his strategy to destroy his competitors.

The whole book read like a mystery novel. Anyone in the IT world will realize that they only had a few pieces of the story - this book fills in the blanks. The insights of the author are amazing. I've read hundreds of books - this is the best secular book I've ever read.

After buying the book I was a little scaptic about this book keeping me intrested but rather than being too technical and 'professional' the book is more like a drama with alot of winners and losers.It was a great inspiring experience-reading stories like the ones about bill gates,steve jobs and his body 'woz'.The book floats along the evolution of the computer industry,the IBM empire,the Microsoft phenomenen throght the stories of the people who made it and those who couldn't stay in the top.A must read for every person who has some computer background who wants to know how it all started and also for the not-yet computer fan who just wants a good read.

These really are "stories" rather than commentaries. A born storyteller, Young presents what he calls "inspiring tales of the entrepreneurs and inventors who revolutionized modern business." They include the "pioneers and pirates" who developed the prototype for the first commercial computers as well as Thomas J. Watson, Jr., William Shockley, Jack Kilby, Jay Forrester, Edwin De Castro, Douglas Engelbart, Bob Noyce, Andy Grove, & Gordon Moore, Edward Roberts, Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak, Don Estridge, Lew Eggbrecht, Bill Gates & Paul Allen, Tom Carter, Bill McGowan, Craig McCaw, Bob Taylor, Steve Case, and Marc Andreesen.

Perhaps at least a few of these names are unfamiliar to you. That is one of the great benefits of this book: It introduces a "cast" of literally hundreds of different "characters", most of them probably unfamiliar to most readers. I was fascinated to learn how important their "roles" were...how significant the impact of their work has proven to be.

For whom will this book be of greatest interest? Probably for those such as I who enjoy a story well-told, who have a keen interest in knowing more about various "entrepreneurs and inventors who revolutionized modern business", and who appreciate having what amounts to a frame-of-reference within which to understand current and future developments. Also, Young's book will suggest additional readings such as full-length biographies of the major "characters" in the "tales" he has told so well.

`Free Software, Free Society', a short, yet poignant book by renowned software freedom activist Richard Stallman demonstrates the importance of free software in society, a movement in which he has actively participated since joining a software-sharing community at MIT in 1971. Since then, Stallman has both advocated the importance and raised awareness of free software, battling copyright and founding clever terms such as "copyleft" and even "free software" itself. His book first describes GNU (Gnu's Not Unix), a free adaptation of the Unix operating system that Stallman created to promote a community of cooperative hackers. He also makes certain to precisely define his terms; Stallman both explains free software is `free as in freedom', not in price, and also distinguishes between the seemingly synonymous words of `free' and `open'. Richard Stallman later introduces the concept of `copyleft' (a method which mandates that software obtained from the public domain be passed along for others to further copy or change it) and analyzes problems and misinterpretations of copyright, explaining, for example, how copyright is not a natural right guaranteed by the Constitution, but rather a government-imposed monopoly. Stallman ends the book with a collection of miscellaneous, but relevant topics, such as `words to avoid' and GNU licensing.

Overall, I found Free Software, Free Society both interesting and informative. As one might expect, Richard Stallman does not write like most authors. Instead of employing a `style that sells' (i.e. "decorating" the book with irrelevant information or references in order to appeal to the largest audience possible), Stallman writes what he believes, regardless of whether it fits public opinion. He is articulate, strong, and convincing: he has a clear goal of informing the reader of everything related to the free software movement, and he draws from his own experience to support his stand. Although the book maintains an informative style, it is not written for the technical savvy (and for the basic understanding Stallman assumes the reader has, there is a section in the beginning of the book that reviews the fundamentals of software and computers). Of course, this does, at times, make the book feel more like a student textbook, though I nevertheless remained interested throughout the entire text. In short, I would undoubtedly recommend Free Software, Free Society to anyone with even a remote interest in computers, the internet, or law.

Very good philosophy book on the reasons behind the free software movement. A very good read to understand Stallman, who after all, brought forth the Gnu project. Almost every computer has some piece of Gnu Public License software on it now, so it makes sense to read, even if you are a Windows or Macintosh person.

The editor wrote a short forward explaining all the computer concepts the reader will need in order to understand the book. In addition, there are footnotes throughout the book explaining obscure people and computer terms. This way even a sociology major like myself can understand everything.

Stallman talks about important issues that are currently being played out in Washington DC. This book is a great way to help make sense of it all.

I bought this book at Hackers on Planet Earth 6, and then after reading it in the morning, had the double benefit of hearing the author as keynote speaker in the afternoon. He is everything the book's contents suggest, and more. The author is one of the original MIT hackers (pick up a used copy of Shirley Turkle's "My Second Self, Computers and the Human Spirit" and/or Steven Levy's "Hacker's" which the author himself recommends.

The author's brilliant bottom line is quite clear throughout the book: software copyright prevents people from improving or sharing the foundation for progress in the digital era.

The author's social-technical innovation, which appears now to be acquiring tsunami force around the world, and is manifested in the Free/Open Source Software (F/OSS) movement that is being nurtured by governments worldwide from Brazil to China to Israel to the United Kingdom to Norway, is to modify copyright to a term he credits to another, copyleft, meaning that copyright in the new definition grants ALL permissions EXCEPT the permission to RESTRICT the enhancement and sharing of the software.

The author is also very careful to define the term free as meaning freedom of movement and growth, not free of price. GNU, his invention, removes computational obstacles to competition, and levels the playing field for more important innovations. In his view, the core issue is not about price, but about eliminating restrictions to freedom of sharing and enhancement.

On page 37 he sums up his life's purpose: "Proprietary and secret software is the moral equivalent of runners having a fist fight (during the race)" -- they all lose.

The author carefully distinguishes between the free and open source software, citing the first as a movement with values, the second as a process.

His candidacy for a Nobel Prize is captured in the sentence on page 61, "Free software contributes to human knowledge, non-free software does not."

Across the book, a collection of essays put into a very well ordered (not necessarily chronological) form, this book is a history of GNU (not UNIX) by its creator and co-founder of the Free Software Foundation. It is replete with concise useful discussions of terms, conditions, and cultures relevant to the future of mankind as a thinking forward looking species.

Section two, on copyright, copyleft, and patents is very helpful, and likely to become a standard in the field as the public fires elected representatives who sell out to Mickey Mouse copyright extenders, and demands a return to the original Constitutional limitation of copyright as an artifact of government, not a natural right, focused on nurturing knowledge. It means mention that Lawrence Lessig (see my reviews of his books) writes the introduction--the two authors together, along with Cass Sunstein, may be the most important trio of thinkers with respect to the future of man in the context of science, copyright, risk, and software as a human global contributor to sanity.

The author's keynote address at HOPE 6 is discussed toward the end of the book, where he lists the Four Freedoms:

Freedom 0: Run a program as you wish, for any purpose you wish, not limited to any narrowly defined application.

Freedom 1: Help yourself by improving the program (which requires access to source code).

Freedom 2: Help your neighbor by sharing a copy of the program with them.

Freedom 3: Help community by sharing the improved copy at large.

There is no question in my mind but that this manifesto of a single man's life's work is as important as Tom Paine's Common Sense treatises. There is a war now emergent between the classes (US elites bribing foreign elites, both screwing their publics over for private gain), and between corporations and the people, corporations long having abused the independent legal personality that was granted to promote business, and ended up being a legal barrier to holding corporate managers accountable for grand theft and social irresponsibility.

Toward the end the author offers thoughtful suggestions on how to "drop out" of the proprietary software world, and his thinking resonates with "No Logo" and its recommendations on selective purchasing.

This book is not a technical book although it offers up many understandable insights to technical matters underlying the social philosophy of the author. It is not a legal book either, but offers important informed commentary vital to getting the law focused again on human progress. Finally, in no way does the book dismiss the importance of capitalism--the author clearly states that it is entirely appropriate to charge a fee for one's contributions--this is about the "how" not the "how much.

Absolutely superb collection of essays, extremely important to where we go in the future. The author is not only an original hacker, he represents hacking as it should be understood by the authorities (see my review of Bruce Sterling, Hackers at the Edge of the Electronic Frontier), and as I see them--as people who have the "right stuff" and are testing the edge, pushing the frontier. In a world of drones, these are the libertarian spirits that may well keep us out of perpetual prison.

For reference: DARPA's STRONG ANGEL program, empowered now by DoD Directive 3000.cc. specifically seeks to create a suite of collaborative sharing and analytic tools that can be provided free to any non-governmental organization and any state and local government. Support costs have to be shared. It is now understood at the highest levels of the US military that we cannot make peace without sharing all information in all languages all the time (my third book), and this is progress.

This is an excellent textbook all the way around. The text is written in plain English and explains every concept in detail. The examples create real life examples that reinforce the concepts. The chapter problems are written well, easy to understand, and provide a great way for students to practice all of the concepts. For an added bonus, the website that goes with this book provides even more tools for learning such as chapter exercises, working papers, and flashcards.

An all around great textbook!

Book was a little more used than described, but hey for the price it couldn't be beat. To bad my sylabus was wrong and the professor changed the edition. Anyhow, seller was excellent. Fast shipping and I would reccommend.

This text was VERY helpful. The illustrations and examples were enough to explain the topic without havung to read the entire book.. Also the problems given at the end of each section were very good. Some were tough; however, the author starts you out with easy problems and works up to the more difficult ones. This text definitely is a good learning aid.

I used this textbook for my first accounting class and it was by far the best. Examples are all spelled out step by step and the numerous exercies and problems contribute to a higher level of understanding. Buy the workbook offered. It will save you a lot of time normally spent setting up the problem. Much better then some of the higher level books I have used.